What the heck is Chinese Medicine? (TCM)

I often get asked by massage clients or otherwise, so i will address it a little here!

(Was also prompted by my dear fiance when i told her i made another ai post)

Basically..

#1 - TCM is a method of treating disease, imbalance, or illness in the body.

#2 - TCM is a compilation of mainly three methods of treatment

#3 - TCM is an ART.. Thats not A.R.T.. i mean its an art form, and a practice..

Ill expand on each of these points shortly

But to start, TCM, or traditional Chinese Medicine, has been the chief method of medical treatment and intervention in China for literally thousands of years!

Exactly how it is practiced now? No. Definitely not.

But/and, we have some classical texts that can be dated, and we still study these books in school as they are foundational to our methodology.

One in particular is called the "Huang Di Nei Jing", or translated into something like "The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor".

We had a whole class dedicated to this book, and i am near certain this will be a required class in TCM training for maybe ever more.

This book was written around 2,200 years ago.. Which is crazy!

And much of what we still practice, and how we practice, was layed out for the first time in this book.

I'll not get into the content of the book now, i just wanted to share this as a fact of the matter.

In the western and modern world, we value the scientific process over basically anything when it comes to health or understanding the universe...

How is 2200+ years of observation and trial and error for scientific process? Compared to western healthcare, its not even a comparison in my opinion..

As a note, i don't say that because i think TCM > Western med always. I say that because TCM deserves to be respected in the way that western medicine does, so it can serve our overall wellness and we can thrive more than we currently are.

So TCM has been around a long time, and was the main method of treating any illness, disease, or imbalance in the body. So we can truly say that TCM is a good helper in any situation. I say helper, because i believe that people heal themselves, with help from outside.. more on that another time.

So #1 - TCM is a method of treating disease, imbalance, or illness in the body.

i think this is self evident, but ill explain how TCM views these concepts as it can be helpful.

Everybody, and each of our selves and bodies, are in a certain state of balance or imbalance. If we stay up for 30 hours, we are usually quite tired. This is an imbalance, and sleep is the answer. Sleeping will bring the body back to a state of balance. This is basically how we can understand TCM.

Each thing we do, stay up late, drink coffee, eat 30 hot wings, eat a bucket of ice cream, call a friend, attend a funeral, exercise, over exercise.. affects our overall balance.

"Every action, has an equal or opposite reaction" (or an action in general).

Our body is a system of systems that all affect each other. In western terms the brain sends and receives signals, but without the heart pumping blood, the brain cannot function, and vice-versa.

TCM has a system of metaphors and energy systems that all balance, and depend upon another. When one is out, it can cause changes in the others, and then changes in our wellness.

A system that is balanced, is energized, digests well, eliminates with comfort and ease, is not swept away by their emotions, has good brain and body function, is not in pain.... etc..

TCM is a system of simple concepts, that all stack upon each other and create the diverse and complicated differences in us all! Ill not get too deep into these concepts now.

-To sum this up, TCM uses its three main tools to bring the body back into balance.

#2 - TCM is a compilation of mainly three methods of treatment;

method number A - Acupuncture

method number B - Herbal/Natural Medicinals

method number C - Tui Na/ Acupressure Massage

-Each of these methods are tools that we use to affect the bodies systems, and encourage the body back into a more harmonious balance! Simple enough!

Maybe to note.. The needles are generally as thin as a hair! And most of the time there is very little sensation when inserted.. It can be a hurdle to get over, i took quite a while to get comfortable with others needling me (control), so i get the hesitation.

Luckily, acupressure/Tui na/TCM massage, can be just as effective as using needles! So don't let fear dissuade you!

The last and most important thing a TCM practitioner should do, is to educate the patient. We mostly know the things that we are doing that are leading to our imbalances, but some things can be subtle, or are not yet widely known!

The best thing anyone can do for their health, is to look critically at their habits, and decide if they are serving them fully!

#3 - TCM is an ART.. Thats not A.R.T.. i mean its an art form, and a practice..

This i think, is the most important part of TCM for students and practitioners to understand. More on this later..

This is not that necessary for patients to understand, but it can be helpful when seeing different practitioners, or needing to find another after the retirement of a favorite.

What i want to say here, is that the practice of TCM can look very different depending on who is doing the practice!

No two people paint the same way, draw the same way, dance the same way.. hopefully you get it.. im sure you do..

Being synthesized from the cultural phenomena of China, TCM has changed it function and form over the thousands of years, and such a wide and vast country has proven to have wide and vast systems of belief and practice.

This has led to a great many types of procedures, and ways of using tools.

For example, when we insert a needle, we are to do so with a certain intention. This intention can be enhanced with a different physical manipulation technique.

Maybe the needle is inserted very quickly, or very slowly.. Or maybe the needle is inserted to intended depth, and then withdrawn to half depth, and then inserted back into the full depth.

Each technique is valid, as long as it resonates with the practitioner and patient.

This hints at part of the mysticism involved in this medicine, and something i will get into a different time :)

This is all to say, that each practitioner will have their own techniques and preferences for practice, so when someone says "what is TCM?", i must answer;

It depends who you ask!

<3