Health, Chinese Medicine and your Body Clock

Hey guys welcome to the Learn Feng Shui podcast where you'll Learn Feng Shui from a classical point of view taking out the myth and Superstition so if you're interested in learning funu Chinese astrology all things Chinese metaphysics as well as the superstitions and myths that connect it all you'll enjoy learning fun with me hey guys let's focus on health for today's episode hey guys starting off I wanted to talk to you about your body clock within Chinese medicine your body clock and your organs are represented by different times so coming to us from the Endeavor College of Natural Health which I'll link to below is a really great article called how to make everyday work for you using the ancient Chinese body clock so one of the most important factors within like function way in Chinese metaphysics is timing when we're able to time things the right you know the right time we're able to time it correctly we're able to make our funu more impactful well the same holds true to Chinese medicine um it says here you know if you know I'll just read a quote from here it says what if you were able to unlock the secret to making everyday work for you what if you knew the best time to eat sleep exercise and relax when to do the most demanding work and the ideal time to book your therapy sessions or work on personal development so the Chinese body clot can tell us this it also States here that over thousands of years traditional Chinese medicine not only discovered how our organs work but also how each of them directly impacts emotions and spirit so if an organ is not imbalancing or functioning as it should be it can affect both your physical well-being and your emotional well-being the Chinese organ clock can also be used to guide your understanding of an energy cycle and to help you understand how to best nurture yourself and to do do certain things and then of course when to avoid them depending on which organ is um being impacted at that time so looking at the hours when most people are waking up and getting ready for work from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. it is the large intestines time so it's a great time to wake up and start your morning routine it does say here that choosing exercise yoga or some gentle stretching is a good time to move your bowels around and it states that exercising in the morning is more beneficial than trying to um exercise in the evening time like after work because that's actually the kidneys time to have its detox um I will state though that um I mean if you're exercising and it's time you get exercise you know go for it right I'm not going to disparage anyone's exercise time but it it does state that it's the most beneficial in the morning so it also says that some tips here are drinking a glass of warm water with lemon um and then of course stretching and moving and holding off and having your morning coffee until breakfast time um it does it supports the balance of your hormones and adrenal glands um I I just can't get with it the first thing I do in the morning is drink my coffee I do stretch um and it does help to get things moving so to speak so but it is a good time to excrete and um to empty your bowels also then we have the areas from 7 to 9 A.M which govern the stomach it does say here that it's really important to eat breakfast during that time because it helps to um balance the stomach organ um and Meridian points within your body so stomach energy is extremely important for a digestive system um building immunity and creating and supporting the body to lead a healthy life and we all know that you know those gut biomes are so so important so maybe even taking like a probiotic during that time so here uh their tips are to eat during the um window of if if you're going to do intermittent fasting um to do it early it does kind of address the fact that intermittent fasting does kind of mess up this routine sometimes so start off earlier with your um your intermittent mittent eating it's hard to say together um it does say hold off on your morning coffee until after breakfast and interferes with the appetite it also states that warm food uh can support the digestive function cold food is a shock to the digestive system and if you consume cold food regularly you may feel tired or deplete it so you need that fire tea for your stomach it also suggests that um you eat some sort of um vegetables with your your breakfast um and it does suggest you know like a a spinach omelette or a zucchini omelette you know so that does make a really lovely fing for your food um I discovered recently that one of my supermarkets has a lovely strawberry salad with feta in a nice um strawberry vinegarette dressing and then they also have like a blueberry version of it and I think that's really lovely to eat in the mornings for myself although admittedly I'm eating cold foods so uh maybe not the best thing right it does say also it's a good time to practice mindfulness so um to quiet down and um enjoy uh just a minute of Silence until you start your day from 9: to 11:00 a.m. that is a time that governs the spleen so I had to look this up cuz I was honestly I was like what is this what is the spleen so the explains a fist-sized organ in your upper left side of your ABD abdomin abdomen ABD abdomen it's next to your stomach and behind your ribs it does say here um that it's an important part of your immune system although you can survive without it and to do that it says to use the energy of this time to schedule your meetings so I've never heard that but apparently um the spleen supports um like like your your brain function and thinking the hours of 11:00 a.m. to 1: p.m. coincidentally are the hours of the horse and the element of fire and they represent the heart so both eastern and western medicine agree that the heart is R to be extremely special and the most important organ of your body traditional Chinese medicine believes that the heart is responsible for holding on to our memories which is why news of heart transplant recipients and suddenly inquiring the memory your skills um of that donor is understood and often expected and accepted so tips for the heart time this time is powerful and extremely supportive of creativity and activities that bring you happiness remember fire represents spirituality passion happiness so use this time for brainstorming trying out Artistic Endeavors or activities that embody love and joy and I would also think to meditate on some sort of gratitude would be a really good activity for that time so 1 to 300 p.m.

it governs the small intestines this is the period of time when the energy of the day begins to slow down and become more Yin it says we link the second half the of the day leading up to the evening time or to a Yin energy in Chinese medicine which is all about rest Rejuvenation and slowing down it's a great time to schedule lunch and of course you know let's try to eat healthy and we're all struggling with that right if possible their tips say to schedule a nap during this time yeah I wish right um or to take a small meditation break so it might be something you can do during your um lunchtime or you know during that down time you have for just a second um take some deep breaths I I that also helps support your organs and to help de-stress you for the a more Yin or more inactive part of your day the hours of 3: to 5:00 p.m. represent the bladder so it's a really good time to do things like um flushing your your bladder it also States here that um the ancient body clocks um kind of make us you know hit a wall with that uh wanting to you know have a snack or eat something you know junk so this is the time we kind of associate with that it does say that it's better for scheduling tasks that require less brain power like grocery shopping just you know that sort of um admin type work that we don't have to put a lot of thought into because our brains are starting to go into that Yin State um it does say you know to do the minimal brain power activities and again as I mentioned it's a really good time to um maybe do like a detox tea for your your kidneys or your bladder and the kidneys next on the clock so let's move along to some detox from 5 to 7 is the kidneys it does say the most important point to highlight during this time is to avoid doing high-intensity exercise so again I kind of stress that earlier it do it does say this is especially relevant if you have underlying hormonal imbalances so it does say thyroid conditions or adrenal fatigue um are included in that the late afternoon or evening time is best dedicated to unwinding and relaxing and the balance of well-being in your body is best left to exercising in the morning so if you enjoy movement as a way to unwind some gentle um stretching or um maybe not like a venosa yoga flow but a um a really light a deep stretching with deep breathing um as opposed to you know sweating and doing that flow oh so along with the detox um yeah doing some detox teas or something and flushing out your your kidneys or your organs is a good time uh to do that before you go to bed um so yeah do it during this time so according to the body clock from 7: to 9:00 p.m. represents the hour that can support your paric cardium system so this is actually a membrane or like a sack that surrounds your heart and helps hold your heart into place and make sure it is working properly so it does say here paric cardium time is the best time to spend relaxing with your loved ones from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. you know it's the time we're kind of unwinding um shut your work down you know kind of um you know some things like that that can help you relax um the tips here to say kind of get into some comfy clothes you know um send signal to your brain that the end of the work day is done um it does say l you're back with your legs up on the wall for a few minutes can be a way to relax your nervous system and it actually helps really uh well with lower back pain so yeah there's that 9 to 1100 p.m. represents the triple heater so this isn't necessarily an organ so the triple heater triple burner or the triple Energizer sometimes it's called is actually represents the three um sectors of your your D your um like your torso and so it could rep like the upper part represents one part of the heater so that would include like your heart um and the middle part would represent like your stomach you know so it's more about the flow of energy than it is about the organ because of course there's not like an organ um so here it says now it's time to tuck yourself into bed your bed's are Sanctuary you know it's a time where you need to be mindful switch on that do not disturb um It also says that practicing gratitude as part of your nighttime routine can be very helpful an oil diffuser with some different essential oils can help support your relaxation so it's really a time to relax the hours of 11: to 1:00 a.m.

is very important for your gallbladder and I've heard this before that's important for you to sleep to support your gall bladder function during that time in Chinese medicine the gallbladder organ is related to decision making so if you're having difficulty making a decision in life you may be struggling to sleep during this time and so so that actually goes for any of the times that I've mentioned um previously so you know if you have time if you have trouble sleeping during a certain time or if you find yourself waking up during a certain time let's let's focus on what that could mean or what organ can be represented because now's the time that we should be sleeping you know 11:00 p.m. um it does say here for our gallbladder we want to um practice our decision making to support the gallbladder so so in again acupuncture can be very helpful too so now we want to look at if we're waking up at any time during the night um and this is particularly if you have trouble sleeping or you can't get back to sleep um you know I think just going getting up and going to the restroom is fine if you're able to fall right back to sleep but the liver from 1: to 3:00 a.m. if you're waking up during this time pay attention to your liver the river plays an important role at detoxifying our body but remember just like I mentioned earlier um um on a previous episode on the monthly energies that the wood element does represent our liver which is linked also to aggression or anger so it does say you know if you're waking up during this time it could indicate that something's out of balance with your liver maybe it's overloaded or it's an indication you may have an unhealthy diet or can be consuming excess alcohol it does say um your nervous system is stuck in a state of fight or flight so could also almost be like that adrenal gland um pushing um you know that adrenaline through your your liver your kidneys everything that can that can mess some things up so deep sleep during this time is very crucial so you should be in that state of um deep sleep if you're experiencing a lot of stress you could be waking up during this time um so just some stress reducing activities are very highly recommended as well as reducing your alcohol intake 3: to 5: a.m. is the lungs so if you're w waking up during this time it may indicate that you have an imbalance of in your lung energy grief and sadness are emotions that are linked to our lungs um it's also the element of metal so considering where you're whether you are feeling any emotions stress or tension and it may be blocking your ability to take deep breaths so um again that deep breathing is so crucial and important to our our body systems and our body functions doing deep breathing um also helps reduce that fight ORF flight that adrenal you know fatigue that we can experience so deep breathing really is what I say um they recommend that having a notebook or a pen on the side of your bed um to remember your dreams especially if you're waking up during that time and you're you know you're waking up with certain dreams so definitely some deep um ABD abdominal breathing so we want to make sure you're breathing in through your nose completely filling your your lungs your stomach everything up so your stomach's like pooching out and breathing out completely where all the air is out and you know do that a few times and it really does help reduce the stress levels um and it helps um support and take away some of that fight ORF flight or that adrenal fatigue we may be experiencing and here's just two little things you can do for your health as far as fun goes one of the ones is you can actually use the yearly Flying Star number four I've talked about this a little bit before you can use that activate that place some plants that sit in water and you can place that in the Southeast for the year it does have that Flying Star number four um and that does represent Health you know in um other systems it's called The Heavenly ye and it's something you would look for it represents medicine so it's you know could be beneficial to use that area if you can't um activate the area of flowering plants one of the things you can do particularly if you have a small space is you can locate the southeast sector of that room and use what is called called the Tai Chi or the small Chi of the area so you can do this in any area of your home and you can actually store your medicine there so say um you usually keep your medicine in your room or you know you just maybe you're ining a room and you don't have the use of the whole house so you can just locate the southeast area of your your space your room um your kitchen and you can locate your your medicine there you know just just put your medicine there the second thing you can do as far as like eight mansions go and they say it's supposed to work um fairly well for health is to place your head your bed position in your tan or your heavenly doctor so this is according to eight mansions funu and using your gu number um but you can put your headboard so the top of your head would go towards like say your your heavenly doctor's the West your top of your head will go towards the West while your feet go towards the east so that's kind of how you can use that if you don't understand how to use uh Gua numbers and eight Mansions I'll include a link there's a really great link on your Chinese astrology.com and I'll I'll link that below for you guys for today's folklore Friday let's do folklore about the rabbit it's no doubt that our ancient an ancestors were in love with the night sky there's so many Legends and stories that come from the different constellations so the Moon is no different in this you can quite literally during certain times of the year see what looks like a rabbit stirring a mortar and pestl on the moon um so this usually occurs during the Autumn festivals where they have like the moon cakes they celebrate the Harvest Moon um because it is the time of the year where the Moon is visible in a way that it looks like a rabbit is in the or on the moon in the shape of the craters and the moon so if you Google this you can literally see it so today I wanted to look at some of the cultural differences and some of the different stories about how the rabbit ended up on the moon so we've heard of The Legend of changy and her elixir of life and the rabbit joining her on the moon but going a little bit further onto Japan we have the legend of sukii No usagi I hopefully I I said that correctly the moon rabbit is a popular Tale in Japan however in Japan he pounds Moshi or rice cakes with his pestl rather than the elixir of life in Japanese the rabbit in the moon is known as Suki no usagi and there's a famous story about him that goes as such many years ago the old man of the Moon decided to visit Earth he disguised himself as a begar and asked the fox the monkey and the rabbit for some food the monkey climbed a tree and brought him some fruit the fox went to the stream and caught him a fish but the rabbit had nothing to offer him but some grass so he asked the beggar to build a fire after the beggar built a fire the rabbit jumped into it himself and offered himself as a meal for the beggar to eat quickly the beggar changed back into the old man of the Moon and pulled the rabbit from the fire and said you were most kind rabbit but you don't need to harm yourself and since you were kindest to me I'm going to take you back to the Moon to live with me the old man carried the rabbit in his arms back to the moon and he is still here to this very day where the old man left him just look at the moon at the night sky and the rabbit is there this story is said to originate from the Buddhist um text where the old man in the moon uh appeared and sometimes it's a monkey otter and Jackal that are the rabbit's companions also in Japan is the mid-autumn festival so as in China and Korea people gather to watch the full moon and children sing songs about the moon and about a rabbit called usagi or rabbit and of course with this spanning cultures I think it's amazing that we've actually found it in Native American legends so it says here that the it's entitled The Moon rabbit of Turtle Island it says here a number of First Nations or Native American people in the US Canada in Mexico also have stories about the moon rabbit as well the Aztecs believe that the god quak kuad lived on Earth as a man at one time and he started a journey after traveling on foot for some time he became very tired and hungry since there was nothing to eat or drink he thought he would die that is until he came across a rabbit eating grass in the field so she offered herself as food to save his life Kad was so honored and humbled by the rabbit's offer to sacrifice herself for his well-being that the rabbit was taken to the moon and brought back to Earth telling her you're just a rabbit but you will be remembered by everybody your image is in the light of the moon for all people at all times to see another story from the cre people says that um they also have a story about the moon rabbit the mo rabbit really wanted AR ride to the moon but the crane was the only animal that could fly that far and so the big rabbit held onto the Crane's skinny legs and as a result the legs were stretched out during the course of the trip this is why the Crane's legs are now elongated and when they touch down on the moon the rabbit touched the Crane's head with his bloody paw rewarding him with the red marks on his head that the crane still has to this day and it does say still to this day the rabbit is said to ride up to the Moon looking into the symbolism of the rabbit um of course I think almost across every culture every existence on Earth they probably agree that the rabbit 100% represents fertility so you know rabbits are very fertile animals they reproduce very very quickly and so of course the rabbit has became a symbol of fertility but they also represent things like luck power success emotional abundance and um also uh sexual activity and if you are born under the animal sign of the WRA habit um one of the things to note is that it's the element of Yin wood and it is a peach blossom animal so it represents the direction of East the cardinal directions represent the peach blossom animals which I talked about uh previously um it also could mean that you're very like visually beautiful and generally have a very sweet personality and sometimes a little bit shy for a free energy mapping of your floor plan please check the link in the show notes to support today's podcast go to learnfengshui.com sign up for emails leave a review and share with your family and friends