T.C.M. for Body Wellness

T.C.M. for Body Wellness

Traditional Chinese Medicine (T.C.M.) is the oldest healing system on the planet; it has been in continuous practice for thousands of years. It dates as far back as the Yin Dynasty between 1400 and 1100 BC. The earliest Chinese medical book, "Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine is based on Yin and Yang principle. In T.C.M. the body is seen as a whole and everything is believed to be interconnected. When one organ is not functioning normally, it produces an imbalance in the body, thus creating a domino effect on the rest of the body. These ancient traditions include herbal medicine, acupuncture, auricular therapy (ear massage), tui na (massage), Qigong (exercise) and nutritional therapy.

Yin and Yang theories 

Yin and Yang theories were the creation of ancient Chinese observing the cycles and changes in nature. Yin (black or moon) and Yang (white or sun) represent two opposite principles in nature. All natural things have a Yin and Yang aspect of opposing energies. Yin represents the negative character, and Yang represents the positive nature. Each contains some of the other, but Yin tends to be more passive, introverted, calm, intuitive and soft. Yang tends to be more active, outgoing, focused, aggressive, logical and impatient. Yin and Yang are always in pairs: moon and sun, female and male, dark and bright, hot and cold, moist and dry, slow and fast, indecisive and decisive, emotional and rational.

Diagnosis Disharmony

In T.C.M., health is a harmoniously functioning body in which sleeping patterns, digestion and breathing are all connected, whereas illness or disease is caused by disharmony in the body. In order to diagnose a patient, a Chinese medical practitioner gets information through inquiry and observation. There are four basic categories of diagnostic observation used in the practice: sight, sound and smell, questions, and touch. These four areas of investigation are usually sufficient for traditional practitioners to accurately assess the imbalances found in the body. An important concept in the diagnostic system of Chinese medicine is that the indicators should always be taken holistically, meaning that everything relates to the well being and state of the person.

Trend Towards Balance

Optimum health should result from living as harmoniously as possible, trending towards balance. If there is no change (stagnation) or too much change (catastrophism) balance is increasingly lost, and illness can occur. Prevention is a key goal of Chinese medicine. It is the patient's responsibility to live responsibly, and practitioners are adviser that treat the individual patient rather than the illness. Two people with the same complaint might be treated completely differently, depending upon their constitutions or lifestyles.

Prevention of Disease

Even with the most open minded of you, disease prevention is still quite a hard concept to comprehend. Convincing the average person to take preventive health measures years before possibly becoming ill with a serious disease is not an easy task. For thousands of years the great Chinese Physicians believed in taking measures to ward off disease by keeping a patient's organ systems harmonized. They would only accept money while the patient was healthy. If the patient became ill, no money was accepted. The Chinese Physicians would then work very hard to restore the patient's health. A concept sadly reversed in the rest of the world with exuberant amounts of money spent on health insurance waiting for the diagnosis of a serious illness.

Chinese Medicine states that if all of the Five Organ Systems are working harmoniously, disease will not be able to penetrate. Taking Chinese Herbal Formulas from Heaven and Earth on a regular basis is an excellent way to help regulate, maintain and promote the organ system networks and create a powerful resistance factor. We should all try to follow the ancient Chinese concept of prevention and take the Chinese Herbs as a new standard for health and longevity.

Conclusion

Our health issues are affected by the season, geographical location, and time of day as well as our age, gender and genetics. T.C.M. helps recharge our body's own natural self-healing mechanism, and teaches us how keep up a running dialogue with our bodies and learn recognize signs and symptoms. The real aim of Chinese healing is to encourage the prevention of disease and keep the body harmonious and balanced in the pursuit of perfect health.