Bookmark and Share

Aging

930 Logan Street #101 & 102
Denver, Co 80203
720.284.1374

Licensed Acupuncturist and Practitioner of Chinese Medicine

John S. Aguilar Jr., L.Ac.

Home

Introduction FAQ Foundations of Health About Chinese Medicine Acupuncture For... My Private Practice Community Acupuncture Links Sources, Suggested Reading Sitemap Mind and Mood Diet Exercise Sleep Meditation Appropriate Medical Care 10 Steps to Better Health What is Acupuncture? What is Chinese Herbal Medicine? What Can Chinese Medicine Treat? What to Expect Acupuncturist Training Herb Identfication Energy Almanac Addictions Aging Allergies Anxiety Back pain Common cold Depression Digestive Issues Disease Prevention Fatigue, Low Energy Menopause Migraines and headaches PMS, Painful periods Sports injuries Stress Students Weight loss About Me Practice Philosophy Specialties Modalities Rates Training and Licensing Location Clinic Photos Seminars Current Patients New Patients Chinese Medical Chinese Medical - Organizations Chinese Medical - Schools Chinese Medical - Government Chinese Medical - Journals Chinese Medical - Misc. Exercise (Tai Chi, Kung Fu) Government Western Medical Drug Information Local Practitioners Chinese Medical Chinese Medical - Classics and Pre-modern Texts Chinese Medical - Modern Texts Taoism Physics Diet Exercise Western Medical Psychology

  Home : Acupuncture For... : Aging

Healthy aging is experienced as gradual transition through the phases of life. Changes in physical appearance and ability, mood and cognitive abilities, reflect deeper maturation and development. Differences in these areas appear gradually and are commensurate with the nature of the phase they appear with. For example, in youth, physical strength and forceful power are appropriate. These attributes are necessary to actively engage the world and 'make our mark'. In the later years, after decades of experience, wisdom and subtle power manifest. We see and understand the inner nature and workings of the world, a benefit of our rich past. We know better when to act and can be more effective with more subtle efforts. The brute force of youth is no longer needed, nor desired.

In healthy aging, such phases and their associated characteristics flow smoothly. Sometimes, however, transitions are not smooth and appropriate abilities do not manifest. In these instances, we end up forcing our way through life. Not experiencing what feels 'right', we engage our rational minds to analyze and, with much effort, fight our way through the months and years.

This action causes significant wear and tear on the body and mind. Just as friction eats away at the materials in conflict, when we force our way through life, physical and cognitive functioning degrades. Over time, perhaps even by the early age of forty, the accumulated friction, stress, on our body and mind, reaches a state of material disease. Be it heart issues, weight gain, or fatigue and nagging pain, we experience a 'breaking down' of the body.

Unfortunately, it is the latter story that is often misconstrued as 'aging'. Too often, the act of growing older is blamed for physical difficulties or mental weakening. Over thousands of years, the system of Chinese medicine has revealed quite the opposite. The stereotypical elderly Tai Chi master is an excellent example of healthy aging. These men and women gain in mental clarity and physical ability as they age. Though, perhaps lacking externally apparent, 'brute' force, they could successfully engage and defeat multiple opponents in combat situations. And their minds, through trained observation and constant increasing of self-awareness, possess the ability to penetrate deep mysteries and understand the most subtle complexities of life.

Those men and women are the masters of life, and it took them decades of constant growth and development to attain this mastery. It is this constant growth that is the story of healthy aging. In the West, we tend to think of reaching a 'peek' of health and then slowly going 'down hill' until our bodies fail and we pass on. This is not the way it has to be!

Where aging leads to decreased function and ability, one simply need look at the system responsible and inquire as to how it is functioning improperly leading to excessive stress, wear, and tear. Sometimes the resulting disease, itself, can lead to even more damage to the body, speeding the process of degradation.

Chinese medicine excels at the detailed, comprehensive, and holisitic diagnostic capabilities required to grasp the full extent of stress and damage caused by aging. Compared to its Western counterpart, Chinese medicine incorporates the physical, mental/emotional, and cognitive aspects of being all in a single system of diagnosis and treatment. Further, Chinese medicine is capable of not merely slowing the aging process, limiting damage done, or fixing things after they break, but instead can actively strengthen the body and return it to a state of health.

Mention should be made that the length of treatment may vary considerably depending on the nature and severity of the specific ailments being treated. Where a condition has evolved over decades, treatment will likely take many months to return the body to health.

Chinese medical treament, itself, may include the following modalities: acupuncture, internal medicine (Chinese herbal medicine), qigong exercises, counseling, diet therapy, and meditation. (For disucssion on these modlaities, please click here.)

For more on what Chinese medicine can treat, please click here.
       
For information on the basics of health and healthy living, please click here.
 



             

      

        

       
    

             

All contents Copyright
John Aguilar, Jr. 2008