 One of the things I've always loved the most about Chinese medicine is that there is a very strong medical philosophy For why people get sick or why they live to be a hundred for example Now this medical theory was broken down in one of our most ancient medical texts called the Huangdin aging and In those first beginning chapters some of the most profound statements are made as to why People can live to 100 or by 50. They are old and worn out and tired and they are gray So in this video, I thought I would share a very important conversation a very important topic that I often have with my patients privately but it's something that we need to talk about because How do you actually stay healthy or best predict your chances of not getting sick not dying young and Really living out your full lifespan, but with a great quality of life There are three main factors Chinese medicine talks about. Hey guys, Dr Alex Hein author of the health book master the day on Amazon Chinese medicine doctor Now let's jump in to two very important things before we go into this video more right below this video There are two important links. The first is for a free download for daily rituals That can potentially help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine right below this video There's also a link if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally or online via telemedicine Info on my private practice and how to reach me is right below this video now in the very first chapter of the Huang Dean aging There's this amazing amazing quote And I want to read it to you because this is the quote that one of my professors back in school had translated And this was her translation of this very important chapter It is that in far ancient times the sages taught that all disease was because of deficiency Enabling the invasion of pathogenic evils and villainous winds i.e. Unseasonable kind of seasonal temperatures or weather patterns Such things are to be avoided One's emotions should be tranquil and one should be content with one's circumstances from which true She will follow one's essence spirit should be retained internally and if all these are done from whence can disease arise This is because when the will is idle and the desires few the heart is calm and unafraid The form worked, but not made tired Then she flows smoothly and all is as one desires obtaining what one wishes Therefore they consider their food delicious their clothing sufficient and make joyful their customs In this way the exalted and the lowly will not be envious of each other and in this way the people will be called simple It is that desirable luxuries should not strain the eyes Wanton and evil ways should not tempt the heart and neither the foolish the wise Sages or the unworthy should fear for material goods in this way one can unite with the Tao So there are a number of factors brought up here you see both on one side There's references to lifestyle There's references to exposure to the elements which was a much more serious thing in Ancient times as well as in the modern world in in undeveloped nations but also you see a little bit of that Taoist or Buddhist aspect of regulating one's emotions and Keeping a quiet heart and not having so many desires or things you long after because that then disturbs Your physiology when I go through Instagram and I feel unhappy about my life because of something They have the spouse that I want. They have the success that I want. They have the career that I want I have the house that I want and I'm over here just feeling so unhappy going through my phone that Disturbs our physiological flow, which is the Qi flow in Chinese medicine But fundamentally what we are taught in Chinese medicine is that there are three main buckets or categories Factors that affect our longevity and our health now the very first one is That called the seven emotions now these seven emotions are listed out as elation or joy anger sadness grief worry Fear and or fright Now the main thing is that to understand these emotions is that we think of these as internal causes of disease There are external causes and there are the other category of causes When it comes to internal causes, you know any of us can stress ourselves so deeply into a panic attack or Have acute stress and then we don't sleep that night, you know We're going through heartbreak or somebody's sick or there's something you're just worried about your financial situation But these internal emotions are almost the inner weather of the body Whereas those external factors are the outer weather that can harm the body And so these were always likened to kind of inner weather patterns the ancient doctors and ancient texts talk about it being the inner weather So obviously from a basic perspective, we all know what it's like to feel not well due to emotions but these are understood as they can become chronic sources of disease if these patterns continue on long enough they can become a problem in the same way that the Entrepreneur or executive works these long crazy hours. Their nervous system is always shooting off fight or flight signals They're living in the sympathetic mode where they're always on and eventually it leads to disease The second set is what's called these external factors sometimes translated as the six pernicious influences So these are typically external factors in our environment, but they are thought to be wind cold fire or heat dampness dryness and what's called summer heat Now simple examples of these are a few years back. I got the flu for the first time I had been visiting my friends back in New York City after I finished my finals back in Portland and I was visiting my parents and I decided to go into New York City for the New Year celebration Now I didn't bring a very warm jacket because I was living in Portland where it doesn't get really that cold So I just had a shirt and a moderate level leather jacket Now that night happened to be one of the coldest nights of that whole winter where the average temperature was about 15 degrees, but there was a crazy whipping windshield and That windshield led me to be freezing cold as we were walking around New York City You know going bar-to-bar trying to meet people and going to someone's apartment Now unfortunately for me I didn't bring enough clothes and I was shivering the whole time even though we were walking all around so 15 degrees wind chill probably brought it to zero and I'm shivering the whole night rookie mistake for Alex because guess what happened Wind as we maybe would call it was one of the predisposing factors for me then catching the flu and so four days later as I got into my flight Suddenly I felt like I was about to have diarrhea and projectile vomit at the same time while I had a fever and chills come over me So lesson learned about the wind the wind chill But I think in ancient times often wind was often thought as any Pathogen or any illness that could invade from the outside was sometimes called wind And so that's important to think of as well now in a modern world where we're not strongly exposed to the elements Right cold and heat we live in these temperature-controlled microclimates. They're not so Important but they still affect us on many different levels now finally the third set the other box of factors these include things like lifestyle diet accidents infections Improper treatment from a medical professional including a Chinese medicine practitioner They could be having a weak constitution where you've always been sickly these other buckets, you know can fall into the category of I've overworked and therefore damaged myself. I've got stung by a scorpion and it got infected Etc. So these three big buckets are thought of as the main buckets that we learn are the main causes of disease So the inner weather write our emotions the outer weather or external influences And then what's neither of those things that are related to our lifestyle or our life or accidents or even medical Mistreatment, etc. All of those fall into affecting our Quote-a-quote allotted lifespan or maximizing our longevity We'll also having good health that whole time and then of course your inborn genetics are another piece of that other picture Right, so you may come from a long-lived family That's a real thing you may come from family where every woman has breast cancer So that's something to be very very careful of and pay attention to that These are the main buckets that we see clinically and the main buckets that I think are the most important to watch And to manage So those are the three big buckets of lifestyle or life factors that predispose one to a healthy long life Or maybe a life of disease and difficulty and I think those are very important to know That's all I have for today you guys now again If you'd like to stay in touch the link below this video is to if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally Or online via telemedicine you can contact my private practice where my clinic is there below There's also a free guide for daily rituals that can potentially help you add years to life with Chinese medicine All right below this video and then before you skip on over to that cat video Check out these two related videos here before you go