East Asian Medicine
The field of Chinese Medicine provides personalized healthcare for each individual. By evaluating all of the body systems and each of the dynamic relationships between systems, this medicine can target the specific roots of disease. Balanced and vibrant health can be restored while bypassing unwanted side effects. This is done by viewing the entire picture while still focusing on the patient's main concerns. Eastern medicine is unique to western medicine also in that it addresses the inseparable relationship between the physical body and the human spirit. In this multidimensional system, it is recognized that before an illness manifests physically, it has been developing in the mind and before that in the emotions, all the way back to originating in the spirit. This principle adds yet another rich layer to this holistic healthcare system.
Foundational Elements
Qi, Blood, Yin & Yang
East Asian, or Chinese Medicine is a holistic and complete system of medicine that was generated and refined over thousands of years. Originating 4,000 years ago, it views the body as an energetic system comprised of Qi, blood, yin and yang. Qi, or energy, flows throughout the body and collects in channels called meridians. There are twelve main meridians each associated with an organ system as well as eight extraordinary meridians. Along these rivers of energy, Qi pools in specific spots called acupuncture points. Acupuncture points have specific functions and actions that can be activated by inserting a needle or by applying pressure or intensional energetic touch. Qi is relative to the nervous system and has influence over the endocrine and vascular systems. It is the vital force that makes the heart pump and therefore in Chinese Medicine, "Qi leads the blood."
A foundational element of Chinese Medicine is the principle of yin and yang. It provides the basis for all life on Earth and beyond. The two are inseparable and interdependent upon one another. Within yin there is always yang and vise versa. Yin is stillness, winter, cold or cooling, nighttime, feminine, holding, nourishing, and more physically substantial. Yang is movement, summer, hot or warming, daytime, masculine, excreting or dispersing, energizing, and less physically substantial. Fore example, Qi is a yang substance whereas blood and endocrine are considered yin substances.
Any of these elements of Qi, Blood, Yin or Yang can become deficient, excess, imbalanced, or blocked. Acupuncture, Chinese herbal prescriptions, nutrition & lifestyle advise, martial arts, and supportive therapies like cupping are the functional branches of East Asian Medicine. It is with this comprehensive system of medicine that harmony and abundant health can be maintained and restored.