The true people of ancient times did not go against scarcity, did not excel, and did not deceive scholars. "- Zhuangzi, Zhuangzi, Warring States period, Zhuangzi
Faith belongs to the earth in the Five Elements, corresponds to the spleen and stomach in the Five Organs, and corresponds to the long summer in the four seasons, which is the transition period between summer and autumn. This time is the state of conception of all things.
All things arise in the soil, and all things perish in the soil. "There is a saying in China called" thick virtue carries things ", and this virtue is also called" virtue soil ". If a person has thick virtue soil, his moral foundation is solid. This" soil "refers to a person's carrying capacity, thickness, and integrity. Honesty is nourishing the spleen and stomach. Honesty means sincerity, credibility, the ability to act steadfastly, and the ability to take action.
We all know that all things are conceived, and what is the basis for the development, rise, and fall of all things?
Integrity.
Whether in our career or in our personal life, we must uphold integrity. Without trust, it is difficult to succeed.
The state of the body is also like this. If a person is particularly honest, steadfast, has strong action ability, and never cares in their heart, their gastrointestinal motility will be better. On the other hand, people who are particularly prone to calculating, anxious, suspicious, and overthinking, are prone to weakened digestive systems.
The spleen and stomach are responsible for nourishing qi. From the appearance, people with insufficient spleen and stomach may have pale complexion, thick tongue coating, easy fatigue, drowsiness, lack of qi and speech, loose stools, and weak limbs. Moreover, people with spleen deficiency often have rosacea, which indicates dampness and heat in the stomach. People who drink alcohol are prone to this disease because drinking generates dampness and heat. People with high dampness in the spleen and stomach are also prone to developing sores on their noses, which are all manifestations of spleen and stomach deficiency.
The emotion of complaining can have an impact on the function of the spleen and stomach
I am an example myself. When I was in my second year of doctoral studies, I complained that my supervisor assigned me too much work and asked me to do experiments at other schools. At that time, I complained every day about the heavy workload assigned to me by my supervisor. Later, with the guidance of other teachers, I suddenly realized.
At that time, my body was particularly weak, only over 60 kilograms, very thin and weak, with diarrhea all day long and a bad complexion. Eating any Four Gentlemen's Soup is useless, and the spleen and stomach will never be strong. Later on, I reflected that I had indeed complained too much, and even blamed my teacher. This kind of resentment hurt my spleen and stomach.
Later, after some guidance, I realized that the teacher was actually very caring for me. He was training and nurturing me, so I stopped blaming the teacher and began to have the ability to take action. If a person complains, they have no action and do not want to do anything. After thinking about this problem clearly, I really want to do something. Once I finish it, my spleen and stomach will be better. The symptoms of gastrointestinal diarrhea, loose stools, and bloating in the epigastric region have disappeared. This is my own experience.
So the principle of "thinking harms the spleen" taught by traditional Chinese medicine is very profound. If one overthinks, becomes suspicious, hesitates, and complains, it will harm the spleen and stomach, and the digestive system will have problems. This has also been confirmed in modern medicine, where studies have found that anxiety has the greatest impact on ulcer disease.
Early psychosomatic medicine expert Wolf once conducted a famous experiment: when patients with gastric fistula are in a state of anxiety, gastric peristalsis intensifies, gastric mucosa becomes congested and red, gastric juice secretion increases, gastric acid content significantly increases, and sometimes even gastric mucosa can be seen being eroded by gastric juice.
The results of modern scientific experiments tell us that in a state of anxiety, the sympathetic nervous system of humans is overactive, resulting in signs such as wet and cold skin, pale complexion, dilated pupils, tachycardia, shortness of breath, deep and long breathing, and elevated blood pressure. Over time, this will lead to increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system, causing the hypothalamus to produce corticotropin releasing factors to promote the secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormones from the anterior pituitary gland. And this hormone is precisely the culprit of ulcer occurrence.
In daily life, we often have the experience that when we are anxious and uneasy about a certain problem, our appetite often decreases, and we have a feeling of fullness in the epigastric region. The common people say "qi is full", which is a manifestation of spleen dysfunction and insufficient temperament.
Exercise to promote Qi and blood circulation, strengthen the spleen and regulate depression
A very important manifestation of people with poor spleen and stomach is that they always think carefully about everything they do, whether it is good to do this or that, and what to do if something happens? I just can't make up my mind and hesitate. The most typical example is intellectuals. There is a Chinese saying that goes, 'If a talented person rebels, it will take three years to succeed.'. Why? It's impossible to accomplish anything without thinking and taking action all day long.
A depression patient I treated was like this, complaining about this and that every day, losing money in the stock market, feeling extremely depressed, and even attempting suicide. His second symptom is insomnia, difficulty falling asleep.
How to treat this type of patient? It's simple, make him take action. Whatever work is tiring, let him do it. Doing heavy, laborious, and sweaty labor, through labor, he becomes exhausted all day long and has no intention of worrying. He loses his temper and no longer wants to do anything.
So I said to this patient, "You can walk as many roads as you can in a day until you can't walk anymore. At the same time, fetch water and sweep the floor for your neighbors, and do all the physical labor you need. Just do this every day
He listened to me very much and started to take action, starting to walk. At first, he walked 1 kilometer every day from his residential area to another relatively far place, and then came back. He said that walking 1 kilometer was particularly tiring. I said, when you can walk 10 kilometers, you will start to recover.
He continued to persist, walking every day, and gradually he could walk more than 10 kilometers. After practicing, he woke up early in the morning, around five o'clock, and the sky was still bright. He set off from Xiangshan (where he lived nearby) and walked to Jianguomen. It was almost noon, and he had lunch and rested at his relatives' house. Afterwards, in the afternoon, I walked back home from Jianguomen. By the time I got home, it was almost dark. After dinner, I was exhausted and went straight to bed, sleeping until dawn. He walked like this for over a month, without any worries, and his depression automatically improved.
Some people don't believe it and say, 'Is it that simple?'? I said, it's that simple.
Why is that? Because the spleen governs the limbs, once the limbs move, the spleen and stomach become strong. If the spleen and stomach are strong, the appetite will be good, eating will be good, sleeping will be fragrant, and if you can eat and sleep, the disease will naturally disappear. This person later fully recovered and did not take any medication. Chairman Mao once said, 'Labor can transform people!' This sentence is truly profound! So, people with insufficient spleen and stomach should exercise their mobility, and the best way to exercise without harming the body is to walk.
The best way to strengthen the spleen is to massage the abdomen for health, as mentioned earlier. The method of kneading the abdomen can prevent diabetes, and let the intestines and stomach move and the blood circulate.
I once treated a patient with diabetes. When he kneaded his stomach before compared with after kneading his stomach, his blood sugar would drop by 3mmol/L at most, because once he kneaded his stomach, the spleen and stomach would circulate blood, a large amount of blood sugar would be metabolized, activating the internal blood circulation, and insulin activity would increase, which is the benefit of kneading the stomach.
Disclaimer: This article is a sharing of health knowledge. The drugs, prescriptions, acupuncture and moxibustion and other treatment and health preserving methods mentioned in this article should be applied under the guidance of professional doctors, and should not be applied by yourself. We are not responsible for any issues arising from improper use.