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According to a Wall St. article dated 4-13-23 by Laura Landro, “Medical Schools are incorporating new subjects like nutrition, exercise and social connections in a bid to reduce chronic illness.  Students are learning lifestyle medicine interventions alongside pharmacology, pathology and physiology”.

These lifestyle tenants mirror the concepts of Traditional Chinese Medicine – maintaining optimal health through how you live your life – managing diet, stress, exercise and in most cases, excesses.  It is better to prevent disease than treat it after it occurs.  My teacher had a saying about this.  She said “Once you are thirsty, it is too late to dig a well”.

The Lunar New Year began on January 23, 2023. It is the Year of the Rabbit!

The Chinese Zodiac, like the Western Zodiac, is made up of twelve signs, each represented by an animal or magical creature.  In Western astrology, the signs cycle through the twelve months every year, but in Chinese astrology, each sign gets a whole year to itself, and a cycle lasts twelve years.

Chinese Astrology also incorporates the five elements: Water, Metal, Wood, Earth, and Fire. The zodiac moves through a different element each year. 2023 will be the Year of the Water Rabbit. Because the Yin Water element is associated with the color black, some people call this the “Year of the Black Rabbit.”

The Yin Water element represents sensitivity, intuition, and, in its most positive form, the way of inner peace. The Water Rabbit Year promises a period of rest and reflection after the dynamic Year of the Tiger.

The Rabbit is a symbol of good luck. In Chinese philosophy, rabbits are also considered to be emblematic of patience. So, as long as you can bide your time until the moment is right to act in 2023, you should experience some lucky breaks!

It has been said that in ancient times, Chinese physicians were paid only when their patients were in good health. This gave them the incentive for preventative care and explains why Chinese Medicine was designed for health maintenance – to keep you from not getting sick or in pain.

Compare that to the current health care model in most countries.  It is sick care and designed largely to fix a problem once you already have it.  This is the model most of us are familiar with.

As my teacher said, “Better to have a stool with three legs rather than two”.  This means that we can utilize the strengths of each model for optimum health.  Traditional Chinese approach for daily wellness, and a conventual Western approach using all the updated scientific technology for acute and emergency problems (car accident, major surgery, cancer, etc..).

The big question is, which healthcare do you need?

We wish everyone a Happy and Healthy 2022.  Do your best to improve/maintain you goals in life.  What you do in your daily life (managing diet, sleep, stress) can be like medicine and this is true Healthcare.  In ancient China, physicians were paid only when their patients were healthy.  The alternative to this is Sickcare – waiting until you are sick to get treatment.  The choice is yours.

Remember too that developing favorable qualities (being kind, honest and virtuous) does not require any special education or affluence – it just requires daily choices.  It can be difficult, but again the choice is really yours.  Good luck!