I subtitled this blog “Living the Wisdom of Chinese
Medicine”. I was so excited and moved to
post the past two blogs that I overlooked one very important question: what is this blog about, anyway?
What I love about the word wisdom is that it implies that
something is being passed down throughout time (or perhaps from an older person
to a younger person) as well as a sense that wisdom is inherent in all of us. This is absolutely true about Chinese
medicine. It is possible to talk about
the wisdom of Chinese medicine without any of the terminology that you may have
heard about such as qi, meridians, or
acupuncture points.
To me, the wisdom of Chinese medicine lies in the eternal and
boundless wisdom of nature. To the
ancient Chinese, it was impossible to consider oneself separate from
nature. Every season, every sunrise,
every sunset, every rainfall, every birth, every death, every cycle around the
sun was observed and honored. There was
no source of artificial light or heating or food production that allowed anyone
to live outside of these natural cycles of nature. People considered themselves part of nature rather than machines with
replaceable parts.
The study and practice of medicine, then, came from the
study and practice of living in harmony with nature. In nature, the seasons
come and go. Each season offers to the
universe unique gifts. The same occurs
within us. On the most basic level, here
are some examples of the gifts of the seasons:
Fall: Slowing down, acknowledging what is most
precious in life and letting go of
what is not absolutely precious (as
the trees let go of its leaves to prepare for winter), receiving inspiration
from the universe, recognizing beauty.
Winter: Stillness, deep listening, growth that is
under the surface (such as trees
that look dead but have a vibrant
root system underground that allows them to survive through the frozen winter),
a deep sense that when the time is right spring will come.
Spring: Birth, growth, newness, potentiating ideas,
benevolence, movement,
planning
and carrying out, flexibility.
Summer: Celebration, joy, partnership, laughter,
compassion, connection.
Late summer: Nourishing ourselves with the harvest, supporting
and nourishing
ourselves and one another, satiety,
transforming what the universe has to offer into something digestible that
leads to a feeling that we are deeply cared for.
Each of us has a capacity to experience all of these gifts
in our lives. The wisdom of Chinese
medicine is about being able to move through the seasons peacefully, welcoming
the gifts each season offers. For most
of us, we tend to prefer the gifts of some seasons over others. When we realize this it gives us an
opportunity to create space to practice the gifts of each season. For example, one gift of winter is
stillness. To me, most of the people I
know are the least still during winter.
Our culture asks us to attend parties, hustle to busy shopping centers
to buy gifts for others, and finish up projects for school and work. The teachings of Chinese medicine have us ask
ourselves, how can I be still and
peaceful during this time? What ways of
thinking, doing, and being can I practice to be more still and at peace?
When we live in harmony with nature, the gifts of the
seasons become obvious and natural to us.
It is how every traditional culture has lived for millennia. Because we live in a modern society with
values very different from those of traditional cultures, most of us are not
practiced at living in Oneness with nature and the cycle of the seasons. It becomes an exploration for us to
rediscover the gifts of nature and the seasons.
This is the wisdom of Chinese medicine that I wish to share with my
readers – how can we reclaim and rediscover what is inherent in our nature as
human beings?
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