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 "Chinese Medicine is a system of preserving health and curing disease that treats the mind, body, and spirit as a whole. It's goal is to maintain or restore harmony and balance in all parts of the human being and also between the whole human being and the surrounding environment.....It gives one the opportunity to live in harmony and to maintain wholeness......It is designed to be integrated into everyday life." -Dr. Misha Ruth Cohen
The Foundation of theory in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is grounded in several concepts, one however stands out above the rest. The theory of Yin/Yang is said to be the basis for all TCM physiology, pathology, and treatment. The theory of Yin/Yang as well as that of Qi energy have been at the root of TCM for thousands of years.
Yin and Yang are represented as a symbol that may be equated by many to balance. Traditionally Yin/Yang have more significance than just balance. In TCM Yin/Yang is as fundamentally important as blood and bones. It is an entity, force, magnetism, a deep seated quality that lives within the body as Qi energy (pronounced "Chee")- the life force. Allopathic Medicine, Chiropractic Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine all have names for this energy: vix medicatrix naturae, innate intelligence, and Prana consecutively. Qi gives us vitality, health, and quality of life. With no Qi we die, with deficient or imbalanced Qi we are ill, diseased, or functioning less than perfectly. With balanced Qi we are maximally functional and likewise maximally healthy.
TCM offers noninvasive, safe treatment for a wide variety of illnesses. Acupuncture alone has been shown to cure or treat more than 300 diseases according to the World Health Organization (W.H.O. Chronicle No. 34, 1980). Other modalities in TCM increase that number dramatically. |
