What Is Your Medicine?
Think about the last time someone asked you, "Did you take your medicine?"
They didn't mean, did you go for your walk. They didn't mean, did you get to bed on time, or drink enough water, or call the friend who always makes you laugh. They meant, did you take your pill.
In today's episode of Truth in Motion, I talked about how that happened. Under the law, anything intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease is considered a drug. Over time, our everyday language followed. Medicine and drugs became the same word.
I'm grateful for good drugs. Antibiotics, insulin, emergency care: when you need them, you really need them. But I've always believed medicine is bigger than what comes in a bottle.
What else is medicine?
In Chinese medicine there's a beautiful phrase, yang sheng. It means nourishing life. It's the daily things you do between visits: how you eat, how you sleep, how you move, what you think about, who you spend your time with.
No doctor can do those things for you. That's not bad news. That's where your power is.
When a lab number moves out of range, a drug can often bring it back. Sometimes that's exactly what's needed. But I always want to ask the next question: why did the number move in the first place? That question is where real change starts, for both of us.
Showing up as a proactive patient
Being a proactive patient doesn't mean being difficult. It means showing up for your own health. Here's what that can look like:
Come prepared. Write down what's going on, when it started, and what makes it better or worse. Your memory will fail you in the exam room. Paper won't.
Bring your list. Everything you take: prescriptions, supplements, herbs. Better yet, bring the bottles with you to your appointment.
Ask until you understand. What is this? What's causing it? What happens if I wait? What can I do on my own?
Get your records. They're yours. Learn to read them, even a little.
Bring someone along when it matters. A second set of ears catches what nerves miss.
Do your part between visits. This is the big one.
And remember yesterday's invitation: come with an intention. Even a simple one gives us a direction.
Taking responsibility for your health doesn't mean blaming yourself for being sick. It means owning your part in getting well. And the more you practice showing up this way, the more natural it becomes.
Today's noticing
We're still noticing this week. Today, notice what you reach for when you don't feel well. A pill? Your phone? A nap? A snack? A walk? A person? A pet? There's no wrong answer. Just notice. What you reach for tells you something about what you believe medicine is.
Questions to sit with
What do I believe medicine is?
What is one thing I do every day that is already medicine for me?
When was the last time I asked "why" about my own health?
What question have I been carrying that I'm ready to ask at my next appointment?
What is one small part I can own in my healing this week?
You may be surprised how much you already know once you give yourself a quiet moment to ask.
Words to Carry
My daily choices are medicine.
I show up for my own health.
I ask until I understand.
My records belong to me.
I own my part in getting well.
Come back tomorrow for Episode 4, where we talk about what it really means to treat the root, and why I call traditional East Asian medicine the original functional medicine.
With you every step of the way,
Dr. Jocelyn
