November 10, 2009

Chinese Medicine Capitalizes On Millennia Of Tradition

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Unlike modern Western medicine that revels in the ability of drug companies and research firms to find medicinal cures and treatments for a plethora of ailments in time spans commonly...

Unlike modern Western medicine that revels in the ability of drug companies and research firms to find medicinal cures and treatments for a plethora of ailments in time spans commonly measured in fiscal quarters, Chinese medicine capitalizes on millennia of tradition. Think of this wellness system as a pyramid wherein a number of incidental findings and accidental revelations were banded together, summarized, cataloged, relationship checked, and gradually crystallized.

The end result is a body of Chinese medicine that is not so much cure oriented as it is process and wellness focused. To this end, the discipline does not allow itself to be summarized in a few prescriptions but much rather must be viewed in context as a body of findings, some of which resulted from trial and error, while others were the results of cunning reasoning and a growing understanding of the human body, nature, and the way both harmonized. In contrast to pill, tablet, and injection focused Western medicine, Chinese medicine is thought of as a collection of approaches which may need to be employed jointly or separately, depending on the individual's response to one or more aspects of the treatment being offered. Thus, there are a number of branches which have pronged from what is today collectively considered to be under the auspices of traditional Chinese medicine:

* Herbal healing but also promotion of overall wellbeing with the help of plants.

* Physical manipulation of nerve centers via acupuncture

* Stimulation of bodily strength and facilities through massage.

* Breathing exercises and relaxation techniques that seek to reestablish the harmony that exists between the person and the world around her or him.

* Spiritual awareness and application.

It is interesting to note that even as Chinese medicine capitalizes on millennia of tradition, it is also the recipient of timeless philosophical thoughts, spiritual awakenings, and furthermore is heavily influenced by medicinal understanding and thought processes of the warring nations throughout the ages – many of which have come in contact with the Chinese at one point or another. Much like osmosis, Chinese medicine has always made use of that which was around the understanding of the practitioner of her or his time period, at time summarily rejection or embracing new schools of thought. The resulting body of medicinal knowledge and time honored practice has left many a Westerner stunned by the complexity of the knowledge amasses and also the seemingly endless interlocking of different disciplines. Given the modern goal oriented way of thinking, it is hard for those thoroughly embroiled in the Western mode of medicinal practice to step back and acknowledge or at least understand the methodology employed by traditional Chinese practitioners.

Of course, how does one gain an understanding of a body of medicine that relies on the painstaking cultivation of certain plants, research of their properties, and then attempts at combination with other substances, some of which took hundreds of years to accomplish? In the same vein, how does one leave behind the tried and true path of pill popping – even though it is only a few decades old – and trust the power of the earth?