When choosing to use natural remedies it’s important to understand which are suitable for you, and how they will affect your body and health.
For each person, there are some natural remedies that are ideal medicine for them, and other natural remedies that can actually have a detrimental effect on their health and wellbeing.
So, it is important to have a clear understanding of which remedies are best for your body’s unique needs, and which to avoid. The tricky thing is, this will be different for different people.
How can you know if a particular remedy will benefit you?
There are now such a wide variety of natural remedies on the market, more and more people are choosing to use them in lieu of Western medicines, as they can often have unpleasant side effects.
In general, this is a very positive trend, as the body more easily accepts medicines from natural sources, rather than synthetic, chemically derived medicines.
However, even natural, organic herbs such as ashwagandha, turmeric (or curcumin), ginger, garlic, ginseng, tulsi (holy basil), mint, lavender, aloe vera, flax seed, soy or coconut products are not suitable for everyone.
In order to understand if any one of these remedies is suitable for you, it is important to understand two things:
1) Your body constitution, and
2) Your internal energy profile.
These are determined through the Five Element Sasang system of Constitutional Medicine.
1. Your Body Constitution:
This is essentially your internal climate, on an energetic level. It is something you are born with, and it never fundamentally changes throughout your lifetime.
Body constitutions are divided into two basic classes:
The Yin Constitution, in which the core of the body is cold and damp, and
The Yang Constitution, in which the core of the body is hot and dry.
The effects on a Yin Constitution:
If you have a cold, damp constitution you will not do well with natural remedies such as tulsi, mint, lavender, or aloe vera juice or gel, to name just a few.
These remedies are energetically cold and damp, and will make your body’s energies colder and damper, and can block or weaken the functioning of your internal organs. They may give rise to anxiety, and create a feeling of sluggishness. They can potentially cause significant heart weakness.
These are only a few of the negative symptoms that can arise when someone of a Yin constitution takes these products.
On the other hand, these same natural herbs can be very beneficial for someone of a Yang Constitution.
The Effects on a Yang Constitution
If you have a hot, dry constitution you will not benefit from natural remedies such as ashwagandha, turmeric/curcumin, ginger, garlic, or ginseng, to name just a few – believe me, there are many more out there that can cause harm to people of this constitution.
These natural herbs and spices can wreak havoc on the digestive system, causing excessive gas, burping, acid reflux, and even ulcers. Or, they could potentially cause urinary problems, back pain, constipation, IBS, fatigue, high blood pressure, or heart palpitations. These are just a few of the possible issues that can result from taking these kinds of remedies.
Ashwagandha and ginseng are particularly potent, hot energy herbs that can cause great harm to people who have a hot, dry constitution. I cannot stress enough how important it is to understand if they are suitable for you or not, before taking them or recommending them to others.
On the other hand, these natural herbs can be very beneficial for those of a Yin constitution.
2. Your Internal Energy Profile
This refers to your configuration of Five Element energies, the individual energies of your five major internal organs. The configuration of these is how much or how little of each of these energies each of your internal organs received when you were born.
This is a second layer of consideration, in addition to your body constitution, that we use in the Five Element Sasang system when determining which herbs, remedies and foods are best suited to your body. In other words, which of these are the ideal fuel that your body can work with to create consistent good health?
If, for example, your respiratory system received considerably more energy at birth than your other internal organ, then remedies such as dairy, flax, soy, or coconut will cause detrimental effects to your health. They can adversely affect your lungs, sinuses, large intestine, or even your skin.
When you fully understand both your Body Constitution and your Internal Energy Profile – together these comprise your Body Landscape –
then you can make the best decisions on which natural remedies – and products containing them – will most help you, rather than harm you.
This knowledge can not only prevent you from unknowingly hurting your body, but it can it can actually guide you back to good health.
If you have had your Body Landscape consultation, but are still unclear about your Internal Energy Profile, you can meet with me by scheduling a Follow-up consultation. We will go over all those details together.
See the link below to schedule a Follow-up consultation.
In my personal experience, understanding my Body Landscape absolutely saved my life.
When I was studying Zen Buddhism in South Korea, the spicy Korean cuisine greatly compromised my health. I became very weak, and had frequent heart palpitations with frequent chest pain. When I went to Korean herbalists for help, they gave me herbal formulas containing ginseng to help my weakness, but it only made my symptoms worse.
I reached the point where I honestly thought I might die in Korea.
I was blessed to meet a Korean Buddhist monk, Hyunoong Sunim, who taught me about my Body Landscape, and the foods and herbs that would help me recover my health. It is from him that I learned this whole system of Five Element Sasang Constitutional Medicine. I am deeply indebted and grateful to him.
My primary mission is to guide others in a spiritual path of awakening.
My secondary mission is to guide others in understanding their Body Landscape and the foods/herbs/medicines that will help them to recover and maintain their health.
Supporting our body’s health is an essential aspect of our spiritual path. When we can be healthy and have good internal energy balance, our emotions will change from negative to positive, and we can focus on our meditation practice with more clarity, internal stability, and fewer obstacles. Being healthy in body and mind greatly supports our spiritual path.
I wish you good health, and deep spiritual practice.
Chinese herbal Treatments
For those who are now experiencing the cooler temperatures that come with the autumn and winter seasons, this change in seasons can be a challenging time for our bodies.
A Chinese herbal formula provides more potent, deep internal balancing and strengthening of our energies than what foods can provide.
A ten-day treatment, taken once or twice a year, can protect our health and boost our stamina.
If you have already had your Body Landscape consultation, you can order a treatment of Chinese herbs.
Just send me an email, or reply to this newsletter, and we can arrange that.Learn more here: https://jaguangsunim.org/services/#chinese-herbal-treatments
Schedule your Follow-up Consultation Appointment
Questions? If you are interested in having your Five Element Sasang Nutritional Consultation but have a few questions first, schedule a complimentary 15 minute informational call with Jaguang. There is no obligation with this call.
Schedule a Free Info Call
Ready to begin your journey back to health? Order your Five Element Sasang Nutritional Consultation. The link below will take you to the Intake Form. Once we receive your order we will send you an email with a link to schedule an appointment to have your first consultation with Jaguang.
Order Your Five Element Sasang Nutritional Consultation
