Many people live with symptoms of poor health without getting them checked with doctors for various reasons. Over the counter pain pills mask continual pain and headache while extra coffee, soda and sugar mask fatigue. Other over the counter medications give some relief or people just suffer in silence.

Those following natural health ways often have either a fear of doctors or a belief that seeing doctors is unnecessary.  In the general public men and many women depending on their beliefs or cultural background, may ignore symptoms until they get worse. At this point, there may be a more serious health issue. Ignorance of the symptoms of poor health is not bliss.

People following restrictive natural diets such as: vegan, raw foods, low or high carbohydrates, excessively low calorie, very high protein and or fat are often told by the diet gurus that the symptoms they are experiencing are caused by them not doing correctly whatever diet is being promoted. Thorough diagnosis of the persons condition is often what is really lacking. In some of these cases doctors who are often not trained in nutrition, may or may not know that someones diet is causing symptoms of poor health.

In my personal experience and my experience with thousands of clients, any diet that overly restricts carbohydrates, animal products, fats or sugars excessively for a long time - except for special health conditions and diseases  -  usually causes symptoms of poor health that are directly related to the diet.

Many people refrain from seeing a doctor because they have a fear of doctors pushing medicines and drugs excessively. This is not unfounded. It is important to question what the doctor is recommending and do your own research about natural approaches that might complement, make balance or even replace the drugs that are being recommended. One has to be their own advocate and choose a medical professional that will respect and accept your partnership and your own thinking of what you want to do with your body.

With alternative counselors, practitioners and doctors, I think one has to do the same thing. When I give consultations with diet, herbal, exercise and supplement recommendations, I encourage people to learn why I am giving these through my online courses, in person lectures and suggested reading materials. Many people come to see me with a long list of supplements and diet recommendations that alternative doctors give them. I often ask these clients why they are taking these supplements or being recommended certain diets. In many cases, they don't know why.

I realize during a crisis, it may be difficult or in some cases impossible to ask questions. Sometimes medical or natural interventions have to be followed in emergencies. After the emergency, I recommend an intelligent partnership with medical professionals and doctors, natural health counselors and alternative doctors including myself. It is important to understand your condition and options, and in cases of medicine which can be complex and have side effects, to make good decisions about what to do for healing.

Ignoring symptoms will not work. In many cases it leads to worsening health. In my opinion the best modern medicine has to offer is in emergency treatments and diagnosis. Even simple blood tests and other testing when symptoms are present or blood markers are off can be addressed by diet, lifestyle and natural remedies and in some cases small amounts of medicine.

Your diagnosis should be interpreted by your own research, with the help of practitioners like myself or others who know how to offer natural approaches to many of the medicines that have side effects. In emergencies, medicines may be needed, Intelligent and well educated choices can be made.

Symptoms that are not going away either by doing nothing or if natural remedies are not alleviating them, they need to be further investigated. When using a natural remedy such as special foods, a diet, herbs or supplements, it may be that something else may also be needed. If a symptom goes on without relief too long, a pharmaceutical medicine may be needed at least on a temporary basis depending on one's condition.

Let’s use the best practices of alternative and modern medicine to stay healthy and avoid unnecessary suffering. Be well!

To practice this exercise:
 
1. Stand with your knees slightly bent with your feet waist width apart.
2. Have your hands facing palms up just under the navel just an inch or two from the body.
3. Breathe in and raise your arms with your palms up to the center of the chest.
4. Breathe out and lower your hands to below the navel.
 
Repeat this exercise for 20-40 repetitions. You can build up to doing it for 10 minutes. Make your breath as comfortably long and slow as possible. The Harmonizing Fire and Water exercise is either calming or energizing depending on your needs.
 
Qigong (pronounced chee gung) has many different exercises and sets that balance the body by opening tissues and tendons to increase the flow of energy, blood, and nourishment to your organs.
 
Harmonizing Fire and Water is a special practice with variations that is common to many of styles of Qigong. The term refers to two major energy centers in the body in Chinese thought. The Water center is the area around the abdomen. The image of water refers to quality that is imparted to the body and mind when this area is stimulated: quietude, peacefulness and conservation of energy. In modern biology, these are the functions of the parasympathetic nervous system.
 
The Fire center in Chinese medicine and Qigong teachings is located in the chest. The image of fire relates to how stimulating this center activates the body to become more energized, using up energy and nutrients to fuel the functions of the body and mind. In modern biology, this refers to the sympathetic nervous system.
 
If one of these areas or parts of the nervous system is overactive we don't feel well. The sympathetic nervous system is over active when we are in the stress mode. If the Water or parasympathetic nervous system is too strong, we feel sluggish.

The worse advice that is given as we get older except for cases of temporary exhaustion or an accident is to slow down.  This path leads to decrepitude and is deadly.

Part of the traditional myth of aging is that we should decrease our physical activity as we get older. This folk wisdom is wrong. If we follow this path, it leads to the very loss of wellbeing that we desire.

A better motto than take it easy is function maintains structure or as it is expressed popularly “use it or lose it”.  This advice is correct, anatomically, physiologically and neurologically.  If the bones do not sustain weight regularly, they soften and weaken. If muscles are not used regularly in challenging and skilled tasks, they become weaker and less responsive. If the brains cells are not systematically involved in a variety of voluntary tasks such as learning new things, they deteriorate.

Gradually, a lack of use of the body and mind create a softening, weakening and deterioration of our resources not because of age but because of a lack of use.

Part of the reason for the lack of desire to move your body, besides the myth mentioned above is: poor diet, unaddressed toxicity from the environment, bad lifestyle practices, inadequate sleep, too much alcohol, smoking and a lack of nutritional and herbal supplementation to make up for nutritional deficiencies that occur in aging. The end result leads people to not want to move as much as when they were younger.

The irony of this is that we need to move about, do exercises and skilled movements more often as we age, not less. Moving our bodies to increase circulation to the organs and to strengthen the structures of the body is needed more than when we are younger. Those people who don’t believe in doing exercise or sports because they could maintain their body without it when they were young are missing out. Because of our highly sedentary modern lifestyles everyone should be exercising from a young age and continue to do this our entire lives.

With proper diet, supplements, good lifestyle practices and exercise, the act of growing, maturing, and settling down to life as an act of decay is not necessary to be our fate. I was at a play with a lot of people in their 60’s, my age, the other night. Sadly, very few looked and moved in a way that showed vibrant health.

Another myth is that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Learning can be beneficial as a lifelong activity.  The brain is also involved in use it or lose it. Learning is different as we age. There is an incredible amount of research that shows how diet and supplements can improve our brain as we age.  Research has shown that people can learn absolutely new things into advanced age as long as we exercise that muscle in-between our ears.

Although moving is better than not moving, choosing the right kinds of exercises for the body and mind are important. Generally, we need exercises that energize the body and open up tissues and channels such as qigong, yoga, Hannah Somatics, and exercises that are moderately aerobic such as walking, jogging or jumping rope, exercises done weekly that strengthen the bones and muscles such as bodyweight training, Pilates and exercises that teach skilled movements such as dancing and martial arts.
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The Way of Qigong by Kenneth Cohen. This is an excellent introduction. Qigong is best learned in person. The quality of instruction varies. I teach a monthly class in NYC and give private lessons gigong/somatic

Somatics: Reawakening the Mind's Control of Movement, Flexibility, and Health by Thomas Hanna

Pushing the Limits! Total Body Strength with No Equipment by Al Kavadlo- an excellent introduction to bodyweight training for men and women. I suggest this approach over weight machines as weight machines isolate muscles.