The western healthcare model really appears to be a sick care model. People get paid and rewarded when a person is sick. If you’re sick then you have to keep coming to the doctor’s office and need daily use of prescription drugs, etc. Try to get insurance coverage on alternative practices where people are getting paid to help you maintain your health and it doesn’t happen. There is talk about preventive care yet the current medical model gives very few incentives for people to do these types of practices because the insurance won’t pay for it. Despite all our advances and technology, there are more sick people now than ever before.

Preventative care now must become personal care. I have a Thai Yoga Therapy client who suffers from Parkinson symptoms and we have such amazing results from our therapy sessions. In fact her neurologist is aware of Thai Yoga Therapy and said that was the best thing she could be doing for her condition yet the “healthcare” model won’t pay for this type of therapy.

One of the core contributors to health problems is stress. It is a modern day epidemic. Stress compromises the immune system and creates stagnation in the body. Most people don’t even realize how stressed out their mind and bodies are because it is the new normal. Our lives are fast paced, busy and complex…. stressed.  This energy-depleting way of life, chronic stress, leads to anxiety, fatigue, depression and a weakened immune system which in turn escalates to a host of other serious physical and psychological ailments. These problems arise not only from the stress itself but from the ways people handle, or don’t handle, their stress.

Dr. Christopher’s whole philosophy to natural healing is going to the core. You will not find that type of support in the western healthcare model. In ancient China doctors where paid to keep people healthy. There’s a saying in Chinese medicine, “Don’t dig a well when you are dying of thirst, do so beforehand.” That is the perspective that Dr. Christopher had when he founded the School of Natural Healing, teach people prevention.

A little energy cultivation and stress clearing each day is an easy way to do preventative self-care, your entire system will become much more resilient and strong. The practice I like to use is Qi (chi) Gong.  I focus on my health while I am healthy. Qi Gong can be translated as “breathing exercise” or “energy work.”  Qi, life force energy, gives our blood the energy to flow and nourish our cells; it powers our immune system, our digestion and our nervous system. Qi is the power behind mental clarity; it is our batteries to life. It switches our autonomic nervous system from the stressed induced fight or flight sympathetic branch to the restorative healing mode of the parasympathetic branch where we have feelings of pleasure and harmony.

A Qing dynasty Tao master Shen Chia-shu wrote, “Breathing and related exercises are one hundred times more effective as medical therapy than any drug.” Deep breathing brings oxygen and flow to the blood and therefore every cell of the body, creating balance and health to your physical as well as emotional well-being.”

I would like to share with you just a couple of Qi Gong practices that are simple and can be done every day, even several times a day. These techniques are time tested and work, they can’t be patented, packaged, sold or turned into a pill and you don’t have to dish out big bucks or have insurance payments to receive the benefits. This is true healthcare.

1. Wave Breathing ~ Bring one hand on the abdomen and one hand to the chest. Inhale all the way into your belly first, and then allow the breath to come all the way to the chest. Inhale belly, ribs, and chest. Exhale all the way out, chest, ribs, belly. Repeat for 30 seconds to a minute. Feel old energy leaving on the exhale and new energy coming in on the inhale.
2. Buddha Holds Up the Sky ~ Now using the same breath, bring both arms up over head on the inhale, and float both arms down, palms toward your body, on the exhale. Inhale, arms overhead, palms towards the sky and look up. Exhale, close your eyes and float arms down by the lower abdomen. Feel the sensations in the body.
3. Here is a link to an energy routine that I love, put together by Donna Eden. It can be done daily and takes about 5 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di5Ua44iuXc

The important message is to be active in your preventative care and lower your stress levels. Qigong is just one way. Yoga, walking, bouncing on the Cellerciser, being in nature, studying the word of God, and meditation, to name just a few, are ways to lower stress and take care of your health. Our current western medical system isn’t going to do it for you.

Mishelle Knuteson is a Thai Yoga Therapy practitioner, teaches Chi Gong practices, is certified in Rapid Eye Technology (RET) an emotional release therapy, and a Master Herbalist ~ graduate of The School of Natural Healing. Mishelle is the creator of mantra meditation cards called Chants for Change. Her contact information is [email protected]


Printable Version: http://herballegacy.com