| • Overview |
| • Accupuncture |
| • Ayurveda |
| • Exercises |
| • Homeopathy |
| • Massage Therapy |
| • Naturopathy |
| • Yoga |
| • Aromatherapy |
| • Bach |
| • Color |
| • DHEA |
| • Gem Therapy |
| • Hypnotherapy |
| • Magneto Therapy |
| • Music Therapy |
| • Oxygen Therapy |
| • Reiki |
| • Alternate Therapy Quiz |
|
ACUPUNCTURE
What is Accupuncture Yin and Yang The Five Elements Applications of Accupuncture Channels or Meridians Overview:
Acupuncture
has been a major part of primary healthcare in China for the last
5,000 years. It is used extensively for a variety of medical purposes
ranging from the prevention and treatment of disease, to relieving
pain and anesthetizing patients for surgery. As in many oriental
medicine practices, the emphasis of acupuncture is on prevention.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the highest form of acupuncture
was given to enable you to live a long, healthy life.
The
earliest written account of acupuncture is found in the Nei Jing
(The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine). This document
is believed to be from around 200 BC and is one of the oldest comprehensive
medical textbook. Pien Chueh, a famous physician of the fourth century
BC, used stone acupuncture needles, moxibustion and herbs to bring
a prince out of a coma. The Chinese still celebrate his birthday
every year on April 28th.
Acupuncture
literally means 'needle piercing," the practice of inserting very
fine needles into the skin to stimulate specific anatomic points
in the body (called acupoints) for therapeutic purposes. Along with
the usual method of puncturing the skin with the fine needles, the
practitioners also use heat, pressure, friction, suction, or impulses
of electromagnetic energy to stimulate the points. The acupoints
are stimulated to balance the movement of energy (qi) in the body
to restore health.
Acupuncture
involves stimulating In the past 40 years acupuncture has become
a well-known, reasonably available treatment in developed and developing
countries. Acupuncture is used to regulate or correct the flow of
qi to restore health.
To
really understand how acupuncture works, it is necessary to become
familiar with the basics of Chinese philosophy. The philosophies
of the Dao or Tao, yin and yang, the eight principles, the three
treasures and the five elements are all fundamental to traditional
Chinese acupuncture and its specific role in helping to maintain
good health and a person's well being.
The philosophy
of the Dao
Dao
is often described as "the path" or "the way of life." Just as its
counterpart in ancient India, Ayurveda, The laws of the Dao advocate
moderation, living in harmony with nature and striving for balance.
Ancient Chinese believed that moderation in all areas of life is
essential to a long and fruitful life. We are "fueled" by three
treasures: Qi or Chi (pronounced chee), Shen, and Jing. Chi is energy
or vital substance, Shen is the spirit, and Jing is our essence.
Qi is both the life force (or vital substance) and the organizing
principle flowing through all things and establishing their interconnectedness.
Chinese believe that every living thing (both human and non-human)
has qi. In the body, qi is found in the heart and lungs in circulating
blood and oxygen. Shen is the treasure that gives brightness to
life and is responsible for consciousness and mental abilities.
Sometimes it is compared to soul. Within the individual shen is
manifested in personality, thought, sensory perception, and the
awareness of self. Jing is responsible for growth, development and
reproduction. Jing represents a person's potential for development.
(comparable to western concept of genetical inheritance). Chinese
believed that everyone is born with a finite amount of Jing. As
we go through life, we lose or consume our Jing little by little.
Once we lose Jing, it cannot be replaced. It is gone forever. We
lose Jing if we live a wrong or careless living. But Jing can be
preserved if we live in moderation. Acupuncture can reduce the loss
of Jing.
According
to the philosophy of Dao, the role of the acupuncturist is to restore
your health and enable you to live a little closer to the Dao, thus
preserving your Jing and living to a ripe old age. A number of factors
can contribute to the depletion of Jing. Living a life of excess,
drinking too much, excessive emotional reactions, working too hard,
inappropriate sexual behavior, etc. all were believed to result
in the depletion of Jing. Balance in all things was considered the
key to good health and long life.
In
order to increase their understanding of the Dao, the Chinese developed
two concepts that together form the basis of Chinese thought: yin
and yang and the more detailed system of the five elements.
Yin and
Yang (View
Image)
The
idea of harmony and balance are also the basis of yin and yang.
The principle that each person is governed by the opposing, but
complementary forces of yin and yang, is central to all Chinese
thought. It is believed to affect everything in the universe, including
ourselves.
Traditionally,
yin is dark, passive, feminine, cold and negative; yang is light,
active, male, warm and positive. Another simpler way of looking
at yin and yang is that there are two sides to everything - happy
and sad, tired and energetic, cold and hot. Yin and yang are the
opposites that make the whole. They cannot exist without each other
and nothing is ever completely one or the other. There are varying
degrees of each within everything and everybody. The tai chi symbol,
shown above, illustrates how they flow into each other with a little
yin always within yang and a little yang always within yin. In the
world, sun and fire are yang, while earth and water are yin. Life
is possible only because of the interplay between these forces.
All of these forces are required for the life to exist. See the
table below to understand the relationship between yin and yang.
The
yin and yang is like a candle. Yin represents the wax in the candle.
The flame represents the yang. Yin (wax) nourishes and supports
the yang (flame). Flame needs the wax for its existence. Yang consumes
yin and, in the process, burns brightly. When the wax (yin) is gone,
the flame is gone too. Ying is also gone at that time. So, one can
see how yin and yang depend on each other for their existence. You
cannot have one without the other.
The
body, mind and emotions are all subject to the influences of yin
and yang. When the two opposing forces are in balance we feel good,
but if one force dominates the other, it brings about an imbalance
that can result in ill health.
One
can compare the concept of yin and yang to the corresponding principle
of tridoshas in Ayurveda, the ancient remedy from India. Ayurveda
proposes that every person has vata, pitta and kapha. When these
are balanced, there is the state of perfect health. When there are
imbalances then there is disease.
One
of the main aims of the acupuncturist is to maintain a balance of
yin and yang within the whole person to prevent illness occurring
and to restore existing health. Acupuncture is a yang therapy because
it moves from the exterior to the interior. Herbal and nutritional
therapies, on the other hand, are yin therapies, as they move from
the interior throughout the body. Many of the major organs of the
body are classified as yin-yang pairs that exchange healthy and
unhealthy influences.
Yin
and yang are also part of the eight principles of traditional Chinese
medicine. The other six are: cold and heat, internal and external,
deficiency and excess. These principles allow the practitioner to
use yin and yang more precisely in order to bring more detail into
his diagnosis.
The five
elements
The
yin and yang philosophy was further refined into the system of the
five elements to gain a deeper understanding of how the body, mind
and spirit work.
The
microcosm of the body is linked to the universe and is affected
by the daily and seasonal cycles of nature. (Think about the seasonal
affective disorder which manifests itself in winter or when the
light is not sufficient). The individual and the world are changing
all the time. But Chinese believe that these changes are occurring
in certain order and in cycles. (We can think about these like our
economic cycles or agricultural cycles. A period of growth is always
followed by a period of stagnation or unemployment. In the stock
market, a bull market is always followed by a bear market etc.)
In the same way, a seed planted in spring blooms in summer, seeds
itself in late summer to autumn, dies in winter, and a new seed
grows again in spring. It is part of a never-ending cycle and each
phase has its role to play in maintaining the balance of nature.
The same process of change occurs within the body. Cells grow and
die to make way for new cells, and body systems depend upon each
other in a similar way to the seasons, working together to ensure
the balanced functioning of the body, mind and spirit and the healthy
flow of life through the whole person.
Representation
of the Five Elements (View
Image)
Chinese philosophy recognizes
five distinct elements of cyclical change called water, wood, fire,
earth, and metal. These five elements can be related to our four seasons
(with a fifth late summer season) as shown in the table below. The
elements can also be related to different colors, emotion, taste,
voice and various organs. These can also be related to the selection
of food and herbs. Notice the correspondence between the Chinese philosophy
and the underlying Indian philosophy, which also classifies everything
in the universe under earth, water, fire, air, and ether.
Each
person's physical and mental constitution can be described as a
balance of the elements in which one or more may naturally dominate.
The proportion of the elements in a person determines his or her
temperament. Oriental medicine considers the ideal condition as
one in which all the five elements are in balance or in harmony.
Wood is said to be the mother of fire and the son of water. (Water
allows wood to grow, wood provides fuel for the fire). Using these
relationships one can describe all possible yin-yang imbalances
within the body. The thrust of five element diagnosis is to isolate
and treat the imbalanced element, because an imbalanced element
is like a weak link in your energetic chain that can undermine the
strength of your mind, body and spirit.
How the Five
Elements are Manifested Internally and Externally
How the Imbalance
of the Elements Affect Us?
Applications
of Acupuncture
Acupuncture is best
known for the control of pain. However, acupuncture can treat a
wide variety of common and uncommon disorders. The following is
a list of disorders that can be treated by acupuncture (World Health
Organization data):
Respiratory
Eye
Mouth
Gastrointestinal
Disorders
Neurological
and Musculoskeletal Disorders
In
the United States, acupuncture is used frequently for the treatment
of chronic pain conditions such as arthritis, bursitis, headache,
athletic injuries, and posttraumatic and post surgical pain. It
is also used for treating chronic pain associated with immune function
dysfunction such as psoriasis (skin disorders), allergies, and asthma.
Acupuncture is also found to be effective for the treatment of mind-body
disorders such as anxiety, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome,
hypertension, insomnia, PMS, menopausal symptoms, and depression.
Some modern application of acupuncture is in the treatment of disorders
such as alcoholism, addiction, smoking, and eating disorders.
Channels
or Meridians - The invisible Pathways of Qi
Chinese use the term
"jing luo" which means, channels, conduit, meridian etc. These are
the invisible channels through which qi circulates throughout the
body. The acupuncture points (or holes as the Chinese term xue is
more aptly translated means) are the locations where the qi of the
channels rises close to the surface of the body. There are 12 main
meridians, six of which are yin and six are yang and numerous minor
ones, which form a network of energy channels throughout the body.
Each
meridian is related to, and named after, an organ or function, the
main ones are: the lung, kidney, gallbladder, stomach, spleen, heart,
small intestine, large intestine, gall bladder, urinary bladder,
san jiao (three heater) and pericardium (heart protector/ or circulation
sex meridian).
There
are also 8 extraordinary channels that are considered to be reservoirs
supplying qi and blood to the twelve regular channels. These are
believed to have a strong connection to the kidney. The meridians
are shown in the figures.
Location of the meridians and acupoints in the body.(View Image) Dotted
along these meridians are more than 400 acupuncture points, classified
by WHO. (There may be as many as 2000 points in use for different
treatments.) These are listed by name, number and the meridian to
which they belong.
When
Chi flows freely through the meridians, the body is balanced and
healthy, but if the energy becomes blocked, stagnated or weakened,
it can result in physical, mental or emotional ill health. An imbalance
in a person's body can result from inappropriate emotional responses
such as: excess anger, over-excitement, self-pity, deep grief and
fear. Environmental factors such as cold, damp/humidity, wind, dryness,
and heat can also cause imbalance so as factors such as wrong diet,
too much sex, overwork and too much exercise.
To
restore the balance, the acupuncturist stimulates the acupuncture
points that will counteract that imbalance. So, if you have stagnant
Chi, he will choose specific points to stimulate it. If the Chi
is too cold, he will choose points to warm it. If it is too weak,
he will strengthen it. If it is blocked, he will unblock it, and
so on. In this way, acupuncture can effectively rebalance the energy
system and restore health or prevent the development of disease.
The points that the practitioner chooses to stimulate may not necessarily
be at the site of the symptoms.
How
Does Acupuncture Work?
Historically, acupuncture
points were believed to be holes that allow entry into channels.
These holes provide us gateways to influence, redirect, increase,
or decrease body's vital substance, qi, thus correcting many of
the imbalances. Many studies and research were directed since to
understand the mechanism of acupuncture.
Effects of Acupuncture
Acupuncture
has been shown to stimulate the immune system. It also has affects
the circulation, blood pressure, rhythm and stroke volume of the
heart, secretion of the gastric acid, and production of red and
white cells. It also stimulates the release of a variety of hormones
that help body to respond to injury and stress.
The Gate Control
Theory of Pain
According
to this theory, pain signals must pass through a number of high-traffic
"gates" as they move from the area of injury upward through the
spinal cord into the brain. Like a road or highway, these nerves
can handle only a limited number of nerve signals at one time. The
pain signals travels very slowly. We can generate other signals,
which move faster. The faster signals crowd out the slower ones
because of the limited capacity of the nerves. (Remember the time
sitting in traffic near a construction zone, where the two lanes
merge into one. The fast cars on the merging lanes go further and
merge ahead of the slower ones, making it nearly impossible for
the slow traffic on the lane to move forward. Now think about the
pain signals are the slow ones sitting there waiting for an opening
to move through. If one can produce enough fast signals, it can
effectively crowd
|
