Part One

Self-Healing Approaches in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine uses many kinds of therapeutic methods. Here are brief descriptions of the therapies, which are convenient for self-application.

Chinese Herbs

The Chinese practice of using herbs to cure illness is believed to date back some 4,000 years. A very old Chinese legend says that in the remote past there lived a man named Shen Nong, or God of Husbandry, who tasted hundreds of kinds of herbs to determine their therapeutic values. Over a long period of time, the Chinese accumulated enormous experience and developed a unique pharmaceutical system, which has proven to be the best natural therapy for treating all kinds of illnesses.

Chinese “herbs” include not just plants, but also minerals and parts of animals. They are divided into five energy categories: cold, cool, hot, warm, and neutral. They have five taste qualities: sour/astringent, sweet, bitter, salty, and pungent/acrid. These tastes and energetic properties describe the therapeutic effects of the herbs.

Herbs can be used individually, but they are often used in combination with others, which is called a formula.

What Types of Chinese Herbs Can You Use?

What Else Do You Need to Know About Herbs?

Food Therapy

Yi Shi Tong Yuan is an ancient Chinese proverb that means “medicine and diet both originate from the practice and experience of daily life.” The concept of proper diet as therapy has a very long tradition. In The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine, which is the seminal text in TCM that was written 3,000 years ago, several medicated diet prescriptions were recorded. Since then TCM has accumulated a vast repository of knowledge about the therapeutic values of a great variety of food, which can include many kinds of cereals, fruits, nuts, vegetables, animals, and seafood. Therapeutic food can also be taken in combination with salutary herbs and condiments, an approach called medicated diet. In light of its form and process, medicated diet can be divided into five types:

According to Chinese medicine, the natures of all foods fall into three different categories:

Besides the nature of the food, there are also five different tastes or flavors. They are sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty. They have special meaning with regard to therapeutic effect. A correct food therapy must be based on the nature and taste of all ingredients, which can balance the syndrome of the illness.

What Else Do You Need to Know About Food Therapy?

Chinese Massage (Tui Na)

Like other elements of TCM, Chinese massage, or Tui Na, has a long history and dates back to ancient times. It is a simple therapy that uses neither medicine nor medical devices, but only various massage techniques to stimulate the body to regulate bodily functions and eliminate harmful factors. Chinese massage can regulate and balance the Yin and Yang of the human body, and improve the functions of the meridians and the circulation of Qi and the blood.

Over thousands of years, Chinese massage has evolved into a successful, systematic healthcare method for treating a wide range of disorders, including those addressed by internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, and emergency rooms. Generally speaking, it is most helpful for chronic conditions.

Through time, Chinese massage has grown into many academic schools and branches. Among them, acupressure is one of the most commonly used variations because of its convenience and effectiveness. The unique nature of acupressure makes it accessible and affordable to everybody, so it is widely accepted by people around the world. The Japanese version of acupressure is known as Shiatsu.

Commonly Used Acupressure Techniques

Although TCM practitioners use a variety of acupressure techniques, here is a brief explanation of some of the main techniques you can use at home. When you do self-massage, it is not necessary to worry if the technique you use is not exactly the same as described in this book. Just use the one that feels best to you.

Commonly Used Points

The human body has 14 channels and more than 300 points, each of which is sensitive and relevant to some particular illness. Each channel and point is assigned a scientific symbol. Locating these points is essential for getting the best results from Chinese massage. The bone-length measurement and finger-length measurement are used mostly by professional practitioners. At home, you can use the measurement according to the part of the body and your finger length. In self-treatment, it is not as critical to locate these points.

What Else Should You Know About Chinese Massage?

Qi Gong (Mind Exercise)

Regulating your Qi is vital to your health. Although Qi can be manipulated by a practitioner or with herbs, it can also be harnessed by yourself to enhance your health. Qi Gong is a physical and meditative art designed to cultivate Qi. Through a combination of measured body movement and breathing control, one can focus Qi and facilitate its flow through the meridians. Simply put, Qi Gong is a long-term exercise of mind and breath control to regulate the whole body-energy-spirit system.

Qi Gong Practice

Start a Qi Gong practice session with some warm-up sequences. Rub your hands, massage your head and face, move and stretch the neck and shoulders, and so on. Most importantly, calm your mind down, let your spirit be at peace, and achieve a relaxed but concentrated focus on the exercise.

What follows depends on the protocols of specific Qi Gong disciplines. In general, you will take a certain posture and use different breath techniques to conduct the Qi in your body. The whole process of learning or practicing Qi Gong is about regulating the following three key elements:

How much benefit you can gain from Qi Gong is dependent on how well you can master and coordinate these key elements.

Finish your exercise with some ending sequences. First conduct the Qi to the area two finger-widths below your bellybutton. Slowly open your eyes, take several deep breaths, stretch your legs, and take a two-minute rest.

What Else Do You Need to Know About Qi Gong?

Heat Therapy (Moxibustion)

In Chinese, the phrase “acupuncture” is composed of two words, Zhen Ju. Zhen means “needle,” which is a well-known technique already familiar to the American public. Ju is “moxibustion,” which is much less familiar.

Moxibustion is a type of heat therapy. By lighting a cigar-like moxa stick over the acupuncture point, the heat will penetrate into the meridians to regulate the Qi and blood in the same way as a needle. Moxibustion can treat almost every illness as well as acupuncture can. It can either be used as a complementary approach to other therapies, or as a stand-alone therapy.

In the West, practitioners only use indirect moxibustion, where the moxa is burned indirectly, either above the skin or on another medium between the moxa and the skin. For example, the medium can be sliced garlic, sliced ginger, or salt.

To keep things simple we use the term heat therapy in place of moxibustion. Also, we suggest you use moxa only above the skin, and be careful not to touch the burning stick to your skin or let the hot ashes of moxa burn you.

Folk Remedies

Folk remedy refers to simple herbal formulas (usually consisting of one or two herbs) or a technique that has specific therapeutic effects for one particular illness. Folk remedies have been circulating among ordinary people for ages and enjoy a great deal of popularity. The folk remedy is a part of traditional Chinese medicine.

Folk remedies may only work for certain conditions. Every person has a different constitution and becomes ill in different situations. A disease has Yin or Yang nature with either excess or deficiency. A syndrome may be hot or cold either exterior or interior. If you don't feel a remedy helps after several tries, stop using it.

Tai Chi Quan

If you have ever visited China or seen a documentary on the daily life in its cities, you probably have seen fascinating early morning scenes of elderly Chinese moving together in a slow, dance-like form in the neighborhood park. They are practicing Tai Chi Quan (or known simply as Tai Chi, or Tai Ji), a Chinese movement therapy. It was first devised by a Taoist monk in the 13th century. Literally translated, Tai Chi Quan means “supreme ultimate boxing art.”

Tai Chi is the Dynamic Form of Qi Gong

Tai Chi and Qi Gong share a common philosophical background: they share the aim to harmonize the Yin and the Yang energies, and smooth Qi throughout the body. Tai Chi combines breathing techniques and sequences of movements to improve the flow of Qi, calm the mind, and promote self-healing. Its sequence is a slow series of postures, linked into one long, flowing exercise, which are designed to focus body and mind in harmony to encourage an even flow of Qi.

Tai Chi has many forms. The empty hand form is the most popular practice taught to all ages in the West.

Benefits of Practicing Tai Chi

Tai Chi is practiced more as a form of preventive healthcare than as a response to an ailment. It is becoming increasingly well known as a way of reducing stress and improving peace of mind and spiritual well-being. Beyond that, recent medical research has found that T'ai Chi practice will bring more energy, stabilize blood pressure, enhance the immune system, increase breathing capacity, and improve posture control. For the elderly, it makes them less likely to injure themselves by falling.

In this book, Tai Chi will be mentioned on many occasions. If you are interested in learning how to practice, there are many Tai Chi classes available in most communities, and books and instructional videos are also readily available.