Merry Christmas and et cetera

Everyday Health is taking the next two weeks off. Enjoy your holidays, whatever they might be, and have a great new year! We'll see you on January 1st!

Tree-gong

This article from Singapore is about a group of people who practice a type of qigong / daoyin / yangsheng in the Botanical Gardens in order to be near plants.

Not to be confused with qigong, the traditional Chinese discipline of circulating energy within the body, "tree-gong" is rooted in the Tao Te Ching (a classic Chinese philosophy text) and ancient Chinese principles of energy flow, said Ms Law's instructor, Mr Thomas Kwan.

The 50-year-old said that the energy from plants and trees aids the human body in "getting rid of 'congestion' that makes us feel unwell".

At Yosan we learn something similar - it's a simple meditation where you find a tree that you like and sit beneath it for 30 minutes a day. That's it! The benefits are reduced stress, lower blood pressure, a sensation of peace and overall well-being.

It might sound too simple, but the mere fact that there isn't anything to "do" is what makes this exercise unique. Turn off your cellphone. No reading books or magazines to pass the time. Don't try any special meditation techniques. Bring a chair if you like, be comfortable.

Finding and picking the right tree is most of the work. Some of us are lucky enough to have one right outside our doors. If you live in the city like me you might have to travel for a bit to find a tree that you vibe with. Also, rotate trees after a month or so.

Detroit Native Loses Over 250 Pounds at Chinese Weight-Loss Clinic with the Help of Acupuncture

Here is an interesting article from USA Today about obesity in China. The focal point of the article is Alonzo Bland, who won a year-long stay at the Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital, courtesy of China Connection, a firm that promotes medical tourism to China.

Side note: mixed in with the straight-ahead reporting is a curiously out-of-place bit of chest-beating propagandizing. Apparently China was "kept thin by poverty and communist policies in the 20th century" rather than rice farming and vegetable eating. It's even funnier when you consider the whole quote:

The once-slim Chinese nation, kept thin by poverty and communist policies in the 20th century, is now on the fast track to a U.S.-style obesity crisis.

Gee, who should we cheer for? The Chinese government, which has finally seen the light and unleashed capitalism, prosperity, and therefore obesity on the people? Or America? (still the world leader in something! Obesity, in this case)

Asthmatic Cat Treated with Acupuncture

This dramatic picture comes to us courtesy of the Daily Mail, a U.K. newspaper. Kiki has been treated with acupuncture for asthma and cough.

Previously: Veterinary Acupuncture

Dao of the Day

Words of truth are not beautiful;
Beautiful words are not truthful.
The good do not argue;
Those who argue are not good.
The wise are not extensively learned;
The extensively learned are not wise.
The Sage is not mean.
Simply doing things for others he feels greater fulfillment.
Simply giving to others he feels he has gained more.
The Tao of heaven benefits and does not harm.
The Tao of the Sage is to accomplish without competing.

-Lao Tzu: My Words Are Very Easy to Understand by Cheng Man-Ching and Tam Gibbs, Chapter 81

Words to trust are not refined.
Words refined are not to trust.
Good men are not gifted speakers.
Gifted speakers are not good.
Experts are not widely learned;
The widely learned are not expert.

Wise rulers for themselves keep naught,
Yet gain by having done for all.
Have more for having freely shared;
Do good not harm is heaven's Way;
The wise act for and not against.

-Dao De Jing: The Book of the Way by Moss Roberts, Chapter 81.

Microcosm/Macrocosm

I'm not sure the origin of these pictures, but they were found at totallylookslike.com, one in the family of lolcat websites.

One of the principles of Daoist medicine is that the body is a microcosm of the universe. Just as there are five planets visible to the naked eye, so there are five major organs in the body, each corresponding to one of those planets (Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus, Mercury to go with the Liver, Heart, Spleen/Pancreas, Lung, and Kidney). Click here for a fun website where you can check other Five Phase correspondences.

In some systems of Daoist meditation and cultivation, there are techniques for bringing the universe inside yourself, harmonizing your energy with that of the universe, and ultimately gaining the awareness that there is no separateness between your "self" and everything else that is.

These lofty ideas have not been included in modern, materialist TCM and certainly would seem out of place in any American university science course - it sounds too much like astrology. The closest you'll find is the idea that the weather has an influence on your health. If it's cold, you could catch a cold. But the link is there - if the sun, at least 91 million miles away, can grow plants here on earth, why shouldn't Jupiter and Mars have some kind of influence on us as well? Why not the moon, smaller and colder but so much closer? We already know the moon influences the tides and menstrual cycles.

It's easy to dismiss these ideas because there is no scientific evidence for them yet, but it's quite possible that our instruments just aren't advanced enough yet. In the Daoist tradition, your body can be the most finely tuned instrument in the universe, and physical practices such as qi gong and dao yin are the methods of refinement.

Medical traditions across all cultures, until recently, put higher value on the doctor's ability to wring information from the body with her questions, hands, eyes and nose than the ability to order tests. What will you do if you have no X-rays, no MRI machines? Throw up your hands and give up? In TCM, we learn to pull information by palpation, feeling the abdomen and the pulse, looking at the tongue, even observing a particular patient's odor. There is a wealth of information there - it's just a matter of sorting and ordering it with this system we call Chinese medicine and giving a diagnosis, which then gives us a roadmap for treatment.

Battlefield Acupuncture

Stephen M. Burns, a specialist in acupuncture, inserts a needle into the ear of Lt. Col. Catherine A. Reardon to treat her headaches and hand pain. (Baltimore Sun photo by Glenn Fawcett / December 9, 2008)

Col. Anyce Tock, chief of medical services for the Air Force Surgeon General, said two days ago that the service has authorized 32 active-duty physicians to begin "battlefield acupuncture" training. They announced today that they will begin teaching their physicians deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan early next year.

This endorsement of acupuncture by the traditionally conservative military medical community is very exciting news!!

Acupuncture has been used effectively in acute trauma and chronic pain, and even for analgesia during surgery. It is relatively easy to administer, requiring only a trained professional and a pack of needles, with little to no side effects. It has a wide range of applications, effective in reducing physical pain as well as emotional and psychological trauma. Acupuncture works best, with the most pronounced results, in the acute stage of injuries and when administered often.

There is an entire arsenal of tools that can be used in the battlefield when it comes to TCM traumatology and martial arts medicine. Besides acupuncture, there are highly effective herbs that can be used externally in conjunction with conventional pharmaceutical pain killers, and tui na body manipulation and bone setting techniques to treat physical disorders like dislocated limbs or broken bones.

The use of Chinese medicine to treat our wounded soldiers immediately after injury on the battlefield would offer them a bit of reprieve from their pain and suffering while in transit from the field to a medical facility. It can then be used to help them in rehabilitation after their necessary surgeries and other medical procedures. It's wonderful that the military is exploring the use of Chinese medicine to complement and enhance the treatment of our nation's service men and women.

Some excerpts from the Baltimore Sun story below:

Battlefield acupuncture has been especially effective among patients suffering from a combination of combat wounds, typically a brain injury or severed limbs, burns and penetrating wounds along with severe disorientation and anxiety.

But neither does acupuncture provoke the kind of adverse side effects, allergic reactions and potential addiction associated with powerful psychotropic drugs often used to dull the pain of the severely wounded.

"This is one of the fastest pain attenuators in existence - the pain can be gone in five minutes," said Niemtzow, a physician, acupuncturist and senior adviser to the Air Force surgeon general.

"We use acupuncture as an adjunct" to traditional therapy, said Niemtzow. "The Chinese have used it for 5,000 years. It works, and it's powerful."

"Acupuncture has been very helpful for people for whom other treatment has failed," said Lt. Col. Terri L. Riutcel, an Air Force psychiatrist who deployed to Iraq last year where she treated victims of roadside bomb blasts, among other injuries.

Acupuncture "is very well tolerated and there are very few side effects," apart from occasional bruising, she said. "I think it has tremendous potential for military medicine."

Battlefield acupuncture caught the eye of U.S. Army Rangers, who often operate in remote locations. At their invitation, Niemtzow and his team trained some Rangers last summer.

Nonetheless, advocates of the practice recognize that they must overcome skepticism within the ranks of military doctors.

"Oh, sure, some haven't gotten the word," said Burns, the clinic chief. "We are very much ahead of the curve."