Chinese medical history covers a span of 4,500 years

While it’s a bit over-simplified, the history can be divided into significant eras within that time as the theory and practice have developed (the Legendary Period (2697-1122 B.C.), expanded and become more systemized (the Golden Period (1122 B.C.-960 A.D.), and in some cases, have degraded to superstition (Mediaeval Period (961-1800 A.D.) This was followed by the Modern Period which began in the 19^th century extending essentially into modern times.

Chinese Medicine is an Ancient System

What we practice as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) today is a complex system which addresses every area of human health. This includes the obvious disciplines of lifestyle (sleep, rest, activity), nutrition, physical manipulation of the body (needling, gua sha, tui na, cupping, etc), and herbal pharmacopeia.

Part of what makes TCM different is that it also addresses the human spirit – we might loosely translate this as “mental health” but the system practiced is more along the lines of addressing spiritual health in terms of the different parts of the human spirit and soul through connection to people, connection to our own bodies and connection to Nature itself. One might say that Western Medicine also addresses mental health but it is a separate discipline while TCM incorporates this particular aspect of the human experience as integral to the medicine as a whole.

Chinese Medicine is a Unique Language

Also unique in TCM is the “language” in which the practitioner thinks and describes what is happening in the body of a patient. It sounds archaic, however, in maintaining the language in a way that describes Nature, we can maintain the connection to the ancient roots of the medicine. When your practitioner talks about Blood, Qi, Wind, Damp, Heat and Cold, these words all connect to Nature and how the human body is in or out of balance at a very root level. It sounds simplistic; however, it is a complex and extremely sophisticated system of diagnostics and treatment that is so effective that it has lasted the test of time. It is based on the rules of Nature and since the rules of Nature never change, if a practitioner gets stuck or can’t figure out a patient’s problem, they can always return to Nature to find an answer.

First and foremost, TCM is about balance in the human condition – balance of Yin and Yang to the Western mind. But it is far more complex. While Yin and Yang are at the root, there is also balance in what we call the 8 Principles: Yin/Yang, Hot/Cold, Interior/Exterior, Excess/Deficiency.  At the very root, your practitioner will describe your condition in those terms as they are the most simplified and basic. Every organ system, pathology of Qi or Blood, or imbalance can be described with the eight simple descriptions.