↞ SPRING + TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE ↠
Megan Allen
SPRING HAS SPRUNG
This weekend we welcomed in Spring. The first day of Spring is determined by the vernal equinox, when the amount of daylight and darkness are almost equal. Now we celebrate the coming of the light.
TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
With the seasons changing this month, we are exploring the amazing world of Traditional Chinese Medicine, ancient Eastern healing wisdom. Sometimes thought of as alternative medicine, this is actually the original medicine of the world dating back more than 2,200 years.
I fell in love with the study of TCM back when I was in massage therapy school in 2014 where we had half of our program dedicated to the Eastern side of healing. For most of my life I had been living in chronic pain from injuries and overuse of my body through playing sports, dancing and my corporate job. I had been chasing the symptoms and trying to minimize those with physical therapy, steroid injections in my neck and prescribed medications. None of which helped that much.
The principles of TCM made so much sense to me as we are ever changing organisms living in relationship to the 5 elements of nature with the ability to heal ourselves from the inside out. We can use medicinal herbal remedies that grow from the Earth to balance and repair the homeostasis of our bodies and target the root causes of dis-ease as opposed to using pills manufactured in a lab to chase and treat specific symptoms.
Eastern medicine focuses on the whole person as opposed to just a certain body part or pain like in Western medicine. The goal of Traditional Chinese Medicine is to teach people how to optimize their intake and utilization of energy and prevent the depletion of this energy. It is about balancing the Yin (Feminine) with the Yang (Masculine).
Below I share some of the key principles of TCM.
CHI
An energy force that flows through the body. The foundation of all things. A person is born with a certain amount of energy (original chi) and this energy is renewed in two basic ways: 1) Through the air we breathe 2) Through the food (grain chi) and water we ingest.
YIN + YANG
Yin and Yang are dynamically opposing yet harmonizing energies in the universe. One is part of the other as the symbol shows. In the Light Yang side you have the spot of Dark Yin and on the Dark Yin side you have a spot of the Light Yang.
Yin (feminine) meridians run from Earth up to Heaven and Yang (masculine) meridians run Heaven down to Earth.
Tai chi, acupressure and acupuncture all help to promote the balance between Yin and Yang.
5 ELEMENTS THEORY
“The five elements- wood, fire, earth, metal, water- encompass all the phenomena of nature. It is a symbolism that applies itself equally to man.” Su Wen
The five elements theory provides a master blueprint that diagrams how nature interacts with the body and how the different dimensions of our being impact each other. Each element is associated with a season, direction, climate, stage of growth and development, color, taste, organ, opening, tissue, emotion and system.
🔥 makes Earth ↠ ⛰ creates Metal (Mineral) ↠ 🥣 holds Water ↠ 💦 nurtures Wood ↠ 🌳 feeds Fire
With Love + Gratitude,
Megan