Take a look at your tongue in the mirror, see what it looks like, see how its shaped, what color it is, whether there are cracks, and whether there is a coat. This is just one of the elements of a physical examination in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Many people find it entertaining that there is so much information to be gained from looking at your tongue.
When you think of Chinese medicine, you probably think of acupuncture because it is what you hear about the most. Actually Chinese medicine is a beautifully intricate system of medicine that is used to understand how energy flows through the body.
The basic premise is that energy flows through your body in certain patterns. When it is out of balance, there are problems. To make it more clear, think of energy as the wireless internet in your body. It connects you to everyone and everything, and also flows through your body. Its job is to make sure everything is going smoothly. Your brain is the computer, you have plumbing, and electricity, and a motor to make everything move. The wireless, responds to the electricity, and interacts with the rest of your system to keep things communicating smoothly.
Key to understanding energy is to know that its all about opposites playing off of each other. Yin is the feminine, soft, moist, nighttime, moon, vulnerable side of your energy. Yang is the masculine, dry, hot, sunny, daytime part of your energy. They flow through out the day and one can change into the other. Sometimes you are more yin in your nature, and sometimes more yang, with many factors affecting both.
When your energy is balanced, you feel well in the world. You are able to handle emotional stresses with equanimity, your physical body recovers smoothly from challenges, and your mind functions clearly. For each person that balance is different.
In addition to acupuncture, treatment modalities include – herbs, diet, exercise, and emotional interventions to help a person come to balance.
I love chinese medicine because it has space for each person to be as unique as they are. When I was a surgery resident many years ago, I was frustrated because even the best of what I could offer in surgery was not helpful to all my patients. I wanted to offer more. For me, Western medicine is like the big rocks in the riverbed. Chinese medicine is like the water flowing through and around the rocks. The river would not be complete without either component.
