OK this is my second attempt at this post. I will be dating each of my titles as if I forget I used a title before, it then merges the new one with the old one and messes up the posts. 

Aging is an "issue" for all of us! There are all kinds of anti-aging practices popping up left and right understandably. We all want to age in the best way we can no matter our personal feelings about it. I imagine the goal for most of us is to be as healthy as we can be until the day we die and if we look great doing it-even better! I think that aging is the thing about life which really teaches us humility and grace-or not depending on how we embrace it. Someone asked me about aging and to post on the subject. So here it is.

In Chinese medicine, aging is correlated with the Kidney energy and with pre and post natal Jing-not only, but most especially. So, what you were born with matters and what you do with what you were born with matters maybe even more. What you look like on the outside is definitely correlated with your balance and condition on the inside. Thus a wonderful side effect of eating well and addressing the body holistically is that your appearance will cahnge for the better. Your skin should become more clear, your eyes more white, your hair more full and better texture, your nails stronger and you should be able to look into the mirror and just see a papalble difference. Often times people in treatment will say that friends and family just randomly come up to them and tell them how great they look. This is confirmation that things are changing inside.

I was born with deformed kidneys. In Chinese medicine, we would correlate this with deficicient Kidney energy. It's NOT good! Thank god I was saved by the miracles of Western medical surgical technology, I would otherwise definitely not be here today. I would have been gone probably before I was 30. I was so grateful that my life was saved, but sadly, the quality of my life was not. I was a mess after my surgery to correct one of my kidneys at the age of 24. I had boils all over my face, my hair was falling out, I stopped menstruating, I looked 15 years older than I was at that time, and I will spare you the rest of the ugly details. It wasn't good. I didn't want to go out because I was embarrased of my appearance and my physical functioning was completely not right. Back then, I had no clue what a Kidney was until they were failing. After my surgery and my rude awakening that Western medicine could give me my life back with out giving me my life BACK, and after seeing an unbelievable number of doctors who thought I needed to be on antidepressents, I quickly realized that I needed to hit the books and try to grasp what was going on in there. I spent a long time studying and ultimately when I picked up my first book on Chinese medicine I  knew I had found the beginning of what would be my answer. It just made complete sense. I could finally understand and connect the dots of why I no longer looked my youthful self-why I was in my mid 20's with bags under my eyes etc...

Aging is not only the Kidneys-remember I said that post natal Jing is correlated with aging as well. This has to do with how we handle our health-how we eat, exercise, handle our stresses and how that effects and feeds our Kidneys. So one can quickly correlate how in IC, the problems I am always speaking of in the Small Intestine effects the Kidneys and Jing. If your Small Intestine is not assimilating nutrients properly, they can not feed the body in a healthy manner and this will show in one's outward appearance.

Some of the current types of protocols that many are using for aging involve things that may manipulate the outward appearance, but will actually involve negatively effecting one's internal balance-things like botox and other chemicals that are injected into the body. Hormone therapy is another which places a person at increased risk for cancer. There is also plastic surgery which could be helpful but it does not always turn out in a desirable way and it certainly has no positive impact on the really important part of aging, which is to translate into longevity and wonderful quality of life. I think we all have the common goal of reaching old age in the healthiest manner possible without  a box of pharmaceuticals by our bedsides. Using forms of holistic medicine, in my opinion, most especially Chinese medicine, helps to provide an avenue to reach this goal and will also help your outside reflect those positive internal changes.

When I came out of my surgery, I looked old and falling apart-as the years passed, and I regained my health all of that started to change. I just turned 52-yikes, I cannot beleive I am admitting that. But-there it is. The pictures above-left is me at 29-make-up covering my beet red swollen face.The one on the right is me eye make-up only at 52. It is hard to tell with the distortion on the picture posted through this website, but, the one at 29-you can see all the swelling around my eyes and cheeks. I actually weighed 10 punds less then, but in my body and in my face it looks as if I am about 20-30 pounds more. Because I was born with deformed Kidneys, I came into this world at a deficeit, but, one can take what they are given and cultivate it to the best of their ability and make it better-much better. And that is what I have done, and each of you can do the same.

As people age and they start having all kinds of problems-it is often thought to be simply correlated with the aging process. But, as we age, we do not ahve to have these things happen. They may be prvented. We do not have to have things like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, high blood pressure, heart abnormalities, etc... Aging is not an easy process-but it involves many facets-our healthy balance through diet, good healthcare, positive mental energy, surrounding ourselves with things that make us happy, etc...For me, I hope to live to be old and die without pain in my sleep. I am hopeful Chinese medicine will have provided me a way to reach that goal. I hope to never be a burden on my children-to be able to take care of myself until I am no longer here.

I hope this was insightful. It is not quite exactly what I said on my first post-but I hope it was interesting. If you should have questions-post them here.

Dr.M