Medicine for a Modern Mind


by David Salgado C


hinese Medicine is an energy medicine. Based on the flow of Qi throughout the body (and throughout the earth and the universe), it originated from Tao-


ism. Briefly, the Tao is seen as the undifferentiated whole, fullness and emptiness as One, the origin of all things. This One gives rise to Yin and Yang, which are polar op- posites such as cold and hot, below and above, inside and outside, all things which could not exist without the other. Yin and Yang interact with each other, the interaction be- coming the third thing, and then, from this interaction, the “Ten Thousand Things” (everything that exists) springs forth. Thus, Yin and Yang and Qi are the foundation of


this traditional medicine, which dates back 5,000 years or more. Disharmonies of the body, mind and spirit are linked; the interactions are studied rather than any specific symptom, and these are described in terms of nature, such as the Five Phases. These Five Phases are: • Water (winter, endings, fear, Yin) • Wood (spring, beginnings, anger or determina- tion, Yang rising from Yin),


• Fire (summer, rising to greatest heights, joy, Yang) • Earth (late summer or harvest time, the center of things, each still moment between each Phase, phi- losophizing, a balance of Yin and Yang)


• Metal (autumn, descending, loss, sadness, Yin arising from Yang, leading to winter). On a practical level, an imbalance in Water may lead


to bones decaying and urinary problems, in Wood to stiff- ness and high blood pressure, in Fire to heart attacks (fed by Wood imbalances) and mania, in Earth to obesity and stuckness, in Metal to colds, flus and asthma. Health is considered a dynamic balance between the Phases; it is not a single state of being, but rather like an acrobatic balancing act beyond homeostasis. One way to visualize this way of thought is to imagine that, rather than everything existing outside one’s being—as the great universe beyond and other people, animals, things and happenings occur outside of one’s self—that all these are actually manifestations within and of one’s self (there is only one being, we are all one, everyone I meet is me). The western theory that “our senses interpret inputs from outside within our brains, which happens within us, so that actually everything we experience happens within us” is close to this thought.


20


As a guiding principle, then, the practice of Chinese Northern & Central New Mexico


Medicine is being very aware of what is within the practitio- ner to find subtle areas of imbalance while interacting with a patient, and using knowledge of the flow of Qi and how to access them with massage (acupressure or Tui Na) or acupuncture and possibly herbal compounds. Counseling is also significant, and includes advice on different ways of meditation and ways to move one’s body and ways to eat. Meditation is the most fundamental path to health. Meditation is described as “stilling the mind” but may also be considered a healthy way to think, to perceive our universe and our interactions within it. “Love” is often chosen as the concept with which physical, mental and emotional imbalances become balanced, leading to freedom of movement in our integrated bodies at all levels. As to emotions, traditional Chinese wisdom states that 99 percent of all illness has a root in emotion. And emotion is closely linked to the nature of thinking. The ways of “right thinking” have been expounded by every Master from Lao Tzu and Buddha to Jesus to the modern Eckhart Tolle and the mystic Neale Donald Walsch. When our energy vibra- tions are in tune with the symphony of the universe, we flow with it on a never-ending journey. Healing is merely detaching from snags in rough spots.


Chinese Medicine, including meditation, bodily NewMexico-NaturalAwakeningsMag.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32