{"id":309,"date":"2024-01-17T08:59:20","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T08:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/?p=309"},"modified":"2024-02-25T14:15:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T14:15:29","slug":"the-challenges-of-aging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/herbs\/the-challenges-of-aging.html","title":{"rendered":"THE CHALLENGES OF AGING"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><span style=\"color: #999999;\">This article discusses the challenges of aging, both from an abstract, universal perspective as well as from a personal perspective, and the challenges I have faced recently.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/herbs\/the-challenges-of-aging.html\/#Introduction\" >Introduction<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/herbs\/the-challenges-of-aging.html\/#Old_Age_as_a_Time_of_Karmic_Reckoning\" >Old Age as a Time of Karmic Reckoning<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/herbs\/the-challenges-of-aging.html\/#Youth_versus_Maturity_and_Old_Age_A_Yin_Yang_Polarity_of_Greek_Medicine\" >Youth versus Maturity and Old Age: A Yin \/ Yang Polarity of Greek Medicine<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/herbs\/the-challenges-of-aging.html\/#Jupiter_Youth_Sanguine_Humor_and_Temperament_Hot_and_Wet_or_Warm_and_Moist\" >Jupiter \/ Youth \/ Sanguine Humor and Temperament \/ Hot and Wet, or Warm and Moist<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/herbs\/the-challenges-of-aging.html\/#Saturn_Maturity_and_Old_Age_Melancholic_Humor_and_Temperament_Cold_and_Dry\" >Saturn \/ Maturity and Old Age \/ Melancholic Humor and Temperament \/ Cold and Dry<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greekmedicine.net\/blog\/herbs\/the-challenges-of-aging.html\/#Conclusion_Every_Stage_of_Life_Has_Its_Own_Beauty\" >Conclusion: Every Stage of Life Has Its Own Beauty<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Introduction\"><\/span>Introduction<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>I must admit that my expectations of what old age would be like were overly idealistic, maybe even an indulgence in easy or wishful thinking; in the Japanese vernacular language, my thinking about old age was overly <em>amai, <\/em>or \u201csweet\u201d.\u00a0 In southern plantation style, I would sit out on the back porch, collect my retirement checks, sip my mint juleps and enjoy the rest of my days, calm and serene, in peace and quiet.\u00a0 Or, if you prefer an old Western movie, I would enjoy a leisurely horseback ride off into the sunset\u2026\u00a0 As they say, \u201cHappy trails to you\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Or, if science fiction is more your cup of tea, I would just look up over my shoulder and holler, \u201cBeam me up, Scotty,\u201d and that would be it.\u00a0 Case closed, end of story, as they say.<\/p>\n<p>What I have found has been quite the opposite.\u00a0 Old age is no walk in the park, to put it mildly.\u00a0 As I am doing my best to navigate its challenges, I am constantly faced with stark and unforgiving challenges that I must face, and meet \u2013 challenges that demand that I constantly prioritize, reassess or correct my course, and above all, continue to be as flexible and adaptable as I can be.\u00a0 The changes that are confronting me as I age are also demanding that I always keep tabs on the practical realities of life \u2013 something that is not exactly my <em>forte, <\/em>since I am basically an artistic and creative individual.\u00a0 It\u2019s OK to be spiritual, especially if that is an important or essential part of your inner nature and temperament, but at the same time, that old saying keeps thrusting itself into my conscious awareness, that I need to keep my feet on the ground, even if I have my head up in the clouds.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Old_Age_as_a_Time_of_Karmic_Reckoning\"><\/span><strong>Old Age as a Time of Karmic Reckoning<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>For me, old age has come as a time when all of a sudden, you find out that the whole landscape you are passing through has changed, even without your realizing it.\u00a0 The rug has been pulled out from under your feet, and you suddenly realize, after you reached a point, usually in middle age, when you thought you had things all figured out, that all the basic rules of the game, so to speak, have suddenly been changed on you, without warning.\u00a0 Although the most obvious area of one\u2019s life in which the challenges one faces are the most grave is usually \u2013 and even correctly, I might add \u2013 seen to be in the area of one\u2019s health, no area or domain of life seems to be immune or impervious to this urgent need for reassessment, and a course correction, if necessary.<\/p>\n<p>After considerable contemplation of my situation, and the basic realities of old age in general, I think I have it all figured out:\u00a0 Old age is a time of karmic reckoning.\u00a0 As the popular saying goes, \u201cKarma is a bitch\u201d \u2013 or at least it can be.\u00a0 As I see it, old age is a time for a karmic reckoning or course correction, in which one winds up atoning for the excesses or indiscretions of one\u2019s younger years, if necessary, and if the course corrections that need to be made are serious or major, it\u2019s <em>mea culpa <\/em>time, big time, as you scramble to clean up your act.\u00a0 <em>Mea culpa:\u00a0 <\/em>I must admit that I wasn\u2019t a big one for practicality and planning, so now I have to atone for that; neither was I a great model of diligence and industry in my younger years, so now I have to atone for that as well.\u00a0 This website is oriented towards health and healing, but I must admit that I haven\u2019t exactly been a paragon of virtue in that department either.\u00a0 As an old girlfriend of mine liked to say about me, I go off to a foreign country the way most people go down to the corner drugstore \u2013 and as everyone knows, eating on the road is often not a very healthy or wholesome option.\u00a0 And now, those problems are catching up with me, karmically speaking.<\/p>\n<p>So there \u2013 I have just made my own personal confession, but to put this whole process of karmic course correction or reckoning into a more universal perspective, whatever, whoever, or however one was in one\u2019s younger years must be taken into account, and, if deemed necessary or even desirable, a karmic course correction should be made.\u00a0 Of course, there are also those who are so unaware, or so locked into their own rigid patterns of routine behavior that it may be too late, or even impossible, for them to undertake a course correction, and way too many of those people go marching off, as if over a cliff, to their inevitable death or demise.\u00a0 But if the spark of self awareness should dawn, and here\u2019s to hoping that it will, a positive change can be made for the better, in whatever way or on whatever level a course correction needs to be made, whether that be physically, mentally or spiritually.\u00a0 This can be such a blessed event that you can almost hear the angels singing, \u201cHallelujah!\u201d in the background.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Youth_versus_Maturity_and_Old_Age_A_Yin_Yang_Polarity_of_Greek_Medicine\"><\/span><strong>Youth versus Maturity and Old Age: A Yin \/ Yang Polarity of Greek Medicine<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>When it comes to holistic healing paradigms and the basic pathophysiological concepts that they are composed of, it is possible to look at things in terms of a kind of numerology of holistic healing.\u00a0 I have studied both Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and in terms of their holistic healing numerology, they are quite different.\u00a0 Ayurveda has its three Doshas and its Five Elements, and from a numerological point of view, these are both based on odd numbers \u2013 three and five.\u00a0 Chinese Medicine is more even number based, since its fundamental guiding principle is Yin and Yang, or the law of complementary opposites in Nature.\u00a0 In terms of even numbers, Chinese Medicine has not only Yin and Yang, but also the Eight Principles of diagnosis, as well as the four energies and essences that can be tonified, and the four diagnostic methods.\u00a0 In terms of odd numbers, Chinese Medicine has the Five Elements, which are actually quite different than the Five Elements of Ayurveda; they also have the Three Treasures, the three disorders of blockage or stagnation, and so on, for a good mix of even and odd numbers.<\/p>\n<p>Numerologically speaking, Greek Medicine comes down quite heavily on the side of even numbers, as well as the dualism of complementary opposites of which all even numbers are composed.\u00a0 Most specifically, Greek Medicine is enamored with the number four: Four Basic Qualities, Four Elements, Four Temperaments, Four Faculties, Four Administrative Virtues, and so on \u2013 and let\u2019s not forget that there are four seasons in the year as well.\u00a0 Another even number in Greek Medicine is the Six Environmental Factors, which forms the basis of the diagnostic interview or medical history.\u00a0 On the side of the odd numbers, the main one that comes to mind here is the three forms of <em>Pneuma, <\/em>or the Vital Force.\u00a0 Because there are Four Humors in Greek Medicine, it just so works out that they are configured in two Yin \/ Yang pairs of complementary opposites.\u00a0 The pair of complementary opposite humors that best delineates the essential differences or dichotomies between youth and old age are Blood or the Sanguine humor, which is the humor of youth, versus Black Bile or the Melancholic humor, which is the humor that is most associated with maturity, old age and the aging process.<\/p>\n<p>And if you\u2019re into Medical Astrology, the planet that is most associated with the Sanguine qualities of youth is Jupiter, the planet of growth, expansion and optimism, whereas the planet that is most associated with maturity, old age and the aging process is Saturn. \u00a0\u00a0So here\u2019s the basic breakdown:<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Jupiter_Youth_Sanguine_Humor_and_Temperament_Hot_and_Wet_or_Warm_and_Moist\"><\/span><strong>Jupiter \/ Youth \/ Sanguine Humor and Temperament \/ Hot and Wet, or Warm and Moist<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Jupiter, the planet of optimism, expansion and growth, is the planet that is most associated with youth and its Sanguine humor and temperament.\u00a0 In Greek Medicine, the basic qualities of Blood, or the Sanguine humor, are Hot and Wet, or Warm and Moist, and these are also the same basic qualities that are necessary for life as well \u2013 a moderate amount of warmth coupled with a moderate amount of moisture, with both qualities moderating or counterbalancing the other.\u00a0 Accordingly, the ancient Greeks considered blood to be the very essence of youth, vitality and wellbeing; this is evidenced by the surname, \u201cYoungblood\u201d.\u00a0 Besides being the planet of the Sanguine humor and temperament, Jupiter, the planet of expansion and growth, is also the planet that is most closely associated with the Natural Faculty in Greek Medicine, or the bodily faculty that is responsible for nutrition and growth.\u00a0 The main organ of the Natural Faculty in Greek Medicine is the liver, which could be seen as the kitchen of the body, or the organ that cooks up the Four Humors, which then feed all the organs and tissues of the body.\u00a0 Another way in which generous, expansive Jupiter is associated with the Sanguine humor in Greek Medicine is that the Sanguine humor receives the richest and most generous share of nutrients extracted from food and drink.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Saturn_Maturity_and_Old_Age_Melancholic_Humor_and_Temperament_Cold_and_Dry\"><\/span><strong>Saturn \/ Maturity and Old Age \/ Melancholic Humor and Temperament \/ Cold and Dry<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>In astrology, Saturn is the polar opposite of Jupiter.\u00a0 Since Jupiter is the main planet associated with Blood or the Sanguine humor, which gets the richest and choicest share of nutrients extracted from food and drink, Jupiter is associated with richness and abundance in general, as well as all states of metabolic and nutritive excess.\u00a0 Saturn, on the other hand, is associated with Black Bile or the Melancholic humor, which gets the poorest and most meager share of nutrients derived from food and drink; therefore, Saturn is associated with conditions of nutritive and metabolic deficiency and lack in general.\u00a0 In Greek Medicine, the Four Humors serve to anchor or root the Four Basic Qualities and hold them in place, as it were; also, since the Sanguine and Melancholic humors are polar opposites in terms of their basic qualities, with the former being Hot and Wet, or warm and moist, and the latter being Cold and Dry, a relative deficiency of blood will make the overall balance of basic qualities colder and dryer than it would be if Blood, or the Sanguine humor, were more abundant.\u00a0 And poor circulation, which results in a poorer perfusion of blood to the organs and tissues, is definitely a common condition associated with the aging process, in whatever organ, tissue or body part may be affected.\u00a0 In Medical Astrology, the Jupiter \/ Saturn midpoint is called the Metabolic Midpoint, and where it lies, and any other planets it targets by means of the primary quarter or secondary cross-quarter aspects provides valuable information regarding the overall balance point between metabolic excess (Jupiter) and metabolic deficiency (Saturn), and which organs, tissues or body parts may be affected.<\/p>\n<p>Saturn is the main planet associated with the Melancholic humor or Black Bile, which has a thickening, condensing, crystallizing and constricting effect on physiology and metabolism in general.\u00a0 Therefore, in terms of pathology, Saturn is associated with stiffness and hardening, or sclerosis; constriction or narrowing, which is stenosis; coagulation, or the formation of clots; and lithiasis, or the formation of calculi or stones in the biliary or urinary tracts and passages.\u00a0 Interestingly enough, these same pathological changes, which are typically associated with the aging process, often parallel what happens when there is a deficiency of blood supply to the affected part.\u00a0 For example, stiffness, tightness and hardening of the ligaments, tendons and other periarticular structures can be associated both with a deficiency of Blood as with an excess or aggravation of Black Bile.\u00a0 <em>Pneuma, <\/em>or the Vital Force, is carried on the Blood, or the Sanguine humor, and where Blood is abundant and flowing freely, the <em>Pneuma <\/em>or Vital Force will be as well.\u00a0 And so, there is a common organ syndrome in TCM, or Traditional Chinese Medicine called a Stagnation of Liver Qi, with Qi being TCM\u2019s name for the Vital Force; when I went to acupuncture school in the early days of Chinese Medicine licensure here in the United States, another name that was used for this condition or syndrome was Melancholia \u2013 in other words, an aggravation of Black Bile in the liver, with a consequent blockage or stagnation of Blood and its Vital Force in that same organ.\u00a0 See how this works?<\/p>\n<p>In Greek Medicine, the Four Humors have profound effects on the Mind and Spirit as well as on the body, and its physiology and metabolism.\u00a0 For example, one\u2019s thinking and overall mindset can also become too fixed and rigid, which could be seen as the psychological and spiritual equivalent of hardening, stiffness and sclerosis.\u00a0 Other negative mental and spiritual tendencies associated with Saturn and Black Bile are depression or melancholy; miserliness, stinginess and misanthropy; and social withdrawal or reclusiveness.\u00a0 On the positive side of the ledger, Saturn is also associated with discipline and structure, as well as the wisdom that can come with aging; the key word here is \u201ccan\u201d, because added wisdom does not always come with added years to one\u2019s life.\u00a0 The traditional view of the dawning of wisdom with maturity in Greek Medicine is that the sudden realization that one is \u201cover the hill\u201d initially provokes melancholy or depression, which is then followed, in a normal or balanced personality and mental outlook, by a sense of realism or pragmatism to make the most of however many years one has left; then, if all goes well, finally, wisdom flowers and blooms.\u00a0 If wisdom dawns with maturity, then by all means, the modern consumer culture and mass marketing conglomerates don\u2019t want any of that; they want to keep people as reckless young fools, at least mentally and psychologically, for as long as possible, so they continue to be willing and pliable customers for whatever frivolous or otherwise superfluous stuff they are looking to sell.\u00a0 It\u2019s like one of my former herb patients put it to me:\u00a0 \u201cEverything today is hot, young and fast.\u201d\u00a0 Onward, young fools!<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion_Every_Stage_of_Life_Has_Its_Own_Beauty\"><\/span><strong>Conclusion: Every Stage of Life Has Its Own Beauty<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>I have now personally experienced each and every stage of life: the growing years of Youth; Young Adulthood or the peak years of life \u2013 \u201cprime time\u201d as it were; maturity or Middle Age; and now, finally, Old Age.\u00a0 And as I have experienced this final stage of life, I have to agree with what an old Romanian girlfriend of mine once said:\u00a0 <em>Fiecare are frumusetsea lui.\u00a0 <\/em>That\u2019s Romanian for \u201cEvery one has its own beauty.\u201d\u00a0 And believe me, even Old Age has its hidden beauties, which are all too often ignored or mindlessly trampled on by those who are too lost in the \u201crat race\u201d or mad dash to \u201cget yours\u201d or to \u201cget ahead\u201d.\u00a0 And, for all its all too obvious defects and drawbacks, perhaps the prime beauty or virtue of Old Age is an ability to savor golden moments of peace, beauty and tranquility as I have never savored them before \u2013 and so, I suppose that\u2019s why they are called \u201cthe Golden Years\u201d.\u00a0 And of course, the old adage of aging like fine wine is also applicable here.\u00a0 I also apologize if I have been too reclusive and misanthropic lately; my personal life has been quite tumultuous lately, and I have also had to wrestle with some dark and troubling problems in my personal life.<\/p>\n<p>As I wistfully look back upon my youth, memories of a sweltering summer that I spent as a music major at an opera camp in the Ozarks come back to haunt me.\u00a0 We were involved in a production of Gounod\u2019s \u201cFaust\u201d, with the libretto, originally written in French, I believe, translated into rather quaint and stilted English.\u00a0 And I still remember the words of Dr. Faust\u2019s aria after he has his lost youth restored to him by the diabolical Mephistopheles:<\/p>\n<p><em>Be mine the delight of beauty\u2019s caresses, their soft wavy tresses, shiny and bright!\u00a0 Be mine the sweet rapture, borne through every vein, passion in a torrent, that none can restrain!\u00a0 O, bounteous treasure, shiny and bright, oh youth without measure, be mine the delight, oh youth without measure \u2013 be mine the delight!\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n<p>Of course, Dr. Faustus made a deal with the devil to get his youth back, and in that plot device may be lurking a hidden message: that we should fully treasure and savor the stage of life that we\u2019re in, and not foolishly try to exchange it for another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article discusses the challenges of aging, both from an abstract, universal perspective as well as from a personal perspective, and the challenges I have faced 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