Category Archives: Acupuncture
A Couple Of Important Acupoints To Get Rid Of Dizziness And Vertigo
If you are one that suffers from vertigo, dizziness, lightheadedness or even giddiness, I’m hoping that this technique that we’re about to go over together is going to make a big change in your life. Dizziness and vertigo is usually benign but I highly recommend to everyone out there, if you’re having constant vertigo and dizziness and you feel that something is not right, get it checked out by a specialist.
Fortunately, the majority of all these conditions are going to be benign and the doctors are really not going to be able to help you but give you drugs and medication. Realize that drugs and medications have side effects. I prefer that you try to do things naturally and allow the body to work naturally and heal naturally before the side effects make the problems even worse.
In our body, we have energy channels called meridians. They are self-help acupressure meridians that you’re going to stimulate on your own body to restore and allow those meridians to flow properly. You need to be aware that meridian therapy, from ancient medicine thousands of years ago, is all about balance.
Meridians are found throughout your entire body and by stimulating certain points, you are then allowing the body to heal and repair the way it’s designed to heal. One of those major points is called the third eye. This is a universal point and is located on the top of the bridge of your nose as it comes up and meets the bottom of your forehead right between the eyebrows. That is the third eye.
You’re going to take your thumb and you’re going to hold that point for two minutes. You need to apply constant pressure to that point for approximately two minutes. As you hold that point, you may feel some different neurological changes.
You may feel fullness in the sinuses, a release of pressure in your neck and you may even feel a release of the giddiness, dizziness, lightheadedness or even the vertigo that you may be experiencing. After you hold the third eye point after two minutes and if you notice that you’re still symptomatic, that you’re still experiencing some of those dizzy or vertigo feelings, you need to keep on applying pressure to this point for several times a day.
After a round of stimulation, you may want to wait a few hours because it’s a very powerful point and the key here is to stimulate those meridians so the body can heal and function naturally.
The other amazing acupressure point is the pericardium 6 or commonly called the P 6. The way to find this point is to take your wrist and you bend it back and forth. You’ll see a crease and that crease that bends back and forth is your landmark. You’re going to take your second and third fingers and put it right at the crease. You’re going to feel two tendons as you come down right in the middle of the forearm.
The tendons will feel like two pieces of rope. You’re going to push on that point located right between those two tendons two and a half finger lengths. Right below that crease is the P6 point. You need to hold this point for one to two minutes and just apply constant pressure. As you hold the point, you will feel a release of that dizziness, lightheadedness and vertigo.
This point can help relieve anxiety and nervousness. It is a fascinating point indeed. Hold that point for one to two minutes. You can do both arms and wrists because that will only actually help accelerate the treatment. So, from getting up out of bed, moving your head from side to side, changing positions and just feeling that vertigo spinning around your head, all you need to do is to apply these techniques and treat yourself in a safe and effective way.
You can stimulate the P6 in both of your wrists for one to two minutes. You can do that several times a day and if you continue to feel these symptoms, you might need to use that technique a little bit more. As the symptoms diminish, you can start reducing the stimulation of those points as well. Keep in mind that anything that’s done in excess can cause side effects.
So, if you’re stimulating the point too much and you’re feeling worse or not feeling better at all, then you need to back off and listen to your body. Make sure that when you stimulate these points, you should not hurt yourself and push too hard because you should not be sore when you stimulate these involved regions.
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A University of Texas Medical Study Shows Qigong Can Help Treat Breast Cancer
Scientists from the MD Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas have discovered that an ancient mind-body practice known as qigong can help women suffering from breast cancer who are receiving radiation therapy for their disease. Having been used across Asia for more than four millennia for disease prevention and spiritual health, qigong seems to not only aid patients with breast cancer to manage their stress but – by doing so – can positively affect the patients physiologically.
Director of the Integrative Medicine Program and professor at MD Anderson’s Departments of General Oncology and Behavioral Science, Dr. Lorenzo Cohen says, “At the start of the treatment, we also were especially interested to witness whether qigong would be beneficial to patients suffering from depressive symptoms.” Dr. Cohen added, “For cancer patients, it is essential that they manage their levels of stress since it can have a deep adverse effect on inflammatory profiles and biological systems.”
Recently featured in the medical journal Cancer, the new study is actually the first one to observe the effects of qigong in patients who are getting radiation therapy. It also is the first to include a follow-up period to see if there are any benefits in the future. According to the researchers, the positive results emphasize the benefits of body-mind practices in the treatment of cancer.
A total of 96 women all suffering from various stages of breast cancer (from stage one to stage three) were enrolled at the Shanghai Cancer Center Fudan University in Shanghai, China. The women were divided into two groups; one group was comprised of 49 cancer patients who performed qigong in a class for 40 minutes each week during their radiation therapy which lasted five to six weeks. The medical qigong class was made up of various exercises with synchronizing breath.
The group of 47 breast cancer patients was the control group. Their treatment involved conventional care minus the qigong classes. At the start, middle and end of radiation therapy, as well as, a month and three months later, the women in both groups were evaluated. The researchers rated the issues related to the quality of life of the subjects including their sleeping problems, fatigue, and depression symptoms.
The outcomes revealed that the patients in the qigong group experienced a gradual decline in their depression symptoms starting at the conclusion of radiation therapy and continuing over the post-radiation treatment follow-up three months after the end of the study. In the control group however, there were no changes in depression observed also three months after the end of the study.
In a media statement, Cohen explained “At the beginning of the study, we evaluated the depression symptoms of the subjects to see if women with high levels of depression would benefit more,” He added, “Women with low levels of depression symptoms, at the beginning of radiation therapy experienced a positive good quality of life over the course of the study and three months later regardless of what group they were assigned (the qigong group and the control group). In the control group, however, the women who suffered from high depression symptoms experienced the worst levels of fatigue, depression symptoms, fatigue, and general quality of life that were meaningfully enhanced for the patient subjects in the qigong group.”
Because it was after the end of radiation therapy that qigong benefits were mainly observed, the researchers believed that qigong can really facilitate the process of recovery, particularly for patients with breast cancer who had relevant symptoms of depression at the beginning of radiation therapy.
Researchers are recording some of the ways qigong seem to treat medical conditions. For instance, the American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias published a study which showed that patients suffering from early stage dementia can retard their psychological, mental, and physical degeneration by participating in non-drug treatments that integrate traditional qigong, support groups, and counseling. The researchers actually saw that many of the benefits of this approach can be compared to that achieved with anti-dementia drugs (that often come with severe side effects).
Thrive Wellness Center
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Acupressure Therapy For Smooth Healthy Skin
This article will point out the acupressure points that can help alleviate skin problems such as pimples and acne. You’re sure to get great results when you focus working on these points. There’s no need to use all of these acupoints all at once. Whenever you have a free hand, just one or a couple two of them are good enough to help you acquire smooth and healthy skin.
1. Wind Screen Point: this point is found in the indentation directly at the back of your ear lobe. Benefits: Treats hive, improves the brightness of the skin and balances your thyroid gland. After acupressure, you need to drink adequate amounts of warm water to wash away any toxins in the body.
2. Heavenly Appearance Point: Found behind the jawbone and in the indentation directly below your ear lobe. Benefits: treats hives, improves the brightness of the skin and balances the thyroid gland.
3. Three Mile Point: Located four finger widths under the patella toward the outside of the shinbone. Benefits: enhances the appearance of your skin throughout the body and tones and strengthens the muscles.
4. Facial Beauty Point: Found directly below the pupil under the cheekbone. Benefits: increases blood flow to the face, treats sagging cheeks poor complexion, facial blemishes and acne.
5. Four Whites Point: located a finger width under your eye socket’s lower ridge in line with an indentation of the cheek and the center of your iris. Benefits: heals facial blemishes and acne
6. Third Eye Point: located in the indentation where the bridge of your nose is connected the center of your forehead directly between your eyebrows. Benefits: improves the appearance of the skin throughout the body and stimulates the pituitary gland.
7. Sea of Vitality: Warning, do not apply pressure on broken or fractured bones and on degenerating discs. If you’re suffering from a weak back, instead of touching, a moments of light stationary acupressure can be extremely therapeutic. If you need medical advice or have any questions talk to your physician first. The Sea of Vitality Location is found between the 3rd and 2nd lumba vertebrae in your lower back (between the second and third lumbar vertebrae)at waist level,2 to 4 finger widths away from the spine. Benefits: treats bruises in the body, eczema and acne.
8. Heavenly Pillar: located a half inch under the base of the skull on the ropy muscles a half outward from both sides of the spine. Benefits: alleviates stress related to acne on other skin disorders. Treats sore throats, stiff neck, eyestrain, heaviness in the head, sleeplessness, fatigue, burnout and stress.
Warning: people with life-threatening problems or serious illnesses, such as cancer or heart disease, should talk to their doctor first before receiving Acupressure in Maitland.
Tui Na’s Role In Reducing The Symptoms Of Cerebral Palsy And Autism
Also known as “Chinese massage,” Tui Na is an oriental therapeutic massage that has been used since ancient times. It is deemed to be of equal effectiveness and importance to that of acupuncture in Boca Raton and is a major component of a holistic system known as traditional Chinese medicine. Tui Na has a far reaching tradition as an all-encompassing healing art, with zero adverse side effects. It is based on the traditional Chinese medical concept of the movement of Chi (Qi) or the body’s internal energy, through the energy channels called meridians as its fundamental therapeutic orientation. Through the use of manipulation and massage techniques, Tuina aims to develop a better and harmonized flow of energy, giving the body the body the power to naturally heal itself. The Chinese system of meridians, in Western medical terms, tracks lymphatic vessels, nerves, and major arteries, while several of the meridian energetic points correspond to muscle trigger points and bundles of nerves. Aside from being used to resolve sports injuries, chronic pain conditions, and various physical problems – all conditions that in Western cultures would be addressed by physiotherapy, chiropractics, and osteopathy – Tui Na can also be used to widely treat chronic problems such as sleep problems, irritable bowel syndrome headaches, constipation, and migraines. It is believed to increase relaxation (‘digest’ and rest and parasympathetic reactions), reduce irritability (‘fight or flight’ sympathetic reactions), anxiety, and aggressiveness, all of which help balance the autonomic nervous system. In general, targeted and regular touch- and massage-therapies can help stimulate the senses (see, smell, feel, hear, and touch) and blood circulation; stabilize sleeping patterns, mood and digestion; stimulate kidney and liver activity; stimulate manufacture of melatonin and serotonin and bring about lower stress levels and regulation of cortisol.
The potential of Tui Na in treating the symptoms of Cerebral Palsy and Autism
Tui Na massage does not claim to cure autism but based on several parental reports and various related studies regarding massage and touch-therapies that are based on the same principles, it has the potential to improve and lessen several of the crippling symptoms that often accompany or are part of autism. A lot of the parents who have attended the training and administered regular daily massage at home have reported improvements in digestive, sensory, repetitive behavior, sensory, and speech problems, as well as in outbursts, stress levels, social skills, and sleep. Moreover, daily application of practicing this massage can strengthen further the special bond that parents have with their child, and thus improve their own wellbeing and lower parental stress.
There is no doubt that Tui Na therapy can play a significant role in enhancing the quality of life of a child stricken with Cerebral palsy.
For a lot of Cerebral palsy children, best results can be experienced if bodywork is targeted on indirectly affecting muscle tone via manipulation of the legs, arms, and all the major joints, slow range of motion exercises, and acupressure points that bring about restoration of limb functions and movements, increasing ability to do things by themselves such as walking, putting on the clothes, and eating, increasing movements of affected joints, decrease in muscular spasm, and improved speech.
Because Tui Na massage is holistic with no reported negative side effects, it can be effectively used as an adjunct to conventional behavioral and autism support strategies and other therapies.
Several studies have proven that both adults and children suffering from autism can respond very well to touch, providing it is predictable, structured, and regular, unlike the random touch that is often very problematic for them and happens in social situations.
A Brief Summary Of Tui Na Therapy
Tui Na is part of an Oriental healing system known as TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine that dates back to 1700 B.C.
In Western medicine, Tui Na is the equivalent of Physiotherapy and is used not just for relaxation but for medical purposes as well. The healing energy generated by this type of Chinese deep tissue massage is tapped to address ailments ranging from musculoskeletal conditions to various work and sport-related injuries, as well as a gamut of other health problems. In China, Tui Na is a widely used healing modality that’s used in practically all hospitals there.
This type of deep tissue massage has been known to alleviate painful connective tissues and severe muscle tension. It targets the muscles that are situated below the surface of the top muscles. It relaxes tendons and muscles and breaks down scar tissue to create a clear path for the Chi (the vital energy of the body) and blood to circulate smoothly by clearing blood stasis, and of course most importantly, to quicken the healing process.
The Responsibilities of a Tui Na practitioner
A practitioner of Tui Na therapy addresses the ailments of his clients by using only his hands to heal and remedy the client’s condition. The primary modes of treatment of this professional include energy issuance, skeletal alignment, and deep soft tissue massage. Tui Na is superior to simple massage in that it focuses on and rectifies specific problems such as chronic pain related to the skeletal and muscular systems, and the joints.
Aside from correcting problems, Tui Na massage therapy is also designed to prevent them. This is what makes this healing art better than other massage techniques when health problems are the client’s primary concern.
Tui Na is effective particularly for the following illnesses and lower, middle, and upper body imbalances:
Lower Body Imbalances
• Ankle Pain
• Edema (Water Retention) in the Feet
• Achilles Pain
• Numbness and Tingling in the Feet
• Calf Pain
• Knee Cap (Patella) Pain
• Hamstring Pain
• Foot Pain
Middle Body Imbalances
• Constipation
• Urinary Tract Problems
• Diarrhea
• Indigestion/Stomach Pain
• Hemorrhoids
• Skin Rashes
• Herniated Stomach Muscle
• Pelvic Region Pain
• Initial Phase of Kidney Malfunction
• Middle Thoracic Back Pain
• Menstrual Flow Difficulties
Upper Body Imbalances
• Upper/Thoracic Back Pain
• Arm Pain
• Numbness and Tingling in the Hands and Arms
• Puffiness and Black Circles in the Eyes
• Sinus Blockage
• Breast Lumps
• Shoulder Tension
• Chest Pain
• Shoulder Blade (Scapular) Pain
• Dizziness
• Punctured Chest
• Headaches
• Night Sweats
• Cricketing or Humming in the Ears
• Insomnia
• Neck Pain
• Jaw Pain
• Nasal Allergies
• Migraine
Tui Na and the Flow of Energy
Aside from its ability to relieve and treat joint, bone, and muscle ailments, Tui Na also works at a deeper level with the energy of the body. The practitioner is able to feel and evaluate the distribution of energy in the client’s body and affect the flow of energy using only his (the practitioner’s) hands.
The Anti-Aging Practices Of Asians And How To Extend Longevity
Aging is a reality and a natural part of life. It is an overt articulation of our mortality; life’s way of telling us that our biological clock is ticking towards the certainty of death. Aging is a definite indication of wisdom, while a small number of people welcome it as it heralds them nearer and nearer into eternal slumber.
Hardly surprising, most of the young and middle-aged people do not greet the signs of aging with joy, expectation, and cheer. As people, we view it as absurd to do such, since throughout history, man has constantly looked for ways to slow it down; opting to spirituality, mysticism, and magic to halt in some way the onset of dementia and wrinkled skin. These days, however, we use science as our greatest weapon to delay or even reverse aging, but even it has no sure-fire solutions to the process of aging.
But what science can give us though is an understanding of how organisms degenerate physically, minus the final cure. Among the various explanations about the aging process, the two most plausible theories are the oxidation stress (damage caused by free radical) theory and the cellular senescence (shortening of telomeres) theory.
Oxidation Stress Theory
According to this theory, free radicals, which are atoms that have an odd amount of electrons, bond frequently with cellular tissues due to their high rates of reaction. This process of oxidation, over time, damages the cell and its parts. The actual threat is when DNA material bond with the free radicals resulting in genetic mutation to the individual or to its offspring, which leads to incurable diseases including most forms of cancers.
Cellular Senescence Theory
The Cellular Senescence theory observes the effect of telomere shortening inside a cell. Telomeres are a set of base chemicals comprising of amino acids such as thymine, adenine, cystosine, and guanin – replicated and strung together to serve as a stopper at the ends of chromosomes, (much like the caps at the ends of shoe strings). Every division of a cell diminishes the telomere strand – eventually, the host cell dies when a pair of telomeres decreases to a critical length.
Science fortunately has demonstrated the appropriate form of food intake and nutrition that will help reduce the damage of free radicals and the lengthening of the telomeres. History has been able to record the anti-aging traditions of the Chinese and their verified capacity to slow down aging, as gleaned by the vibrant glow and youthful complexion that’s so obvious among Asians.
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The Role Of The Divergent Bladder Meridian In Gua Sha Therapy
If you want to know how Chinese Medicine can help treat arthritis, you need to first know how arthritis develops in the first place. The following is a very basic version of the different factors that can lead to arthritis.
According to the principles of Chinese Medicine, the human body has a natural ability to remove most of the toxins it encounters. If we breathe in or eat something toxic, no problem, the body simply processes it and eliminates it from its system. There is also a theory in Chinese Medicine in which adverse emotions such as resentment, fear, bitterness, sadness, and anger can be harmful to the body. They likewise need to be released by the body in some way.
But what occurs if a person’s undergoing a really difficult time in his life, physically or emotionally? The natural ability of the body to clear out toxins might have problems coping that can overwhelm his body at that time. This can cause the toxins to remain within the body, and this time it has to figure out how to get rid of them in another way. Instead of allowing the toxins to harm the internal organs, Chinese Medicine believes that the body is extremely intelligent. It can collect the toxins in areas that will keep the body safe. These places are the joints. This is how the body keeps the body safe by housing the toxins into the joints rather than allowing them to endanger their lives!
Part of the amazing things about the way the body houses these toxins is that some sort of progression occurs. You don’t just rise up in the morning suffering from excruciating pain in your fingers all of a sudden. Perhaps, that’s not arthritis if that happens, but some persistent stress issue you’re dealing with at that time. Most arthritis sufferers find that the first joint pains they experience are in their neck, low back, and knees. Those regions are connected to the Bladder Meridian, which is the primary Meridian that “steers away” toxins from the organs to the joints (which, thus explains why it’s called a “Divergent” Meridian).
Divergent, Not the Movie, But the Meridians
The Divergent energy channels or meridians have a nonexistent affiliation with the wildly successful movie Divergent because they actually are genuine normal body mechanisms for diverging away toxins from the center, to keep you safe and alive.
After the neck, low back, or knees are affected, over the course of time, the problem could potentially aggravate (if your body is still unable to cope, more toxins may need to be stored). Those toxins must now be housed in various joints because the Divergent Bladder Meridian is no longer able to handle it. Therefore, the next body parts that the toxins will impact will be the shoulders and hips as well as the Divergent Gallbladder Meridian. If the Gall Bladder Meridian becomes eventually overwhelmed, it then finally goes into the feet and hands (Divergent Stomach Meridian), which is the time the swellings start to occur. Other problems such as deformities may develop which can increasingly impact your overall health further down the line.
In Chinese Medicine, the plan of treatment over time is to slowly expel the toxins from their storage areas by administering Divergent Meridian therapies. An ancient Chinese scraping technique known as Gua Sha in Tarzana can rid of toxins all over the skin. This is a vital aspect of this healing technique.
The practitioner can only perform this treatment for your arthritis if you are relatively strong or if you are in a good place in life (meaning emotional and physical). The responsibility of your body is to excrete and process the toxins which it would be unable to do when they were overwhelmed.
The Return Home
It takes time to find the road back from severe arthritis. Anything that impacts the shape of your joints is going to require time to recover. The Divergent Meridians only can take out the toxins from the joints. Other techniques are available that can be very helpful as well. I recently treated a woman suffering from severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. At first, she could hardly hold a pen or get to my office. Today, she almost runs up the stairs and is considering returning to her career of working in an office with her hands. The patient’s joints have very little pain. Once the toxins are eliminated, we were able to start doing other Chinese Medicine procedures to restore mobility to her joints. The practitioner applies Gua Sha on the patient’s extremely tense muscles which had been a major cause of her deformed joints to help treat the stuck patterns. Moxibustion was also included to transport fluid to the joints once the inflammation disappears. Also, acupressure therapy for restoring chi flow and vitality in the body were proven to be very helpful.
Tai Chi, A Movement Form Of Yoga Combined With Meditation
As you make your way to work every morning, you may have passed a group of people standing in one place and moving their bodies in slow movement. You may wonder if that is actually exercise since nothing energetic is happening. But, this is exactly what the ‘Supreme Ultimate Force’ or Tai Chi is.
What is Tai Chi?
Tai Chi is defined as a movement form of yoga combined with meditation. Despite many of its sets or movements being rooted in the martial arts, they are performed gracefully, softly, and slowly. Amid much guessing as to its origin, Tai Chi is said to have started with the legendary Chang San-Feng in the 12th century.
In principle and practice, Tai Chi developed with several of the tenets of Chinese philosophy, including both Confucianism and Taoism.
Chen Man Ching, Tai Chi master said in 1947, “When one practices the form he must keep relaxed. Over time, they may find that it will become part of their mental and physical state”. To fully understand the meaning of Tai Chi, no amount of rushed efforts to understand the art of Tai Chi will bring that about. Permitting Tai Chi to search for the inner chi and empower the body entails lots of practice and patience. You start achieving a harmony of soul, mind, and body once your inner chi has been located.
Benefits
There are several benefits that Tai Chi has to offer. People in China believe that Tai Chi can treat depression, arthritis, high blood pressure, treat heart disease, etc., strengthen tendons and muscles, and prolong. Stamina can also be increased with Tai Chi. Jo Li, a university student who has practiced Tai Chi enthusiast for the last 2 years, recently realized that he is able to run for a longer period of time without easily becoming tired. Research shows that Tai Chi produces benefits in endurance and oxygen uptake and has aerobic benefits.
For those who think that Tai Chi is merely for people who don’t want to do strenuous exercises or just for seniors, think again! Doctors now recommended it as an optional fitness regimen for pregnant women because it is slow-moving and gentle. For pregnant women who have never performed any kind of exercise before, Tai Chi can be extremely beneficial for them because it lowers the risks of injury for these women. Yoga and other ‘passive’ exercises, entail a certain amount of movement that could be difficult for pregnant women in later stages of pregnancy.
Dealing with changes in work, lifestyle, and body size can be very hard and stressful for a lot of pregnant women. This is where the meditation aspect of Tai Chi plays a role. Deep breathing methods as well as assisting the mind to concentrate on the repetitive and slow movements of the breathing can provide remedy to these external changes. Patience is also taught in Tai Chi and improving such a virtue would certainly come in handy when the baby arrives. What’s more important to a woman then stability when she is pregnant? In 1996, the Emory University conducted a research that showed practicing Tai Chi helped reduce the risks of falling by almost 50 percent.
Tai Chi helps both children and mothers-to-be. A 26-year-old English teacher named Anne D’Souza, has brought in Tai Chi exercises to her class to before lessons. She observed that after the exercises, the children, come into class prepared for their subjects and a lot of calmer. They also fared better in class. Tai chi can also increase performance, focus, and concentration as observed by the American Journal of Medicine and Sports. Tai chi was so successful for Mrs. D’Souza class that she shared the exercise to her fellow teachers to use on their students.
The rising number of people performing Tai Chi exercises proves its popularity and the regard people have in it. All over the world, people are practicing Tai Chi so much so that even an event named Tai Chi Day is held on the last Saturday of April, each year. This happening started in 1999 and now is recognized by the UN World Health Organization and is recognized globally. Celebrations include free classes and mass Tai Chi exercises in most cities.
The great number of Tai Chi exercises has captivated a lot of people so much that a glance a heartland estate around 7 am or 7 pm, will ensure a show of small groups of people amassed and practicing Tai Chi enthusiastically. When schools are out for the holidays, around June and December, you can see a lot of children joining the neighborhood ‘uncles’ and ‘aunties’ participating in Tai Chi actively.
Tai Chi is the way to a better life, mentally and physically. According to master Chen Man Ching,” Tai chi is the great ultimate, encourages the timid, invigorates the debilitated, raises the sick, and strengthens the weak”.
Dr. Marco Dibonaventura – Board Certified Acupuncturist and Herbalist in King of Prussia, PA
Diagnosing And Treating Conditions The Traditional Chinese Medicine Way
Chinese Herbal medicine is a major branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that also includes Chinese massage therapy (Tuina) and acupuncture in Cleveland among others. In China, herbal medicine has been used for hundreds of years and is supported by a rich and long history of research, use, and development.
The diagnosis and therapies used in Chinese herbal medicine are unique and are all based on the principles of traditional Chinese medicine. For instance, the common cold can be diagnosed as “cold-wind infiltration” and herbs that warm cold and eliminate wind may be recommended. Prescription herbs provided by practitioners are usually taken in pill form, in powder form, or boiled into a tea.
Unlike a Western trained physician who sees a cold as just a cold, a practitioner of TCM looks at a person’s general well-being and health. This practitioner will find out if the Yin and Yang of the patient and his other energetic forces are in balance, or if he is in excess or deficiency in one or the other. According to TCM theory, Yin and Yang are the two complementary and opposing forces in nature, Yin, refers to the female force while Yang refers to the positive.
A doctor of TCM’s recommendations addresses the patient’s specific excesses/deficiencies. To him, a cold is more than just a cold, brought about by an external pathogen. The excesses/deficiencies in the patient’s body also play a part in his sickness, which have left him vulnerable.
The TCM language of the five elements and Yin, Yang is too limiting and too simple by comparison. Medicinal herbs however, work wonders, especially when used alongside lifestyle changes and acupuncture.
The Importance Of The Season Of Spring In Traditional Chinese Medicine
Spring is the season of creativity, new growth, of birth, and of expansion. In the cycle of the five elements, this is the energy of wood. Spring is the season when we reclaim our creative self. Our spirit should express itself in the world in order to be healthy. Aspects of the spirit or soul in Oriental Medicine are ascribed to bodily centers. Each of the soul’s aspect or element feeds its unique energy to the body. We must bring our souls back into our bodies to heal and become whole again. Spring is when illnesses that originate from the loss of power become healed.
The energy of Wood is the energy of assertion and righteous anger. It is expressed through constant frustration and anger and when it’s out of balance that can lead to resignation and sadness. One of the wood organ system meridians is the Liver, which is most affected by these emotions. The animal soul or “Hun” resides in the liver. In Western Psychology, the “Hun” is similar to the term known as the anima which is our creative self that makes adjustments in the world. It is our self that grasps for what we need and encourages movement. In Chinese tradition, the Liver prefers order. Similar to the growing plant that pushes through the darkness of the soil, our spirit is designed to reach for what it needs. According to Chinese medicine, the Liver ‘combs’ the blood; it keeps the life force or Chi smoothly flowing in various directions. Without action our ideas and dreams become literally stuck in our bodies. We become that frustration in our bodies when we are anything less than the self we are truly meant to be since our spirits needs to express itself in the world.
An imbalanced Liver will manifest physical symptoms that tell you to pay attention to the calling of the soul to reorganize our lives. Typical PMS symptoms include: sadness, tears, irritation, frustration, breast tenderness and bloating. Fibromyalgia symptoms include: depression, fatigue, and muscle pain. Symptoms of allergy include stuffiness, sinus pain, and red itchy, tearing eyes, tearing, itchy, red eyes, which can occur due to an imbalanced Liver. Impotence and Migraines are also signs of Liver imbalance. All the choices you make not to display your creativity, acknowledge what you are really feeling, or act assertively can all lead to an overburdened Liver. When your Chi does not flow freely, it slows down in the Liver. Like friction, this stagnant energy, generates heat that rises in the body. Blood congeals and the tendons and muscles are not nourished causing restricted movement and pain.
Each element has a corresponding yin and yang meridian partner. While the yin energy channel or meridian processes the predominant emotion of that element, the yang meridian processes the mental attitude. The Gall Bladder is the Liver’s partner. Shoulder and neck tensions as well as headaches may develop from the Gall Bladder meridian. Tension in the Gall Bladder is combined with too much need to control. The energy of Wood that has become balanced confers the capacity to act assertively and to flow with the environment.
Nothing but an open neutral mind can unblock the free movement of Chi in the body. According to an ancient Taoist saying:
Blood precedes energy
Energy precedes mind
Mind precedes spirit
Spirit precedes the Tao
The concept of Chi, which is the bioelectrical energy flowing throughout the body underlies Oriental meridian therapy. Chi becomes emotion, thought, movement, digestion, etc. depending on what it moves through. Hurts, injuries, and feelings are all energy expressions flowing in a certain way. ‘E-motion’ is a word that actually means ‘to move out’. We often experience physical or emotional tension if we fail to express an emotion, which only blocks flow of our energy. Mind then becomes a series of crystallized patterns that reduces our awareness. This generates armoring or physical tension in our musculature. The Nei Ching says: there is blockage where there is pain. It is believed that the Tao can break through anything that gets in its way. Acupressure or Acupuncture in Walla Walla enables the Chi to circulate freely again, causing the energy to change because that is its nature. This is often felt as streaming of energy or tingling and can be accompanied by expressions of emotional and physical release such as tears and sighs. The root of the term emotion gives us a clue to how it can be understood. The “E” means “out” and thus E-motion actually means to move out. Essential to healing is the freeing up trapped attitudes and emotions. In Oriental medicine, there are no psychosomatic sicknesses because bodily processes and the emotions all have common energy channels.
When the Liver is overwhelmed with drugs and chemicals, all our emotions have their own biomolecules that can build up in the blood. With a toxic Liver, emotions tend to stay longer in the body. The Liver biochemically does hundreds of processes that detoxify poisons and maintain and clean the quality of blood. The job of the Liver is to eliminate excess neurotransmitters and hormones such as adrenalin and estrogen from the blood. It removes lactic acid and allows endorphins to keep circulating. Glycogen is stored in the Liver. This organ changes the glycogen back to glucose in order to supply a constant amount of energy to the brain. The Liver has many more functions and all are vital to a sense of steady well-being.
The Liver, on a physical level, can be healed with the plants of spring. Nutrients from the earth are extracted by the plants and the plants take in sunlight to synthesize chlorophyll. In plants, energy production is related chemically to energy production in the human body. Chlorophyll absorbs the energy of the sun that excites the electrons and the plant houses the energy as ATP and releases Oxygen. The body imbibes the chlorophyll from plants and substitutes the magnesium with iron in an intricate chemical process to produce hemoglobin in the blood. Hemoglobin transports oxygen in the blood, vital for generating energy on a cellular level. Magnesium is required in more than 300 enzyme reactions, these are some of the reasons the Liver does well on a green diet. Chi and blood benefit from green plants helping them to flow abundantly and constantly in the body.
Blockages often arise and like a young plant a person may develop around them. The body surprisingly releases more pain alleviating biochemicals to difficulties than to delightful experiences. Obstacles to goals often arise that pushes a person back on Tao or on the right path. This is the Taoist way of saying we create our own experiences. Jupiter is the planet associated with the Liver and the wood element. Through openness and faith, a person can grow and expand — Jupiter’s entry into a chart, in astrological terms, will provide the person with that energy. Saturn with its balance in the chart, represents the limitations, like rocks in the way of the new plant. Spring has the energy that usually sends us the message to “just do it”. Your body may be requesting for a change if you are experiencing any of the Liver symptoms listed above; therefore, listen.
The element of wood is a beautiful symbol for the natural desire to become what one truly is, to express oneself and, to make changes in the environment. It has an energy that’s the same as a blade of grass pushing upward to the earth reaching for the light. Wood contains all the other elements and organizes them as a plant develops from a seed and the spirit matures according to one’s individual Tao or the plan of his soul.