I remember getting fevers as a child, feeling chills-heat and laying around not being able to do anything. On some of these feverish occasions, I recall having the urge to use the bathroom, closing my eyes as it felt so strenuous to stand up to walk to the bathroom, then dreaming of having gone to the bathroom, only to open my eyes to find that I had not moved from the spot I had laid down on. My parents would do the same routine; take my temperature, put a moist, cool towel on my forehead, make me drink fluids and at some point, give me a paracetamol to lower the fever. Most times it worked; the fever would drop and after maybe some other symptoms, like sore throat or cough, resolved, I was back doing my normal day activities. What we never asked was what exactly is a fever, why they occur or if there are other ways to work with fever.

Since having my own children and my training in natural medicine, I have become more knowledgeable and comfortable with fevers. I believe this is one of the most feared symptoms that parents have for their children. Often many parents have had their own negative experience with fever and coupled with their fear, they end up at the hospital emergency room with their child, where a whole triage of events will occur; these can sometimes be traumatic for child and parents. Fevers are however a common and natural occurrence in the life of a human being; in fact, in science fevers are viewed as an evolutionary trait developed over 600 million years in both vertebrates and invertebrate life forms on Earth.

If you ever came in contact with a child, or remember your own childhood, you will experience fevers. It is part and parcel of growing up. As a parent, I realized that my instinct to protect my children, created a sense of wanting to take the discomfort of fever away from them. This however is a fallacy; it is a natural process of the body to “train” the immune system and the whole body for growth. I studied Chinese Medical methods to reduce fever, with Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs, but really knowing when to apply them came with experience of being a parent. As a parent to young children, I came to read a book of Natural Medicine, Wickel und Co., about using traditional healing methods like compress. This book’s section on fevers provided me with an understanding that I am very thankful for. I remember reading that children can have fevers for different reasons, not just due to infections. This can also be due to growth, teething, excitement or stress. After reading this and observing my kids, I realized this was true. I recall my eldest son was ill from a stomach-intestinal virus just before his 1st birthday. He had a fever, thrown-up, had diarrhea for almost a week and when finally the day of his birthday came, with all the guests outside celebrating his birthday, he was lying in bed sleeping. But the next year, he was healthy before his birthday, no fever or illness; the birthday celebration came and went, which he enjoyed a lot. The next day, he had a fever and we stayed home to rest. After half a day of sleep, he was up and about playing, with a slightly elevated temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius, which resolved and he was fully healthy the next day. This surprised me, but it made me aware that even excitement could raise a body temperature in a child. But what most surprised me was on both occasions, he lost a little more of his “baby cheeks,” grew another few centimeters and developed another growth milestone over the coming weeks and months. I learned then to back-off from “doing;” just wait, observe, support and then act when needed. My children have used very little pharmaceutical medicine for fevers through their childhood.

I find this categorization of fevers by Swetha, Karlie, Shumway and Shweta very clear:

•  Low-grade: 37.3 to 38.0 C (99.1 to 100.4 F)
• Moderate-grade: 38.1 to 39.0 C (100.6 to 102.2 F)
• High-grade: 39.1 to 41 C (102.4 to 105.8 F)
• Hyperthermia: Greater than 41 C (105.8 F)

My first course of action was to get my children to rest, provide lots of fluid, take their temperature regularly to assess if the fever was rising and observe how they were doing as well as what time of the day it was. If it was low-grade, I would just do the above. If it was evening (fevers tend to rise later in the evening and night) after 7 pm, and the fever was over 38.5 degrees Celsius (moderate-grade), then I would act by doing acupuncture to clear the heat, do a vinegar-water compress on the calves and provide fluids throughout the night. If it was high-grade fever at any time of the day, I would act immediately with Acupuncture and compresses, not waiting. Often times, the fever would subside by morning. Both my children have never been to a Western medical doctor for fevers. We have learned to respect the body’s own healing capacity and help it to do what it needs to do with natural and herbal methods.

Looking at fevers alone and not paying attention to the rest of the body is counterproductive. There is a reason why the body is mounting a fever, therefore, observing the rest of the body is essential to helping the healing process. Often times all we need to do is just be present with our children and let their bodies do what they need to do.
 


Reference
Swetha Balli; Karlie R. Shumway; Shweta Sharan (2023) : Physiology, Fever:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562334/ (accessed on 30.10.2024)



Image by Victoria on Pixabay

Many years ago, I watched a movie with my husband; it was a Chinese movie involving a student with his Daoist master. The student asks his master for some wise life lessons and the master replies, "Eat when you eat, sleep when you sleep."
 
Not long later, I was writing a letter to my university administration, to express my dissatisfaction with how certain class dates were changed at short notice that it had affected my travel plans, which involved flights that had already been booked. In the middle of my constructing this letter, my husband invited me to eat the hot meal that he had prepared and I decided to leave the letter aside to have the meal. However, my mind was still rummaging through the discontent I was experiencing with the school. Later, I had to spend time in the bathroom, dealing with my digestion that was reacting to my emotional state. In this moment, I became very aware how the Daoist master was right - "Eat when you eat." 
 
How often does this happen to so many of us? Many times we try to reflect on what we had eaten to find the "culprit" to blame for the indigestion and diarrhea we are experiencing, but actually it may have been how we were eating, with too many thoughts, among other things, and not what we were eating. Just as when we couldn't fall asleep, worrying about the events of tomorrow. Often times it was our minds being too busy with what was or will be, while expecting that our bodies calm down - "Sleep when you sleep."
 
Such simple advice, yet profound and sometimes feels unattainable. It is these very simple things in our everyday lives that make the difference, but we, unfortunately, seldom give recognition to the simple. We, as a society, love the complicated and the superheroes; hence, the overload of movies in the theatres about them, yet they are the flawed ones, who developed superhuman capabilities due to some deficiency or dis-ease that they experience. Take Batman for instance; his "normal-life" character being Bruce Wayne. Mr. Wayne becomes a vigilante, crime-fighting superhero after witnessing the murder of his parents as a young child. Basically, he experienced Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (PTSD) as a child and as an adult compensates for his inability to control the events that shaped his life, by having "super" toys as well as assumes a different identity, behind a mask, in order to shape the life of others. Therein lies the complicated.
 
Actually, it is the simple and the steady regularity that gets us through life in a wholesome manner. In the 20 years of being a practitioner of Chinese Medicine, I have observed that those who find this regularity and consistency often also have habits that positively affect their lives. This begins already as children. When as children, we are served regular, homecooked meals, which we are maybe a part of the process of making, we become used to taking time to cook and eat with others. This then shapes the digestive system, in terms of rhythm and environment. I once treated a patient, who shared honestly with me how dietary changes that would require him to cook would not likely be successful. He realized that his growing up in a boarding school shaped his relationship to food; food was served to him and his fellow boarding schoolmates, of which they were not involved in its preparation process. He associated food with just going into a cafeteria, consuming enough so that he would have enough energy to go on with his day. I was thankful for his disclosure of his experience, as it helped me understand what he needed and my becoming aware of other realities of life. Many of us consume what is easy and fast, sometimes as we are moving to our next appointment, as we are trained as such. If we didn't give our digestive system the time or the space needed to digest what we just ingested, how can we expect that it will process it well. Just as when we humans were not given the time and space to do our work, how can we be expected to submit a successful, finished project. So maybe it is not just what is eaten, but also how we eat it, that shapes what we produce out of our bodies. But this does not mean we cannot change what we learned as children. This is where we have a choice, to be conscious of our habits.
 
Similarly with sleep; we drop into our beds after working on stressful projects or doing mind-stimulating activities, expecting that our body-mind would just calm down on its own, at a snap of a finger, enough to fall into regeneration mode. Maybe just like with our digestive systems, they will for a time, until they don't anymore. We are then confronted by our insomnia, tossing and turning in our bed, wondering why we can't fall asleep. Then, we imagine what it will be like when we have to work the next day with little sleep; thus, solidifying our inability to find the peace to sleep. The downward spiral continues on and on until we choose to stop it by becoming conscious.
 
Simple is not always easy, especially in our modern, complicated manner of doing things, which is often times neither efficient nor beneficial to us or our environment, even though we are told it should be. But if this is what we need, then it is time to become conscious of our everyday habits. Let go of the complicated that has not served us. Honour the simple, honour the everyday space and time! - "Eat when you eat, sleep when you sleep." 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Image Sleeping Dog by Chris F on pexels.com

The Chinese character for Centre or Middle is, 中 Zhōng in Mandarin. I recently looked up a Wiktionary etymology of this character and it describes 2 versions of this pictogram: one being a target, the rectangle box being shot through by an arrow, the second, derived possibly from a more ancient character as in the image above, being a flagpole with a drum being beaten by the wind, placed in the centre of a field to gather people together and to detect the direction of the wind. The meaning of this character, Zhōng, is either "middle" or "centre" or "to hit the centre" or "to attain."  

It is quite unknown to many that the name for the country China is not what Chinese people call their own country. They call their country Zhōng Guó,中國, meaning "Middle State" or "Middle Country." The modern mainland Chinese call their country Zhōng Huá Rén Mín Gòng Hé Guó, People's Republic of China. "China" was a name given to them by the Persians, or possibly ancient Indians and then adopted by the Europeans. There are many reasons that led to the people of China calling their country Zhōng Guó, which archaeological sources date back to the period known as the Warring States Period, ca. 471 to 221 BCE. But what has then occurred is that the medicine that we called Chinese Medicine, which is called in Mandarin Zhōng Yī,中醫, directly translates as "Middle Medicine." 

It only recently occurred to me that a "Medicine of the Middle" is about finding the Centre, which for me also refers to finding balance. This is true of Chinese Medicine, there is a focus in finding balance within the individual; the individual within her/his social-emotional, physical and spiritual environment. The concepts of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases/Elements, which are the basis of Chinese Medicine, are about balance. Over 10 years ago, I was in a course for Shonishin, Japanese Children's Acupuncture, with Dr. Thomas Wernicke. He got us to lay like babies, in order that we understand the perspective of the world that babies have. One of the important growth milestones for a baby is rolling, either from belly to back or reverse, which typically occurs between the 4th and 6th month in a healthy child. Before a baby can perform this, it must first find its midline, that means hands and feet, right and left must be able to connect with each other. Once they can perform this on a regular basis, the body will be able to tip sideways, and they begin their movement journey towards being upright. This was an illuminating moment for me. I became more aware of my own Centre as well as how important it is to be Centred in order to be alive and thriving. 
  
It has been a few years now since I began practicing Yoga. What has drawn me to practice it regularly in recent years has been the connection I sense with myself internally and externally as well as, what I perceive as a playfulness with my own body(-mind). After spending my early years of life till my 20s dancing on my feet and the next few decades practicing rooting through my feet-legs through Tai Ji Quan/Qi Gong, I find being upside-down on my head, arm and hands just fabulously exciting. My most recent goal is the Handstand; the description of Handstand is very deceiving as it not just about trying to stand on the hands. Through this process, I am evolving a new awareness of balance and my Centre, not just in the literal sense but also in my life. I am finding that balance is not a static place/event; it is a constant fluctuation between stillness and movement. Some days I achieve balance on my hands for 3 seconds and another for just a milli-second. I receive minute information from different body parts like the base of my hand or my phalanges (the bones of my fingers) on where my balance is. I find that I am in constant "conversation" with my body and its different parts. It brings me into the here-and-now, because if for one split second of handstanding I lose my focus, I may fall painfully on my head. I accept all these gratefully as I know deep inside me, a cauldron of deep knowing is in the brewing.
 
As we just passed the Autumn Equinox (time of equal day and night) last week, I had the feeling that balance is being called for. We can all definitely find a little more balance in our lives and what better way than to become aware of our Centres. Take a moment of quietness and stillness in either standing, sitting or lying. Become aware of your body in space. Then, ask yourself, "Where is my Centre?" and just listen to your body answering.
 
 
 
Image Headstand by Aron H.
Image Zhōng Bronz Inscription and Silk Script from Wiktionary
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In quite a few countries of the world over the next few Sundays in June will be the celebration of Father's Day. Till now, this has not been a very well commemorated day in Switzerland, which by the way is on the first Sunday of June, except maybe by the electronic/digital gadget industry trying to get us to buy more of their products. Fathers get little acknowledgment in general; they often get the role of being the breadwinner of the family but little else in our society. It was not until September 2020 that it was officially recognized that Fathers may have 2 weeks of paid-paternal-leave after the birth of a child. It displays to us what our society used to think of Fathers; that they are simply only there for the financial stability of the child and nothing more. Hopefully, this new law will help long-held views to transform.
 
For me the roles of a Mother and a Father brings me to the concepts of the Yin-Yang, which is one of the central precepts of Chinese philosophy. One scholar of modern Chinese Medicine, Giovanni Maciocia summarizes the Yin-Yang relationship into 4 main aspects:


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1. The opposition of Yin and Yang, as displayed in night and day; night is Yin and day is Yang. "However, the opposition is relative, not absolute, in so far as nothing is totally Yin or totally Yang. Everything contains the seed of its opposite."
2. The interdependence of Yin and Yang, "one cannot exist without the other."
3. Mutual consumption of Yin and Yang, in which both Yin-Yang are "in a constant state of dynamic balance," "maintained by a continuous adjustment of the relative levels of Yin and Yang."
4. The inter-transformation of Yin and Yang, in which Yin-Yang "are not static, but they actually transform into each other: Yin can change into Yang and vice versa. This change does not happen at random, but only at a certain stage of development of something."  

 ​​(Maciocia, 1989, 5-6)

I find it also very appropriate that we are celebrating Father's Day in June, as we are heading to the highest point of the sun in the northern hemisphere around the 21st of June, the Summer Solstice. From a Yin-Yang perspective of the Earth, this is the Yang at its extreme, at its zenith; Yang within the Yang. That means from this point forth in the year, the sun will begin its descent which will culminate at its nadir around the 21st of December, Yin within Yin. Back to the extreme Yang, as we approach the Summer Solstice we can feel in ourselves the rising of our energy, the expansion and opening of the external parts of our being. If Yin is the female, deep, dark, nourishing principle, the Yang is the male, outward, bright, movement principle. These descriptions of Yang sound much like a role of a Father to me. The Yang aspect provides an individual the ability to be courageous and adventurous; to explore the world around her/himself with confidence. This means being able to try things out and find her/himself in the world.
 
"Children with a healthy maternal matrix will test their limits freely knowing that they can easily return to the mother should things get uncomfortable. Children with healthy father role models are encouraged and inspired to experience new things because they can see the confidence and enthusiasm in their father's eyes."  (Farrell, 2016: 94)
 
As Yin-Yang exists in all of us, it means the Father role can be coming from a female too, just as the Mother role model can come from a male. This is what the Yin-Yang shows us, we have both female/male, maternal/paternal aspects in us, in varying degrees. What most of us have experienced in our societies are extremes of the roles, where females manifest the maternal nourishing role in the home and were not allowed to display their outward, adventurous nature, and males only allowed their paternal providing-nature but not their gentle nourishing aspects. We are a product of our societal conditioning. What if both Mothers and Fathers can provide both nourishment, adventurousness and courage for new experiences? What if both parents are allowed to be present for their children as they are growing up? What if both parents are given equal respect for the things they do and provide for their children? It is time to change the conditioning, as it has not served us well. 
 
So many of us grow up seeing little or none of our Fathers, as they were out there working to provide for their family or were not given the space/time to be present with their children. As I read this last phrase from Yvonne Farrell referring to "father's eyes," it reminds me of Eric Clapton's song, "My Father's Eyes." It was only recently that I became aware of Mr. Clapton's story of not knowing his own father, like so many in the world. I am very touched by the song. For the Fathers of the world... 
 
 
 
 
    
Reference
Farrell Yvonne R. (2016): Psycho-Emotional Pain and the Eight Extraordinary Vessels. London: Singing Dragon.
 
Maciocia, Giovanni (1989): The Foundations of Chinese Medicine. London: Churchill Livingstone.
 


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Image baby-father's fingers by RitaE on pixabay
Image Tai Ji Symbol by clker-free-vector-images on pixabay