TCM believes that at birth you are born with the ability to heal yourself, not just from minor things, like a cold, but from major assaults on your system. You have all the chemicals, the neuron connections, messages ingrained in each organ, and the Qi, or energy to get these messages from one organ to another in a smooth, efficient, and productive way. As we get older, many of us lose the ability to access this self-healing power, but it is never lost. The information always resides within the body. As long as you have two things: Qi, or vital energy, and five major organs that communicate as a system, you can make your healing ability function again.

For example, think about a car battery. If the battery dies, it must be replaced. But if the battery is low, it can be jumped and recharged. Without battery power, the car is simply a collection of parts. It doesn’t have the messages it needs to function as intended. In the human body, the “battery” is analogous to your Qi. This Qi is needed to initiate energetic communication between the organ systems. A healthy body has healthy Qi.

Your Health is Your Responsibility

Through energy movements, eating for healing, as well as daily changes for your body, mind, and spirit, you can self-heal. But you must take responsibility for your own health and healing. Many patients are willing to do this, but they do not know where to begin. The ideal TCM doctor forms a partnership with the patient and helps the patient get in touch with her own healing abilities.

TCM is a medicine of connections and interaction. Both the patient and practitioner should become sensitive to the subtle changes that take place within the patient’s body. They need to both be ready to respond when the patient’s self-healing spark is reignited, so that spark can be nurtured into a full flame!

Excerpted from: A Woman’s Guide to Healing from Breast Cancer, by Nan Lu, O.M.D., L.Ac. with Ellen Schaplowsky.

Join us next Wednesday to gain more insight into the underlying principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Learn more about our Dragon’s Way Qigong® program, which combines Qigong energy movements, eating for healing and lifestyle changes to bring the best version of YOU to the surface.