5
MINUTES A
DAY KEEPS THE
DOCTOR AWAY
Traditional Chinese
medicine practitioner
offers tips for healthy living
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
F
ive minutes is all Kyle Cline asks.
Extensively trained in traditional
Chinese medicine, Cline said habit-
ually taking five minutes a day to
do something you love that is healthy can
lead to better overall health.
The most important thing to do is to
make time to take care of yourself, he said.
“Being too busy is actually probably
the biggest issue,” he said.
Cline helps people manage their health
on a day-to-day basis, which can help pa-
tients avoid invasive and extreme proce-
dures. He has a range of tools including
body massage, exercise, stretching rou-
tines and combinations of herbs he uses
to treat patients. He works with about 50
patients each week by phone, by email or
in person.
“We’re in a really wonderful time in
healthcare because there’s so many differ-
ent things that we can bring to a case,” he
said.
His traditional medicine can often
complement Western-style medicine.
“We’ve been brought up to think they
are antagonistic to each other, and they are
not,” Cline said. “To me, it’s exciting be-
cause we are able to blend things in a way
that we’ve never been able to.”
When seeing a patient, Cline listens to
their health history, what kind of treatment
they are receiving and what they need.
20 || Family Health Guide 2017
The Eagle/Rylan Boggs
Kyle Cline stands in his pharmacy
at his John Day home on
Wednesday, Dec. 14. A practitioner
of traditional Chinese medicine,
Cline says being mindful of day-
to-day activities to keep the body
healthy can prevent the need for
serious medical intervention.
Many times solutions are fairly simple,
and people just need to be encouraged to
do what they already know to do.
Former John Day Fossil Beds National
Monument Park Ranger Dave Sandersfeld
was diagnosed with cancer in Novem-
ber 2015. Sandersfeld worked with Cline
while undergoing chemotherapy and,
according to his doctor, has a chance at
beating the cancer. Sandersfeld described
Cline’s treatments as “innovative” and
said he would recommend it.
Cline encourages people to take care
of themselves and maintain their health
to avoid problems by increasing healthy
parts of their life, such as a good diet and
regular exercise, and removing unhealthy
habits, such as overeating and neglecting
physical activity.
Each person is unique, Cline said, and
no single diet or workout routine will
work for everyone. Instead, each individu-
al must find a lifestyle that works for them,
he said.
Most people know what they eat af-
fects their health, but Cline asserts how
you eat is just as important as what you
eat. He warns against multitasking while
eating and urges people to slow down, to
be mindful of what they are doing and to
not be distracted.
“If you and I are in a really intense ar-
gument and we’re eating at the same time,
the body doesn’t process the food as well,”
he said.
He said to be mindful of the five W’s
when eating: who you’re eating with,
when you’re eating, why you’re eating,
where you’re eating and, of course, what
you’re eating.
Many people eat based on convenience,
Cline said, and more often than not, con-
venient food isn’t healthy. He compared
eating junk food to putting water in your
gas tank. It just won’t get the job done, he
said.
Ultimately, Cline said, being mindful
of day-to-day activities to keep the body
healthy can prevent the need for serious
medical intervention.