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Celebrate Chinese Medicine Month
This year Chinese Medicine Day falls on Oct. 24, kicking off Chinese Medicine Month.
To help celebrate this occasion I have two suggestions. The first is to think abut the idea of Qi.
What is Qi? Qi is probably the most fundamental concept in Chinese Medicine. It is similar to the idea of prana in Ayurvedic medicine or the animus in the time of Hippocrates.
On one hand the concept of Qi is very simple. It is said to be the force that moves all life, all change. It generates heat, growth, protects the body and holds things in place. The only problem is you can't see Qi under a microscope. Qi is a force like magnetism or gravity. You can't see it but you know it's there.
In Chinese medicine it is believed that as long as you have Qi you are alive—but when it's gone, so are you, as a physical being.
There is Qi in the air we breathe and the food we eat. Life is a long parade of Qi. You get the idea.
Someone once said the definition of civilization is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in your head at the same time (either that or you get very confused). Try to hold two parallel, not necessarily contradictory, views of the body—Eastern and Western—in your mind for just a few moments. Western medicine is wonderful when it comes to diagnosing and treating a wide array of health problems but it has it's limits, as do all healing systems.
No one has found the secret to eternal health—likely or ever will. But that doesn't stop us from trying. Each system offers something valuable and unique. After all, every system of medicine has developed by helping the body to heal itself but each comes at it from a different perspective.
How we perceive health and healing has to do with the lenses specific to our history and culture. Ultimately, human bodies are very much the same all over the world. There are variations based on how people adapted to their climate and natural resources—but bodies are bodies wherever you go.
My second suggestion is to try some acupuncture. If you've never tried, you've probably considered it. Maybe you're perfectly healthy and think you need a complaint in order to be treated. Maybe you've had a nagging ache or problem of some sort that you thought would go away but hasn't. This could be the time you've been waiting for.
Remember that New Year's resolution to try something new or to do something for you health? 2010 will be here before you know it and you will need a new vow.
To help make the decision easier, any new patient that mentions this article between Oct. 24 and Nov. 24 will be encouraged to pay what ever they like—a penny, a hug, a poem, or a smile.
The rest of the year I have a fee structure, but for Chinese Medicine Month I want to remove a barrier someone might have to giving acupuncture a try.
Come in and experience your Qi in a way unlike any other. Support Chinese Medicine Month, support your health and give me a call to make your appointment.
© 2009 Larry Forsberg. All rights reserved.
Articles posted on this Web site are for personal use only and remain the property of Larry Forsberg, L.Ac.
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