As the Zen saying goes, “Beneath the one who is busy is one who is not busy.”
Finding the Lost Art of Living
“God, I am soooo busy…”
In a world gone mad, it seems the only way is to be busy. If you aren’t busy then, really, where are you? Who are you? The time to take stock, reassess and choose a different reality disappears in a mire of work, work, and more work. Work hard, play harder as the maxim goes.
Holidays are a time for crashing or filling in the time with more busyness before heading back to the frontline again. How many times have you been on holiday, only to get sick, then recover just in time to get back to work again? Ever wondered why it happens? Eager to have a holiday that didn’t include getting sick? Ever thought about what could be different in your life? Ever wanted to be more in control of what was going on, rather than feeling like you were constantly chasing your tail and getting through the days?
Being busy has become so much a way of life that the art of living has been lost, and for many not being busy is simply too terrifying. What to do with all of that time?
What if there was a way to fit more into the day, be less stressed and actually enjoy what you were doing? It is all possible, and Chinese Medicine can help show you the way.
Firstly, let’s look at what all of that stress is actually doing to you.
Stress isn’t just about financial worries, work worries and relationship issues. It is everything out there that is out of balance that impacts upon you. Most of the stress we see walking about is actually physical stress – pushing the body too far, too hard, for too long. Eventually the body throws its arms in the air and says “ENOUGH!” It sends little niggling symptoms along the way to try and get your attention. Nothing too severe. But ignore these long enough and continue life in the same vein and sooner or later those symptoms are going to start getting a whole lot more noticeable. The body’s ability to adapt to challenges – emotionally, environmentally, mentally and physically – decreases, and with it so does our immunity. All the while our ageing speeds up as we sup on adrenalin to help us get through the days.
Adrenalin is the drug of choice for people on the go. Free. Readily available. As much as you could ever want. On tap 24/7.
While we are busy burning the midnight oil, recreating the world into our business nirvana, our bodies are silently crashing around us. Over a period of time with adrenalin as your bedfellow and business partner, your body ceases to operate normally. You don’t absorb nutrients as effectively, you forget to drink water, you don’t sleep as deeply or as restoratively as you need. You are an emotional time bomb.
Our libido nose dives, little niggling coughs, colds and sniffles just won’t go away. Pretty soon the throat just has to be cleared every few minutes. A little heartburn here and there, the acid in the stomach is pretty much constant and now the bowels are playing up and the waistline is thickening.
Exercise is a thing of the past as the knees have given out, the feet are in pain, and the back is a nightmare to get out of bed in the morning. Sport just doesn’t leave us feeling exhilarated anymore. The doctor has checked everything out and there is nothing wrong so it must just be age … or genetics.
Here is the real answer: Adrenalin exhausts. It is there to help us in times of true need and survival. Unfortunately, for many of us, that resembles every day in the 21st Century.
Practitioners at To The Point Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can help educate you, not only on how to identify where and how these daily life stressors are affecting you as an individual, but to also arm you with the tools needed to restore your body and mind to a place of peace and good health.
