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While the brain can help us to understand, it can also separate us from the essence of true knowing. Some of the issues of academic teaching, as well as the orientation we encounter in many of our patients, is that the brain wants to rule. The brain has its place but it is absolutely subservient […]
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According to the Lingshu, a classical text in Chinese medicine known as the Celestial Pivot, the adverse influence of wind was considered so great that the sages ‘avoided the winds like avoiding arrows and stones.’ Like the sages mentioned in the Lingshu, we are all cautioned to avoid even subtle exposure to wind. The wind […]
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Xing Ming Gui Zhi 性命圭旨 [1615], Taoist texts bearing theory on innate nature and the preservation of life force through inner alchemy. “Physical form and Spirit are together marvelous disciples of the Way; Innate disposition and the lifespan are mutually perfected.” • Thesis by Daniel Burton-Rose, 1998 • http://www.charleschace.com/pdfs/Xing_Ming_Gui_Zhi-BurtonRose.pdf
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In Chinese medicine we are taught from the perspective of cosmological wholeness. People are understood as integral aspects of nature, the embodiment of the same life force and flow as everything else in the natural order of the universe. From this holistic perspective, the wisdom of Chinese medicine advises that people undertake behaviors befitting the […]
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灸 Moxa ‘punk’ is loose herb form of mugwort for direct and indirect moxibustion treatment. Applying the method of smokeless moxa, densely-packed moxa made by a charcoal process which results in little or no smoke, was compared in its effect to that of moxa punk. Heat by each form of moxa was transferred to […]
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Increasingly, children are growing up here in the West with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine as a routine part of promoting health and treating the onslaught of childhood health complaints. Children, like adults, suffer from imbalances of QI which are vital to get to the root of. However, our young friends are not mini-adults; their […]
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When Lǐ Qīngyún 李清雲 was 105 years old, he traveled to Pingliang County in Gansu to collect herbs. In the Kōngtóng mountains, Li met a Taoist hermit who was much older than he. Li asked the elder for the secret of long life and the old hermit laughed, saying, “Why are you asking me? Aren’t […]
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BITTER • Adjusts Fire [HT-SI] Preparation by raw, pressed, blanching. SWEET • Adjusts Earth [ST-SP] Preparation by steaming, low heat cooking for a long time, boiling. PUNGENT • Adjusts Metal [LU-LI] Sauteéing then covered simmering, and pressure cooking. SALTY • Adjusts Water [KI-BL] Preparation by stewing, frying, crockery cooking. SOUR • Adjusts Wood [LV-GB] Preparation […]
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Rest and exercise should compliment one another. Rest with little physical exertion tends to be harmful to the body; long-term sitting being harmful to the muscles, and lying down for extended periods harms the QI. It can be concluded that even with good diet and rest but without physical exercise, the entire system is burdened. […]
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Extrapolations of the Su Wen, Chapter 2 Conform with the Energy of the Seasons The same cycles that take place in nature occur within our own bodies. Advances and technology in our ways of living often mislead us into thinking that we have outgrown the rules and ways of mother nature, but it is through […]