What comes to mind when you think of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)? Most of us see someone lying on a table with acupuncture needles on their back. But TCM is much more than acupuncture, which is just one of the six main treatments that TCM uses to help people rebalance themselves and achieve better health. There are a number of ways you can easily and naturally integrate the core goals of TCM into your life and improve your overall health and well-being.
Natural law
For five thousand years, TCM’s multidimensional body-mind-spirit system has been rooted in the laws of nature. This means that it is based on the effect that the seasons and the planets have on the body (think of the full moon), as well as on the energy relationship between nature, the universe and our body.
The underlying principle of TCM is that everything is energy. Health and wellness are the result of properly balancing your body’s energy system. There is natural harmony in your body’s organs and energy system. Illness and illness arise when one or more areas become out of balance with the others. To stay healthy, you need to pay attention to what your body is taking in – not just on a physical level, but also on a mental level. Constantly digesting negative emotions and thoughts affects the way the body functions.
The physical level is the easiest place for most people to start. TCM offers a number of approaches to creating physical well-being. The treatments include acupuncture, herbal therapy, Qigong, Tuina (Chinese acupressure or massage), and a unique understanding of nutrition.
Foods
Food is one of the easiest ways to improve your health. TCM has been prescribing foods and herbs as medicine for thousands of years. She has long understood that the spiritual aspect of food – the true healing ‘ingredient’ – goes far beyond the physical properties of nutrients, calories and vitamins. Every natural food has its own energy essence that can be used to support an organ and restore imbalances in your body.
TCM classifies two categories of healing foods: the first includes foods that are part of a typical diet, such as broccoli, celery, carrots, apples, pineapple, pears and the like. The second includes foods and herbs prescribed in certain amounts, often for specific periods of time, such as ginseng, ginger, goji berries and coix seed or Chinese barley. These foods are usually prescribed when some aspect of the body is out of balance. For example, bamboo, broccoli rabe, dandelion, eggplant, fennel and spring onions support the energetic functioning of the liver. Food can help your body regain its natural balance.
Acupressure
The real purpose of TCM healing treatments is based on the knowledge that the body is born with the ability to heal itself. TCM believes that prevention is the best cure. That is why many treatments focus on restoring balance and harmony to the body, as opposed to healing which only addresses symptoms or after an illness has already occurred. Getting an acupuncture tune-up is one of the easiest ways to stay balanced and prevent disease, which obviously requires an experienced acupuncturist. But acupressure is a healing method that you can do yourself, anytime, anywhere, without special equipment.
Acupressure involves stimulating or massaging key energy points in your body to produce maximum energy flow in your meridians, or energy channels, that connect all your organs. This simple practice can improve organ health. The Four Energy Gates is a powerful acupressure exercise that supports overall health and helps the body achieve balance. Practice the Four Energy Gates daily and invest time in maintaining your own health.
Mind
The expression ‘You are what you eat’ is true. At a higher level of consciousness it is more important to note: “You are what you think.” Just as we digest and process food, we also digest and process our thoughts. Thoughts fuel our mind and our emotions influence our body and health. In TCM, specific emotions relate to specific organ systems. They are especially disruptive when you experience them in excess or continuously, such as fear, anger, constant worry and overthinking. These affect your body’s ability to maintain balance and prevent disease. One way you can help transform emotions is by incorporating mediation into your daily lifestyle. Excercise The dragon stands between heaven and earth daily.
Prevention
Prevention is central to TCM. TCM practitioners are trained to observe and address even the smallest signs of imbalance in the body. Chronic, bothersome symptoms like pain, headaches, PMS, allergies, hot flashes, even rashes or vision problems, are the body’s way of signaling that something is starting to go wrong health-wise. If you develop signs and symptoms that you did not have before, your body is telling you that something in your life needs to change. Don’t let the whispers of your body become screams!
Inseparability
Today, thanks to modern science, especially quantum physics, we know that at the subatomic level everything is energy or energy frequencies. We also know that at the deepest level everything is connected. Inseparability is a basic principle of natural law. Because everything is energy and everything is Because they are interconnected, we must consider how each aspect of our lives affects the other. Emotions and thoughts are real energetic frequencies; your physical being is an energetic system, pulsating in waves of energy at the subatomic level. Energy can influence energy; therefore, emotional energy certainly affects physical energy and vice versa. In TCM, the most important thing you can do for yourself – whether it be diet, exercise, Qigong or any other form of practice – is to be aware of the powerful energy vibrations you are allowing into your body and mind.
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