In Chinese medicine there are at least five different primary methods of healing and there are numerous other lesser known methods of healing. The main five methods of healing are acupuncture, herbology, Chi Kung, bone setting and tuina massage. Each of these methods has many subcategories, methods and different schools of thought.

TCM utilizes Chi and Yin and Yang theory. The basic idea as applied to Chinese Medicine is that balance is the proper state of health. Yin and Yang are polar opposites that are partly defined by each other such as big and small, fast and slow, hot and cold, action and stillness, light and dark, up and down, wet and dry etc.. If there is imbalance in the body, mind or spirit such as to much heat or to much cold then it is unhealthy and sickness will result. The goal of healing with TCM and healing Chi Kung is to restore, regulate and maintain Chi balance to the mind, body and spirit.

Yin and Yang theory is one of the least understood aspects of TCM by most Westerners because it is variable and not fixed. For example: Earth is Yang and Water is Yin. However, either can be yang/hot or yin/cold. Compared to hot water steam is Yin or light even though it is in a hotter (more yang) temperature state than the liquid hot water. Ice is more yang than cold water because it is harder than liquid water even though by virtue of the temperature it is in a colder (more yin) state. Fifty degree air temperature is yin compared to 100 degrees but is yang compared to 10 degrees.

The largest and most common school of thought in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) utilizes meridian and pressure point theory. Meridians are invisible pathways in the body much like the nervous system that carries electrical pulses and stimuli except the meridians are thought to be channels or pathways that Chi energy flows through. Where the meridian lines can easily be accessed from the body surface is where most of the pressure points are located. Quite often pressure points are located in the same vicinity of the body where a blood artery or large vein and large nerves or nerve bundles are near the surface of the body.

Continued in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM Part 2)