What I’m learning in my first week of TCM
- What are your personal medical beliefs and how do they relate to your personal medical and/or healing experiences? How do they relate to the topics discussed in Session 1, Lecture 2 .
I was born on the North West Coast of Tasmania, and I grew up with the attitude that the body takes care of itself with enough food, rest, activity, interaction, purpose, sleep, wakefulness and essentially time spent in nature.
I had experiences with terminal illness in the family in my childhood, my mum’s Dad, a former prisoner of World war 2, passed away in 1984, when I was five years old. Later my mums brother passed away to complications from HIV in 1988. Because of this happening in my childhood, I saw my Mother carry feelings of stress, helplessness and depression. I saw my Father not know how to connect to his nurturing qualities to assist her; I saw myself and other family members go through difficulties with self love and acceptance. I questioned why that was, I wanted to know more about how illness happened because I observed the sadness it caused to my family.
Well-being is attributed to more than just a surface level prescription for how to ‘be’ healthy in life. I see / observe from my childhood to today, that there is a level of depth, compassion, and understanding required to relate to ‘disease and suffering’ and my own families experiences of this to make sense of life’s challenges.
The concepts discussed this week opened my mind to further understanding of the human experience of disease. When I look at the descriptions around TCM given this week: Holistic, Force, Function, Ambiguity, Continuum, Divisibility (Lecture 2), my spirit relates these words to my own experiences. I see the causes of disease as being related to a continuum or holistic essence, I see the presence of function in manifestation of symptoms, and I relate divisibility to the concept of Yin and Yang in a holistic sense which is also indivisible – interdependent; part of the whole and as the function of balance. I’m beginning to form a personal connection with the knowledge presented in the text ‘Between Heaven and Earth, a guide to Chinese Medicine’, and my spirit feels inspired to share experiences and to learn more (Expansionist View – TCM, Lecture 2).
As I read further, about Harmony, relativity, correspondences, and change (Lecture 2), I begin to make sense life isn’t perfect. Everything is in change and is seeking harmony amongst imperfect circumstances. Manifestations of disease are indications where the whole is out of balance. The process is an internal and external manifestation of life, like Yin and Yang.
At times, Objectivity, clarity, and category, aren’t helpful in the present moment; the Tao. The former are only the mind’s best insight. The Tao is nothing and everything (Lecture 2) It is life itself in any given moment in time. I believe that is why healing for each individual will vary on different days, at different times, and in accord with presenting symptoms at the time (Lecture 2). Society can lessen judgement and increase compassion for suffering by allowing people to process their ‘disease’ uniquely, with their innate wisdom and experience. A practitioner can provide support, encouragement, and expertise.
- Discuss why Descartes considered the human body a machine and why this concept is still upheld in western society? Do you feel at this point in time that this concept is still valid?
Descartes’s mechanical view of the body certainly contributed to research leading to life saving interventions such as surgeries, tumor removal, cesareans, skin grafts, bone setting, x rays, radiation therapy; Medicines such as insulin and penicillin and many more (Lecture 2). The understanding of biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy was, and is, an understanding of the body that is useful and life saving at certain times. In contrast to the view of the body as, a Garden, it is a different way of looking at things. I believe that this concept is still valid because it empowers people and practitioners to engage in, and take responsibility for their own body or practice, with prior knowledge and experience.
- Of interest is the statement that the medical model was not set up to advise people on how to stay or become well it only fixes what has broken down! Do you agree with this statement ?
The wisdom to stay well is simple, it is innate in nature’s prescriptions, fresh healthy food, water, sunshine, exercise, love, family. Suffering derives from imbalance on some level. The biomedical model doesn’t always understand how to address imbalance leading to disease at it’s core. With the spirit of balance in mind, I would add that while the medical model doesn’t advise people on how to stay or become well directly; it does contain wisdom from research and experience and can still be a guide to refer to.
- “The man is not sick because he has an illness, but has an illness because he is sick”. Explain in your own words what you think this adage means.
The body is both complex and simple. Inherent illness from birth may be generational and environmental. There has been some instance of imbalance, and yet nothing is perfect. The body always does it’s best to balance. Perhaps the circumstances are weighted towards illness, and this is something that should not be viewed as bad necessarily. There is no such thing as perfection. There is experience, and from experience their is insight. Who is to say whether experiencing ideal health is more important than experiencing insight. Insight can lead to healing.
- Did anything in the required reading from Between heaven and earth; a guide to Chinese medicine (p.17-47) Surprise you? Motivate you? Interest you?
The opportunity to be a part of this discussion has inspired and motivated me to think and reflect on my own life experiences, and how they relate to the authors insights. I really enjoyed reading the additional articles including ‘The transmission of Chinese Medicine in Australia‘. I can see how Traditional Chinese Medicine has been adapted for medicine both in China and Australia. There must still be amazing places in China where the original knowledge is held by families and practitioners who have retained and passed down this knowledge. I purchased the translation of the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine to read which will be interesting!
Teacher Feedback
‘Even as a mechanic, they need know the root problem. Or he will make bigger problem with the repairing. For example, if a pipe is blocked and was enlarged, so the top of the pipe can’t seal it which causes leaking. The mechanic doesn’t check the root condition. He just changed a top for the pipe. Then in the future, with the repairing of other mechanic, the block is smoothed and the pipe recover the original shape, the top can match the pipe again’ (Endeavour Lecture).
‘Of course, as a mechanic, it’s much easier than doctor. You can see when a doctor found one person got some heart issue, the cardiac valves can’t seal the heart. Generally this condition is not caused by valves. It’s mainly caused by the heart shape is changed by high blood pressure or other issues. But the doctor just change a valve. In the future when heart problem is treated properly, the heart go back to normal shape, the new valve doesn’t match. It’s hare to change back’ (Endeavour Lecture).