Traditional Chinese Medicine

Quan Yin, bodhisattva of compassion, comforts the sick and relieves all suffering.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of the oldest, most commonly used medical systems in the world. Originating in China more than 2,000 years ago, TCM is a family of practices which include acupuncture, herbal medicine, moxibustion, cupping, Tui Na, and nutrition. It is a system of preserving health and curing disease that treats the body as whole. TCM’s goal is to maintain or restore harmony and balance in all parts of the human being and also between the whole human being and the surrounding environment.

Each of the TCM healing modalities is designed to integrate into daily life. Combined, they offer the opportunity to live in harmony and maintain wholeness. In fact, for all its power to heal, TCM’s focus is on preventive care. In ancient China, doctors were paid only when their patients were healthy.
This focus on maintaining wholeness and harmony emerges from the philosophy of the Tao Te Ching.

TCM not only conceives of wellness and disease differently from Western medicine, it also describes the internal workings of the body in ways that are different. In place of the individual organs or blood vessels and nerves, TCM identifies the body’s Essential Substances, Organ Systems, and Meridian Channels. These terms describe the internal workings of the body in ways that are significantly distinct from Western ideas.

Essential Substances are those fluids, essences, and energies that support the organ systems and keep the body in balance. They are identifies as: Qi, the life force, Shen the spirit, Jing the essence that nurtures growth and development, Xue which is often translated as blood, but contains more qualities than blood, and Jin-ye, all the fluids not included in Xue.

Organ Systems, unlike the Western concept of organs, define the central organ plus its interaction with the Essential Substances and Meridian Channels. For example, there is a Heart System, which is responsible not only for the circulation of what the West calls blood, but acts as the ruler of Xue and is in charge of storing Shen. Meridian Channels are the conduits in the vast aqueduct system that transports the Essential Substances to the Organ Systems.

Attaining and maintaining a balanced state through TCM requires both active participation through meditation, exercise, and proper diet as well as receiving treatments when needed. The TCM preventative care focus wonderfully supports the building of a lifestyle that proactively cares for the mind, body, and spirit.