'Yi' and health

In my earlier post, I talked about the relationship between 'ren' (benevolence or showing concern to others) and the well-being of our liver.

Today, I will discuss the second element in 'wu chang', namely 'yi' or duty, responsibility and its relationship to health. 'Yi' is related to the lungs and autumn. People who are introvert or keep their feelings be they sadness or happiness to themselves tend to suffer from malfunctioning of the lungs. The remedy is smiling. Smile often and you will be free of diseases of the lungs.

The Chinese phyisician who gave the talk related his personal experience. He used to suffer from sinuses which is related to the nose. Malfunctioning of the lungs manifests itself through the nose. According to him, he was very pampered and cared for himself only and seldom show filial piety to his parents - the lack of 'yi' (doing his duty to his parents). Lack of 'yi' will lead to malfunctioning of the lungs. In his case, sinuses developed in his nose. When he was in Year 3 and Year 4 of his Chinese medicine course, he realised this theory and started to serve his mother and father. He started to to massage his parents to relieve them of pain in the joints. Miraculously his sinuses healed by itself after having done his 'yi' to his parents.

Hence we should do our duty to our parents and keep smiling to maintain good health of our lungs.