Every medicine is a language, a vocabulary of concepts that expresses fundamental beliefs about the nature of reality. It is through this grid that we perceive and explain ourselves. Medical thinking defines human experience, from physiological process to human behavior and competence. It is medicine that determines how we are born and how we die, whether we are fit or disabled, intelligent or ignorant, healthy or ill. Medicine is the cultural institution that defines when we are alive, valuable, and human. Ontology and pathology are always closely linked: how people get sick is inextricably tied to who they are. The ideas of Chinese medicine differ fundamentally from those of Western medicine, so identifying and solving problems within its context requires familiarity with its concepts, categories, and logic.
Read moreDefining the foundation terms of Chinese medicine helps a newcomer penetrate how Chinese medicine understands and explains the body. Just as nature contains air, sea, and land, the human body is comprised of Shen, Qi (pronounced chee), Moisture, Blood, and Essence. Qi is the animating force that gives us the capacity to move, think, feel, and work. Qi is the dynamic principle that expresses itself through all living processes. Moisture is the liquid medium that protects, nurtures, and lubricates tissue. Blood is the material foundation out of which we create tissue. Whereas Shen (Mind) represents the immaterial expression of our selves, Essence (Jing) represents the body’s reproductive and regenerative substance. There are also body climates: Wind, Dampness, Dryness, Heat, and Cold that affect how we function and feel.
Read moreAs nature is organized by five primal powers (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), so the body is divided into five functional systems known as Organ Networks. As an aggregate of organs, tissues, channels, and physiologic functions, each Organ Network is critical for the sustenance of life. Each embodies a distinctive intellectual, emotional, and behavioral style as well as physiological correspondences. As distinct from the Western identification of organs, each Organ Network in Chinese medicine refers to a complete set of functions – physiological and psychological – rather than to a specific and discrete physical structure fixed in an anatomical location. For this reason they are referred to as Organ Networks rather than simply as organs. Each has its own responsibilities (a job to do), a strategy (how to do the job), and a character (a way of being or personality) that reflect the power of each of the five phases. The Liver (Wood) stores the Blood and regulates the even movement of Qi. The Heart (Fire) propels the Blood and is the seat of consciousness. The Spleen (Earth) generates and distributes nourishment. The Lung (Metal) receives and disperses Qi. The Kidney (Water) stores the vital Essence.
Read moreChinese Modular Solutions streamlines the process of customizing formulas for practitioners, while making compliance easy for end users. It’s a self-contained system simple enough to be used with confidence, and complex enough to be widely applicable. Bypassing the need for familiarity with single herbs or classical formulas, Chinese Modular Solutions requires only the ability to interpret signs and identify patterns. Mass-produced patent formulas are popular because they are more convenient and palatable; but it is difficult to be responsive to individual needs with standardized remedies. Chinese Modular Solutions combines the best of both worlds: unlike standardized formulas, they can be tailored for people without asking them to drink time-consuming bitter brews. There are 30 Chinese Modular Solutions formulas: beginning with 11 that regulate the basic body constituents of Qi, Moisture, Blood, Essence and Shen; 11 that eliminate adverse conditions (Cold, Heat, Damp Heat, Phlegm, Internal and External Wind); 5 that strengthen the Organ Networks of the Liver, Heart, Spleen, Lung and Kidney; and 5 that harmonize Organ Network relationships (Liver-Spleen; Spleen-Kidney, Kidney-Heart, Heart-Lung, and Lung-Liver).
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