#8: Nadine Ng
"While I have learned to be capable of doing 100 things at once, I am aware that this is often to the detriment of my mind and Qi."
Nadine is a documentary filmmaker, producer, and generally wise soul. She’s currently in production on her debut feature film, Seedling, following her retired father’s pursuit of his childhood dreams (more on him below).
At a glance…
Location: NYC
Big 3: Cancer/Taurus/Capricorn
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
Feeling a sense of peace and balance in how I approach the everyday, from how I take in the world the moment I wake up, to what I put in my body throughout the day, to how I move. It means being present, active, intentional, and alive — in full awareness.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
A bit chaotic. That said, I have been trying to embrace this chaos from an abundance mindset — reminding myself of the privileges I have in all this activity. I think compartmentalizing the day in increments, shifting between different projects (i.e., work, personal videos), or activities (i.e., cooking) keeps me most balanced. Recently, I’ve been trying to spend at least 30 minutes of my day on the treadmill or practicing my Wing Chun (a form of Kung Fu) to refocus my energy in the mornings. While I have learned to be capable of doing 100 things at once, I am aware that this is often to the detriment of my mind and Qi. Being able to re-focus my energy and compartmentalize is so important in bringing me to a basic state of consciousness removed from the ego of everyday life. My goal is to achieve a lifestyle that is active, but focused, with a calm, ever-flowing energetic state. Though I recently just started Wing Chun, I think its focus on energetic re-distribution has really started to guide me.
How do you start and end your days?
I start my days by lighting incense, making my bed (!), looking out the window, washing my face with cold water, taking my probiotic + vitamin C, cleaning my kitchen, and making a morning cup of matcha. If I feel like it, I will go on a light walk on the treadmill while figuring out my to-do’s for the day. My night time routine begins by going into my room at around 9pm after cleaning up the living room. I turn on all six of the lamps scattered across my room, light an incense, and change into comfortable cotton clothing. I love home clothes! From there, I’ll likely sit on my bed talking to my parents in Hong Kong, read a few articles, and then settle on some TV or a movie. As someone who works in film and has always leaned on the TV for comfort, it has been hard to shake the habit of watching things before bed (though I try not to do this every night). I find that it really helps to relax my brain. I work in documentary film, and love watching docs because while I am able to momentarily escape my life. It’s helpful in remembering the many ways to be alive.
Do you have any recurring dreams?
I have a recurring dream that it is Wednesday. Wednesdays growing up were horrendous because I had violin lessons with an awfully sad teacher who would scream at me and displace all the stress of life itself on my 7 year old violin skills. When he couldn’t bear my out-of-tune scales any longer, he would storm into his bathroom and swear at the top of his lungs while I winced at the muffled sounds from his living room. I hope he is okay these days. The later parts of my Wednesdays would consist of traveling straight from violin to community swim practice where I would cry in my goggles for two hours. My parents, in true Chinese fashion, always wanted me to have skillsets they didn’t have the luxuries of growing up with. They assured me (and themselves) that I could always fall back on these skills if nothing else worked out. Safe to say my Wednesdays have changed a lot since then, but Wednesday will always be “Wednesday” in my subconscious.
Do you believe in the concept of self-healing, or that one can heal oneself?
I definitely believe in the concept of self healing. As I had mentioned earlier, using Chinese soup recipes and doing random exercises to keep in touch with myself helped a lot in bringing awareness back to my head and body. I think doing things that forced myself to engage with myself and accept the moment really helped. Letting go, flowing forward, and focusing on the simple things that made me feel more like ‘me’ did a lot for my peace of mind and body. Also, from an emotional perspective: letting time pass, allowing myself to indulge in certain vices (cigarettes from time to time), music (i.e., listening to the Magnolia soundtrack everyday lol), have all helped me to process and remember what makes me most “me.” Remembering who I am is healing.
Was there a specific moment in life that made you more conscious of your health?
In 2020, I went through a deep depression that left me so existential about the world, and how I interacted with it. My body became numb and I experienced a derealization that detached my mind away from my limbs and being. At the height of this time, I Facetimed my parents everyday while they were in Hong Kong. Over the phone, they shared their philosophies on staying healthy and present. My mum sent me recipes on Chinese “soups to lubricate the system” that she claimed would make me “feel lighter.” My favorite recipe was a boiled sweet soup of Chinese white fungus (soaked), kidney beans, pumpkin, Chinese almonds, and rock sugar pieces. I would have this soup twice a day. On WhatsApp my dad would send me videos of him doing the Watermelon, a Tai Chi exercise to refocus and redistribute Qi (energy). With all of its subtle movements, this exercise helped immensely in mentally getting back in touch with my body.
As I started practicing more lifestyle choices that brought me back towards my body and Self, I started to feel the heaviness of existential dread lift off of me. I became intimate with the everyday in a way I had never felt before. These exercises and recipes not only brought back an awareness to my body, but also an admiration for my family and the lineage of health practices I come from. Though I still very much go through periods of autopilot, forgetting to rely on these exercises and recipes, I know how integral they are in making me feel the most alive. I try to remind myself of this everyday.
Where do you look to for information and guidance?
I mostly work with Chinese doctors — Dr. Lin at Lin Sisters (a friend of my dad’s) in Chinatown, Dr. Diem at Soho Acupuncture Center, and Dr. Duong back in Hong Kong. I also rely heavily on my parents’ advice; they both grew up using, and learning, Chinese medicine, and have great knowledge of herbs and recipes. Growing up we had a Chinese family doctor, Dr. Poon, who was in his 90s and would operate his TCM practice out of a local neighborhood diner in Hong Kong. He would drink hot lemon water, take our pulses, check our tongues, click his ball pen, and prescribe. When I was a kid I had horrible asthma which he cured in just two doses of Chinese medicine. We continued to work with him until his passing. He died in good health and peace and I am in debt to him for solving the root cause of my asthma (which he actually linked to poor digestion!).
Fuck, marry, kill: three health trends of your choice.
Fuck: Steam room, marry: Drinking only hot water, kill: Vegan meat substitutes.
What are some of your grocery staples? What meals do you find yourself returning to?
From the Hong Kong supermarket I’d buy white fungus, red dates, grass jelly, goji berries, Chinese yams, ginger, apricot kernels, pea shoots, oranges, ba fa Yao (white flower balm), fresh garoupa, mangosteens, sugarcane, almond seeds, tofu, and sea coconuts. Most of the ingredients would probably be used for Chinese soups — they are so nourishing and warm!
What do you think is the most pressing health issue of our time?
The obsession with consumption as it relates to health is the strangest thing to me. I don’t like the passiveness and capitalistic tendencies of mainstream “wellness.” The Chinese outlook on health is based in philosophies associated with being alive, focusing on balance and self-awareness. Consuming different foods/medicines and exercising are things we do with our bodies to bring us closer in alignment with these philosophies. I think a fundamentally healthy mindset can’t be achieved only by succumbing to health trends or buying things. There is much more simplicity in sitting with oneself and asking what being healthy, balanced, and peaceful means to you and then proceeding to act on that. I believe there is a spiritual intentionality to it.
What advice would you give to the person reading this?
There are many ways to be, feel, and look healthy; health is nuanced and specific to each person. Sometimes I feel healthiest when I’ve had a fulfilling and active day, despite caving in and having smoked a cigarette. I know my relationship with health is ever-changing, in the same way that my relationship with myself is always changing, as I grow and learn what works for me!
