Year of the Snake – A Time To Shed Your Old Skin!
One of the most beloved expressions of Chinese New Year is “Nian Nian You Yu” (年年有余)—which translates to “May Every Year Have Abundance.” While it’s certainly a wish for prosperity, it’s also a blessing for health and vitality, which is the truest form of wealth one can possess.
To be wished a surplus of health is an interesting concept, ‘surplus’ referring to what remains after our needs have been met. In finance one seeks to have more than enough to live and handle the unexpected. In farming, surplus was essential to account for human consumption and loss from spoilage, pests or disasters. In the context of health, “Nian Nian You Yu” means to build and store abundant vitality, to ensure that when we face health challenges, our bodies have reserves to draw from. Time and time again, those who recover best from an illness or injury are those who entered into the experience with relative strength, energy, and vitality.
Building a Surplus of Health
Chinese medicine believes that wellness is not simply a lack of symptoms. It is something that must be actively cultivated. It is the result of our exercise, diet and lifestyle choices, as well as how these choices change throughout our life. As we pass and change through many decades of life, a ‘surplus of health’ means that the inevitable events of illness and injury do not change our course profoundly, nor prevent us from living our full potential. If we actively cultivate longevity, we recover fully and approach each next event from a position of strength, not weakness. This creates the best odds for success, no matter what illness or diagnosis one faces.
Holistic Health: A Year of Prevention
As we celebrate a New Year theme of renewal, it is a great opportunity to focus on the importance of our body and mind. If you feel there is room for improvement, our clinic is an excellent place to help rebuild health. From a Chinese medicine perspective, the simplest treatments often make profound improvements, like warming up a system that is running too cold, cooling a system that is running too hot, encouraging circulation where things are stiff, and calming areas which are inflamed. Sometimes these imbalances are from life, sometimes are the result of an old injury. Whatever the reason, the issues we do not fully address keep us from our best health.
Create Vitality at Our Clinic
While our practitioners are world renowned for treating illnesses, the best treatment we can give is helping patients avoid being sick in the first place. The ancient Chinese believed wellness work to be the highest level of medicine, reflected in the famous saying that the highest level doctor treats illness before it arrives. If there are injuries that haven’t fully resolved, digestive, hormonal or other systems out of balance which are keeping you from feeling your best, or simply you recognize the effects of aging and would like to fare well into your 80’s and 90’s, don’t wait until illness brings you to our door. Let us work with you now to create abundant health for a long and vital future. The Alternative Clinic isn’t just about providing you with the best practitioners when something serious happens, we are available to support your health and vitality so you can live the best life possible.