Although Acupuncture is the most popular and better known means of treatment
within Traditional Chinese Medicine it is not in any way its only component.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) includes amongst other things Massage Therapy,
Treatment with herbs, Moxibustion, Alimentation or Nutrition, Therapeutic movements,
Breathing exercises, Meditation and Chiropractic. Although these methods of
healing seem to differ one from the other, they all share the same essential
concepts.
For additional information on these concepts
please click here.
Essentially, TCM
is the treatment of Energy and the relationship of the person afflicted with
the Universal Energy. It is a unique approach in the sense that it looks at
the human body as a whole. Thus the denotation of holistic approach from the
Greek term holos which mean whole. In our accepted modern medical practices,
the human body is looked at in the separate entities that make up its whole.
TCM looks at every aspect of the human body and human nature as components of
the same entity, and goes further in this concept by taking as an axiom the
fact that the human body is also an integral part of its surroundings.
One of
today's attractions to TCM lies in the absence of harmful side effects that
we have learned to live with in the treatments through modern medications. By assisting
the body in its natural means of defense and integration to its surroundings,
TCM does not try to "take over" any of the natural functions and defense mechanisms
in existence within the human body. Over the last half-century, various derivatives
of the Chinese ways of healing have gained increased respect. Even in the modern
medical field some of the skepticism has slowly eroded and techniques such as
acupuncture, Qi Gong and herbal remedies have attained some legitimacy amongst
others than those who have benefited directly from their help.
The difference
between our culture and the culture from which TCM originates, is the reason
for a certain lack of understanding and the original reticence to such foreign
methods of healing. A little awareness of the Chinese cultural concepts will
help understand some of the underlying and fundamental concepts that govern
the application of some of these techniques.
Another notable particularity of
TCM is the fact that such treatments do not require the onset of an illness
to be implemented. They can be used as preventive medicine and help in maintaining
a general harmony of the mind and body. The story of the Chinese Doctors being
salaried employees of the rich and from which payment was withheld for each
sick day of a member of the family, even if partly fictional, illustrates accurately
the application of TCM as a preventive method of wellbeing.
The fallacy that
TCM is in fact an "alternative" medicine lies in the misrepresentation of "conventional"
medicine which, in fact, is a younger and more recent aspect of medicine. TCM
is an ancient old form of healing and therapy and should thus be the one called
conventional by mere respect to its deep-rooted cultural and historical background.
No one can deny the benefit of modern medicine and the tremendous advances we
have seen in medical practices through the development of technology over the
last half-century. However we can all hope for the day where the old and the
new unite and complement each other in a more comprehensive health care system
than what we can observe at the present time.
The Pakua Course in Traditional
Medicine is an extensive study in Chinese healing and in some countries will
resume in an official licensing of the student. It is available to both Pakua
students and non-students and is of immense benefit to laymen as well as health
care professionals.
For more information
please click on the icon below:
Website
designed and maintained by Master Eli Chaikin, Pakua New York
Comments or questions should be sent to info@pakua.org
