Understanding your Current Condition from a Macrobiotic Point of View

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Unders tanding Your Physical Constitution

and Your Current Condition From A Macrobiotic View

 

By David Briscoe

 

http://www.macroamerica.com/articles3.html

 

In macrobiotic counseling, two specific aspects of your health are paid

especially close attention to: your constitution and your condition.

 

Constitution = what you were born with, and it primarily refers to your

physical make up.

 

Your parents’ genetic contribution, the season in which you were born,

the geographical and environmental conditions you were surrounded by

during pregnancy, and your physical development nourished by your

mother’s blood while in the womb are the primary factors that influenced

your constitution. During this time you were being physically nourished

by your mother’s blood. Her blood was created by the food she ate and

drank. The nutrients and the various qualities of the foods were the

building blocks from which you grew from a single fertilized cell to a

fully developed human baby. During this time, you increased in size by

three billion times! In addition, the quality of your parents’

relationship immediately preceding conception as well as during the

entire pregnancy, and the parents’ individual mental and emotional

health during pregnancy, also significantly influenced the development

of your constitution.

 

Although most of the constitutional characteristics are established

during the time in the womb, the development of the constitution does

not end at birth. The constitution continues to be established until

approximately the age of five. The food most regularly eaten during the

first years after birth, and the early childhood environment, are the

main factors contributing to the further development of the constitution

after birth.

 

The constitution reveals itself outwardly in many physical and

non-physical ways, including the following:

 

Physical

Bone structure

The density or fragility of the bones

Facial structure

Proportion of facial features

The shape and size of the ears

The shape and size of the teeth

Overall musculature

 

A person will have either a generally hardy constitution or a delicate

one. This does not mean " good " or " bad " . Many people with hardy

constitutions can become debilitated and ill in later life if they

haven’t cared for themselves earlier. Those with delicate constitutions

can stay healthy all their lives if they take care of themselves over

the years.

 

The benefit of a hardy constitution is that it usually provides deep

inner reserves of energy. This can be drawn upon in times of illness and

difficulty and used for recovery. The drawback to a hardy constitution

can be that the person is a pusher and a headstrong driver throughout

life, never stopping to regularly relax or to hear the messages to

sometimes take it easy that the body and life is trying to send. People

with hardy constitutions often have great difficulty accepting the

challenges of illness or dietary change, because they have usually been

very strong and hard-working, and they have generally lived with a " damn

the torpedoes, full speed ahead " attitude. The hardy constitution is

truly wonderful, but it can be accompanied by an open or hidden

arrogance that says, " I'm as strong as an ox; I can eat, drink and do

whatever I want! "

 

The obvious drawback to a delicate constitution is that the individual

may not have deep reserves of physical energy to draw on in times of

need. However, on the positive side, individuals with delicate

constitutions often outlive those with hardy constitutions, because

those with delicate constitutions usually come to terms with their

physical limits earlier in life, learning to take care of themselves

over time. Also, those with delicate constitutions often have deeper

inner spiritual reserves since they have had to deal with illness and

physical weakness. This has given many of them a stronger will and

sometimes a wider view of life than those with very hardy constitutions

who have rarely, if ever, had to deal with chronic physical illness or

weakness.

 

What does all this mean?

 

Generally, if you have a strong constitution, your health may be easier

to establish or recover and maintain. However, as is typical of those

with strong constitutions, you may also be a stubborn person who has

difficulty following the advice of others or staying with a healthy

lifestyle. You may have an " I’ve always been strong as an ox " attitude,

and you may not see the real need or value of taking the time and effort

to make changes in your lifestyle and food choices. On the other hand,

you may very well be the kind of person who can use your strong

qualities to quickly change and make choices that are of benefit to you

in a variety of ways. I challenge you to learn how to use your strong

constitutional qualities for bettering your own health and personal well

being.

 

If you have a delicate constitution, you may have a few more challenges

in establishing and maintaining your physical health. You may have to be

more careful and more aware of how you eat and live. Be patient and

realize that it takes a little time to change. Don’t worry, though, over

time you may see that you have created lasting health for yourself. A

delicate constitution doesn’t always mean a delicate personal character.

You may discover deep resources of spirit that you were unaware of in

yourself. Because of these deep spiritual resources, you may very well

come to find yourself outliving those who are physically much stronger

than you.

 

Your Current Condition

 

Keep in mind that the constitution is like the structure of a building:

once it has been built, it doesn’t change much over the years. Even

though the tenants may change, or the color of paint, rugs, windows,

etc., may change may change often, the structure of a building and its

inherent strengths and weaknesses are there to stay. That’s very much

like your physical constitution. What you have at birth in the form of

your physical constitution is pretty well in place, and it doesn’t

change much throughout life.

 

On the other hand, your condition changes from day to day. Some days you

feel good, other days tired. Some days you are ill, other days healthy.

Some days you are a little pale, other days you have your normal color.

Sometimes you feel energized, other times tired. The condition is

constantly changing because the factors that influence your condition

are also constantly changing. Here are the main factors that influence

your day-to-day condition:

 

Blood quality

Acid or alkaline state of your body fluids

Weather conditions

Climate / Season

Geographical location

Atmospheric conditions

Environmental conditions

Internal energy circulation

Social surroundings

Current housing

Breathing pattern

Past and present eating and drinking patterns

Education / Family / Parents

Work / Career

Physical and mental activity

Personal happiness

 

Your blood quality is the main factor affecting your day to day energy

and internal physical condition. Fortunately, blood quality is one thing

over which each one of as can have creative control. By learning how to

select and prepare food and drink, we can control our blood quality.

 

From your blood is produced all of the rest of you:

From blood all of your cells are created.

These cells gather to form tissue.

This tissue gathers to form organs.

Out of blood, cells, tissue and organs comes your overall physical

condition.

 

From your overall physical condition emerges your moods, emotions,

thinking, judging ability, mental state and behavior.

 

The macrobiotic view is that to change cells, tissue, organs, overall

physical condition, moods, thinking, behavior, etc., you have to go back

to their source, the blood, and change it. In order to change the blood,

we have to go back to the blood’s source, our daily food.

 

 

 

Daily Food = Blood Quality

 

Changing our daily food will do more than anything else to change the

quality of our blood .

 

The life of a red blood cell is 120 days. What you eat and drink today

will be with you in your blood quality for the next 120 days, effecting

the health and function of your cells, tissue, organs, and mental state.

Of course, if you eat something of poor quality just once, and never

again during the next 120 days, its effects will diminish over time, and

the blood will recover a strong quality. On the other hand, if you eat

something day in and day out, or even several times weekly, its negative

effect is continuous and the blood quality stays weak, without a chance

to recover a good quality. As a result, everything down the line begins

to decline, too: cells, tissue, organs, bones, nerves, hormones,

immunity, endocrine glands, internal functions, moods, thinking,

emotions, behavior, attitude, etc., all decline.

 

From a macrobiotic view, the main factors determining your blood quality

are as follows:

 

pH: is the blood acid or alkaline?

Na (sodium) / K (potassium) mineral balance

Blood sugar balance

Water balance

Healthy functioning of the stomach

Healthy functioning of the small intestine

Healthy functioning of the liver

Healthy functioning of the spleen

 

 

The current condition expresses itself in the following ways:

Physically:

Current and recurring physical signs, for example:

Changes in normal urination and other

Functions of elimination

Infections

Weak immune function

Fevers

Headaches

Weight gain

Level of vitality

Big appetite or no appetite

Fatigue

Skin troubles

Congestion

Vision problems

Warts, moles, calluses

Rashes

 

Non-Physical :

Mood

Attitude

Quality of relationships

Social skills

Thinking

Emotional Expression

Obsessions and Phobias

Treatment of others

 

Listed above are just a few of the ways that the current condition

expresses itself physically and non-physically. Each person’s unique

condition will reveal itself in ways that are specific and unique to the

person.

 

The current condition is an expression of the harmony or disharmony

currently present in a person’s life physically and non-physically. It

is an expression of the excess, deficiency or stagnation that is

present. The condition reveals the current internal environment of the

blood, other body fluids, cells, nervous system, tissue, organs and the

mind. By understanding the current condition, we can determine what

actions and choices are necessary to properly practice a macrobiotic

lifestyle in order to re-balance the condition.

 

Determining the current condition is not the same as a medical

diagnosis. For a medical diagnosis, you will need to see a medical

doctor. It is not the same as an evaluation by a registered dietician.

For evaluation by a registered dietician, you will need to find the

appropriate referral agency. In macrobiotic counseling, I am looking to

the current condition in order to determine the most appropriate way for

you to practice a macrobiotic lifestyle. There are many ways to practice

macrobiotic living. Understanding your constitution and your current

condition assists me in helping you to determine which way of applying

macrobiotic principles is most appropriate for you.

 

http://www.macroamerica.com/articles3.html

 

©1999 David Briscoe