# ELEMENTAL CHANGES Oriental Medical Arts

> Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs since 1990


## Posts

- [Preserving Health in Winter](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/preserving-health-in-winter/): Extrapolations of the Su Wen Chapter 2 On conforming with the Energy of the Seasons
- [Autumn Equinox Qi Node](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/autumn-equinox-qi-node/): When the Qi node Autumn Equinox arrives, Qiū Fēn, there is Yin and Yang equality, day and night are equal, but Yin is about to take charge. Autumn Equinox is one of four pivots that rectify the annual Qi. During this period the environment grows ever-more Yin and is characterized by cool, dry wind. Metal element flourishes, and there is satisfaction. Storehouses are filling up and the work of harvest is nearly complete. There is a pleasant stillness. During this Qi node, Qi is best at 6pm-Neigong to be done indoors morning and evening in short sessions. It is best toContinue reading →
- [Happy Water Tiger Year](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/happy-year-of-the-water-tiger/): With All Beneficial Wishes for A Happy Lunar New Year, Tibetan Losar & Chinese New Year of The Water Tiger!    The Water Tiger last appeared in 1962, and before that, in 1902. The confluence of water meeting the nature of the alert, competitive tiger breeds open-minded tiger energy, which is less characteristically rash and ablaze. Subduing impulsivity with the suffusion of the water element inclines this less temperamental tiger toward new ideas and experiences with gifts of objectivity and exceptional perceptiveness. A realistic type of tiger energy, with a pulse on the context of the environs, one who concentrates skillfully on long-term endeavors, seldom making errorsContinue reading →
- [Happy 2021 - Year of the Metal Ox](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/happy-2021-year-of-the-metal-ox/): In traditional East Asian cultures, Ox is the animal emblem of spring and of agriculture, as Lìchūn, beginning of spring influences, offers the ceremonial rite of plowing the ground and sowing the first seeds of the year. In China it was customary for a farmer to switch his Ox with a willow branch to enliven him from winter’s rest, stimulating and simulating Ox as the revival of spring itself. Investing the substantial and sustained labors of Ox to draw the plow can promote an abundant season of growth and harvest, with potential for a bumper crop year. Ox symbolizes the attainment ofContinue reading →
- [Chrysanthemum, 菊花, The Emblematic Fall Flower](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/chrysanthemum-%e8%8f%8a%e8%8a%b1-the-emblematic-fall-flower/)
- [Summertime Dietary Considerations](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/summertime-dietary-considerations/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. According to traditional Chinese dietary practice, foods should aid in balancing and contributing to the health of the person, and what that requires varies throughout the seasonal shifts of the year. The daily diet in summertime should rely more on vegetables and fruits than in other seasons to stimulate the appetite, which can become sluggish due to seasonal heat and humidity. Due to environmental heat and subsequent loss of fluids through sweating, Yin fluids of the body can become depleted, leading to dehydration and taxation. Seasonal fruits and vegetables help to replenish Yin fluids, which in turn,Continue reading →
- [Wei Qi: How the Body Prevents Colds and Flu According to TCM](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/wei-qi-flu-shot-chinese-medicine/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. As a microcosm of the rhythms and fluctuations of the seasons and their elemental factors to which we are inextricably linked, Chinese medicine would consider the result of our health in one season as being a marker of our lifestyle preparations in the previous seasons as well as in the present. With regard to colds and flus, the ability of the immune system to resist external pathogens, be they bacterial, viral, or allergen toxins that result in immune suppression that leaves us ailing and struggling to recover, exists in the strength of ‘Wei Qi.’ In Chinese medicalContinue reading →
- [The Auspicious Gingko, Past and Present](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/ginkgo/): Until the Song dynasty [960-1279 AD] the Chinese name for Ginkgo was ‘duck foot’ 鴨腳, referring to the shape of its leaves. The kernel was called ‘duck foot seed’ 鴨腳子, which was changed to ‘Silver Apricot’ 銀杏 for the purpose of its presentation to the Imperial ruler. It was determined that ‘Silver’ was auspicious and that ‘Duck Foot’ was not. During the Ming period [1368-1644] the term for the shell-like sclerotesta and inner parts was ‘Silver Fruit’ 銀果 or Yin Guo, and White Fruit 白果, Bai Guo, which remains Ginkgo’s name in China and in Chinese medicine today. Pictured, are aContinue reading →
- [The Great Learning • Da Xue 大學 Confucian Teaching](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/confucian-teaching-virtue/): The way of great learning lies in illuminating bright virtue;  Holding people dear and stopping only at utmost goodness. To illuminate brightest virtue under Heaven, ancients governed their states first. To govern their states, they first put their families in order. To put their families in order, they first cultivated their body. To cultivate their body, they first rectified their Heart. To rectify their Heart, they first made their intentions sincere. From: Sìshū Wŭ Chīng 四書五經 The Four Books, written before 300 BC 大學之道在明明德，在親民，在止於至善  • 知止而后有定；定而后能靜  • 靜而后能安；安而后能慮；慮而后能得  • 物有本末，事有終始，知所先後，則近道矣。• 古之欲明明德於天下者，先治其國  • 欲治其國者，先齊其家  • 欲齊其家者，先修其身 • 欲修其身者，先正其心  • 欲正其心者，先誠其意  • 欲誠其意者，先致其知  •Continue reading →
- [Historical Chinese Medicine Museum](https://elementalchanges.com/menu-1/chinese-medicine-emporium-circa-late-1800s/): Kam Wah Chung & Company is a time capsule of early Chinese medicine history and culture in the US, established during the gold mining days of the Wild West. The building, which stands today, was built in 1860 and was purchased in 1877 by Chinese immigrants, husband and wife, Ing Hay and Lung On. The building was their residence, a general store that purveyed Chinese medicines, and it served as a community center. Gold rush activity in 1862 generated an influx of Chinese immigrants to the region of Eastern Oregon. The Chinese population in the vicinity of John Day, Oregon wasContinue reading →
- [Solidarity with Those in States of Suffering](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/solidarity-with-those-in-suffering/): A few thoughts ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. The human world aspires to feel no pain on its illusory quest for security and gratification; starkly contrasting the experience of anyone living in states of pain and suffering. In the midst of day-to-day objectives, the plight of sentient beings trapped in states of suffering often completely escapes our consideration. Suffering is an ageless aspect of life; perception, though it is, it is convincing, and nonetheless brutal to observe and more-so to endure. Sickness, torment, and intense pain may arise and persist, leading to isolation. Beings who are suffering are often unseen, not understood,Continue reading →
- [Sincerity](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/sincerity/): ✍️Wendy Brown 真 When the sage embraces the divine sovereign heart her voice can move and transform the world • One who lacks purity and sincerity cannot move others • When a person merges with this truth in essence, the shen-spirit may move amongst the external world with highest degree of sincerity • One who forces himself to lament, though may sound sad, will awaken no grief  • One who forces himself to be angry, though may sound fierce, will arouse no awe •  She who forces herself to be affectionate, though may smile, will create no air of harmony •Continue reading →
- [How to make your own nut milks  --  A healthy alternative](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/almond-milk-recipe/): Why We Need A Substitute Undoubtedly, you have heard the true story behind milk products; of enslaving animals, keeping mothers continually lactating by inseminating them to perpetuate lactation, and then stealing the babies away who would then suckle the milk made by their mothers for them. This statement is not an exaggeration and no part of it engenders a product fit for human consumption. In this day of awareness, how can we lessen the suffering in the world by our actions? And how can we continue not to? Every small kindness builds to become part of the solution, benefiting others andContinue reading →
- [Year of The Earth Dog](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/year-earth-dog/): HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR 2018! The 11th of the twelve terrestrial branches is dog. The dog is a creature who keeps watch and is skillful in its selection of people; it will keep anyone away who is not what s/he should be. A dog will not forsake its master due to poverty or status. In this way, dog commands respect as guardian and value for its fidelity. Dog nature is also tenacious and that of a scavenger who can forego comforts. The earth element imparts a purposeful nature that has fixed values. Possessing humility, this dog is a realistic, straight-forward, self-respecting,Continue reading →
- [Kwan Yin](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/kwan-yin/): There is a Chinese phrase: A heart that is burdened by hurt or that houses anger is like a poison dragon. Metaphors are intrinsic of Kwan Yin. Riding upon a dragon, the dragon, symbolic of potent energy which can be put to great use, as dragon is an envoy of heaven; Kwan Yin, bodhisattva of compassion riding upon the dragon, can be seen as symbolic of washing away delusions. Anger, jealousy, and greed are afflictions of mind that obscure compassion. To subdue and vanquish antagonistic states, one is able to turn the energy to great use for the benefit of all.Continue reading →
- [Water Element in Nature](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/water-element-nature/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Shuǐ 水 We are microcosms of the natural world, unfolding our human destiny on a beautiful blue planet where a mosaic of water nourishes and patterns life. Attuned to nature’s rhythms and vibrations, in essence, we are one and the same. Though this world seems stable and solid, nothing here is permanent; but like water, snow, and ice, life is always shifting and taking form. Winter is the time of energy storage and of hibernation. Through resonance of water in its contracted state, very subtle patterns can emerge to be sensed in this phase of inward vision. Ever-remembering that in a great storm the wise birdContinue reading →
- [Acupuncture Detoxification Treatment](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/acupuncture-detoxification-treatment/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.   ACUPUNCTURE DETOX Approach to Breaking Chemical Addiction Abstinence-Oriented Chemical-Free No-Nonsense Treatment begins with the patient lying down, as during a regular acupuncture session. Alternately, a group gathers, where individuals are seated in chairs to undergo acu-detox treatment in the presence of one another. Groups are offered at a significantly reduced cost. A peaceful treatment atmosphere can be expected in both individual and group settings. The Acu-Detox treatment is based on the insertion of fine gauge, sterile acupuncture needles into the 5 detox points of each ear, for up to 40 minutes. The 5 detox points haveContinue reading →
- [Degenerative Disease and Inflammation Due to Dietary Factors](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/degenerative-disease-inflammation-due-dietary-factors/): Borrowing A Western Perspective  TCM as a style of Chinese medicine uses the 4 examinations to gather information from a patient to determine their disease pattern. Often there are 3-4 patterns simultaneously that determine diagnosis and treatment. If any piece of information is ungatherable through the 4 examinations, technically it can not be used to discriminate a TCM pattern – that information or aspect of treatment should be put aside for the time being. With this foundation in mind, we can not in the purest sense speak in Western terms or treatments as it is outside of the cohesive scope ofContinue reading →
- [Food Wisdom for a Prosperous Life](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/food-wisdom-prosperous-life/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Dietary Basics According to Traditional Chinese Medicine Turning to traditional Chinese medicine and a Taoist concept of health and long life, one is moderate in every action and attentive to signals of the body and of nature. Eating when hungry and drinking when thirsty, we only ingest enough food and drink to satisfy actual needs that match activity. The dietary realm can be an exotic smorgasbord of delights and unknowns. Diet can also represent rote habit that lacks consideration beyond food cost and convenience. In the balanced view of traditional Chinese diet, neither extreme may be theContinue reading →
- [Bach Flower Essence Questionnaire](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/bach-flower-essence-questionnaire/): The gentle power of Bach essences promotes healing through levels of the subtle energetic, emotional body. Such healing can point the way to further steps in an individual’s process of growth. With a positive mental attitude and sense of balance, overall wellness is achieved. Bach essences are safely used with all other healing modalities. Read further about Bach Flower Essences: tinyurl.com/y98ov6ur 1) AGRIMONY • Do you hide your worries behind a cheerful, smiling face to conceal your pain? • Are you distressed by arguments and quarrels often giving in to avoid conflict? • When pressures weigh on you, do you oftenContinue reading →
- [Sun Simiao's Code of Medical Ethics](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/sun-simiao-first-code-medical-ethics/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Sun Si Miao 孙思邈 [581—682 A.D.], a revered Chinese alchemist, scholar, monk, and clinician, has been venerated as the ‘Medicine God,’ Medicine Buddha, a deity invoked during healing practices, and commonly referred to in China as ‘King of Medicine.’ During the Ming Dynasty [1527 A.D.], eight stone tablets engraved with quotations from his works were erected in his birthplace in Shanxi Province, and to this day there are activities each year in his hometown that celebrate his memory. Sun Simiao is credited with the first Chinese code of ethics for doctors, less a formal code per se,Continue reading →
- [My Visit to Master Wang's Clinic in Chengdu](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/visit-master-wangs-clinic-chengdu-china/): While visiting Chengdu China in July of 2017, I observed and participated in treatments at Master Wang’s clinic. Master Wang’s work consists of his patients soaking in Chinese medicinal herbal baths in large bamboo tubs, followed by a uniquely vigorous type of manual therapy administered, simultaneously, by his two apprentices. As a practitioner of Chinese medicine myself, I was allowed to observe and palpate patients on the treatment table undergoing treatment, guided by Master Wang to discern the therapeutic changes taking effect. I also experienced the methods personally, as a patient. I experienced notable results for my sacrum and shoulder jointContinue reading →
- [Traumatic Injury, Blood Stasis, and Zheng Gu Shui Liniment](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/trauma-zheng-gu-shui-liniment/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Supple and elastic tissues tend to be more resilient to injury, however, force can wound any area of the body. Bones, joints, veins, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and the associated organs of injured parts may fall into a condition of blood stasis, both acutely and chronically, as the body attempts to promote healing. The circulation of blood and Qi at the sites of traumatic injuries becomes impaired, and if left untreated in the immediate phases of trauma care and subsequent rehabilitation, over time can transform into a stubborn and recalcitrant disorder of pain and limitation. The great newsContinue reading →
- [Ted X on Taoist Cosmology](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/ted-x-taoist-cosmology/): Acupuncturists routinely have to give an easily digestable rendition of Chinese medicine, which necessarily delves back interconnected step by step, succinctly, to describe the theory as a whole. If you were having tea with someone who adlibbed about Taoist reality as this man has, it would be a fascinating time spent listening to an engaging, well-woven, true story. Stephen Russell is a controversial though acclaimed interpreter of the philosophy and methods of ancient Taoists. He teaches how these may be best ‘deployed to ameliorate the human condition from the inside out.’ Enjoy & Share
- [Good Luck - Bad Luck, Who Can Say?](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/good-luck-bad-luck-can-say/): A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away. All the neighbors came by saying, “I’m so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The man just said, “We will see.” A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses. The man and his son corralled all 21 horses. All the neighbors came by saying, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!” The man just said, “We will see.” One of the wild horses kicked the man’s only son, breaking both his legs. All the neighbors cameContinue reading →
- [Tree Energy and Cultivating Qi](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/tree-energy-and-cultivating-chi/): Taoists observe that trees are tremendously powerful plants. Not only do they absorb carbon dioxide and transform it into oxygen, but they can also absorb negative forces and transform them into good Qi. Trees strongly root within Earth, and the more rooted the tree, the higher it can extend toward Heaven. Trees stand in stillness, absorbing the Earth’s energy and the Universal essence from the Heavens all at once. Trees and all plants have the ability to absorb light and transform it into food; in fact, they depend upon light for most of their nourishment, while water and earth minerals makeContinue reading →
- [The Spirit of Heart-Shen](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/spirit-heart-shen-healing/): Shen is the ebullient spirit of the Heart. Shen embodies mind and thought and is reflected in our higher consciousness. Shen was first discussed in the Huangdi Neijing medical classic in the chapter called the Root of Spirit:   ‘Heaven abides so that we have virtue; Earth abides so that we have Qi; When virtue flows and Qi is blended there is life.’    Sentient beings synchronize to the energy of their environs. The capacity for synchronization is fundamental. Electromagnetic fields encompass ‘information’ and once synchronized there is a rapid flow that is energetically exchanged. A person uses part of theContinue reading →
- [Tang or Decoction of Chinese Herbs](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/tang-decoction-chinese-herbs/): A decocted Tang, literally “soup”, is by far the most common form of Chinese herbal medicine administration in China. Decoctions are solutions and suspensions that are readily absorbed, thus expediting their therapeutic effects. They are prime in this way in the treatment of acute disorders. Decoctions, being liquid in form, are easily ingested and digested and so are excellent to tonify long-standing deficiencies, as well. Tangs are comprised of the raw herbal constituents of roots, tubers, seeds, fruit, and leaves but shells and minerals, and sometimes animal ingredients, are also used for their medicinal value. Dense substances require longer cooking time,Continue reading →
- [Qigong Self-Massage](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/qigong-circulation-massage/): by Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Cultivation by Chinese internal and Qigong exercises helps to improve and develop internal energy – true Qi. Self-massage is a simple yet important aspect of practice. Dao Yin and Qi Gong daily practice is beneficial, keeping the spirit and body supple and strong. Avoid taxing vital Qi with meaningless forms of exercise. Taoists and martial artists have preserved Jing essence for millennia by concentrating Qi flow to organs, joints, and musculature without undue strain on the body. Additionally, Qigong self-massage is an excellent health practice that stimulates acupoints to bring quiet to the mind and awaken andContinue reading →
- [Winter Solstice Qi Node · Dōng Zhì 冬至](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/winter/): ✍️Wᴇɴᴅʏ Bʀᴏᴡɴ 文婷中医 Winter Solstice · Dong Zhi · 冬至 · Qi Node begins on December 21st – 22nd This is the point in the year where the extreme of Yin energy is upon us, and hence, in the Universal balancing of Yin-Yang, Yang begins its return. In so, we enjoy the increasing presence of light. Warmth, rest, and reflection puts us in harmony with the contractive Yin nature of Winter. Keep Yang Qi strong by avoiding prolonged exposure to cold. Eat warming, nourishing foods. Sleep, but not too long as too much sleep produces too much Yin. Move, but inContinue reading →
- [Handmade Moxa](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/handmade-moxa/): A colleague in my office recently gave me some pure, aged, Japanese moxa from MoonGate Moxa Source. I immediately used the Homare on two cases of arthritic pain and am happy to recommend it. The incense is lovely, also! thread moxa, direct moxa, moxibustion, okyu, japan, incense, chinese medicine, moxa floss, tcm, acupuncture, japanese incense, mugwort, acupuncture treatment, moxa, artemisia vulgaris, miyabi, homare, matsu
- [Understanding Qi and QiGong](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/understanding-qi-qigong/): We are part of nature and its cycles. If we go against natural cycles sickness results, so it is in our best interest to follow the way of nature. This is the meaning of Tao. This is an excellent video discourse and demonstration overviewing principles of Qi, Tao, Qigong, acupuncture and Chinese herbs. Cultivating understanding and practice in the way Qi flows, and knowing how to regulate it correctly, one should be able to live a healthy, long life.
- [Cupping Therapy in TCM](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/cupping-therapy-in-tcm/): Cupping, Báguàn 拔罐, is a traditional technique that uses specialized glass or bamboo cups on particular surface areas of the body. A vacuum seal is created by using a small flame as a source to suction out air, although suction can be created using a hand-held pump device and a slightly different type of glass cup that it attaches to. The suction that is created within any of these types of cups releases the flow of QI in the muscle layers, helping to alleviate wind headache, colds and flu with body aching, ‘Bi’ or painful syndromes, as well as useful for detoxification,Continue reading →
- [Wu Wei 无为 Action Through Non-Action](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/wu-wei-action-non-action-2/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Do not burden yourself with depressing thoughts, do not get anxious about future events that may never happen, and do not dwell on things that are well in the past. All of these emotions dissipate the brightness of Shen (Heart Spirit). If we over-extend our Heart we will harm its Qi. If this happens, Jing (Kidney Essence) will also suffer damage, and the Shen, consequently, will lose its residence. Doctrines of both Confucius and his student Mencius taught to refrain from striving, inflexibility, egotism, self-righteousness, expectation, and the use of force at any level. Even though bothContinue reading →
- [Alchemy of Chinese Herbs](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/alchemy-and-chinese-herbs/): Herbs and roots are life-nourishing. They are sustenance as well as medicine, and convey nature’s forces.  Through their connection to the natural world, herbs and roots of Chinese medicine imbue their resonance with these forces within us. Regulated by the rhythms of Yin and Yang, influenced by the 5 elements (sun, soil, minerals, water, and other trees and plants), and through their ability to adapt to the climatic factors of heat and cold, wind, dryness and dampness, herbs renew our resilience.  Chinese medicine has a long history of practices that propagate life; practices to nourish and prolong life through our mental-physical-spiritualContinue reading →
- [Acupuncture Detox for Chemical Addiction Cessation](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/acupuncture-detox-for-smoking-cessation/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Auricular acupuncture is clinically proven to be the most effective natural method of chemical detoxification. Chemical addictions are insidious, and acupuncture can reduce cravings and lessen associated withdrawal symptoms that plague people in the process of quitting, and which so often sabotage success. It must be established, however, that acupuncture is not a magical cure. Although it does effectively mute and redirect the buildup of craving energy and bestows resilience to the human vessel, acupuncture treatment for cessation of addiction does not turn cravings off per se. A commitment from the patient to move forward with treatmentContinue reading →
- [Burdock](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/burdock/): Medicinally, burdock root, leaf, and seed are quite different. In traditional Chinese medicine, Niú Bàng Zǐ 牛旁子, or the dried fruiting seeds of Arctium lappa L., are collected in early autumn and then sun-dried. These seeds are the primarily used part of the wild burdock plant in Chinese medicine, having an acrid, slightly bitter flavor and slight cold nature that goes to the lung and stomach meridians. Niú Bàng Zǐ yields, in decoction, significant antipyretic and antibacterial effects that detoxify various conditions. Wild burdock root, known as gobō 牛蒡, was introduced to Japan from China around 940 AD and has beenContinue reading →
- [Incense and Rooting the Spirit](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/incense-rooting-spirit-chinese-medicine/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. The sense orifice of smell can have strong effects on the aspect of Spirit known in Chinese medicine as Shen. Burning clean, resinous incense can open the Heart-Spirit, and in part, enhances our remembering of what is important. Incense prepared with quality medicinal substances has the ability, as thought in shamanic and alchemical traditions, to sedate the illusory, fleeting, there-then-it’s-gone-again nature of wind. Resinous materials can help to seal ‘holes’ or chinks in our protective Wei aspect of QI, while profoundly stabilizing our inner world and anchoring the Spirit. Meditative practice is useful to guide awareness towardContinue reading →
- [The Arts of Internal Cultivation](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/tai-chi/): ✍️Wᴇɴᴅʏ Bʀᴏᴡɴ, Lic. Ac. MIRCOCOSMIC ORBIT   SIX HEALING SOUNDS To understand the Tao, people of antiquity lived lives in accordance with the interplay of yin and yang. Eating and acting moderately, they refrained from dissipating strength through unseemly behavior, and thus, conserved Jing essence and lived out their years. This same timeless path unfolds today. The Six Healing Sounds is an inner art that transforms subtle energy accumulated in and around the organs. Practicing the ‘Six healing sounds and Inner smile’ daily can dissipate static energy in the form of lingering heat around the organs that diminishes vitality and weighsContinue reading →
- [Taoist Inner Landscape](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/inner-landscape/): MASTERY OF ONE’S INNER LANDSCAPE We are encapsulations of space-time motions, channels forming in the sea of formless and refining Essence.
- [Chinese Medicine: Science In Its Own Right](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/chinese-medicine-science/): By Dr. Manfred Porkert Scientific discoveries and inventions should eventually benefit all mankind. However, even in our age, historical conditions may for a long time inhibit or delay the diffusion of even the most mature and incontrovertible findings of an exact science. Chinese medicine or, to use the more precise term, “traditional Chinese medicine”, is perhaps the most outstanding example in point. To understand this paradoxical situation, a few historical facts should be reviewed briefly. Chinese medicine, as all sciences of nature in China, had been fostered and brought to maturity by what, for want of a better term, we mayContinue reading →
- [Moxa Boxes](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/moxa-boxes/): Cloth lines the bottoms of these boxes but trays are also commonly made of grated metal, both providing the benefits of moxibustion to spread throughout and penetrate an area of the body. Photos Courtesy of Zhang-Zhong-Jizaaang
- [The Web That Has No Weaver](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/web-that-has-no-weaver/):   In the world as seen through human eyes, all phenomena have multiple affinities, adding to the complexity and often the element of common error in human interpretations. Cosmological patterns recognized by the ancient Chinese, allow us a way to view the world, not least of which, diagnostics and treatments in medicine, with remarkable accuracy. Ted Kaptchuck’s Web That Has No Weaver is an excellent book for the serious layperson who is interested in straightforward but not predigested, watered down or romanticized information. For anyone interested in the utility and rich associations of Eastern medicine, ‘The Web That Has No Weaver’Continue reading →
- [Late Summer, The Fifth Season](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/late-summer/):             The 5th elemental season in oriental cosmology is known as “Late Summer” and known as the elemental season of Earth. This is a season of abundance and flourishing life. Balanced Earth energy always provides a solid foundation upon which further endeavors can be based. The golden season of late summer as regarded in Chinese 5 element cosmology, is the point in the progression of the seasons when nature itself is abundantly imbued in thickness, weight, and is in the culminating stage of growth and fruition that makes way for harvest. Late summer is considered toContinue reading →
- [Depression](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/iconic-state-depression/): PLEASE TAKE THE 30 MINUTES TO LISTEN TO THIS WITHOUT DISTRACTION AND THEN SHARE WITH SOMEONE ELSE. Subtitles and Transcript 0:14 “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain, and Mourners to and fro kept treading — treading — till [it seemed] that Sense was breaking through — And when they all were seated, a Service, like a Drum — kept beating — beating — till I [thought] my Mind was going numb — And then I heard them lift a Box and creak across my Soul with those same Boots of Lead, again, then Space — began to toll, As [all]Continue reading →
- [Heart Relationship to Sense Organs](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/hearts-relationship-sense-organs/): The five sensory orifices, referring to the nose, ears, eyes, lips, and tongue, are each paired with specific visceral organs. In particular, the Heart, regarded as ‘the emperor or sovereign ruler’, gives residence to Shen – a level of ‘Spirit’ which activates all mental activities, as well as perceives the emotional stimulus of all of the organs. The Heart has relationships with the other orifices beyond its own link with the tip of the tongue. Heart 心 is the only organ with insight to do that. For example, the eyes are related to Liver, but are also related to Heart. TheContinue reading →
- [Attention Deficit Disorder](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/attention-deficit-disorder/): It appears that Attention Deficit Disorder, referred to as A.D.D., arises from a neurological defect, with abnormalities in brain tissue and/or biochemical functions. Nutritional deficiencies, exposure to harmful chemicals in-utero such as from smoking, alcohol, prescription and/or illicit drugs, and by further exposure to environmental pollutants – all of which have become wide-spread problems during the past four decades – seem to be the pathological factors that strongly contribute to A.D.D. From the perspective of Chinese medicine, essence and marrow are the foundation of the brain. Early problems with mental development indicate deficiency of an individual’s vital essence. As well, phlegmContinue reading →
- [Flavinoids](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/flavonoids/): Flavonoids, an aspect of the compound category of polyphenols, are present in practically all fruit and vegetable plants, and also in many herbs of the Chinese medicinal pharmacopeia. Flavonoids are starches that are soothing to the gastro-intestinal system, are anti-allergy, and elicit anti-viral activity. Flavonoids display their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects through compatible herbal interactions and by metabolizing a wholesome diet. Here is a short list of Chinese herbs and a chart highlighting some foods highest in flavonoids. Among others: Huang Qi, Huang Qin, Shan Dou Gen, Lian Qiao, San Qi, Shan Zha, Hong Hua, She Chuang Zi, Sang Bai Pi,Continue reading →
- [The Smell of Burning Moxa](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/smell-burning-moxa/): For some, the smell of moxa burning elicits reactions of curiosity as well as misconception.
- [The Six Stages of Diagnosis](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/stages-diagnosis/): Understand the nature and relationships of the six stages or levels of disease. Tai Yang, Yang Ming, Shao Yang, Tai Yin, Shao Yin, Jue Yin – Essential to the method of diagnosis developed in the Shang Han Lun. Dr. Phil Garrison, DAOM, interviews Dr. Yaron Seidman, DAOM    
- [Preparing for Acupuncture](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/preparing-acupuncture/): It’s important to commit to healing and get the most out of your treatments. Here are some tips to prepare yourself for acupuncture and ensure that you receive the maximum benefit from your sessions with a licensed acupuncturist. Only visit a licensed acupuncturist.   1-2 Hours prior to your acupuncture appointment eat a snack or light meal. You do not want to be starving but you also do not want to be overly full. Avoid greasy, heavy foods, and caffeine that could upset your stomach or make your nervous system more active.   If you are asked to fill out forms,Continue reading →
- [Barefoot Doctors of Rural China](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/barefoot-doctors-of-rural-china/): The name barefoot doctor refers to farmers who would work barefoot in the rice paddies, and who, along with an idealistic young population instituted by Mao Zedong, brought rudimentary health care to Chinese living in the countryside. With only basic medical and pharmacological training, the grass-roots healthcare movement was able to tend to common illnesses, offer preventive health care, promote family planning, and basic hygiene. Over the past six decades, China has been experimenting with radically different forms of healthcare for the best ways to administer healthcare to its ever-sizable population.        
- [Medicinal Chrysanthemum Flower 菊花](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/medicinal-chrysanthemum-flower/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Spoken of medicinally in The Canon of Materia Medica 神農本草經 by the physician of mythical stature, Shen Nong who is said to have lived in about 2,800 B.C., proclaimed that Ju Hua improved senses of vision and hearing, alertness, clarity of thinking, promoted an energetic body, and increased longevity by slowing aging. It is now wide-spread knowledge that Ju Hua pacifies the Liver and therefore brightens vision, while also relieving fever and vanquishing toxins. Jing Ming 精明 translates to mean the brightness of the eyes, but also the essence of mind and emotions that is reflected throughContinue reading →
- [Perspective on Marijuana in Chinese Medicine](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/perspective-on-marijuana-chinese-medicine/): I was fortunate to have had a conversation with Dr. Hammer in 1990 in the hallway of N.E.S.A. in my graduating year of school. Welcoming me to the profession, Dr. Hammer also congratulated me on choosing such a wonderful pursuit as the healing path of Oriental Medicine. Dr. Hammer is a trove of wisdom and compassion, which is reflected in this article. “This article was written in response to the unheeded acceptance of marijuana as a harmless substance that potentially does good when used for the medical relief of pain. I wish to register my experience with marijuana over these years,Continue reading →
- [Horary Cycles and Bi-Hourly Clock](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/horary-cycles-bihourly-clock/): According to root and branch energetic rhythms in traditional Chinese medicine, Qi flow circulates through the 12 main meridians beginning with the lungs, as respiration is the first independent bodily function of the human vessel, then systematically flows through each organ. The organ systems have their points of highest energy and lowest energy throughout a 24 hour cycle. By the insight of these rhythms we can best understand times to participate in basic functions of daily living and also when to communicate with a particular organ or energetic system of the body. Chinese Medicine practitioners will sometimes use the horary clock toContinue reading →
- [The Basics on Chinese Herbs](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/chinese-herbs-acupuncture-asheville/): Bulk Chinese herb preparations are one form of supplementation in Chinese herbal medicine. Others are freeze-dried concentrates, as well as various pill forms, and externally applied liniments, washes and plasters. More than three hundred Chinese herbs and medicinal substances are commonly used in herbal prescriptions that have a history of use dating back more than 2,000 years. Today it is important that sources of these medicinals are made using highest quality raw materials and processing standards such as GMP *Good Manufacturing Practices,” which lab tests for microbial contaminants, heavy metals and pesticide residues. It is also important to be aware thatContinue reading →
- [Living in Simplicity](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/living-simplicity-acupuncture-asheville/): Zangetsu 残月, a Chinese master during the Tang dynasty, wrote the following advice to his students: • Live in the world, yet not by forming attachments to the dust of the world. • Poverty is your treasure. Modesty is the foundation of all virtues. Never exchange it for an easy life. • Let your neighbors discover you before you make yourself known to them. • To a sincere student, every day is a fortunate day. • Pass each day in peaceful contemplation and leave results to the great law of the Universe. This is the way of the student of ZenContinue reading →
- [Chinese Congee Cooking Tutorial](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/congee-cooking-tutorial/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Congee, also known as Jook, is a long-cooked rice porridge that conveys notable nutritive effects to the Spleen and Stomach Qi, which are the roots of postnatal Qi, acquired from what is digested, and known in Chinese medicine as Gu Qi. Congee is a simple food that promotes the prosperity of good health. Congee is often a perfect food for introducing infants to solid food. Congee is essential for everyone, from our pediatric friends to elders, people of delicate constitutions, and everyone in between. There is a Chinese adage: “One receives more health benefits by eating congeeContinue reading →
- [Bach Flower Essences](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/bach-flower-essences-acupuncture-asheville/): At their inception in the 1930’s, flower essences were conceived of by Dr. Edward Bach, MD., a visionary allopathic physician who comprehended the connection between feelings and actual physical illness, and sensed the bridge made possible to treat them by the original 39 essences he worked with. Flower essences are dilutions of flower or tree material, which through the sunlight-fueled process, become resonant with the vibrational qualities of each plant or tree. Flower essences are an energetic approach which address subtle layers of spirit-psyche. They are gentle, non-invasive, non-habit-forming, and engender no residual bio-chemical changes or side-effects whatsoever, which makes themContinue reading →
- [Chinese Herbs, Individualized Medicine](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/chinese-herbs-individualized-medicine/): Every instance of illness has a unique configuration and requires unique (not fixed) treatment. To relieve the suffering of the times, there is no greater path than Chinese medicine. Within it, nothing is more effective than prescriptions of herbs and materials for each individual’s condition.    
- [Giovanni Maciocia on Types of Acupoints](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/giovanni-maciocia-length-treatment/): Patients often wonder why the needles are left in only 10 minutes on the back and longer on the front, or why sensations of QI vary the way they do.
- [Red Jujube Dates 红枣](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/red-jujube-dates/): A trove of fresh, organic Red Jujube Dates. photo: ECOMA
- [Contentment](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/contentment/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Contentment is important basis for physical and mental well-being. Worrying about a problem before it has manifested, or after it has, clinging to what has already passed, will drain the chance to live in peace and joy, harmoniously in the present. Instead, adopt a detached attitude toward comings and goings; checking emotions, content in what is present. Keep a calm, cheerful Heart, and mind free of worries. In this way our apprehensions will come to nothing and every virtue drops into our hands.
- ["Cun" Measure in Acupuncture Point Location](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/cun-measurement-acupuncture-point-location/):         Acupuncture points affect therapeutic treatment results, and therefore, precision in their location is of great importance. The earliest record of proportional measurements to locate points can be found in Chapter 14 of the Celestial Pivot. The length and width of physical proportions are divided into equal, definite units determined by each patient’s own anatomical landmarks and the equivalent spaces in between. Divisions are made by the second finger phalange of the index finger of the patient, and are a standard for point location. The measurement of the width of their thumb joint would also equal one cun.Continue reading →
- [Nature Makes Whole](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/nature-makes-whole/):  Truth is evident but often ignored or yet unrealized. This moment is the path. We suffer the blocks of our own emotions and grievances. To bring about homeostasis and harmony sometimes we must shift in our perceptions and awareness to change the experience. As microcosms of the great universal whole, the forces and flow of nature offer self-organizing and self-correcting resonance. The process of healing and growth happens in this moment. Allow the simplicity of nature to guide you.
- [Modern-Day Hermits](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/modern-day-hermits/): His unheated hut is halfway up a mountain with no electricity, and his diet consists mostly of cabbage. But Master Hou says he has found a recipe for joy. “There is no happier way for a person to live on this earth,” he declared, balancing on a hard wooden stool outside his primitive mud brick dwelling. Hundreds of millions have moved to China’s urban areas during a decades-long economic boom, but some are turning their backs on the bright lights and big cities to live as isolated hermits. Their choice puts them in touch with an ancient tradition undergoing a surprisingContinue reading →
- [The 6 Stages of Disease](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/6-stages-disease/): The Shānghán lùn 傷寒論, known as the treatise on cold injury or cold damage disorders, is a Chinese medical text compiled by Zhang Zhongjing 张仲景 around the end of the Han dynasty period. It is one the oldest completed medical books in the world.  The Shānghán lùn has 398 chapters, 113 herbal prescriptions, and is organized by the six stages of disease. Tai Yang  太陽, Greater Yang  •  A milder stage with external symptoms of chills, fever, stiffness, and headache. Therapeutic Principle:  Promote Sweating.   Yang Ming  陽明, Yang Brightness  •  A more severe internal excess yang condition presenting as fever withoutContinue reading →
- [Food Therapy to Nourish Health](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/food-therapy-nourishing-life/): Roots of Chinese medicine are based in “Nourishing Life” or Yangsheng 養生 ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold 千金翼方, compiled by Sun Simiao in the Tang Dynasty, is a comprehensive medical classic which summarized studies and records on medical treatment and had great influence on the development of oriental medicine in the later ages. Sun Simiao lists 233 categories, and among other material, covers internal, external, and first aid medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, detoxification, Yangsheng, acupuncture, and is the earliest Chinese text to discuss the concept Shiliao 食療 or nutritional therapy, and the knowledge that food isContinue reading →
- [ABC's of 氣](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/an-exercise-in-cultivating-a-sense-of-qi-%e6%b0%a3/):   Activate the hands by rubbing them together; sense the feeling of energy begin to circulate in the palms, presenting first in the form of heat.   By moving the hands apart and closer together again, drawing them apart and together like gentle tides, the sensing of QI between the hands in these motions increases. It can be sensed as an orb as you generate and collect QI between your palms.   Contacting and increasing the QI that is there, we become aware of QI, are able to adjust it, and are integrated with it. By stimulating and directing the flowContinue reading →
- [Warming Needle Moxibustion](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/warming-needle-moxibustion/): Promotes free-flow of QI and blood and warms meridians; treating painful joints caused by cold-damp, for numbness, paralysis, and sensation of cold. An excellent treatment, particularly in seasonal cold-damp and conditions of debility.
- [Comfort](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/sh-comfort/): It is a common motivation of most living creatures to want to be comfortable. The Chinese character for “comfort”, 舒, depicts the character 舍(Shě) on the left side of the pictograph, which means “to give up, or abandon.” On the right side is the character 予(Yǔ), meaning, “to be bestowed.” The word “comfort” in literal translation means that when one gives up self-serving pursuits and seeking to gratify one’s self, s/he finds peace of mind and comfort. Through the temporary discomforts of releasing, we are brought the support of comfort and renewal. “Take a step backward, and the ocean and skyContinue reading →
- [Presence of Balancing Imbalance](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/presence-balance-or-imbalance/): Heaven follows the momentum of the Tao; Earth follows the laws of Heaven; Human beings follow the laws of Earth.  In this ordering of Universal energy, we are both followers of and co-creators in the flow. With our life-force we create momentum and thus destiny. Through our Jing, Qi, and Shen we bring the presence of balance or imbalance to self and surroundings.
- [Perspective on Acupuncture Needle Size](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/acupuncture-needles/):                ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.Unsurprisingly, some people initially express some concern about needles that are used in acupuncture treatment. On occasion, the concern may verge on a phobia of needles in general, which would likely deter the person from seeking acupuncture treatment that they may derive great benefit from, due to a vague and undifferentiated grouping of needles, and how they were applied. Here is an important visual to lend perspective to the extent to which acupuncture needles are finer than needles that people may have previously encountered. Used for acupuncture, needles are almost exclusivelyContinue reading →
- [Living in the Tao](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/join-flow-of-tao/): Reverently entering nature and observing the flow of streams, rivers, and waterfalls is, in itself, one of the natural remedies for a troubled mind. Water benefits the ten thousand things and yet does not compete with them. Water dwells in places the masses of people detest. People detest such places not because they are bad, but because they are unfamiliar; they are held back by fear of the unknown or thrust forward in fearful arrogance, in either manner not trusting in the Tao. Fear is the emotion that ultimately causes the most difficulties. Learning to move gracefully around obstacles, like waterContinue reading →
- [Instructions to the Yellow Emperor](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/yellow-emperor-live-long/): Xi Wangmu’s Instructions to The Yellow Emperor Drinking and gobbling up food, your body will never be light. Fretting and worrying, your Spirit will never be pure. Craving sounds and sights, your Heart will never be calm. Without calmness of Heart, your Spirit will never be numinous. Not numinous of Spirit, the Tao cannot work its wonders. Success is not in homage or worship, which rather make you suffer and exhaust the body. Success is in deepening the Spirit powers of your Heart. There is no effort needed, the Tao of Immortality is there! NOW YOU CAN LIVE LONG  
- [A Profound Perspective of Appreciation](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/3930/): “Since my barn burned down I have a better view of the moon.” Mizuta Masahide 水田 正秀 1657–1723, Japanese poet, samurai, and student of Matsuo Bashō 松尾 芭蕉 1644–1697 Tradition of the Japanese has been to live in awareness of the unpredictability of nature and the transitory essence of life. Earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons and fires can destroy whole cities and take tens of thousands of lives in the blink of an eye. Instead of responding from bleakness, the Japanese fostered a culture from deep appreciation of the beauty inherent in all things. Every daily act and aspect may be seen as aContinue reading →
- [Fall Foods to Cultivate Health](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/fall-foods-cultivate-health/): ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. With chill in the air it is of particular importance to recognize our need for nourishing foods. Along with the cold, autumn brings the seasonal influence of dryness. Fall is a time of contraction; when our bodies and the natural surroundings tighten and contract to maintain warmth. Rather than salads, raw juices, and foods that are chilled, which appeal in summer and late summer seasons, in transitioning to fall it becomes essential that our food be nourishing, grounding, and that it secure warmth within. In fall we build our bodily stores for winter. Nuts are good foodContinue reading →
- [Jeffrey Yuen on Self-Cultivation](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/jeffrey-yuen-selfcultivation/): Interview for NESA Currents Newsletter An Interview with Michael P. Arsenault Posted in exact excerpt from original text   Mike Arsenault: Historically in Chinese Medicine, what part did self-cultivation of the practitioner play in this form of medicine?     Jeffrey Yuen: Well, historically cultivation is the basis, or one of the reasons why one would enter into the Chinese medical field. Even when you go back to the Nei Jing you have several chapters that talk about the importance of cultivation, the idea of observing the spirit of the individual and really paying attention to your own spirit in theContinue reading →
- [Acupuncture & Moxibustion](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/acupuncture-moxibustion/): THE INTEGRAL WHOLE IN THE RELATIONSHIP OF MAN WITH HEAVEN & EARTH, AND ACUPUNCTURE AS A TREATMENT FOR ALL DISEASE. The human individual is an integrated aspect of the universe, with life’s happenings reflecting the interplay of Yin and Yang. These dynamics, displaying the shifting, greater movement of energy, are the root of prevention and treatment of disease by Chinese medicine.   Please Enjoy & Share  
- [The Humility of Mr. Bai Fang Li](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/humility-bai-fang-li/): Using the money he earned from peddling rickshaw, Mr. Bái Fāng lǐ contributed what is estimated to be 350,000 yuan ($57,000. usd) to financing more than 300 students’ school tuition and living expenses, helping them to advance by way of their studies. Mr. Bai’s daughter recalls, “He suffered and curtailed his own needs throughout his life, cutting down on food, stitching his torn pants over and over. When I would throw his worn out pants away and buy new ones, it would irritate him and he would not want to wear them.” The old man rickshaw peddler resembled in his appearance someoneContinue reading →
- ['The Clouds Should Know Me By Now'](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/3809/): Leaves fall, where no green earth remains. A person at ease wears this plain, white robe. With simplicity and plainness one’s original nature is still. Therefore, what need is there to practice “Calming of the Heart?” Chia-Tao 779-843 Buddhist poet of the middle Tang dynasty Translation by Mike O’Connor & Red Pine
- [Surgical Casebook](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/surgical-casebook/): Pioneering doctor  Hanaoka Seishū 華岡 青洲, of the Edo period, combined his knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine with Western surgical techniques he had learned, and became the first to perform surgeries with anesthetic. He was the first to formulate and use general anesthesia to remove tumors from cancer patients. His proceedure came 50 years before anyone else would perform surgery with general anesthetic. In the medical manuscript (example seen above), hand-painted pictures visually document the likeness to the men and women patients who went to Hanaoka for treatment, as well as the medical conditions being treated.  https://youtu.be/RNGfown7iys   
- [Perspectives on Dementia](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/perspective-dementia/): Heart nourishment and the tendency for a calm mind in turn support a basic sense of optimism. Negative emotional states can evolve into patterns of repressed Qi, heat, and phlegm, which harass the Heart and mist the mind. People at a greater risk of clinical dementia later in life are those, according to this study at the Mayo Clinic, who’s personality traits and energetic patterns have solidified by depression, anxiety, and pessimism. Such states of emotion are treatable with Chinese medicine as relevant aspects of elemental organ and energetic disharmony, particularly at their earlier stages of expression.  Pessimism And Depression IncreaseContinue reading →
- [Moxibustion Charts 灸法圖](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/moxibustion-charts-jiufa-tu/): Earliest illustrations of moxibustion treatment. By at least a century, moxibustion pre-dates the earliest bronze models from the Song dynasty used to understand locations of meridians and points in acupuncture. Therapeutic moxibustion, applying Artemisia cautery techniques, treats illnesses and strengthens the Qi of the body. It is a prevalent modality in Chinese medicine. Six fragments now survive, although not consecutive: Juan I, II, III, IV, V, VI, Jia Juan甲卷, Yi Juan乙卷, Bing Juan丙卷, Ding Juan丁卷, Wu Juan戊卷,  Ji Juan己卷  From the remaining fragments of moxibustion illustration and text, 18 diagrams can be distinguished.
- [China’s First Code of Medical Ethics](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/chinas-code-medical-ethics/): Sun Si Miao [581—682 A.D.] was a famous clinician and alchemist. Credited with the first code of ethics for Chinese doctors; less a formal ‘code’, and more the philosophy of a virtuous physician and values that suggest an ethical practitioner. The principles primarily focus upon compassion, justice, beneficence and humility, rather than physician truth-telling and self-importance.    • First develop compassion, not giving way to wishes, desires, and judgments. • She sympathizes in her heart with those who experience grief as if she herself has been struck by it. • She does not ponder her own fortune or misfortune above preservingContinue reading →
- [Cholesterol from a TCM Perspective](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/cholesterol-tcm-perspective/): Did you know that Yang-energy fight or flight hormones associated with stress rhythms can cause an elevation in cholesterol? Traditional Chinese Yin-Yang theory is adaptable to classify all universal phenomena, including the modern dietary-lifestyle staples that play into most health conditions. Coffee, sugar, and alcohol, among the more ubiquitous, have an overwhelming and weakening effect on the interconnected systems of the body. In the polarity of Yin-Yang, these substances are seen to liberate a lot of Yang Qi, which is to say the active, warming, dynamic aspects of the functioning, material form. Stress hormones have a similar effect in liberating Yang Qi.Continue reading →
- [Patient Compliance is Key to Success in TCM Treatment](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/patient-compliance/): ‘One who takes medicine but neglects diet and a moderate way of life wastes the skill of the physician.’ Your acupuncturist can treat you with acupuncture, prescribe herbal medicine and tell you how and when to take it, and from this you are very likely to feel better. S/he will undoubtedly help you to recognize what mental-emotional states and life-habits are having on you according to the wisdom inherent in oriental medicine. The principles of nurturing life known as Yǎng Shēng are discussions in the Chinese medical classics. The ways by which to nourish life through diet, breath, movement, and practices derivedContinue reading →
- [Stillness of Heart and Mind](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/stillness-heart-mind/): The Heart never stops storing impressions and yet it also knows emptiness. From birth, we have the capacity to know things by creating distinctions, differentiations, divisions, partiality, and thus duality; and yet also the Heart presence knows unity. In its experiencing, the Heart keeps moving, and yet also knows stillness. When the mind is used, it reflects. When the Heart sleeps, it dreams. When it takes its ease, it indulges in wandering in reverie. The pure essence of the present instills unification of Heart and mind.
- [Headache Patterns in Chinese Medicine](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/headache-patterns-tcm-acupuncture-asheville/): According to Chinese medical theory, various factors can effect the body to become the underlying pattern of headaches   • Headaches that start between 7 to 10 years of age strongly indicate the presence of a constitutional factor of disease, usually derived from the heredity from one or both parents. • Emotional causes of disease are, of course, extremely frequent causes of headaches. • Over-work, long hours, inadequate rest are all common causes of deficiency that give rise to headaches. • Diet has a direct and profound influence on various organ systems and the etiology of headaches. • Accidents and severeContinue reading →
- [Diagnostic Tongue Maps](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/tongue-diagnostic-maps/): Look at your tongue daily before brushing or eating. See what it may be revealing to You. Here is a basic overview Normal (top left) – reflecting a relative balance of internal QI, blood, humors, organs, and essence. Qi Deficient – basic symptoms of poor appetite, sluggish, weak digestive function, fatigue, worrying and overthinking, dizziness.  Heat – basic symptoms of irritability, thirst, constipation, skin issues. Dampness – basic symptoms of fullness, bloating, edema, lethargy, discharges. Blood Stasis – basic symptoms of varicosities, headaches, chest pain, skin spots, painful menstruation. Qi Stagnation – basic symptoms of pms, some types of abdominal pain, moodiness. Damp-Heat –Continue reading →
- [Bodily Teachings](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/bodily-teachings/): · The hands teach us not to be selfish. · The mouth teaches us to give thanks in word and song. · The nose teaches us to learn from our environment. · The eyes teach us to show compassion and sincerity. · The ears teach us to keep our balance. · All parts of ourselves both give and receive.
- [Toxins](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/toxins/): The manifestation of pathologies from toxins [DU 毒] evolve from unresolved excesses that, over time, consume the vitality of body-mind-spirit essences, brewing heat and binding Qi that results in fire. Fiery hot toxins are fierce in nature. From the perspective of classical Chinese medicine, symptoms that develop from toxic evils tend to be both extreme, profuse and destroy the organ systems of the body with the sequelae of conditions that ensue. It is wise to recognize that the Chinese medical context of DU differs from allopathic or naturopathic concepts of toxins.  
- [Progress](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/progress/): Our progress occurs naturally when we act in harmony and seek no progress at the expense of our genuine devotion to the ways of the Sage. Correcting our own thoughts, attitudes, and actions sets a course for wholehearted improvement.
- [Living Qi is the Ruling Qi](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/living-qi-ruling-qi-acupuncture-asheville/): External environmental excesses generate pathogenesis, and whether they originate from cold, dampness, wind, fire, summer heat, or dryness, transform into heat within the body. Liu Wan Su’s herbal protocol advocates the use of cool and cold medicinals. Bob Flaws is a master of the innumerable distinctions of Chinese medicine and sinology. This short presentation on a significant facet of evolution in Chinese herbal medicine is worth the few minutes to appreciate. Living Qi is the Ruling Qi
- [Taoist Interpretation of Acupuncture](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/taoist-interpretation-acupuncture/): Ma Danyang wrote an ode to the “11 Miraculous Acupuncture Points,” published in the text of The Jade Dragon Manual [1329]. The name of the song, “Song of the Eleven Points Responding to the Stars in the Sky” is instructive. It is likely that Ma not only offered interpretation of the wondrous, inherent nature of the acupuncture points, but also the influence the stars have on them.   Here, Taoist Immortal Lu Dongbin, an inspiration for Wang Chongyan, travels through the clouds riding on a dragon – representational of the Tao. In his left hand he holds an uncorked bottle ofContinue reading →
- [Ancient Medical Texts Unearthed](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/ancient-medical-texts-unearthed/): Exceptional doctor of Chinese medicine, Bian Que 扁鵲, lived at the beginning of the 5th century b.c. [at about the same period as Confucius]. He established medical protocols that are still in use in Chinese medicine today. thought to have come from the Bian Que school, and now linked to Bian Que (a.k.a. Qin Yueren) himself, these archived pieces of bamboo cover medical subjects of internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, dermatology, ophthalmology, and traumatology, with a focus on pulse diagnosis. Many bamboo carved strips are devoted to the treatment of horses, including a model with acupoints, also suggesting acupuncture points are older than weContinue reading →
- [養生 Yang Sheng](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/yang-sheng/)
- [Some Historical Perspective on Food and Its Preparation](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/historical-perspective-food-preparation/): The history of Chinese cooking goes deep into history and is marked by both variety and change. The archeologist and scholar Zhāng Guāngzhí says “Chinese people are especially preoccupied with food,” and “food is at the center of, or at least it accompanies or symbolizes, many social interactions.” Over the course of history, he says, “continuity vastly outweighs change.” He explains basic organizing principles which go back to earliest times and give a continuity to the food tradition, principally that a normal meal is made up of fan [grains and other starches] and cai [vegetable dishes]. Chinese perspective on food andContinue reading →
- [Post-Partum Care](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/postpartum-care/): The following article, Sit the Month, by Weijing Zhu regarding post-partum time is too informative not to share. When Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cambridge, or Kate Middleton as the more common oiks know her, gave birth to the royal babies, she stepped out to greet the world’s media the next day. Many Chinese looked on aghast: How can they treat her so cruelly, do they not let her  “sit the month?” Sitting the month 坐月子 (zuò yuèzi), is a traditional post-partum care custom observed in China and several other East Asian countries. It is a highly prestigious and strictly observed monthContinue reading →
- [Bipolar Disorder](https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/bipolar-disorder/): Spiraling from Yang to Yin to Yang In Chinese medicine, bipolar is a range of Mind-Body-Spirit disorder, Dian is a Yin manifestation, tending from deficiency, and manifesting as depression and withdrawal; While Kuang, or mania, belongs to Yang patterning, and manifests as full agitation. Prolonged withdrawal [Dian] leads to phlegm depression transforming into fire, which results in mania; While prolonged mania [Kuang] leads to insufficiency of vital Qi, resulting in withdrawal. Dian and Kuang, in their extremes, are always inter-related; transformative aspects of Yin and Yang.

## Pages

- [ELEMENTAL CHANGES Oriental Medical Arts](https://elementalchanges.com/): Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine since 1990 Serving the Asheville & WNC Region since 1994 Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac., providing an acupuncture treatment, 2019 ELEMENTAL CHANGES Oriental Medical Arts is a Chinese medicine practice in Asheville, North Carolina, offering the ancient wisdom and healing traditions of East Asian medicine. Wendy Brown is a second-generation licensed acupuncturist in her 36th year of clinical practice [as of May 2026]. She is devoted to helping others through the time-tested, holistic ways of Eastern medicine. This website is an inspired resource, developed and refined over three decades by Wendy, for patientsContinue reading →
- [About Wendy](https://elementalchanges.com/wendy-brown-acupuncturist-asheville/): Wendy Brown is a licensed acupuncturist who graduated in 1990 from the New England School of Acupuncture, the first accredited acupuncture institution in the United States. Additionally, Wendy was the first practitioner to have graduated in a family lineage from an accredited acupuncture school in the U.S. Wendy followed in the footsteps of her father, a Doctor of Dental Medicine, graduate of Tufts University, whose first love was biochemistry, and whose life’s work entailed relentless scholarly study, contemplation, and visionary implementation of medical practices, often long before their time as accepted in the mainstream. Among these explorations was his thorough studyContinue reading →
- [FAQs & Helpful Information](https://elementalchanges.com/patient-faq/): 🔺CAREFULLY READ THIS PAGE🔺 Information on this page applies to each patient in my practice. Policies are straightforward and firm. As part of my practice, each patient assumes compliance.  CANCELLATION  POLICY • Should you require to cancel or reschedule your appointment, please provide a minimum of 24 hours notice before the appointment. If you do not cancel or reschedule 24 hours or more before the appointment, the full amount of the appointment is charged regardless of circumstance. If you are 20 minutes late, your appointment is considered canceled and you are responsible for paying for your appointment. The fee for missed or canceledContinue reading →
- [Pediatric Treatments and the Delicate Digestive System](https://elementalchanges.com/pediatric-treatments/): An increasing number of children are growing up with acupuncture and Chinese herbs as an integral part of their lifestyle and healthcare. It is important to remember in caring for children that they are not “mini-adults.” Their energy and organs are susceptible to their own immaturity and therefore it is vital for children to be properly nourished and their responses closely observed. They can suffer from imbalances of Qi and from various infectious childhood diseases. The holistic lense of Chinese medicine allows that a wide scope of health conditions can be treated in acute phases and outbreaks, and the root catalystsContinue reading →
- [Patient Testimonials](https://elementalchanges.com/testimonials-acupuncture-asheville/): The following reviews have been compiled from Google and Facebook Maureen  •  Wendy Brown is the most gifted Acupuncturist i have ever experienced. I am exceedingly grateful for her skills, she has helped me immensely when i had extreme pain that felt so intense. Wendy alleviated my pain and provided very beneficial lifestyle advice, which I have applied and have had such a much better quality of life since following her guidance. I am in awe, and i certainly recommend booking with her!!! Before my experience with Wendy I had little faith in acupuncture and now I am a full believer,Continue reading →
- [Dietary Practice in Oriental Medicine](https://elementalchanges.com/dietary-practice-in-oriental-medicine/): Food is simple – – It is our approach to it that can be complicated and misleading. In other words, simple is not simply convenient or what our taste buds crave. It is not a philosophy or a fad that can’t sustain us. The food we eat should be as nourishing as it is tasty but in fact, our tastes and dietary habits may diametrically oppose what supports well-being and enhances our health and wellness. To quote Albert Einstein, “Theory without practice is sterile; but practice without theory is blind.” Food can be a cure and antidote if chosen for theContinue reading →
- [Treatable Conditions](https://elementalchanges.com/treatable-conditions-acupuncture-asheville/): Chinese medicine is based on influences of the immediate time frame in relation to a particular person and what is therapeutically best at a particular juncture. In Chinese medicine there is no one-size-fits-all diagnosis or cure; we necessarily assess in the moment. It is easy to belong to a group or way of thinking where there are fundamental rules of what to do, take, and how to eat. For us in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we are always assessing the patient in their present dynamics. We diagnose and form treatment by pattern assessment of the individual, not by the defining, generalizedContinue reading →
- [Methods & Techniques](https://elementalchanges.com/methods-materials-techniques/): ACUPUNCTURE The body is traversed by a network of energy conduits referred to as meridians, vessels, or channels. Acupuncture needling connects with Qi through specific sites along the channel where Qi can be measured to pool. By stimulating and directing the flow of Qi, the body’s innate healing force is directed to internal organs, external sense organs, muscles, tissues, tendons, bone, and the fluids of the body. Fine gauge, pre-sterilized acupuncture needles are inserted beneath the skin which remove obstruction in the meridians and muscle layer. Needle manipulation techniques are meant to promote sensation, not pain, as the needle contacts Qi.Continue reading →
- [Chinese Medicine Overview](https://elementalchanges.com/chinese-medicine-overview/): Chinese medicine is centuries-old and its wisdom and scope should not be underestimated, nor its depth be taken for granted.


[comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)