青柳诊所手记57
青柳诊所手记57
秋天来了，花早都谢得差不多了，不久前还是欣欣向荣的花园现在是一片萧条的景象，地上到处是枯黄的落叶。
也许因为我父亲是搞气象的，我对天气和自然界的变化也总是比较敏感。
“为什么秋天会落叶呢？” 记得我曾这样问父亲。
也许是因为我还太小，父亲没有从科学的角度来正面回答这个问题，而是说：“秋天到了，树的能量都往下走了，上面的能量不够了，所以就掉叶子啦。中国的文人都喜欢悲秋。其实有什么可悲的呢? 叶子掉了不过是树的能量从显性变为隐性罢了。树木积存的能量越多，它来年就越丰茂啊。”
当了医师之后，我忽然明白，人何尝不是如此？如果把人看成自然界，上午是春天，中午是夏天，黄昏就是秋天，晚上就等于冬天。那么，到了黄昏，天渐渐变黑，周遭的能量从阳逐渐转阴，正如秋天自然界把能量从树冠收回到树干和树根一样，人也该把散发在外面的能量慢慢拉回来开始为新的一天做储存了。
这就是中医为什么强调要早睡早起的原因吧。如果到了该休息的时候还不休息，或者躺在了床上还在胡思乱想，那人不就是一直在耗神耗能，身体的气血津液始终都没有被给予恢复的机会吗？而如果我们一有机会就将能量下意识地内存，不等于就在身体里开了一个看不见的银行吗？
那天我经过一个小树林时，看见一个坐在轮椅里的老人正盯着灌木丛里的一株很不起眼的菊花出神。
我经过她身边时，她抬头朝我笑了笑。
“您很喜欢这花啊，”我说，“您一个人在这里？需要帮忙吗？”。
她笑一笑，指着坐在远处树桩旁的一个玩手机的男人，“我的儿子在那里等我，他大概等得有些不耐烦了。” 她轻皱一下眉，“我以前跟他一样，也一天到晚都在摆弄我的手机，却很少接来自自己身体的电话。你看，“她拍拍自己轮椅里面的身体，”现在我主动给它打电话它都懒得回了。”
我这才注意到她的身躯看上去极为消瘦和虚弱，她的头发也所剩无几了，我的临床经验告诉我她大约是个癌症晚期的病人。我不知道该说什么才好。忽然间我记起我的手机里存着一张照片，那是我两天前在花园里给一只鸟儿偷拍的。
好几个月前阿里医生就在花园里放了不少鸟食，最近又给蜂鸟们专门装了喂食器。喂食器很漂亮，远远看去，就如一片荷叶一样。有时候我给人治病时，时不时看见鸟儿们拍着翅膀朝我鸣叫，或用尖尖的喙儿敲击窗户似乎在吸引我的注意。那一天，我看见一只红嘴巴黑肚子的小鸟俯身凝视着一朵粉色的玫瑰，似乎在好奇这花为什么这么漂亮，又似乎陶醉在它的芬芳中。我赶紧把这个画面拍了下来给阿里医生看。
“您看看这张照片，”我对那个老妇说，“这只小鸟盯着那朵玫瑰时的表情，是不是跟您看菊花时差不多？你们俩都很专注啊。”
老人歪着头瞧了照片一会儿，满是皱纹的脸上露出了笑容。
她的儿子这时走过来，我招招手准备离开了。走出树林那一刹那我回头一望，正好看到她的儿子欲将她刚才凝视的那朵小花插在她的发鬓上，但她银白的头发实在太稀疏了，他插了好几次花都掉下来了。最后老人干脆把那花握在了手上。她朝我的方向看了一眼，微弱地摇了摇手上的花儿，似乎在朝我告别。这一幕看上去有些让人心酸，我的眼泪都差点掉下来了。
我们的病人中也有几个是病情相当严重的，包括癌症晚期。
对于他们，我们的治疗方案和手段跟治疗其它人也差不多。总体说来，就是通过针灸、拔罐、拨筋、推拿、中药和冥想，试图尽快地给他们的身体疏通出一些空间来。我们希望至少能够在减轻症状或改善生存质量方面帮到他们。
师父早就说过，我们的身体内本来就有自我修复、更新的潜能。当身体内的通道都正常开放了，被疾病打断的这个自愈潜能也可能有机会复苏起来。
尼古拉·特斯拉曾言：“如果你想知道宇宙的秘密，就用能量、频率与振动来思考。”
我在想，是不是通往健康的秘密也一样 - 所谓的疾病就是身体里面出现了一个偏离了自然、跟生命不和谐的能量波。一旦释放了这个能量波，那么健康的到来，只是迟早的事？
如何释放这个能量波呢？我想，可行的方法至少有两个，其一就是常常接一接身体以它特有的方式发来的讯息，其二就是顺应自然、与自然界的频率保持和谐共振。
正如艾默生所言：“健康时我们常忘记自己和自己的使命。而我们之所以偶然生病就是为了提醒我们这些而已。”（We forget ourselves and our destinies in health, and the chief use of temporary sickness is to remind us of these concerns.— Ralph Waldo Emerson）。
如果你感到身体有些不适，你是否留意它曾给你发过一个短信：放慢你的脚步，闻一闻那朵花，欣赏一下那一只鸟，望一望那颗星？
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Whispering of Willow 57
By Dr. Anna Zhao
Autumn has arrived, and the flowers have mostly withered. Our once flourishing garden is now a desolate sight, with withered yellow leaves scattered everywhere on the muddy ground.
Perhaps because my father was a meteorologist, I've always been quite sensitive to changes in the weather and nature.
"Why do leaves fall in autumn?" I remember asking my father once.
It is likely because I was too young, my father didn't answer the question directly from a scientific perspective. Instead, he said, "When autumn is here, the tree's energy all flows downwards, leaving little energy at the top, so the leaves fall. You know, the ‘Sorrow of Autumn’ is a common theme in Chinese literature. But what's there to be sad about? The falling leaves simply mean that the tree's energy has shifted from visible to hidden. The more energy a tree accumulates in its trunk and roots, the more vibrant and lush it will be next year."
After becoming a TCM doctor, it suddenly dawned to me that this energy principle also applies to us humans. If we apply this natural phenomenon to people, morning is comparable to spring, noon is summer, dusk autumn, and night winter. So, as dusk falls, the sky darkens, and the surrounding energy gradually shifts from yang to yin. As my father explained years ago, the tree’s energy is drawn back from the treetops to the trunk and roots. At this time of the day, people should also slowly draw back the energy they scattered in the daytime and store it in their centre. This way a new day’s energy is being guaranteed.
This is probably why Traditional Chinese Medicine emphasizes that we should go to bed with the chickens and wake up with birds. After dusk, when we are supposed to be at rest but aren’t, or when we are lying in bed and ruminating on things, we are still dissipating energy while preventing our body's Qi (energy), blood, and fluids from being re-energized and replenished. If we strive to restore our energy whenever we have the chance, it is like opening an invisible energy bank account in our body.
One day, as I was going through a grove of trees, when I saw an elderly lady in a wheelchair contemplating an unassuming chrysanthemum in the bushes.
As I walked towards her, she looked up and smiled at me.
"You really like this flower," I said. "Are you here alone? Do you need any help?"
She pointed to a man crouching by a tree stump in the distance, playing on his phone. "My son is waiting for me there. He's probably getting a little impatient." She said with a little frown. "I used to be like him, always fiddling with my phone, but rarely answering the messages from my own body. You see," she patted the body stuck in her wheelchair, "now even when I make a call to my body, she does not answer it."
It was then that I noticed how thin and fragile she appeared, and how little hair she had left. My clinical experience told me she was probably in the late stage of cancer. I didn't know what to say. Suddenly, I remembered a photo I had saved on my phone. It was a picture I had secretly taken of a bird in the garden two days earlier.
Several months ago, Dr. Ali had placed plenty of birdseed in the garden and recently installed a bird feeder for the hummingbirds. The feeder is quite elegant and from a distance, it resembles a large lotus leaf.
When treating patients, I catch glimpses of birds flapping their wings while chirping at me, or tapping on the window with their little beaks, seemingly trying to get my attention. One day, I saw a small bird with a red beak and a black belly gazing down at a pink rose, seemingly curious about why the flower was so charming, or perhaps intoxicated by its fragrance. I quickly took a snap of this so I could show it to Dr. Ali.
“Look at this photo,” I said to the lady. “Isn’t the expression on this little bird’s face similar to yours when you were contemplating that flower? You’re both enchanted.”
Tilting her head, the lady peeped at the photo, a pleased beam appeared on her wrinkled face.
Her son came over then, and I waved goodbye. As I strode out of the patch of woods, I glanced back and saw him trying to tuck the little flower she had been gazing at into her hair. But her silvery hair was so sparse that the flower fell off several times. The lady then gave up and held the flower in her hand. She glanced in my direction, feebly shook the flower in her hand, as if saying goodbye. The scene somehow touched my heart, and tears came to my eyes.
Several of our patients have quite serious conditions, including late-stage cancer.
For them, our treatment methods and plans are similar to those for other patients. We still use common modalities such as acupuncture, cupping, acupressure, massage, herbs, and meditation to treat them. The whole purpose is to create a peaceful space in their cluttered bodies as quickly as possible. We work to treat their illness, and at least help them alleviate some symptoms and improve their quality of life.
Our master has long said that our bodies inherently possess the potential for self-repair and renewal. When the normal channels within the body become open, this self-healing potential, interrupted by illness, may have a chance to revive.
Nikola Tesla said: “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”
I've been wondering myself if the secret to health could be the same. A disease is simply an energy wave within the body that deviates from nature or appears out of harmony with life itself. Once this energy wave is released, healing may be only a matter of time?
How do we release this energy wave then? I think there are at least two feasible methods: first, to regularly answer the calls that the body sends in its own unique way; second, to harmonize with nature and synchronize our resonance with its frequencies.
As Emerson’s voice rings in our ear, “We forget ourselves and our destinies in health, and the chief use of temporary sickness is to remind us of these concerns.”
If you are not completely healthy, has your body ever sent you a message: Slow down your steps, smell that flower, admire the bird, and have a glance at a distant star?