Understanding the Tao of Beauty

Excerpted from
Tao of Beauty: Chinese Herbal Secrets to Feeling Good and Looking Great
By Helen Lee

For centuries, the study of Chinese herbal medicine has included beauty as one of the results of good health. The concepts of health and beauty are inseparable, focusing on the total well-being of the body's internal and external functions. To have optimum health and beauty, a great physique and youthful appearance has to start with the body's inner health, which includes maintaining the balance of yin and yang, chi, and blood action.

To get the most out of The Tao of Beauty, it is important to understand the underlying principles that inform Chinese thought. Whether we are talking about health or the weather, several important concepts apply. At the top of this list is the principle of the Organic Whole, followed by the theory of Yin and Yang. In addition, there are chi or life force, the Five Elements, nature's Six Climatic Effects, and the Five Emotions.

Using these special points as an outline for your new venture, I promise that you'll soon be in touch with your body-and your beauty-like never before.

A Brief history of Chines Medicine

I come from a family of herbalists, and I've heard stories since childhood about the amazing work done by such great pioneers as Emperor Shen Nong, who introduced agriculture to the Chinese people around 3000 b.c.e. According to legend, Shen Nong was intrigued by the vast numbers and varieties of plants around him and began to experiment with herbs. As the first in a long line of Chinese herbal "explorers" he and his disciples tested thousands of these plants-tasting them, cooking them, and making teas from them. In the process of this delicate, dedicated study, they discovered through shrewd and careful observation, that many of these plants not only tasted good but also enabled people to stay vigorous and strong. The vast variety and effects of these herbs was a challenge to Shen Nong and the long line of others who followed him in this quest. Some herbs induced sleep, others wakefulness; still others eased pain or helped people recover quickly from even the most serious illnesses. They also found that some made the skin soft and beautiful and others enhanced youth and vitality.

These formulations were passed down through the generations and refined until, centuries later, during the reign of Huang Di of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.-220 c.E.), this knowledge was collected and incorporated into a book entitled The Yellow Emperor's Classic Book of Medicine. This is generally recognized as one of the first known formal Chinese medical texts.

My mother, who comes from a long line of Chinese herbalists, is an ardent believer in traditional Chinese medicine. She served my family foods that were in season to maintain balance within us; this kept us healthy and strong. Instead of going to the pharmacy for pills if we were ill, she cooked special dishes that were known to treat whatever was out of balance within us. She brewed special herbal tonics that would strengthen our immune systems or speed up our recovery by helping our bodies renew their internal balance. She also prepared toners, bath salts, and other topical treatments that affected our total well-being and promoted beautiful, glowing skin and strong, shining hair.

Few things are more effective than Chinese herbal formulas to maintain balance in the human body. I will show you that a complete beauty regimen can be based on a well-balanced nutritional program designed to provide a foundation

of health. This high level of health provides the groundwork for natural beauty and prevention of disease. Western medicine is great for acute intervention-X rays for broken bones, surgery, diagnostics, and so on-but it doesn't address total wellness from this traditional Chinese perspective.

By the time you've finished this book, you'll be figuring out what foods you need to bring equilibrium or balance to your system. You will incorporate common foods into your diet with natural awareness that they are nourishing your body at a cellular level, encouraging your hair to grow without graying, cleansing your body so that it becomes free of age-causing toxins, even making your fingernails grow long and strong.

The starting place for any study of this ancient practice is a concept we call the Organic Whole.

The Organic Whole

All life is part of nature-an organic whole that includes the earth and the cosmos. Notice that I said "part of nature," as in part of a whole.

When the weather turns cold, we know that we need to wear more clothing to stay warm. During winter, we cat heavier, more filling foods-root vegetables, hot soups, and the like-that warm our bodies from the inside out, as opposed to summer, when we cat lighter, cooling foods. During hot weather we need more cooling liquids and foods with a high moisture content to replenish the fluids lost through perspiration. Nature supplies us with juice-filled fruits and melons to make it easier for us to meet this need.

Nature is always in and around us. The seas and trees supply us with the oxygen we inhale to sustain life. In turn, we exhale carbon dioxide, which trees and other plants need for photosynthesis. When we are in harmony with the natural rhythms of nature, we experience a sense of health and well-being. When we oppose these forces, we are edgy, uncomfortable, and in extreme cases, ill. Premature aging can also result from imbalances in our bodies.

When I was flying back and forth between New York and Paris, New York and Rome, Rome and Hong Kong, Hong Kong and New York on modeling assignments, my body's "timeclock" was constantly upset as I raced from time zone to time zone. My sleep was so disrupted that I often woke up from a nap exhausted. I was always tired, no matter how much I slept, dehydrated from spending so much time in the pressurized environment of airplanes. And hungry. Really hungry. The balanced, healthy way of eating that my mother had taught me was ignored. It was too old-fashioned for me at that time. After all, I was a modern girl.

I loved my life as an international fashion model, but before long, my looks began to suffer. My hair lost its luster, and my skin was dry and flaking in some areas and tender with acne in others. I had absolutely no energy. I was out of harmony, out of balance. And my body showed it. I went to a series of Western doctors who treated me with antibiotics and injections. My skin would clear up, but recovery was always short-lived, so back to the doctor I'd go. Obviously, with my face breaking out. I was unable to work, so I took time to visit my parents, who were then living in Arizona. My mother immediately began to feed me the foods and tonics my body needed to heal itself and prepared soothing masks and toners to ease the blemishes and pain that were plaguing my skin. Within a week or two, the redness and flaking began to subside and my energy returned. Soon, as balance was restored to my body and my chi was flowing freely, I was my lively, clear-skinned self again.

When we speak of the Organic Whole and the principles of yin and yang, we must remember that these laws are not absolute. In fact, they are quite changeable, just like the weather and the world around us. We've all had days that started out at an easygoing, balanced pace, only to have everything erupt with hot yang anger when the flight to the Caribbean was missed, or everything screeched to a halt when a very yin snowstorm blanketed the city. By being aware of the potential for changes that can disrupt the balance of our bodies and our lives, we are able to maintain a higher level of wellness and beauty.