Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is based on the theory that there are channels throughout the body. Flowing through these channels, known as "meridians" is a person's vital energy, known as "qi". When you think of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is probably what first comes to mind. For those that are unfamiliar with this ancient practice, acupuncture is the application of small, disposable (and ultra-thin) needles into the skin at strategic points, known as "acupoints", along the meridians where energy is thought to be blocked, based on a person's ailment.

A traditional Chinese medicine practitioner places the needles on these specific points to release the blocked qi and to stimulate blockages. Acupuncture has been cited by the World Health Organization to treat over forty-three conditions including allergies, asthma, back pain, carpal tunnel, colds and flu, constipation, depression, gynecological disorders, headache, heart problems, infertility, insomnia, pre-menstrual syndrome, sciatica, sports injuries, tendonitis and stress.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article exploring the benefits of massage. Holistic healthcare has garnered increasing recognition in the mainstream medical field. As a result, people are now evaluating how massage is so much more than a mini-vacation for your mind and body. The litany of health benefits, many of which are long-term, is drawing more and more patients to the massage table. Massage can be tailored to the individual and provide almost-instant relief for many ailments, including chronic pain, insomnia, depression, and sports injury recovery. As The Wall Street Journal points out—massage is more than a pampering.

People most commonly seek massage to alleviate pain and improve relaxation. However, these two benefits only touch the surface of all that massage can offer. Massage has been used for thousands of years. In ancient China and Japan, it was looked upon as more than a luxury, it was a healing method. This mindset is still present in modern day China, where hospitals prescribe massage and acupuncture alongside IV’s and modern medication. Happily, the United States is catching on to this mindset as well.

Ayurveda is an ancient healing tradition that views a person’s physical and emotional well-being as being based on the proper balance of vital energies. Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine share this fundamental belief in the importance of balanced energies. As one might imagine, both of these traditions view weight fluctuations in terms of how balanced a person’s mind, emotions, diet, digestion, metabolism and appetite are. Any imbalance here can lead to undesirable weight gain or weight loss. As the theory goes, only when the vital energies - in TCM, this energy is called “qi”, and in Ayurveda, these multiple energies are called “doshas” - are properly balanced, will weight naturally come into balance, as well.



Ayurveda emphasizes how to adapt with nature to prevent the disease process from starting, and to ensure that health is maintained. Ayurveda offers three basic pillars: diet, sleep and exercise (yoga). In regard to eating, Ayurveda views ingestion as a very broad term, not just limited to the ingestion of food, but to the experience. In Ayurveda, food can be the number one preventative medicine. Each individual's psycho-physiology is taken into account and then he or she is offered a proper diet plan. According to Ayurveda, diet should support your physiology and lead to strong mind. A strong mind promotes clear thinking. Clear thinking always produces useful activity, which ultimately leads to the fulfillment of desires. This is how good eating habits can promote the greatest happiness and satisfaction in life, and that is why adults often have to start all over (de-learn) and relearn how to eat right. It’s common for people to form poor eating habits as children, but it’s never too late to take on a healthy outlook.

Let’s face it: We practice an ancient medicine in a modern world. You are not only a healer but also a business owner in a rapidly changing world that seems to gravitate more and more towards marketing online. Getting a website up and running in order to attract new patients may feel like a daunting task. It doesn’t have to be. Below are 12 good reasons for not letting this apprehension stop you from taking the next step for practice success.

1) It is targeted

If you’ve never been exposed to traditional Chinese medicine before, you may not even know what acupuncture is…and that’s OK! But why not know about all the healthcare options available to you? Acupuncture has been in use for over 2,000 years. It follows the Chinese medicine belief that no issue in the body is isolated. Everything is connected, whether it’s a connection between various body parts and organs or between the mind, body, and spirit, a person’s wellbeing is always considered as a total picture and not one segment.

The root of this belief is that each person, each living thing, has qi—a life energy. Qi flows through the body in energy streams known as meridians, which are related to hundreds of points on the skin. When blockages exist in the meridians and the flow of qi is inhibited, health is compromised and pain or illness can result. Acupuncture is the strategic placement of ultra-thin (think a hair’s width) needles in the acupoints that correspond to the meridians of the issue at hand. The goal is to renew the healthy flow of qi and to restore the body to balance.

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the eyes relate to the internal organs. In Chinese medicine, each part of the eye is associated with a particular element and corresponding zang organ. The iris is represented by the liver zang. The heart zang relates to the corners of the eyes or the canthi, the upper and lower eyelids correspond to the spleen, the conjunctiva the lung, and the pupil the kidney.

Chinese medicine recognizes six environmental, or external, pathogens that can lead to vision loss. A person's resistance to environmental pathogenic factors is based on how healthy their immune system is, which, in turn, is a function of qi (a person’s energy, similar to a life force). Basically, if a person has strong qi and good resistance, he or she can ward off potential hazards associated with these external factors. According to TCM, a person with poor qi flow or imbalances in qi in any of the zang organs relating to the parts of the eye will have decreased resistance to the six specific environmental pathogens that can influence vision.