In Chinese
Medicine the body and mind are
intimately connected. Very rarely do I see
patients who aren’t suffering in both mind and
body. For example, chronic pain patients usually
have insomnia which eventually leads to anxiety
and depression. Or patients with long-standing
psychological problems create an energetic
imbalance in their systems which leads to organ
damage. I will explain how that works.
Chinese
Medicine does not incorporate the theories of
Freud, Jung and other contemporary psychologists.
While Mainstream Medical philosophy has come along
way toward classifying different behavior problems
and offering methods to treat these problems, it
has largely ignored the spiritual needs of humans
and the link between mind and body.
Although mainstream psychology does
understand that diet, stress, and sedentary
lifestyle can affect a person’s psychological
state, it doesn’t take the link between mind and
body much further than that.
A discussion of the treatment of mental/emotional problems
is not possible without first exploring
the concept of the mind the way the Chinese
view it. First I’ll mention that in Mountain Stream
Medicine, the brain function doesn’t have much to
do with our psychological problems except in a
very specific and limited way. The physiological
processes that go on in the brain are the end
result of what happens elsewhere in the body.
That’s how we look at it. Keep in mind that Mountain
Stream Medicine deals with energetic processes that
precede and lay the groundwork for physiological
and chemical processes.
The
mind in chinese Medicine is one of
three "TREASURES"- as we
call them - that relate directly to your total
well being. The three treasures
are mind, chi energy, and vital essence.
These treasures represent the bond of heaven,
earth and humanity respectively. In the human
body, the mind is stored in the heart, the chi
energy resides in the lungs, liver, and spleen;
and the vital essence is stored in the kidney.
Ancient Chinese priests believed
that the mind deals with the consciousness,
thought, reflection and desire; the chi energy is
associated with movement, power, breath and
magnetism; and the vital essence is associated
with creativity, sexuality, and cellular memory.
So what I’m saying is that the mind works with the
vital essence and chi energy on a daily basis to
create an emotionally healthy person.
Treatment would address deficiencies
in one or all of the three treasures.
