The concept of balance is a key principle in Chinese Medicine. But unfortunately, I have bad news for you.  Finding balance is an ongoing process.

You will never “finally” arrive at balance and stay there.  It is a constant fluctuating dynamic, which requires you to constantly find your center.

Nature is inherently balanced. That is why many people go out to nature to re-center, rejuvenate, or just to get away from their normal life. Unlike nature, humans need to seek balance.

We often don’t pay attention until things are WAY out of balance.   But it’s not good to wait until things reach an extreme.  Imbalances take time to develop and accumulate before they show up as  physical problems.

Here are 8 simple questions to ask yourself to see what aspects of your life are imbalanced.

Physical

• Are you exhausted because you push your physical body too much? (Over-exercising is not good either.)
• Or do you you not exercise at all?

Emotional

• Are you emotionally cut off and feel very little emotions?
• Or, are you emotionally overly sensitive and too emotionally responsive to everything and everyone around you?

Mental

• Are you needing constant intellectual stimulation (i.e., reading books, watching TV, constant internet usage, overthinking, continual mental input, etc.)?
• Or, do you avoid any form of mental or intellectual stimulation?

Spiritual

• Are you cut off from your spiritual center, no longer in touch with who you are and what your purpose is?
• Or, do you pay attention only to spiritual matters and not much else in other aspects of your life (such as your physical body or matters of the mind)?

Master this concept of balance and you will gain an insight for harmonious living, which will always serve you.

Then, once you can identify where you are off balance in your life, find a remedy and return yourself back to the center.

Poop. No one likes to talk about poop, but it’s so important.  In ancient times, the Chinese Medicine doctors used to examine the stools of the emperors to detect if he had potential health problems.

In Chinese Medicine, if your bowel movements aren’t normal and regular, you’ve got a problem. When your body cannot eliminate daily toxins, it can lead to health problems and worse yet, it may be showing up on your face.  After all, toxins can affect your body’s largest organ – your skin.

How do you best protect and optimize your digestive system? Make sure your bowel movements are regular.

Here are 2 great tips for that:

1. Eat half of a small (cooked) beet.  Preferably organic.

2. Drink green tea.

(The beet may turn your urine or bowel movements slightly red but that’s to be expected from eating beets.)

Consider the possible limitations of cosmetic creams, lotions, and topicals? They only cover the superficial layers of the skin.  Can they go deeper?  Possibly, but how deep can it go?

If the deeper layers of skin are unhealthy and lacking proper nutrients, wouldn’t that impact the outermost layers on the skin surface?  But if the deeper skin layers are healthy, they can generate beautiful and glowing skin on the outside. Working on the inside affects the outside.

Acupuncture is one way to nourish the deeper layers of skin and facial muscles, it brings out a natural healthy glow on the surface.

But the most important thing is to make sure your insides are healthy.  If the inside is healthy, your outside will reflect beauty. Eat well, exercise, and find peace and contentment in your heart.

In the yin and yang symbol, notice that the image shows a small dot of darkness within the white light and the a dot of white light within the darkness.

What this means…

In your deepest despair, it will be difficult to feel hope.  And yet, inherent in the darkness is light, though often it is barely perceptible.  But search for it.  It is there.

In your grandest moments where you feel successful, invincible, and on top of the world, you will tend to overlook any  possibilities of a downfall, which is actually inevitable.

All of the universe ebbs and flows in the up and down cycle in the the yin and yang. You will never be completely on the up cycle or the down cycle forever.

Remember that in the height or depth of your experiences lies the potential for the opposite.

Clients who want to lose weight often ask me, “What’s the one food item that will help me lose weight?”

Well, there isn’t one.  And it’s a fallacy to think that there is one.

But if there really is one, then it’s probably quite unhealthy to eat that one food item predominantly.  While you may lose weight, it’s a very unbalanced way to eat and not healthy for you.

Similarly, it would be ridiculous to say that a millionaire got rich because of that 1 share of stock he purchased.  More likely is that the millionaire got there through his mindset and a long-term strategy to become rich.  He probably worked towards that for at least 1 year (probably more) and put in a lot of time towards that goal.

Or let me phrase this in another way…

Let’s say if you ate ice cream just once, could it add 20 lbs to your frame?   Probably unlikely.  But let’s say you were really stressed and you needed some comfort food, and you had ice cream daily for 6 months, could that potentially add 20 lbs to your weight?  Probably.

It is the long-term habits that ultimately create the big problems and therefore takes a bigger effort to undo them… because those patterns are stuck in our bodies and stuck in our mindsets too.

It’s the American illusion that a magic bullet can quickly fix a big problem.  I wish that were true.  But it’s not.

Here are 5 mindset tips to help you stick to your goal:

1. Adopt a  positive and firm mindset to tackle your problem.

2. Have a iron will to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and beyond any obstacles (that are absolutely sure to arise).

3. Accept that it will take work, time, and perseverance. Dedicate yourself to this for at least 6-12 months.

4. Look inside to see the real emotional undercurrent beneath the weight issue that’s keeping you stuck.

5. Tackling big problems require support.  Getting support from people, systems, or programs can change the way you see yourself and your ultimate goal.  I can guarantee you that millionaires had a support structure and specific strategies somewhere in their plan.

Now set up a plan and go for it.  You can do it!

Calories don’t matter.  In Chinese Medicine, there no such thing as calories.  Food is categorized in how they can rebalance your body.  Caloric system is numerical method that doesn’t take into account what your body needs.

(If you’re trying to lose weight, it’s the type and quality of the food that matters more than its calorie.)

In Chinese Medicine, food is categorized in terms of their energetic function and value. They also have energetic temperature. Some foods are warming while others are cooling.

So let’s say you have a body type that is a cold type, and you eat cucumbers because you know that 1 ounce of cucumbers has only 3 calories.  However, cucumbers are considered to be cold in Chinese Medicine. This means that you’re adding cold to your already cold body type.  Rather, if you use the Chinese Medicine dietary system, you would eat foods from a warm category such as cherries… even though they may be 6 times more calories at 18 calories.  Calories don’t matter; balance does. From a Chinese Medical approach, when balance occurs, health is restored and extra weight sheds.

This Chinese Medical approach to food has existed for thousands of years.  People have used this system everyday to rebalance their bodies to prevent illness and sustain health.

In a recent email survey, someone requested assistance and suggestions for “the ability to change bad habits”.   They didn’t specify what kind of bad habit, so I will address it from a more general standpoint.

I can’t really say if anyone is born with an “ability to change bad habits”.  I think it’s one of those things that people must develop the self-discipline to overcome bad habits.  But here are some things to consider:

- Everybody struggles with bad habits in one way or another.

- Nobody has a perfect deck of cards. Everybody has some imperfection, somewhere.  Have compassion for yourself.

- Set your goal but don’t be attached to the outcome.

- Yes, you can make changes but you must firmly decide on this.

Here are 3 practical tips for changing bad habits:

1. Identify the bad habit.

2. Ask yourself why you want to change that bad habit. The “why” is important because it reflects your level of motivation.  It also lets you know whether you have an external factor vs. internal factor driving your motivations.

3. There often benefits and perks to bad habits. What payoff do you get from keeping this bad habit?  It may be serving some part of you somehow.

4. Find something to replace this bad habit with. As the bad habit is transitioning out of your life, you may need something to replace it with… even temporarily until the new habit kicks in fully.  Otherwise, you’re likely to revert back.

5. Set a plan towards that goal by writing down specific sub-goals with specific dates.

6. Determination. You will likely get off track, and that is ok.  That is to be expected as you are building a new habit and letting the old one fall away.  The most important part is that you stay determined and get back ON track.  You may even get off the track numerous times, and there is no need to be disappointed in yourself.  Just get back on track.

7. Get support and stay motivated. It’s normal to encounter resistance and discouragement when trying to change bad habits.  Having support sustains you and makes all the difference during this crucial transition period.

8. Have accountability. Tell a supportive friend or family your goal, specific actions, and your timeline.  If you don’t have anyone to do that for you, find a program or system to help you with this part.

You will need to put work, attention, and time into this. Be patient and don’t give up!   There is help everywhere.  Seek it out.

Just as food can heal, food can also harm. Anything that harms or slows down your digestive system and metabolism can lead to weight gain.

There various types of foods that can disrupt your digestive system.

Here’s one… fried and greasy food.

Fried and greasy foods are naturally difficult for your stomach to digest. It basically clogs the digestive system.

All the foods that it’s suppose to be digesting sits there because the whole digestion has slooowed down.  Your digestive system ideally is suppose to be fairly quick and efficient.

In Chinese Medicine, greasy foods are categorized as Dampness, and Dampness is correlated with numerous health problems including excess weight.  It also takes a long time to clear out Dampness in the body.  So it’s better not to add too much greasy oily foods into your diet.

But what if you’ve eaten too fried chicken and french fries already?  What can you do to neutralize the bad effects of fried greasy foods?

Drink green tea.

Most Asian cultures drink tea during their meals in order to neutralize the fats in their meals.  In the body, fat binds to the tea, and tea helps eliminate it out via the urine or stool.

Acupuncture promotes weight loss in 3 simple ways:

1. It improves your metabolism.

It’s not what you eat, but what you absorb.  Likewise, with weight loss, it’s not what you eat, but what you metabolize.  Acupuncture improves the digestive system’s metabolic functions

2. It reduces cravings.

It decreases your appetite so you can better manage your behaviors with eating

3. It regulates hormones.

Hormones are related to the digestive system.  In fact, many organs are interconnected in Chinese Medicine.

The New Year is a time of new year resolutions.  And yet, these resolutions can easily turn into dissolutions. Without a plan and strategy, nothing will change.   While you can manifest the things on your list through law of attraction, I believe you still need a solid plan in place in order for the Universe to funnel it you.

In order to have fruition and motion forward, a goal needs a plan. Otherwise, it’s more of a wish… that stays unmanifested.

Here’s a plan to create a plan…

1. Set your goal.

• Example: Lose 10 pounds.

2. Create subgoals (mini goals) within that.

• Exercise twice per week for 30 minutes.
• Have each meal consist of 70% vegetables.
• Re-evaluate after 3 months.

4. Be Accountable.

• Be self-disciplined to dedicate yourself to this plan.  Research has shown that we are more likely to be accountable to do something we have stated to another person than if we just stated it to ourselves.  So find a person or a program who will hold you accountable to your plan.  This step is essential… otherwise, it’s a wish that stays unmanifested.

3. Get Support.

• Find a friend who want to lose weight too and implement together with them.  Call them on the phone when you feel discouraged or weak.  Support each other.
  
• Find a program that can offer you steps, counseling/coaching, and accountability towards your plan.

I find that most people already know what to do in order to reach their goals. They just need a system and plan to keep them on track. If you don’t have someone near you for that, then find a person or program that can give you the necessary support and accountability.

Don’t go at it alone.  Isolation downgrades goals back to wishes.