Mind-Body-Emotions-Spiritual connection in TCM

[Guest guest]

The TCM understanding of the Mind-Body-Emotion-Spirit connection is far, far

more sophisticated than that found in Western medicine. For one thing, the

Mind-Body or Emotions-Body connection is recognized as being a two-way

street. This is something that Western medicine in general does not

recognize so individual doctors may have caught on and are using this

realization to improve their diagnostic and treatment skills.

 

We hear a lot in the West about emotions causing illness. In fact, this is

all we usually hear about. It's not unknown in Western medicine that

physical medical problems can trigger emotions, but this all too often gets

brushed aside in the rush to prescribe psychoactive drugs and/or talk

therapy.

 

TCM healers do NOT fob patients off on talk therapy. Nor do they fall back

on " it's psychological " for a quick and easy (though incorrect) diagnosis.

Instead, they automatically think in terms of a holistic unity which

recognizes that physical imbalances can trigger emotions as well as emotions

can trigger physical problems.

 

Because of this sophistication, emotions become a diagnostic tool in TCM.

For example, if a person appears fearful, the TCM healer is going to suspect

and rule in or rule out Kidney imbalance. If the person appears angry or

impatient, the TCM healer is going to suspect Liver imbalance or that the

person is in pain. Each of the 12 systems is particularly vulnerable to one

or more emotions. For example, grief and sadness can damage the Lungs or be

generated by damaged Lungs.

 

That last sentence is very important in understanding the TCM

sophistication. It is the realization that not only can emotions damage

systems, a system in imbalance will actually cause the emotion. People with

Liver imbalance will tend to be angry. It doesn't matter what the original

cause of the Liver problem was. It may have been emotional. For example,

the person may have learned to be angry and poor ways of handling anger in

an abusive family, and this trigger Liver imbalance. Or, the original

assault to the Liver may have been physical. Maybe the person was exposed

to pollutants, toxins, poisons. Or maybe the person caught a virus. Or,

perhaps the person got in a fight and had a severe blow to the right side

that impacted the liver. Or, maybe the person was in an accident or had

surgery for gall stones and the surgeon damaged the liver.

 

No matter what the original assault on the Liver was, once the Liver is in

imbalance, it will tend to produce feelings of anger, frustration, and

impatience. This is another one of those snowballing situations that one

sees so often in TCM. The original assault to the Liver causes imbalance,

the Liver imbalance generates anger which in turn can damage the Liver still

more which mean that the increased Liver imbalance is now generating even

more anger which in turn creates even more imbalance and so on.

 

It's unthinkable to a TCM healer to not address problems with physical help

such as herbs, diet, acupuncture, massage, etc. In many cases these will be

enough to stop not only the physical manifestations of a Root but the

emotional ones as well. In some cases talk therapy or the Chinese

equivalent of therapy will be needed as well. In one of Dagmar's earliest

Letter From China, she talks about one of these cases. Physical

intervention was not enough. The doctor had to set up a situation in which

a woman was made angry in order to combat depression.

 

Emotions do get used in TCM to combat other excessive emotions. It's not

emotions per se which are the culprits in poor health. It's sudden and

overwhelming emotions, or emotions not acknowledged, or emotions poorly

handled, or one-sided emotional response which are the culprits. Being in

denial about being angry or grieving or whatever most definitely is NOT

being in balance. Neither is being lopsided in one's emotions. For

example, in the West, a lot of men will substitute the less threatening

emotion of anger in order to avoid having to face and deal with more

threatening emotions like feelings of vulnerability, sadness, fear, etc.

And, the absent of emotions most definitely is NOT a sign of balance.

 

Victoria

 

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[Guest guest]

I like the existential aspect of TCM. It belittles cause and effect. A

affects B but B also affects C and returns to influence A. Wittgensein,

an early 20th century philosopher emphasizes how a ladder should removed

after hanging a picture. With TCM we should look to symptoms and forget

all the intricate details. As Wicke states, there are many social

ramifications to the underlying principle of TCM.

 

Houston

 

On Tue, 29 Aug 2000 15:10:53 GMT " Judy Fitzgerald "

<victoria_dragon writes:

>The TCM understanding of the Mind-Body-Emotion-Spirit connection is

>far, far

>more sophisticated than that found in Western medicine. For one

>thing, the

>Mind-Body or Emotions-Body connection is recognized as being a two-way

>

>street. This is something that Western medicine in general does not

>recognize so individual doctors may have caught on and are using this

>

>realization to improve their diagnostic and treatment skills.

>

>We hear a lot in the West about emotions causing illness. In fact,

>this is

>all we usually hear about. It's not unknown in Western medicine that

>

>physical medical problems can trigger emotions, but this all too often

>gets

>brushed aside in the rush to prescribe psychoactive drugs and/or talk

>

>therapy.

>

>TCM healers do NOT fob patients off on talk therapy. Nor do they fall

>back

>on " it's psychological " for a quick and easy (though incorrect)

>diagnosis.

>Instead, they automatically think in terms of a holistic unity which

>recognizes that physical imbalances can trigger emotions as well as

>emotions

>can trigger physical problems.

>

>Because of this sophistication, emotions become a diagnostic tool in

>TCM.

>For example, if a person appears fearful, the TCM healer is going to

>suspect

>and rule in or rule out Kidney imbalance. If the person appears angry

>or

>impatient, the TCM healer is going to suspect Liver imbalance or that

>the

>person is in pain. Each of the 12 systems is particularly vulnerable

>to one

>or more emotions. For example, grief and sadness can damage the Lungs

>or be

>generated by damaged Lungs.

>

>That last sentence is very important in understanding the TCM

>sophistication. It is the realization that not only can emotions

>damage

>systems, a system in imbalance will actually cause the emotion.

>People with

>Liver imbalance will tend to be angry. It doesn't matter what the

>original

>cause of the Liver problem was. It may have been emotional. For

>example,

>the person may have learned to be angry and poor ways of handling

>anger in

>an abusive family, and this trigger Liver imbalance. Or, the original

>

>assault to the Liver may have been physical. Maybe the person was

>exposed

>to pollutants, toxins, poisons. Or maybe the person caught a virus.

>Or,

>perhaps the person got in a fight and had a severe blow to the right

>side

>that impacted the liver. Or, maybe the person was in an accident or

>had

>surgery for gall stones and the surgeon damaged the liver.

>

>No matter what the original assault on the Liver was, once the Liver

>is in

>imbalance, it will tend to produce feelings of anger, frustration, and

>

>impatience. This is another one of those snowballing situations that

>one

>sees so often in TCM. The original assault to the Liver causes

>imbalance,

>the Liver imbalance generates anger which in turn can damage the Liver

>still

>more which mean that the increased Liver imbalance is now generating

>even

>more anger which in turn creates even more imbalance and so on.

>

>It's unthinkable to a TCM healer to not address problems with physical

>help

>such as herbs, diet, acupuncture, massage, etc. In many cases these

>will be

>enough to stop not only the physical manifestations of a Root but the

>

>emotional ones as well. In some cases talk therapy or the Chinese

>equivalent of therapy will be needed as well. In one of Dagmar's

>earliest

>Letter From China, she talks about one of these cases. Physical

>intervention was not enough. The doctor had to set up a situation in

>which

>a woman was made angry in order to combat depression.

>

>Emotions do get used in TCM to combat other excessive emotions. It's

>not

>emotions per se which are the culprits in poor health. It's sudden

>and

>overwhelming emotions, or emotions not acknowledged, or emotions

>poorly

>handled, or one-sided emotional response which are the culprits.

>Being in

>denial about being angry or grieving or whatever most definitely is

>NOT

>being in balance. Neither is being lopsided in one's emotions. For

>example, in the West, a lot of men will substitute the less

>threatening

>emotion of anger in order to avoid having to face and deal with more

>threatening emotions like feelings of vulnerability, sadness, fear,

>etc.

>And, the absent of emotions most definitely is NOT a sign of balance.

>

>Victoria

>

>______________________

_

>Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at

>http://www.hotmail.com.

>

>Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at

>http://profiles.msn.com.

>

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