the REN DAO Wellness Center Blog

The Ancient wisdom of Chinese Medicine recognizes five basic causes of illness; External or Environmental causes, Internal or Emotional causes, Improper Diet and Rest, Negative Energy Entities and Karma.

External or Environmental Causes.There are six external or environmental causes of illness. They include wind, cold, heat, fire, damp and dryness. These conditions occur naturally and are dependent on our geographical location, the seasons and the weather. We naturally dress warmer to reduce the affects of the cold of winter. We seek the warming action of the sun to dry or reduce dampness. It is our continuous ability to adapt and stay in harmony with these environmental conditions that keep them from becoming harmful. The six external causes manifest internally too. Conditions of wind, cold, heat, etc occur naturally within the body. When they manifest abnormally, they appear as the symptoms illness (a hot rash requiring a cooling salve, leg edema appears as dampness requiring draining).Internal or Emotional Causes

We experience seven emotions in responses to stimulus we received though our sense organs (eyes, ears, nose taste, smell, touch). These emotions include; anger, joy, worry / excessive thinking, fear, and shock. Each of these emotions is vital to our survival mechanisms and our ability to properly respond to the day to day activities we encounter. They are also integral to our ability to learn, adapt, plan and react appropriately. When the expression of any of these emotions becomes too excessive or too passive, our reactions become out of balance with our true nature and our environment. Each of these emotions is rooted within a corresponding organ and that organ’s functionality within our body. Excessive or deficient expression of these emotions over time causes harm to the organs. Disharmony in the organs leads to disharmony in the emotions.

[A Five Element Correspondence Charts can be viewed at www.ren-dao.com/five_element.pdf]

Diet and Work / RestOur major source of energy and the building material for growth and our body’s maintenance comes from the foods we eat. We must eat a balance supply of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Additionally our food should provide an appropriate amount of minerals, vitamins, enzymes, trace elements and other micronutrients required for our bodies to function efficiently. Chinese medicine recognizes five flavors; sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and pungent.  Each should be eaten in balanced amounts to nourish the five (yin & yang) organs, the tendons, muscles, sinews and bones.  
Eating to much taxes our digestive, storage and elimination systems. Eating to little reduces our energy and nutrimental stores. Eating to much of some foods and not enough of others causes imbalances within the body since proper assimilation and usage of foods requires a balanced intake of nutrients.
Work, exercise and rest are equally important. A balanced amount of each is needed to provide for our material needs and growth, to move the qi and blood and provide adequate time to relax and rebuild. Too much or too little of either will tax our bodies resources eventually leading to illness.
Negative Energy EntitiesWhen our energies are very focuses and vibrating at a very high level we attract similarly high level focused energies, situations and experiences. We remain uninfluenced by low level energies situations and experiences. When our energies are scattered and of a low quality, it is very easy for outside energies, situations and experiences to influence us, further scattering and reducing our energies, carrying us away from our primary goals and responsibilities. Ghost and spirits are the first images we may have when visualizing negative energy entities. Indeed, some may experience ghost and spirits of either a good or bad nature. The main point here is being unfocused and scattered leaves us open to unhealthy influences and energies. For example, we all know, to receive optimal energy and nutrients from our foods, it is best to select the most wholesome, natural foods possible. We should prepare and eat our foods with a sense of joy and gratitude, in a relaxed and stress free manner. Today, our busy lifestyles leave our time and energies stretched and scattered. We have little time to commit to ourselves and our primary basic needs. We become receptive and open to McDonald’s as a complete and balanced food source. We sit a TV pill commercial away from ultimate health.
Karma
Karma is an intangible concept that glues all of our past and current actions to our current and future experiences. All negative actions and deeds engender future negative situations and experiences. All good actions and deeds engender future positive situations and experiences. In health or illness we are responsible today for bearing the burden of our past deeds, current actions and thus future situations and experiences.Emotions and Habits

After karma, it is stress / emotions and lifestyle / habits that lead to most illness and unhappiness in today’s society. Awareness of the five causes motivates us to maintain balance over our thoughts and action and take corrective steps when needed.

 The Disease as Part of the Treatment Monday, July 16, 2007Often in medicine, the tendency is to view illness as antagonistic. But, like everything else, a simple shift in perspective can point one in a whole new direction. If one thinks of their illness as part of themselves rather than something separate, one can view their illness as a way of getting to know oneself better. The Type A personality who has a heart attack may have an opportunity to slow down and “smell the roses;” the father who suddenly loses his job gets to spend time with his children; the cancer patient who comes to terms with her mortality and can fully appreciate the time that she has left, are just a few examples. I have had patients who later became very thankful for their illnesses and the lessons that they learned from them.
Illnesses, symptoms, etc. are a chance for us to purify ourselves; purify our negative karma, change faulty beliefs, let go of pain, sorrow, anger, etc. that no longer serves us. We need to view our symptoms as something that is trying to teach us something. Our job is to figure it out. We can’t squash it with pain medication, or antibiotics, or chemotherapy. We need to face it head-on. To be a warrior and fight through the suffering to get to the other side. Be on a quest for truth, simplicity and finding one’s inner nature.
And above all, don’t be afraid to change. If you see your imbalances as rooted in your thought patterns, your past actions and your behaviors, without changing one can never heal. Your symptoms are your opportunity to make the necessary changes and adjustments. Failure to adapt and change breeds illness. Awareness is the first step.