Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a fundamentally holistic view towards health, honed after 2500+ years of refinement. TCM asserts that a body should be a system in harmony. Any pains, illnesses, diseases, and such are disharmony in the body. TCM practitioner’s job is to assess the disharmony in the body and restore the balance of Qi in its various phases or manifestations.
Qi (pronounced “chee”) can be thought of as “life force” in the body. One way to think of Qi is how it manifests itself as yin versus yang, and how a delicate balance is maintained. While one is born with some Qi (inborn/congenital qi), the rest of Qi is acquired through proper living.
Food and air are transformed by the body into “chest qi”, with inborn qi added, then transformed into “nutritive qi”, which nourishes the body, and “protective qi”, which provides defence against outside “evils”.
Qi shows itself inside the body in five different ways, which are collectively known as the five vital substances
In Part 2, we will discuss the “Zang fu” (the vital organs), how the five vital substances are produced in the organs and the body, and how to organs are linked.
SITCM has accredited TCM practitioners that can help you to find a balance that your body is seeking and recommend optimal healing process for it.