The concept of gardening gives us an excellent illustration for the theories behind Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and acupuncture. Imagine you are a gardener whose job it is to help a garden thrive. To help nature along, you must provide necessities such as water and fertilizer. You must make sure plants receive the right amount…
Read more →The Surprising Truth about Migraine TriggersHow much do you really know about controlling your migraines?New research suggests you may not know as much as you think.According to Timothy T. Houle, Ph.D and co-author Dana P. Turner, M.S.P.H., both of the Wake Forest Baptist anesthesiology department, migraine sufferers make inaccurate conclusions about what triggers their migraines.…
Read more →Late summer is a time of heat and humidity, a combination that can cause blood circulation to increase on the surface of the body and decrease in muscles and organs. According to The Five Element Theory, this time of year is dominated by the earth element and governed by the spleen. Deficiency in spleen qi…
Read more →The prostate gland is a small gland occurring only in male mammals. It is just above the rectum surrounding the neck of the bladder, and its prime function is to secrete fluid into the semen. With age, the prostate grows larger. Fifty per cent of men will have some degree of benign prostate enlargement by…
Read more →We seem to be hearing more and more these days of traditional Chinese herbal products getting a bad rap and being called ''unsafe'', ''dangerous'', ''poisonous'' or ''against animal rights''(see links below). Certainly, the bulk of Chinese herbal formulas do not contain animal products and the formula that due use them are mostly banned here in…
Read more →You might think the answer is nothing, but in TCM that would not be true. Although each condition might be caused by a separate issue, such as a diseased tooth, indigestion and aging, they may also be related to one of the zangfu organs exerting an influence on the others. When arriving at a diagnosis,…
Read more →With global change and unpredictable weather patterns, it can be difficult to recognize when there is an end of one season and the beginning of another. According to Oriental medicine, man is an integral part of nature and must stay in tune with its natural rhythms and cycles throughout the year. Listening to the body…
Read more →While large amounts of alcohol are considered toxic to both body and mind, the use of small amounts does have its place in TCM. The word ''yi'' meaning medicine contains a pictogram for wine. The pretreatment of herbs with wine, extraction of herbs with liquor, and consumption of alcohol with a herbal pill have always…
Read more →In Ayurvedic holistic medicine a sattvic diet is one that is pure and fresh and clears the mind. It gives us curiosity, the ability to think, and it wakes us up. It helps to calm us mentally and to stay focused. Depending on your constitutional type, the effect of eating sattvic foods will be different.Vata…
Read more →When you begin to meditate first make sure that your surroundings feel good to you. This is especially important if your chosen position for meditation is sitting or lying down. To begin with, your clothing should be comfortable and loose. It's no good sitting in a pair of jeans or pants that are restrictive around…
Read more →