analytical

Feb

2014

The 250 Year Old Man

When Lǐ Qīngyún 李清雲 was 105 years old, he traveled to Pingliang County in Gansu province of Tibet to collect herbs. In the Kunlung mountains Li met a hermit who was much older than he. Li asked the elder for the secret of long life, and the old hermit laughed, saying, “Why are you asking me? Aren’t you doing quite well on your own?”

“Ren Shen參, Zhu Ling猪苓, Ling Zhi靈芝, and the orchid are herbs of longevity,” the hermit said. “The mountains, forests, and the wilderness are all places of quietude. Nature is the secret of longevity, and you have all of this, so why are you asking me?” But, Li was persistent, even begging the elder. The old hermit spoke of some breathing [Qigong] and a word of dietary advice to follow.

After his encounter with the elder, Li recruited three Taoist adepts to go to Emei Mountain, a famous Taoist mountain in Sichuan province, to live in practice of these ways. There, Li built a hut and taught the methods to the others. According to Li, within a few years he was able to abstain from grains [bìgǔ 辟谷], learning to lighten the body.

Exercises practiced every day, regularly, correctly, and with sincerity, Li was able to achieve the power of Bìgǔ, attested to by the brightness of his eyes and the sharpness of his senses. He was full of energy, exceeding his former self. At that time he was already 140 years old, but the people who met him said he looked like he was in his 40s.

Li remained at Mei Mountain for about 100 years. The number of his followers grew to around 100; all baby-faced, white-haired elders, each over 100 years old. After the Manchu Dynasty ended and the Republic was born, Li decided that he was quite old now and decided to move to the Chen Compound in Kaixian 开縣.

What annoyed Mr. Li was that living in the town was just too noisy and there were too many social functions. Some people there challenged him, openly telling him that they did not believe him to be 250 years old. He showed no sign of anger, but his answer on one occasion revealed his displeasure. “Why should I tell a lie?”, he would say. “It’s up to you whether you believe it or not. If you believe I have lived 250 years, it doesn’t benefit me. If you don’t believe, it doesn’t hurt me. But I have to tell you, during my life I have never lied and I have never cheated.”

AvoidingGrains

Jan

2014

Moderate Daily Exercise

Rest and exercise should compliment one another. Rest with little physical exertion tends to be harmful to the body; long-term sitting being harmful to the muscles, and lying down for extended periods harms the Qi. It can be concluded that even with good diet and rest, but without physical exercise, the entire system is burdened.

Harmony is the essential characteristic of the Chinese philosophy of health. Everything from Heaven and Earth, to the seasons, to the five elements, to the human body, must remain harmonious with the Tao [Universal Qi] in order to maintain its existence. To preserve vital Qi we must learn to flow with the Tao and seek harmony and balance. In this way, moderation is key.

Choose suitable, individualized, daily physical exercise to reduce stress and the hazards of disease. It should be noted that lifting and bearing beyond one’s true strength harms to the body. Qi Gong, T’ai Chi, and yoga are excellent practices to promote healthy organ functioning, nervous system, and circulation among plentiful other benefits.

Dec

2013

Aging and the Elderly Patient

In aging, one must be so careful with everything lest it affect a host of health-related backlash. In treatment of our aging and elderly patients, emphasis of treatment pertains significantly to declining Kidney essence. However, the most serious diseases of aging are also caused by phlegm, blood stasis and internal wind. The pulse of the elderly patient read in Chinese medicine is frequently found to be hard, wiry and slippery. These three factors play a role in the pathologies of aging from which stroke, coronary heart disease, cancer, high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, as well as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases are commonly occurring conditions.

Oct

2013

Rules and Judgement, Su Wen Ch.70

Judgment [lun cai] and mind [zhi yi] must be based upon laws and rules. If one follows the classics, observing the calculations and accordingly, practicing [medicine] with due reverence to these rules, will be of benefit and set an example for all humankind. If the way is carefully observed, myriad diseases can be cured. Qi and Blood will assume a proper balance, and the Mandate of Heaven will last long.

Pertaining to Rules and Judgements

• If one punishes where there is no transgression, this is a great error.

• If one rebels against the grand norms of nature, True Qi cannot be restored.

• If a practitioner treats a repletion as if it were a depletion, if s/he considers evil Qi as if it were true Qi, and if s/he [applies needles] disregarding what is right to do, plunders Qi, and in that, removes proper Qi [of the patient].

SuWen Ch.70, Based on Translations by Paul Unschuld

Apr

2013

Acupuncture and Endorphins

✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.

Oriental medicine does not reduce patients to separate compartments of illness or function but rather sees an integrated, whole being that is a synthesis of mind, body, and spirit inseparably. Patients having acupuncture routinely sense, to varying degrees, a soothed yet elated experience even once the needles have been removed. We feel good, meanwhile, acupuncture as effective medicine integrates and strengthens our organs and their functions, nerves, hormones, structures, and fields of energy in a self-correcting mode of homeostasis.

The needling of acupuncture points along channels and trajectories has been shown to elicit the release of endorphins and enkephalins, among other health-engendering effects. Neurotransmitters dull pain, relax musculature, and induce a state of calm. From convincing evidence particularly in fields of medicine concerned with acupuncture for chemical detox and for pain management, acupuncture can, in these circles, be valued predominantly for its enhancement of natural opioids Synthetic opiate derivatives such as opium, morphine, and heroin have side-effects from the ability of those substances to bind to neuro-hormone receptors. Acupuncture is free from side-effects.

Endorphins and enkephalins are produced in the pituitary and hypothalamus. Acupuncture is a safe, chemical-free approach to providing an alternative to synthetic opioids. Electro-acupuncture modifies nerve cell response which further enhances endorphin activation and is especially fitting in treatment of inflammation and pain. Endorphin response is an inherent byproduct in the treatment by acupuncture for any condition.

Further Reading on the 5 Point Acupuncture Treatment that Forms the Basis of Acu-Detox Efficacy: https://elementalchanges.com/analytical/acupuncture-detoxification-treatment/

Acupuncture Works!

Wellness Best Wishes to All.

Mar

2013

Listening to the Pulse

✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.

The traditional art of pulse reading in the practice of Chinese medicine is an elusive form of conversation between patient and practitioner, and the method is a cornerstone of diagnosis and treatment. When a practitioner sets to feeling the pulses of a patient, what is conferred within the pulse is as practical as it is profound, and informs, guides, and refines the treatment.

Each channel has a pulsation, a vibration, and qualities that imply the status of the channel and its network correspondences. But, more essentially, pulse rhythms, rates, and dichotomies are the measures of the individual’s life, and are ever-shifting with the multitudinous influences one is subjected to. Where else in the human form do we find that which measures a person’s past, present, and future than within the pulsations of sentience of one’s lifeblood? Each pulse speaks of intrinsic questions and the potential nature of the person.

• The first treatise on the pulse, titled the Mai Jing [Pulse Classic], gave the representation of the correspondences between the Zang-Fu, which formed the basis for most subsequent Chinese systems of pulse reading. -Written by Wang Shu-he [210-285 CE], who also stated: “The mechanisms of the pulse are fine and subtle, and the pulse images are difficult to differentiate.”

• “The diseases in human beings fall into the four categories known as cold, heat, excess, and deficiency. The student of the pulse should take the floating, deep, slow, and rapid pulses as the reins in observing disease conditions. This is an unchanging principle!” -Zhu Dan-xi [Yuan Dynasty]

• “Chinese pulse diagnosis does not presuppose any exceptional, little-known, paranormal endowment or ability in the person applying it. All that is required is a solid grounding in its coherent theory and a trained and well-kept hand” -Manfred Porkert [20th Century]

• “Pulse diagnosis is an individually-developed art form, a blend of learning skills, intuition, a form of meditation, of being in touch simultaneously with the deepest aspects of oneself and another. It requires an ability to trust one’s senses and years of practice.” -Leon Hammer, M.D. [20th Century]

Apr

2012

Earth Element and its Role in Acceptance

We can not receive nourishment without acceptance of our task at hand. Partaking with some sense of openness, we may transform our duty into something of personal, or even greater, value. This ability to transform is a central focus of the earth element in oriental medicine. Sometimes the foreign experience we must digest does not resemble something conferring nourishment, but rather a pile of something indigestible; something difficult and unwanted that we are faced with. The spirit of sharing sympathetic kindness, an emotional attribute of the earth element, can be very helpful to one in the process of facing a daunting experience, both to offer as well as to receive.

The sweetness of sympathetic kindness can serve to remind us of what our transformation is ultimately for, so that we have a little more ‘stomach’ to digest and make good from the challenge that has been presented to us.

Well-Wishes to You