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Acupuncture literally means 'needle piercing," the practice of
inserting very fine needles into the skin to stimulate specific
anatomic points in the body (called acupoints) for therapeutic
purposes. Along with the usual method of puncturing the skin
with the fine needles, the practitioners also use heat,
pressure, friction, suction, or impulses of electromagnetic
energy to stimulate the points. The acupoints are stimulated to
correct and balance the movement of energy (qi) in the body to restore health.
In the past 40 years acupuncture has become a well-known, reasonably available
treatment in USA. To better understand how acupuncture works, it is necessary to become familiar
with the basics of Chinese philosophy. The philosophies of the Dao or Tao,
Yin and Yang, the Eight Principles, the Three Treasures and the Five Elements
are all fundamental to traditional Chinese acupuncture and its specific role
in helping to maintain a person's good health and wellbeing.
The philosophy of the Dao
Dao is often described as "the path" or "the way of life." Just as its counterpart
in ancient India, Ayurveda, The laws of the Dao advocate moderation, living in harmony
with nature and striving for balance. The Ancient Chinese believed that moderation in
all areas of life is essential to a long and fruitful life. We are "fueled" by
three treasures: Qi or Chi (pronounced chee), Shen, and Jing. Chi is energy or
vital substance, Shen is the spirit, and Jing is our essence. Qi is both the life
force (or vital substance) and the organizing principle flowing through all
things and establishing their interconnectedness. Every
living thing (both human and non-human) has Qi. In the body, Qi is found in
the heart and lungs in circulating blood and oxygen. Shen is the treasure
that gives brightness to life and is responsible for consciousness and mental
abilities. Sometimes it is compared to soul. Within the individual shen
is manifested in personality, thought, sensory perception, and the
awareness of self. Jing is responsible for growth, development and
reproduction. Jing represents a person's potential for development.
(comparable to western concept of genetic inheritance). Everyone is born with a finite
amount of Jing. As we go through life,
we lose or consume our Jing little by little. Once we lose Jing, it cannot be
replaced. It is gone for ever. We lose Jing through wrong or careless living.
But Jing can be preserved if we live in moderation. Acupuncture can reduce the
loss of Jing.
According to the philosophy of Dao, the role of the acupuncturist is to restore
your health and enable you to live a little closer to the Dao, thus preserving
your Jing and allowing you to live to a ripe old age. A number of factors can contribute to
the depletion of Jing. Living a life of excess, drinking too much, excessive
emotional reactions, working too hard, inappropriate sexual behavior, etc. all
were believed to result in the depletion of Jing. Balance in all things was
considered the key to good health and long life.
In order to increase their understanding of the Dao, the Chinese developed
two concepts that together form the basis of Chinese thought: Yin and Yang and
the more detailed system of the Five Elements.
Yin and Yang
The concepts of harmony and balance are basic to Yin and Yang. Each person is
governed by the opposing, but complementary forces of Yin and Yang.
It affects everything in the universe, including ourselves.
Traditionally, yin is dark, passive, feminine, cold and negative; yang is light,
active, male, warm and positive. Another simpler way of looking at yin and yang is
that there are two sides to everything - happy and sad, tired and energetic, cold
and hot. Yin and yang are the opposites that make the whole. They cannot exist
without each other and nothing is ever completely one or the other. There are
varying degrees of each within everything and everybody. The tai chi symbol illustrates how they flow into each other with a little yin always
within yang and a little yang always within yin. In the world, sun and fire
are yang, while earth and water are yin. Life is possible only because of
the interplay between these forces. All of these forces are required for the
life to exist.
The yin and yang are like a candle. Yin represents the wax in the candle.
The flame represents the yang. Yin (wax) nourishes and supports the yang (flame).
Flame needs the wax for its existence. Yang consumes yin and, in the process, burns
brightly. When the wax (yin) is gone, the flame (Yang) is gone too.
So, one can see how yin and yang depend on each other for their existence.
You cannot have one without the other.
The body, mind and emotions are all subject to the influences of yin and yang.
When the two opposing forces are in balance we feel good, but if one force dominates
the other, it brings about an imbalance that can result in ill health.
One can compare the concept of yin and yang to the corresponding concept of
tridoshas in Ayurveda, the ancient remedy from India. Ayurveda proposes that
every person has vata, pitta and kapha. When these are balanced, there is the
state of perfect health. When there are imbalances then there is disease.
One of the main aims of the acupuncturist is to maintain a balance of yin and
yang within the whole person to prevent illness occurring and to restore existing
health. Acupuncture is a yang therapy because it moves from the exterior to the
interior. Herbal and nutritional therapies, on the other hand, are yin therapies,
as they move from the interior throughout the body. Many of the major organs
of the body are classified as yin-yang pairs that exchange healthy and
unhealthy influences.
Yin and yang are also part of the eight principles of traditional Chinese medicine.
The other six are: cold and heat, internal and external, deficiency and excess.
These principles allow the practitioner to use yin and yang more precisely in
order to bring more detail into his diagnosis.
The Five Elements
The yin and yang philosophy was further refined into the system of the five
elements to gain a deeper understanding of how the body, mind and spirit work.
The microcosm of the body is linked to the universe and is affected by
the daily and seasonal cycles of nature.
The individual and the world are changing all the time. But these changes are occurring in certain order and in cycles. (We can think
about these like our economic cycles or agricultural cycles. A period of growth
is always followed by a period of stagnation or unemployment. In the stock market,
a bull market is always followed by a bear market etc. In the same way, a
seed planted in spring blooms in summer, seeds itself in late summer to autumn,
dies in winter, and a new seed grows again in spring. It is part of a never-ending
cycle and each phase has its role to play in maintaining the balance of nature.
The same process of change occurs within the body. Cells grow and die to make way
for new cells, and body systems depend upon each other in a similar way to the
seasons, working together to ensure the balanced functioning of the body, mind
and spirit and the healthy flow of life through the whole person.
Representation of the Five Elements
Chinese philosophy recognizes five distinct elements of cyclical change called
water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. These five elements can be related to our
four seasons (with a fifth late summer season) as shown in the table below.
The elements can also be related to different colors, emotion, taste, voice
and various organs. These can also be related to the selection of food and herbs.
Each person's physical and mental constitution can be described as a balance
of the elements in which one or more may naturally dominate. The proportion of
the elements in a person determines his or her temperament. Oriental medicine
considers the ideal condition as one in which all the five elements are in
balance or in harmony. Wood is said to be the mother of fire and the son of water.
(Water allows wood to grow, wood provides fuel for the fire). Using these
relationships one can describe all possible yin-yang imbalances within the body.
The thrust of five element diagnosis is to isolate and treat the imbalanced element,
because an imbalanced element is like a weak link in your energetic chain that
can undermine the strength of your mind, body and spirit.
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