Traditional Chinese Medicine 101: What is it Anyway?

I often get asked, ‘what is acupuncture?’

In order to answer this, I have to get back to basics. In this blog series, we’re going to lay down a foundational knowledge of ancient Chinese Medicine for you to understand how acupuncture works.

Acupuncture is a therapy steeped in the ancient medical traditions of China, based on thousands of years of empirical knowledge.

Just as one would suspect, this topic feels very big and complex to tackle. Firstly, we must embrace a different perspective as eastern medicine did not develop from western thought. I’ve often compared the various medical traditions to this analogy…

 Imagine we’ve walked in on an art class. The students gather around a sumptuous arrangement of fresh fruit, flowers and knickknacks dappled with sunlight. Each student is asked to produce, from their unique perspective, the still life before them. When the task is complete, the artists present their pieces; each one is completely unlike the other, but we can recognize the various objects. This is how I like to think of medicine today; we are presenting a differing view on the sophisticated human body.

Whether it’s modern medicine, chiropractic’s, naturopathy or Traditional Chinese Medicine, we all have a point of view that is its own complete system of healing.

 So, what does the Traditional Chinese Medicine painting look like? Most likely the Yin and Yang motif. I know, it’s such a cliché, but I’ll argue it’s appropriate. Let’s take a look at this elegant and simple symbol that is the backbone to our medical theorem.

Yin and Yang represents two extremes that rely upon each other in order to exist; the ancient Chinese believed this to be true regarding all life in the natural world. Each extreme possesses a seed of the other as seen by the black dot in the white swirl, and the white dot in the black swirl.  To see the flicker of a candlelight, we must have darkness to behold it.

 Yin and Yang depicts both opposition and unity coexisting simultaneously.

 To break it down further, Yin is said to be:

Heavy

Cool

Feminine

Dark

Things in the natural world that are denser in terms of matter, and relatable to physical structures like the earth itself or the bones of your body.

Yang is the opposite, it is:

Ethereal

Warm

Masculine

Light

These are natural phenomenon that we perceive to be energetic or transformative in nature, like the wind in the sky or the firing of synapses in your brain. It’s difficult to physically grasp these intangible processes or things, but they exist.

 When a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine views the body, they’re using this Yin/Yang theory applying it to the various bodily processes and systems. Before a single needle is inserted, the TCM practitioner or acupuncturist must base their diagnosis on this principle, amongst others to provide a treatment with the intention to heal their patient.