It is our individual commitment, determination and belief to achieve our goal of wellness that is fundamental to a successful recovery. Nobody can help you unless you are willing to help yourself.
2.Awareness and Understanding
Once our mind stays together with our body, that’s the beginning of Awareness and Understanding, and the beginning of self care. We are all able to use common sense to evaluate our normal performance, the physical and mental well being.
In TCM philosophy there is an holistic approach based on the knowledge that imbalances disturb the body’s functions. A range, or combination of factors, contribute to body-mind imbalances responsible for health issues. These factors may include abnormal climate, incorrect diet, emotional traumas, over exertion, under exertion, lifestyle choices that conflict with achieving balance and harmony and can have a cumulative effect on our health and daily enjoyment of life.Once we understand what’s causing the symptoms that alarm us, our body’s reactions and the recovering process, we are in a better position to deal with our health issues confidently and positively.
TCM practitioners work with patients to help them activate their own individual healing mechanisms, leading to a full recovery of health, by balancing the body’s functions, lifestyle coaching, etc.
3.Slow Down
When we are unwell our health is fragile and unstable. In order to properly recover it is important to slow down, make time to rest more, work at
reducing stress and generally lessen activities. This is crucial to provide the opportunity for both mind and body to re-balance and restore ourselves to a healthy state.
4.Exercises
Vigorous exercise during the recovery has a negative impact and can delay improvement. In some cases, at different stages during the recovery period, gentle exercise is beneficial. Such exercise should be undertaken before midday and never late afternoon, or at night. A short walk is recommended after meals. Sexual activity is not recommended before achieving a full recovery.
5.Diet and Drinks
Our main food should be mixed grains and beans, supplemented by meat, fish, vegetables and fruit. A reasonable breakfast and lunch, followed by a lighter dinner is better for our digestion and sleep. Drink only what you need to and generally avoid cold and iced drinks, avoid drinking too much at one time on an empty stomach.
6.Sleep
Sleep is very important for conserving energy and essential to achieving a complete recovery. It is important to get to sleep before 11pm and to be sure the room is not too cold or too hot, and that there are no draughts.
7.Keep Warm
NZ weather is quite cold, windy and changeable, even in summer; it is better to dress warmly, cover body properly, to avoid the attack from wind, coldness, and loss of body heat. It’s not worth wasting our energy on fighting the wind and cold, since our body’s energy can do it's job to maintain balance and function effectively.
8.Reactions to TCM Treatment
During the treatment period, including the recovery period, patients are very likely to experience some reactions: sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, more sense of pain (pain from deep within comes to the surface, or the hidden pain turns up) etc, but these reactions are not in themselves, negative, they are part of the healing process and signal that your body is responding to treatment. If you are in any way concerned about reactions, you should always discuss your concerns with your TCM practitioner.
