Traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis: The significance of eye
In Traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed that every part of the body is a hologram. This means that there is a map of the entire body on each part of the body and that changes in one area of the body can indicate disease processes in another area of the body. While eyes analysis is a complex and richly detailed diagnostic art, taking into account eyes complexion, etc.
TCM diagnosis by examing eyes
TCM diagnosis by examing eyes
Qi Gong Breathing
There are five major components of practicing Chinese Qi Gong. All five seek to regulate the 1. the breathing, 2. the mind, 3. the body, 4. the Qi, and 5. the shen (spirit). Proper breathing is one of the main keys to general Chinese Qi Gong practice. It regulates and adjusts the body’s Yin and Yang. Spirit and breathing are mutually dependent, while spirit and Qi have to mutually combine. After all, regulating the mind is the most important component to control the entire practice.
Abdominal breathing and reverse breathing are two common breathing exercises in Qi Gong practice. There are also other types of breathing such as, “Shen” breathing, “Five Centers” breathing, and “Body” breathing. Some advanced Qi Gong exercises may require a sequence training of these breathing exercises in order to reach a certain level of practice.
Abdominal breathing is a breathing technique in which you inhale into your lower abdomen or lower “Dan Tian,” expanding your lower abdomen until it feels like “a balloon filled up with air.” When you exhale, slowly and gently contract the lower abdomen. In this way, the abdomen expands and contracts with inhaling and exhaling. As such, it is called abdominal breathing.
On the other hand, the reverse breathing technique is just the opposite. When you inhale, you slowly and gently contract the lower abdomen, and smoothly expand that area during the exhale.
Neither of these two breathing methods should exaggerate the normal expansion or contraction of the lungs.
These two breathing exercises are common for general Qi Gong or Tai Chi exercise and during the meditation practice. Your Qi Gong or Tai Chi master will tell you which breathing technique to use and follow with certain intention of the mind and positions, such as to curve up the tip of the tongue to touch the palate of the mouth, to relax the shoulders, to hold up the perineum and anus…etc.
One meditation, which combines both the Conception (Ren) and Governing (Du) meridians, or the so-called microcosmic orbit (small circulation), uses both abdominal and reverse breathing in a different time of the practice to cultivate the Qi circulation in the body. You should contact your Qi Gong master to instruct you in the details and to guide you throughout the Qi cultivation and development.
Did you ever think that breathing could be this complicated??? But guess what? It really does make a big difference, so keep up the good work.
Part five:Chinese Qigong Acupressure Therapy
2. Before the application of qigong acupressure therapy, the finger nails of physicians should be cut short to avoid any injury to the patients’ skin. The pressure applied by the finger and the amount of qi delivered to the acupoints should be determined and gradually increased according to the duration of disease and the condition of patients. For example, acupressure manipulation must be very gentle in patients with chronic diseases, in starvation or after a heavy meal; qigong acupressure is prohibited in pregnant women and should be postponed in drunken or overfatiqued patients; and acupressure must be very gentle to avoid bone fracture, in patients with bone deformity.
3. After qigong acupressure therapy, most patients experience a relief of symptoms, a comfortable and relaxed feeling, sound sleep, improved appetite and increased body weight. However, some patients may show signs of a worsening condition. In general, it is only a temporary response to the treatment and may disappear after the treatment is continued for 2-3 more days. An explanation is necessary to relieve the patients’ worry about the temporary setback.
4. After qigong acupressure therapy treatments, patients may feel hot, sore, numb and distending sensations around the acupoints with some local redness, heat, sweating and twitches. These are normal response to the treatment and need not cause concern: they will soon spontaneously disappear. In some patients acupressure may produce ecchymoses, which will also spontaneously subside after one week. If patients develop severe side effects, such as dizziness, nausea, pale complexion or syncope, nail-pinching at the nasal septum or base of finger nails or toes may help relieve these reactions.
5. Treatment of complications: (1) Temporary arrest of respiration caused by extraordinary strong stimulation of acupressure applied over the back may be relieved by patting with concentrated qi over the neck, shoulder and back, by finger-pressing with concentrated qi at Yaoyan (EX-B 7) or by grasping abdominal oblique muscles. (2) Temporary weakness or paralysis of the arm caused by extraordinary strong stimulation applied over the scapular region may be relieved by patting with concentrated qi over the shoulder, elbow or wrist. (3) Temporary weakness or paralysis of the leg caused by extraordinary strong stimulation over the lateral side of buttocks may be relieved by patting with concentrated qi over the lower back, buttocks and popliteal fossa.
part four:Chinese Qigong Acupressure Therapy
How to Learn and Practice Qigong Acupressure Therapy
1. In order to master qigong acupressure therapy, the acupoints must be kept firmly in mind and the techniques and other fundamental skills should be correctly executed and gradually improved over years of practice.
2. Qigong acupressure therapy practioners can excel if they have a forceful and robust physique and accomplished skill. There are three basic exercises to practice for fulfilling above requirement: (1) arm exercises for strengthening arm force; (2) wrist exercises for improving skillfulness and elasticity….(3) fingers exercises for increasing firmness and endurance. A good therapeutic result can be obtained only after the concentration of thought and application of qi and pressure by the finger can be carried out simultaneously and coordinately. If the beginners want to use qigong acupressure therapy in clinic after a short training course, they are better to : (1) read hard the basic knowledge about the fundamental exercise of qigong and the therapeutic techniques of qigong acupressure in textbooks and carry on earnestly and persistently the physical exercise following the directions about the action, posture and other requirements of physical exercise emphasized in the textbooks until they are qualified; (2) carefully, seriously and preoccupiedly accomplish the performance of qigong acupressure with their visual line and finger pressure concentrated at the acupoints; and 3) select correct acupoints and adequate techniques to treat patients and watch their response to your treatment over time. A good therapeutic result can be obtained only after a successful treatment at correct acupoints with appropriate techniques to apply necessary amount of qi.
1. Before the qigong acupressure treatment, a correct differential diagnosis of both modern and traditional medicine must be made after conscientiously collecting the information of disease and defining the exact location of lesion by careful palpation and comparison with the normal side for establishing a proper therapeutic principle and arranging a useful therapeutic program. A satisfactory therapeutic result can be obtained only after correct selection of acupoints and adequate application of therapeutic maneuvers.
PART THREE:Chinese Qigong Acupressure Therapy
Healing Application and Contraindications of Qigong Acupressure Therapy
Healing Applications
Common Diseases:
Surgical diseases: diseases of shoulder, elbow, wrist, phalangeal joints, cervical spondylosis, stiff neck, diseases of lower back, muscular sprain of lower back, prolapse of lumbar vertebral disc, sciatica neuralgia, soft tissue injury of buttocks, and injury of iliosacral joint.
Internal diseases: headaches, stomachaches, neurasthenia, neurogenic vomiting, hiccups, hydrocephalus, hysteria, infantile indigestion, incontinence of urine in children, impotence, nocturnal emission, myopia, dysmenorrhea, acute gastroenteritis, heat stroke and syncope.
Complicated diseases: cerebral hemiplegia, paraplegia, sequelae of encephalitis, polyneuritis, Bell’s palsy, cerebral contusion and injury of sciatic nerve.
Other diseases: brain tumors, cancer of the intestine, pulmonary fibrosis and qigong psychoneurosis.
Contraindications:
Acute diseases: acute stages of inflammation, acute abdomen, febrile and infectious diseases.
Serious diseases: severe hypertension, heart disease and late stages of cancer.
Hemorrhagic diseases: hemophilia, allergic purpura and thrombocytopenic purpura.
Skin diseases: severe skin diseases.
Times and Courses of Qigong Acupressure Therapy
In general, qigong acupressure may be applied once a day. A routine therapeutic course includes 6-18 treatments. In patients with mild diseases and short clinical course, a therapeutic course may contain 6-24 treatments. In chronic patients, a therapeutic course may last for 1-3 months, and in paraplegic patients, 3-6 months. The acupressure treatment may be discontinued, if the patient’s health improves enough. In order to increase the therapeutic effect, it is best if patients complete the entire therapeutic course.
The chronometric (time-related) phenomenon described in traditional medicine is quite similar to the biological clock in modern medicine and it is usually used to explain the time-related circulation of qi through the meridian system. Because the qigong acupressure therapy is applied at the acupoints of the meridians, it is of course closely relate to flow of qi through the meridian and the qigong acupressure practioners may choose an adequate time to treat the patient. For example, at noon (11-13 o’clock), i.e. Wu o’clock in Chinese chronometry, qi is flowing through the Heart Meridian, it is the best time to treat patients with heart diseases by qigong acupressure therapy. The time table of qi circulation in the meridian system is shown as follows:
|
Chinese Clock |
Western Clock |
Meridian |
|
Zi |
23-1 |
Gallbladder |
|
Chou |
1-3 |
Liver |
|
Yin |
3-5 |
Lung |
|
Mao |
5-7 |
Large intestine |
|
Chen |
7-9 |
Stomach |
|
Si |
9-11 |
Spleen |
|
Wu |
11-13 |
Heart |
|
Wei |
13-15 |
Small intestine |
|
Shen |
15-17 |
Urinary bladder |
|
You |
17-19 |
Kidney |
|
Xu |
19-21 |
Pericardium |
|
Hai |
21-23 |
Sanjiao |