The Wholistic Health Path will help you improve your general health, but sometimes your symptoms strongly interfere with your day-to-day functioning, requiring more direct treatment. Or you would like to personalize your journey.
Your Pattern of Disharmony is your physiologic presentation showing how your body has shifted out of balance.
By treating your Pattern of Disharmony, you support your body to regain balance, thereby improving your symptoms.
Note that it is not uncommon for more than one pattern to present itself, and a prescribed herbal formula can combine treatment for more than one pattern at a time within the same formula, allowing you to treat numerous organs systems at once.
Example: It is not uncommon for someone to have a weak gut (Spleen Qi Deficiency with Dampness), while having a congested liver (Liver Qi Stagnation with Heat), and underlying Kidney Qi Deficiency.
| Spleen Qi Deficiency | Poor digestive function due to weakness |
| Spleen Qi Deficiency with Damp Accumulation | Weak digestion has led to accumulation impairing function |
| Liver Qi Stagnation | Congested liver impairing function |
| Liver Qi Stagnation with Heat | Liver congestion has created a backup which has generated heat |
| Gall Bladder Deficiency | Sluggish gall bladder impairing fat assimilation and thereby absorption, and the removal of toxins via the bile |
| Kidney Qi Deficiency | Tired adrenals from chronic stress and cortisol overuse and/or hypothyroidism |
| Kidney Yin Deficiency | Hormone imbalances from insufficient production or natural aging |
| Kidney Yang Deficiency | Chronic hypothyroidism and loss of resilience |
Lets use a common presentation to increase your understanding of the value of knowing your Pattern of Disharmony:
| Constipation with no sensation | Vagus nerve is not functioning properly Spleen Qi deficiency |
| Remarkable fatigue | Cortisol might be too low from chronic inflammation Kidney Yang deficiency |
| True cold | Kidney yang deficiency |
| Overweight and doughy anatomy | Spleen and Kidney Qi and Yang deficiency |
| Hashimoto’s | Autoimmunity to her thyroid |
| On Synthroid but TSH is going up | Synthroid (T4) isn’t supporting her correctly or enough |
Many of the treatment strategies within the Wholistic Health Path will help her improve:
Here are some specific treatment strategies:
| Reduce immune activation | Eliminate gluten and dairy for at least 1 month |
| Move her bowels | With tools that supports metabolism |
| Wake up her vagus nerve | Have her gargle and gag when she brushes her teeth |
| Tonify Kidney Yang | When the body metabolically is sluggish and cold |
My suspicion is that her metabolic function has been reducing over time due to the autoimmunity to her thyroid (Hashimoto’s) which has reduced her metabolic function, making everything sluggish. Ideally she would obtain a full thyroid panel to understand what treatment for her thyroid is best, versus assuming she needs T4, which doesn’t seem to be enough since her TSH is going up (her thyroid is working harder to make thyroid hormone because her body is saying she needs more).
In addition to supporting her thyroid’s function, she needs her bowels to move and to wake up her body. I would write an herbal formula for constipation that also stimulates her Kidney Yang.
| Yin or Yang | Yin relates to the substances the body makes and Yang relates to the metabolic heat of the body |
| Heat or Cold | Is there heat/inflammation or cold due to the metabolic heat impaired |
| Interior or Exterior | Is the imbalance manifesting from within the body, or coming in from the environment |
| Deficiency or Excess | Is there too little or too much of something |
| WOOD | Liver and Gall Bladder |
| FIRE | Heart, Pericardium, Triple Burner, Small Intestine |
| EARTH | Spleen and Stomach |
| GOLD | Lungs and Large Intestine |
| WATER | Kidneys, Adrenals, Urinary Bladder |
The adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys and are part of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis (HPA). Since our patient has severe fatigue, internal cold, and impaired metabolic function, we know that the HPA axis is involved. The adrenals make cortisol, which is an important hormone to reduce inflammation, manage stress and blood sugar, and wake up with sufficient energy. Since she has autoimmunity and remarkable fatigue, I suspect her cortisol has been down-regulated, or reduced from overuse.
She also has remarkable internal cold and can’t get warm, pale skin with doughy anatomy. These are all signs of deficiency and cold.
By stoking her metabolic fire, her metabolism would improve. By moving her bowels with this mechanism in mind, she will not only be addressing her constipation, but improving her body’s function by listening to what it needs.
Step into Action
| Begin repairing your body | Start walking down the Wholistic Health Path |
| Determine your Pattern of Disharmony | Schedule a Personalized Consultation |