East Meets West , Holistic Medical Systems: Traditional Chinese Medicine

Good day,

Today I want to continue from a couple of posts earlier. We were talking about Ayurvedic medicine and how it worked. We also mentioned how it was similar to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

TCM dates back about 3000 years. Its founding father was the Yellow Emperor.  In TCM, illness is a sign of imbalance in our system. Healing always means restoring the balance and harmony to the body, allowing it to heal itself. Herbs are central to Chinese medicine along with acupuncture and massage.
There are three categories of of Chinese medicine: superior, middle, and inferior. In western medicine it would be the "inferior" medicines that are considered the most valuable. These are drugs that only address a single complaint, issue or disease. Middle medicines strengthen the broad body systems and functions. Superior medicines are believed to work for anything, strengthening all body systems.
The idea of yin and yang comes from TCM and is the philosophy that everything in the universe is balanced and has an exact opposite. Yin (dark and cold) is female and Yang (light and hot) is its male opposite. Many illnesses can be explained be the the imbalance of yin and yang.

There are five elements in TCM: Fire, earth, metal, water and wood with each one being related to two body organs. TCM practitioners look at the related elements to determine origins of illnesses.
Herbs in the TCM world are considered either heating or cooling and will be used to treat illness in the body.  When Chinese herbs are described they always include taste, temperature, and affected organs.

Qi (pronounced "chee") is the energy that runs through our bodies and is the foundation for all of the TCM healing practices. This energy needs to flow freely through the body. Acupuncture is often used to move this energy through "blocked" meridians. Meridians are pathways in the body that the Qi travels through and if blocked results in various illnesses. 

Unlike the Western medical system which only treats the symptoms of any sickness. TCM uses herbs, acupuncture and massage get to the root cause of any ailment by "re-balancing" the bodies energies.

It would be fantastic if western doctors took a more open minded approach to treating patients and invetigate the posbililty of TCM style of treatments. Currently many western doctors look at Ayurvedic and TCM as an inferior form of medicine but in reality both have been used successfully for 1000's of years and are continued to be used around the world.



Cheers,

Bouncelife

Turning your New Years "Resolution" into a "Decision"

Good day,

Today I want to talk about how our New Years health and fitness resolutions can be turned into New Years decisions for a healthier lifestyle.
We all do it. We make some kind of resolution at 11:59 on New Years Eve. Many times it is a resolution to get in shape and take control of our lives in the coming year. Some of us make these resolutions with no intention of following through on them and some of us really want to try to make a significant change in our lives. This blog is for those of you that are ready to step up and take action!
When we make these resolutions we usually look at the big picture but the trouble is taking these resolutions and turning them into decisions and actionable items.

Lets take a very common goal, losing weight and break it down into an actionable goal. 


Be specific in what your goal or resolution is. 

• Example: Lose 25 lbs

Establish a time frame to get this done. 

• Example 25 lbs loss over 3 months

Break down the time frame into manageable chunks. 

• Example: 2 lbs per week over 12 weeks = 24lbs

Establish a game plan to achieve the goal. 

• Example: Hire a trainer, join a gym, or talk to a nutritionist.

Keep a log book and write a small but concise paragraph on why you want this goal.

• Example: I want to lose weight so that I can be healthy and full of energy for my family. 

The plan, is the plan, is the plan... in your log book write out a workout/nutrition plan and stick to it. 

• Example: I will train 5 times per week. 2 times with weights and 3 time with cardio.

Set goal assessment plan.

• Example: Weigh in weekly every Friday and measure body bi-weekly.

Set action plan if goals are not being met.

• Example: add another day of cardio or cut out more junk food from my diet.

Finally.... and this is the biggest part of the whole process! MAKE THE DECISION TO START TODAY! Not tomorrow, not on Monday, Not Next week ... TODAY!

Remember anyone who is fit or in shape started in the exact same place you are. You are going to be nervous and apprehensive but to get around this think about what you will be like in 3 months, 1 year, and 5 years if you get on track. Now do the same visualization if you were to continue on your current path. Only you can take the steps necessary to make a change in your life.

Cheers,

Bouncelife

Bounce Life Studio Revamp

Happy New Year,

I just wanted to take a moment to give an update on the first expansion of the Bounce studio. We have removed the office that was in the studio to open up more floor space and make it a more functional space. The office is now in a separate space. Check out the videos for details.