Bisong Guo and Andrew Powell

193 Pages·2009·1.98 MB·English

Listen to
Your Body
(cid:1)
THE WISDOM OF THE DAO
Bisong Guo and Andrew Powell
Listen to Your Body

Listen to Your Body
The Wisdom of the Dao
Bisong Guo and Andrew Powell
A Latitude 20 Book
University of Hawai‘i Press
Honolulu
©2002 University of Hawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
07 06 05 04 03 02 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Guo, Bisong.
Listen to your body : the wisdom of the Dao / Bisong Guo and Andrew Powell.
p. cm.
“A Latitude 20 book.”
ISBN 0-8248-2381-8 (alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8248-2466-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Hygiene, Taoist. I. Title: Wisdom of the Dao. II. Powell, Andrew.
III. Title
RA781 .G86 2001
613'.0951—dc21
2001027358
Excerpts from the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) are taken from the translation by
Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English (Wildwood House, 1973; Reprint, 1986).
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the
guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources.
Designed by inari information services, inc.
Printed by The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group
Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
PART ONE
The Miracle of the Human Body
The Cosmos as a Living Organism 3
Yin and Yang: Nature’s Energy Balance 11
The Meridians 15
The Flow of Qi in Nature 24
Harnessing Nature’s Qi: The Three Dantian 27
PART TWO
The Information System of the Body
The Natural Human Life Span 33
Recognizing the Signals Your Body Sends 36
Case Studies from a Specialist Clinic 42
The Body’s Warning Signals Ignored 42
Live Now, Pay Later 43
The Ring that Changed a Woman’s Life 45
The Engineer Who Ran out of Steam 47
v
vi Contents
“Doctor, What’s Wrong with Me?” 49
A Hysterectomy Avoided 51
Joints Cracking—Yin Lacking! 52
What the Back Can Tell Us about Qi 53
The TCM Approach to Multiple Sclerosis 56
A Child with Asthma: No Need for Steroids 59
Who Is the Patient, Mother or Baby? 61
Holiday Syndromes 63
PART THREE
Learning to Trust the Wisdom of Your Body
Mind and Body in Harmony 69
Relaxed Mind, Relaxed Body 71
Ancient Medicine: A Hundred Generations of Study 75
The Art of Knowing Your Qi 79
Whole Body Reactions 81
Speci¤c Body Reactions 82
Assessing the State of Your Health 83
Protecting Your Qi 88
PART FOUR
The Daily Care of Your Body
The Biorhythms of Yin and Yang 93
The Right Way to Start the Day 97
The Art of Breathing 99
The Rhythm of the Four Seasons 104
Water as Medicine 107
Washing Is a Skill! 114
How to Dress 120
Eating Wisely, Eating Well 124
Natural Body Functions 130
Medicinal Plants 132
Drinking Alcohol: Vice or Virtue? 136
Qi and Sex 139
Contents vii
Traveling with Ease 145
Keeping Your Home from Harm 149
Preparing for Sleep 151
Enjoy Aging with the Help of Your Qi 155
Postscript 159
Index 163

Foreword
Yesterday I returned to work after a short break. “How are
you?” a colleague asked. “I’m well, thank you,” I replied, a simple,
familiar form of greeting posed and responded to quickly and auto-
matically. But how was I really? A few aches and pains perhaps, but
that’s normal enough, isn’t it? Apprehensive about the day ahead
maybe, but that’s how work is, isn’t it? It could be that any number
of things were not quite right within me, but did I know? This book
asks us to enter the place between that question and answer, to
make a space between the two, and to listen to what our bodies are
telling us. Externally the greeting and response may remain the
same, but internally we have the opportunity to hear and respond
to the messages our body is giving us and to enjoy more fully both
our health and ourselves.
In this book, Dr. Guo and Dr. Powell have managed to capture
and communicate the essence of the Daoist philosophy of health in
a way that is both challenging and informative. Between them, the
authors can count many years of clinical experience and much ex-
pertise in Traditional Chinese Medicine and western medicine.
This unique combination enables them to offer the reader access to
insight and knowledge previously unavailable. They have been able
to synthesize and interpret ancient wisdom using case studies and
illustrations with clarity and acuity. These days we are bombarded
with recipes for health, so-called orthodox and alternative. Yet all
ix