The universe provides in such amazing ways and this summer I have been on a roller coaster of learning that I've Got Heat. A workshop at the Slow Living Summit in June has had a profound ripple effect since my mother attended and pronounced this practitioner could change my life. This talk on Traditional Chinese Medicine and it's ability to effect climate change was powerful and lead me to find the speaker and his office a few weeks later.
I filled out a bunch of medical history forms indicating every pain I've ever felt since birth, but the real reason I was there was for the fireworks in my chest. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I've been dealing with some cardiac shit, but my Western docs weren't really getting me. Fireworks in your chest? WTF does that mean? So I took my prescribed medication, kept my mouth shut and went silently nuts in my head because nobody could understand me. Until I met Brendan. Sitting in his office going over my endless papers and drawing the connections together in his mind, he asks "So how do you feel?" "Crazy" I replied. "Of course you do, you've got heat."
That night at the dinner table as I described to my husband that I have heat in my stomach and intestines and that I need to stick needles in my arms and legs and drink herbs twice a day lead to some hysterical conversation. But look, I was going nuts, I was willing to follow this man to the moon if it was going to stop the damn fireworks in my chest. My husband supported this adventure as he always does, with a shake of his head and that "I think I married a crazy hippie" look in his eye.
I'm not an expert on any of this and my learning curve has been steep, but my life has changed and the work is powerful. Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on the concept of Yin and Yang. Yin is stillness, rest and inactivity; Yang is movement, doing and activity. A balance between the two makes for an ideal life, of which I was very far from having. So my heat diagnosis was based on the lack of Yin and an excess of Yang in my life.
Using our energy physically or mentally to be a productive employee, caring community member, loving parent and spouse or to physically stay in shape takes a toll. This energy is warming, and when it has been overused for an extended period of time, it creates what Chinese medicine calls heat. Heat is an excess of warmth and a state of overstimulation, which can eventually cause our internal fluids, or coolant, to evaporate, as when we leave a pot of water boiling on the stove. An excess of warmth and reduced internal fluids are called Yin-deficient heat, where the internal temperature not only increases, but also the internal coolant decreases, like evaporating water. This creates a cycle where a loss of coolant increases the heat, which causes more coolant to evaporate, further increasing the heat. ~Brendan Kelly."The Yin and Yang of Climate Crisis." September 2015.
So the fireworks I was feeling in my chest was literally heat coming up from my organs desperately trying to exit my body. Sound nuts? Maybe, but once you've drank the herbs and taken the acupuncture needles, you become a believer. I'm into it and encourage you to read Brendan's book, which just came out this week. The craziest part of this adventure ~ my husband saw how powerful the change was and started down his first-ever road to energy work. Now my beast of a man, who drank coffee by the pot and refused to stay in savasana for more than a minute is taking an hour each week to lay on a table full of needles. The coffee has been replaced by large mason jars of green tea and his herbs are working to help him slow the pace of his life.
The reality is that heat is a societal issue, we are all moving excessively fast trying to keep up with everything that is coming our way. We are chronically doing too much and taking less time to just be. Today I slept in, read a book, did an intense yoga routine, walked with my dog and wrote this blog post. In the past I would have viewed this as a day that I slacked off and felt guilty for not doing home improvements, cleaning or running errands. With a new perspective I felt empowered that I was bringing some Yin into my life with this day and that I will be better off emotionally and physically for it.
Last weekend was spent on a boat with friends with no work other than to mix a good drink. At my appointment with Brendan two days later, he took my pulses and was shocked at how much energy I had. "I am writing you a prescription for boating, barbecues and cocktails. Slowing down works for you Melissa, you need to do more of it."