Introductory course on traditional Chinese medicine health care

The core of getting started with TCM health care is not to memorize the meridians and acupuncture points and follow the trend of taking nourishing ointments, but to first understand "what your own constitution is" and the basic logic of "maintaining your health according to the times." All other methods serve these two cores - this is the most practical entry path that I have summarized after 7 years of follow-up and providing health care guidance to nearly a thousand ordinary users.

Harmful, it’s quite interesting to talk about. I just met a young girl born in 2000. She wrote in Xiaohongshu that Sishen Decoction strengthens the spleen and removes dampness. After drinking it for half a month, her mouth was full of oral ulcers. Even her aunt, who was very regular before, postponed it for ten days and hurriedly came to see me for treatment. After asking, I found out that she has a typical constitution of yin deficiency and internal heat. She is usually afraid of heat, prone to acne, and often has dry stools. The gorgon seeds and lotus seeds in the Sishen soup are astringent and warming, which is equivalent to putting a lid on a stove that is already burning brightly. It would be strange if there is no fire.

Many people who are new to health care always want to find the "magic formula", drink this tea today and take that pill tomorrow. In fact, they are going in the wrong direction, and no matter how hard they try, it will be useless. Speaking of physique classification, the most popular thing on the Internet right now is the nine-type physique classification method proposed by Professor Wang Qi, which divides people into broad categories such as peaceful constitution, Qi-deficient constitution, and Yang-deficient constitution. Ordinary novices can roughly correspond to their own situation by looking at a watch. It is really easy to get started. But many old gentlemen from the Jingfang sect I have come across are more accustomed to using Six Meridians syndrome differentiation. Just like the little girl just now, she belongs to the "Yangming constitution" in the Jingfang system. The core is that there is heat inside, and the conditioning must be cleared first and then replenished. There is no need to worry about whether she is yin deficiency or dampness and heat, just focus on the core contradiction. There is no right or wrong between the two methods. If you are a novice, just choose the one you can understand and use. There is no need to quarrel with others over nouns.

Oh, yes, there are still many people who feel that their physical constitution is poor and no matter how they adjust it, it is useless. They may have fallen into the trap of "working against the times". Last winter, there was a big brother who heard people say that exercise can dehumidify. He went out to run five kilometers every day at nine o'clock in the evening. After running for a month, he caught three colds and developed hives. When he came to see me for a prescription, his nose was still stuffed. The "Huangdi Neijing" says that you should "close up" in winter. To put it bluntly, in winter, the yang energy is collected in the body. If you exercise strenuously at night and sweat all over, it is equivalent to releasing all the hidden yang energy. The cold evil will directly penetrate into the seams of the bones. At this time, no matter how much red bean and barley water you drink, you will not be able to make up for it. Of course, there are also many friends who adhere to the modern fitness concept and believe that "life lies in exercise" and that training intensity must be maintained regardless of the season. This is nothing to argue with - if you rely on competitive performance for a living, then any training is reasonable. What ordinary people want is to be less sick and comfortable. It is always right to follow the rhythm of the season. In winter, it is enough to move until your back is slightly warm. There is no need to force yourself to sweat profusely.

For those who are just getting started, there is really no need to buy a thick copy of the "Huangdi Neijing" to chew on, and don't hoard a bunch of moxibustion boxes and scraping boards at home. I also took a lot of detours when I first started learning. At that time, I always felt that my stools were sticky because of the moisture. I boiled red bean and barley water and drank it every day, but my stomach acid reflux was still not good. Later, I followed the teacher to learn to keep a "daily observation log", and I just kept four questions: Do you feel dry or bitter in the mouth when you wake up in the morning? Is the stool dry or watery? Are you more afraid of the heat or the cold at the end of the day? Is it more comfortable to drink iced or warm? After only three days of memorizing it, I discovered that my stools would only become sticky after drinking iced milk tea. It was not because I was born with heavy moisture. After I stopped drinking iced milk tea, I had no problems. The jar of barley that I bought and haven’t eaten a few times is still sitting in my cabinet at home.

To put it bluntly, traditional Chinese medicine health care is not a lofty knowledge. It is the "experience of living a good life" accumulated by our ancestors for thousands of years, and there are not so many mysterious things. You don’t need to memorize all the acupuncture points, and you don’t need to understand the effects of every traditional Chinese medicine. Start by drinking less ice, go to bed half an hour earlier, and don’t expose your ankles in winter. It will be much more effective than buying a tonic worth hundreds of yuan. If you are really interested, then continue learning slowly, and don’t just believe what others say. Whether you are comfortable or not is always the most accurate criterion, right?