Classical Chinese Medicine always contains a thread of spirituality within its understanding of the physiology of the body and the pathology of disease. The chief medical text within acupuncture states, "all diseases are rooted in the spirit." To translate this into modern Western Medical language, one could say, all diseases are rooted in the blood.
The blood requires uninhibited free movement for its health. The heart is free from stress, the breath is deep and unimpeded, and the mind is clear.
There is a school of Classical acupuncture which focuses on treating the blood. The basis of this school of thought believes blood stasis is the root of all degenerative conditions, mental illness, addictive behavior, and emotional distress.
To treat the blood is to treat the spirit. To treat the spirit is to connect to the higher self to move beyond mental, emotional or physical blockages creating disease and dysfunction.
How can acupuncture treat the blood? Acupuncture is the process of moving energy within the body. This movement affects the flow of blood within the body. There are many acupuncture points with the chief function of invigorating blood flow.
The art of acupuncture is being able to assess where a person's blood flow has become stagnant. The state of a person's mental and emotional state is a good indicator. As are various other physical symptoms, including swellings.
What does the blood have to do with the emotions and mind? The spirit resides within the heart. The heart controls the blood. The spirit expresses itself through the mind and emotions. This may sound like a stretch for some. Yet, to the ancient Chinese, this was elementary. An entire system of mental-emotional assessment and treatment was created based on this understanding. The most powerful way to validate this theory comes through the powerful results treatment can provoke.
Here's an example: A brain tumor. All conditions are specific to the individual presenting them. Within Classical Chinese Medicine, it is the individual that is being treated, not the condition. Each person is unique. Therefore, each condition an individual possesses is unique as well. Conditions can come from dysfunction within the body, mind or spirit. Therefore, all examples are simply possibilities.
A brain tumor can result from a dysfunction within the blood flow relating to the Stomach channel. Fascinating, right? The Stomach governs a person's ability to have feelings. We know the Stomach helps digest food, but it also helps digest experiences of the world. It is the initial internal contact with the world. It relates to the way we feel about the world in a relatively primitive way. When the Stomach's blood is affected, it can result in extreme emotional expression to the point of irritation and mania. As this process progresses, a person can develop weakness within their lower legs, feelings of loss of direction in life, and swellings along the course of the channel, which travels into the Brain.
Swellings are often associated with blood stasis conditions. The blood is associated with mental-emotional movement. The term "stasis" means something is stuck: often some type of emotion, thought or experience. In the example, to treat the tumor, one would need to treat the spirit via treating the blood. Treatment would focus on helping the person resolve and let go of the stuck material within the Stomach Channel.
Simply needling the acupuncture points may not be enough. When treating the mind and emotions, the spirit must be engaged through talking. An acupuncturist trained in this type of treatment knows the type of questions to ask. Each channel possesses physical, mental and emotional functions and associations. The Stomach channel relates to family, boundaries, assimilation, contentment, integrity and thought. It often amazes me, as I needle certain acu points, patients will begin talking about subjects that relate to the associated acupuncture channel or point. It's the patients who continually validate the system for me.
A person comes for treatment often for a physical symptom, comes to understand the deeper mental-emotional root of the condition, and ideally resolves both the symptoms as well as the underlying conflicts. Through working with the spirit, a person can regain freedom, break out of mental-emotional patterns, change destructive behavior, as well as heal the physical body.
Chinese Medicine possesses an extremely sophisticated understanding of the energetic physiology of the body. To me, however, it is the understanding of the development and movement of the mind and emotions that sets Chinese Medicine apart. I have seen the power of the spirit to heal. A wise teacher told me "symptoms, including behavior, are merely messages from the body." To her, it was the spirit that carried these messages into consciousness. The spirit desires freedom. To work with the spirit affects all levels within the body. Therapy that can work on all these levels can be truly life-changing.
Really helpful information, Nick. I had tremendous benefit from my treatment with you two weeks ago and recommended you on my Facebook. All gratitude.
ReplyDeleteFascinating! Truly. Thank you, Nick for your generosity in sharing your wisdom!
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