Dr Dave's My Alternative Healing & Health Blog

Posts Tagged ‘alternative health’

The big resurgence in Eastern medicine over the preceding few years has focused on acupuncture and shiatsu, but these are just 2 of the disciplines related to Chinese medicine. It appears that there is a public reaction to modern medicine, in that chemicals (drugs) are overly prescribed, and there can be unwelcome consequences of the treatment. Eastern medicine and modern practices vary in various ways, but the most basic is the manner in which these two approaches view the human organism. The Eastern adherents, including those in India, China and Japan, operate on the concept of mind-body, which is to say that our human organism can’t be separated into mental, physical, spiritual and emotional sections, but must be thought of in it’s entirety, and treated accordingly. On this side of the world, the Western concept sees these facets of life as though they exist separately from the others. This split view of the human body can lead to damage in the long term.

Another large divergence between the two perspectives is that, even though this is gradually changing, Western medicine is mostly reactive while Eastern therapists focus on treatment before sickness. Loosely speaking, in the West we tend to go to the doctor when there is something wrong, and want rapid treatment to put us straight. In the East, it was the traditional role of a medical man to keep the body balanced and well, so that sickness didn’t occur. In ancient times, a doctor in China was paid for regular treatments, and the money was withheld if the patient became sick!

The major concept behind Chinese medicine concerns the life energy ‘chi’, which is the universal energy that passes through our bodies and everything thing else that exists in our universe. Equilibrium of this energy, or Yin-Yang, is crucial to our health, and when it becomes unbalanced, we get sick. All of the disciplines within the Chinese medicine concept are concerned with affecting this energy in assorted ways, including aromatherapy, homeopathy, reflexology, acupuncture and zen shiatsu, the latter 3 being very closely related.

Zen-shiatsu is developing well in most European countries, and variations in approach and application are springing up in France, such as the Shiatsu Toulouse branch. Reflexology could be named ‘shiatsu for the feet’, as it is a type of treatment applied with the fingers in the same manner as shiatsu. Acupuncture employs very fine needles to penetrate the skin at really precise places,which correspond to the channels of energy flow in the body, thereby regulating the flow. Shiatsu acts on exactly the same energy channels, or meridians, but employs pressure brought to bear by thumb, fingers, elbows, hands, feet and knees for re-distributing energy. The Shiatsu Toulouse style has a very gentle approach physically, but promotes deep reactions on the energetic level.

Chinese Medicine isn’t only one discipline, but a mixture of several and includes therapies associated with smell and touch, amongst others. Over thousands of years, medical treatment in Eastern countries followed a rather different track to that followed nowadays in the West. In our Western culture, we do use preventative health methods, but largely we send for a a doctor or seek medical help when we’re sick, which makes perfect good sense to us. In reality, very often this is one of our problems. It inescapably means that we reserve the right to live how we like, and mistreat our selves in insufferable ways, only looking for help when our body gives us problems.

This is a strange situation. In industry, for example, we realize that machines need regular care and maintenance if they are to perform day in day out, without breaking down. We also know that a car will not carry on working reliably (and finally, not all all!) unless we check some important things things every week, and change the fluids regularly. If we topped up our tank with a blend of gasoline and water, it would soon let us know about it. All of these observations are obvious, but this is exactly how we treat our selves. We top it up with valueless foods, and don’t give it enough exercise, until it finally breaks down – ‘please help me doctor’ is the common cry. Another really common failing of modern Western medical practice is to approach the human organism and the brain’s processes as wholly different things, which as a matter of fact they are not. Chinese Medicine reflects the concept of ‘body-mind’. Neither of the two can exist in isolation, and each must be thought of in any treatment. The ideas of Yin-Yang and the energetic life force ‘ki’ are additionally crucial aspects when treating ill health in the East – these basic concepts are discussed in most French alternative health courses.

The art has many branches, such as Shiatsu, Acupuncture, Reiki, homeopathy and aromatherapy. Therapists might employ Bach Flower remedies, or oil extracts in the treatments, but usually have acupuncture or shiatsu as their main treatment. Reiki is a curious instance of one of the tools of Chinese Medicine, as it is considered a meansof channeling energy, and doesn’t genuinely have a proven reason for it’s success. The use of flowers, plants and natural things are quite traditional and well known. The all-important point to understand is that ‘Medecine Chinoise‘ is supremely preventative, rather than reactive. Wealthy men in those ancient Eastern countries, medical men were paid on a regular basis to maintain a patient’s health and stop him becoming ill, rather than attempting to make him healthy again after becoming ill. If a man became sick, then he stopped paying the doctor, which appears to be a great motivator.