 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
  |
 |
|
NAN JING: A Discussion on the Severence of the Channels and Viscera/Bowels By Z'ev Rosenberg, L.Ac,. F.N.A.A.O.M. "The Nei Jing says that it is contrary (to clinical strategy) to make the external (channel qi) replete if the five visceral pulses are severed (internally). It is contrary (to clinical strategy) to make the interior replete if the five visceral pulses are severed (externally). How can one determine if the interior or the exterior has been severed?" One of the most important concepts discussed in the Nan Jing is the idea of the relationship of the channels and viscera-bowels, and the consequences of the loss of communication or severance of this connection. The channels can be envisioned as a communications system that connects all parts of the body and mind, with a central focus on the internal viscera and bowels. The channels are at the exterior in relation to the viscera and bowels. The divergent and connecting vessels connect the main channels at the exterior with the viscera and bowels in the interior. Being mainly qi and blood, they respond, communicate and move more quickly than the viscera and bowels, which are more substantial, slower to respond and communicate. The viscera and bowels rely on the channels for their communication with the outside world, to both receive and discharge different types of qi. Through surgery, trauma, emotional upset, undisciplined lifestyle or disease, the channels can lose communication with the interior, which in turn may lead to disease. If the internal viscera or bowels are injured, the channels and other viscera-bowels will attempt to compensate. For example, if a kidney withers away through illness or is removed, the kidney pulse on the side of the affected kidney will often be empty, but the opposite kidney pulse will be more active and replete to compensate for the loss. If channels are damaged by surgery or trauma, leaving scars and damaged tissue, the qi and blood will be "shunted off" into adjoining channels, leading to all kind of systematic imbalance. Those channels will become overburdened and replete, leading to eventual stasis or exhaustion, while the blocked channels will become vacuous or stagnant. This leads to what Dr. Yoshio Manaka calls "biasing," where the body becomes used to a new, abnormal pattern which leads to chronic illness. Through herbal and acupuncture/moxabustion treatment, we can compensate for these imbalances before a full-blown disease develops. Modern society has created a situation of technologically generated chaos. One of our most important goals as practitioners of Chinese medicine is to guide out patients to access natural rhythms and cycles. The majority of our patients never listen to their bodies. They have gotten used to using sleeping pills to deal with jet lag or inability to sleep, coffee to wake up, think and study, laxatives for constipation, pain pills, aspirin, and antacids. This can lead to constant drugging to deal with the aches and pains of living life out of balance. In turn, this shuts down the body, throwing it even more out of balance. The body-mind intelligence, mapped by the acupuncture channel system, responds to all stimuli and attempts to synchronize all body systems with the natural systems of cosmic, seasonal, environmental, natural, social and biological rhythms. Chinese medical treatment attempts to synchronize the individual's body-mind intelligence with these cycles by adjusting timing. Many of my patients share with me that what they like most about Chinese medical treatment is that it changes their relationship to time. Most of my patients complain of finding it difficult keeping up with the modern mechanized world, which gets faster and more chaotic all the time. Add to that the increasing sedentary nature of modern living and we have set the stage for a host of chronic disorders that are difficult to detect in the earliest stages. However, with pulse diagnosis, we can detect these imbalances early enough to intervene in the chaos and restore a more orderly lifestyle that respects natural rhythms.
|
|
| prospective studentscurrent studentsalumnicampusesabout our clinicpacific symposiumnews & eventspublications |
Copyright ©2002-05 Pacific College of
Oriental Medicine. All rights reserved.
|
