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Our Knowledge Connects with Balancing Health and Wellbeing

December 9, 2023

Health is Like a Library

We can use the metaphor of a library to understand how we should make sense of our health journeys. Through a traditional Chinese medicine approach to health and well-being, a holistic approach is created by focusing on our mental, physical, and emotional health. To achieve a happy, peaceful, and healthy lifestyle, none of these aspects can be neglected, as these aspects of your health work in collaboration.

To understand this concept better, in a library, there are many books from a variety of genres and on a range of topics, and we need to be able to read a range of books on many of these topics to fully understand the world around us. If you consider this from a health perspective, you shouldn’t only isolate and focus on one aspect of your health, such as by only doing exercise, or by only eating healthily, but rather, you should treat all the aspects of your health so that they can work together to make you the healthiest version of yourself.

Connecting Concepts to Balance Understanding

If you only treat one category of health, you might think all your problems will just be gone. But, this actually requires harmony and balance across these areas of your health. For example, if you only pay attention to your physical health, and tend to neglect your mental health, the imbalance of your emotions, your temperament, and your stress levels can negatively impact your physical health, as well as your mental health. Therefore, it is extremely important to look at your health and wellbeing holistically, to gain a sense of peace and balance within yourself. This is because in traditional Chinese medicine, you can help yourself from the inside out, and from the outside in.

When you have specific symptoms, think about “how many books you are reading,” so that you can take notice of which “books” (or aspects of your health) you are neglecting. This way, you can “pick up more books” (or reflect on your health needs as a whole). This will establish balance across your mental, emotional, and physical health, and will help your peace long-term, throughout your health journey.

Written by Lili Henderson-Clark

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