“Live a life that is well balanced; don’t do things in excess.”
Daniel Smith, Banned Subconscious Mind Secrets
The 2 “Phases” of the Physical Body:
In Traditional Chinese Medicine we break the state of the body down into 2 basic categories:
- A state in which the body lacks the proper resources it needs to thrive which we call a state of deficiency. In this phase the body needs rest and nourishment to regain something that it has lost.
- A state in which the body is overwhelmed by too many toxins which we call a state of excess. In this phase the body needs to purge and detox itself to rid itself of something it does not want.
These phases are not absolute, in other words you are never entirely in a phase of deficiency or entirely in a phase of excess since both of these phases are always happening all the time.
However your body does swing back and forth between primarily a state of deficiency or primarily a state of excess.
Why is this important for you to know?
This is important because most symptoms or dis-eases in Chinese Medicine such as anxiety, acid reflux, insomnia, or constipation can be caused by deficiency (not enough good) AND/OR by excess (too much bad.)
The treatment for a dis-ease of deficiency is different that the treatment for a dis-ease of excess and in fact the wrong treatment at the wrong time will actually make the dis-ease stronger.
2 examples:
- If you are struggling with anxiety and it is caused because of excess (too many toxins in the body) and you eat lots of food that builds the body up such as meat, dairy, and breads you will actually be adding MORE toxins to the body at a time when it is desperately trying to rid itself of toxins.
- On the other hand if you are struggling with anxiety and it is caused because of deficiency (not enough resources) and you eat lots of raw vegetables and drink fresh pressed juices you will actually be draining your body of the few resources it has left.
Up Next: Building on Your Understanding of Deficiency and Excess