Nurture versus nature
Health is about balance between body, mind and environment. Chinese medicine looks at the relationship between lifestyle, hereditary predisposition and daily stress. Supporting the body in movement, recovery and balance creates space for sustainable health.
Health as a balance between body, mind and environment
You can see health as the balance between you, your body and the world in which you live. Work, family, social contacts and relaxation all play a role in this. Our possibilities are partly determined by heredity, but also largely by lifestyle habits. It is precisely that part — the nurture aspect — that is where we ourselves have the most influence.
This is the core of the name of my practice: how to take care of your body and mind in the best possible way. You could describe it as cultivating your own nature, or more formally: creating conditions in which health is maintained and recovery is possible. In Chinese medicine, this principle is known as Yang Sheng.
Nature and nurture are also familiar in the West, for example in biology and social sciences. There, we will investigate how hereditary predisposition relates to environmental factors such as parenting, lifestyle and nutrition. This interaction is also central here.
Yang Sheng and the difference between east and west
What makes Yang Sheng so inspiring is the long tradition and the simple message. It's about balance between you and your environment, with room for physical, emotional and social factors. Taking them together creates an overall picture of health or illness.
In Chinese medicine, the focus is often on how something comes about and how to deal with it. In the Western approach, the focus is more often on what is different and where exactly the problem lies. Both perspectives have their value.
You could say that Western medicine is relatively more focused on analysis and short-term solutions, while Chinese medicine pays more attention to coherence, prevention and the long term. In practice, these approaches complement each other.
More coherence between body and mind
Both nature and nurture play an important role in health and disease. Many complaints are caused by a combination of predisposition and environmental factors such as stress, diet, sleep or lifestyle.
An important starting point within Yang Sheng is the awareness that you have one body and a limited time to live in it. That is why there is a lot of emphasis on preventing disease and respecting natural principles. By gaining insight into how the body functions, better choices can be made in treatment and lifestyle.
In practice, this insight does not arise unilaterally. Through knowledge of Chinese medicine and dialogue during treatment, we come to a better understanding of what is going on together. This is a learning process that ultimately helps you take good care of yourself.
Movement as the basis of life
Everything that lives is moving. This also applies to the human body. We breathe, move, digest, feel and think all the time. Underneath the seemingly fixed structure of the body lies a dynamic and constantly changing system.
When that movement is obstructed somewhere, complaints can occur. The body has a great self-healing capacity and often tries to solve disturbances on its own. Think of compensation after injuries or the removal of harmful substances via moisture and phlegm.
When loads last for a long time, this costs more and more energy and other processes are disrupted. In treatment, we often focus on removing blockages and supporting the removal of waste products, so that the body gets space to recover.
Pain and other symptoms as signals
Symptoms are signals from the body that it is in the process of recovery and adaptation. They do not arise randomly, but are part of an attempt to restore balance. Redness, swelling, pain, or tiredness tell something about what the body is trying to do.
Examples of symptoms include pain, night sweats, skin reactions, allergies, digestive problems or sleeping problems. That is why during a treatment, people always ask about sleep, nutrition, stools, energy and daily patterns.
Pain is one of the most recognisable signs and should not be ignored. It indicates that natural movement in the body is hampered. Even if pain has been around for a long time and has started to feel 'normal', it remains a sign that something needs attention.
Maintaining long-term health
Maintaining health is a process of ongoing alignment. By gaining insight into the principle of nurture and nature, you can work towards a sustainable and ultimately self-reliant approach during treatment.
Important principles here are that the body is a dynamic system with a great regenerative capacity, that complaints are signals of a disturbance in balance, and that health comes from the interaction between predisposition and the living environment.
We are happy to help you find balance and harmony.
