What is Traditional Chinese Medicine and how does TCM work?
Ok to be fair, growing up, I didn’t believe in TCM at all
I was in the army when I injured my right ankle, although at that time I didn’t know I tore it
My mom brought us to a TCM and they said it was just a sprain, put some medicine, a bandage and I’m supposed to be fine in a couple of days
That was a hilarious memory by the way cause coincidentally, both my brothers also sprained their ankle
And I recall my mom laughing behind us cause we were all limping together
HAAHAHAH
So yea, because it was a torn ankle ligament, I didn’t really trust TCM at all
Fast forward and I learnt numerology as well as the 5 Elements of Chinese Metaphysics and it refers to the organs and their respective elements
And that’s where I understood TCM better
12 years or so have passed since I first learnt numerology and I decided to get a foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine
But why?
You see, I have helped a number of clients with hypnosis, and some people with numerology
And sometimes, I have to talk about their health
While I can refer to some simple concepts that reference TCM, I cannot say that I know enough to help them
Like sure, maybe I can recommend ginger tea to cleanse your kidneys and to support your liver, but that’s it
And because of some recent clients of mine who are facing health issues, and to be fair, some misunderstandings about food here and there
I decided, hey, let’s just get a basic foundation in Traditional Chinese Medicine
At least, I can explain why some food is better, and some isn’t a good idea

What is TCM?
TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine is the knowledge of medicinal herbs and practices from Ancient China
But I will stop here cause I will not go into herbs
I aim to understand how the body functions with TCM, and how certain food might be helpful or detrimental to the condition of the body
Now in Chinese Metaphysics, we have the 5 Elements of Wood, Metal, Fire, Water, and Earth and this is found in fengshui, bazi, as well as TCM
I want you to realize (if you haven’t already) that this is their way of categorizing and describing 5 distinct groups and their properties
And because they understand the world moves in this supporting or controlling cycle, whether it is for metaphysics or for our health, it becomes one of the core principles of Chinese philosophy
The other thing you must also understand is the idea of yin and yang
This is the concept that everything in this world has 2 opposing forces or natures
Light and dark, push and pull, hard and soft, and so on
The tricky part about the yin and yang is that you can have yin within the yang and the yang within the yin
But I will touch on that later XD
The concept of yin and yang as well as the 5 Elements or WuXing in combination allows one to understand deeply about this world
Of course, we won’t be going into Chinese Metaphysics, rather, this also applies to our body, the organs and the food we eat
Oh yea, before I forget, I took up Everyday Chinese Medicine from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in Coursera as the foundation
I also did Everyday Chinese Medicine 2 to enhance my learning
So feel free to learn directly from them!

So how does TCM work?
Although I have put into this simple picture as a way to illustrate, TCM looks at the organs as a complex network system
Which I will do my best to explain in a moment hahahah
As a simple introduction for now, the clockwise circle is the supporting cycle while the inner star is the controlling cycle
The arrows are there to show the supporting or controlling perspective
Example: the kidneys (the water element) support the liver (the wood element) by removing the by-products from the liver as urine
And the kidneys (the water element) control the heart (the fire element), although in this case, they are working together as the kidney send yin to cool the heart, and the heart send yang to warm the kidneys
Now the tricky part which is the yin and yang
You will see there are 2 organs per element of the WuXing
The “yin” organs are the spleen, liver, kidneys, heart and lungs
These 5 organs are the Zang in the Zang-Fu organs
The “yang” organs are the stomach, gallbladder, bladder, small and large intestine
We also have to add the sanjiao which isn’t in the picture above (I won’t touch on it today)
These 6 are the Fu of the Zang-Fu organs
The Zang organs are yin because their function is to preserve life
The Fu organs are yang because the digestion of food and water, as well as transportation tends to be more active
Of course, the yin and yang goes even deeper, from head to leg, front and back, inside and outside
For example, the heart is yin, however its function to preserve life is considered yang
In addition, within the same element, the respective yin-yang organs have a relationship with each other as well

Understanding the organs with TCM
First we need to understand the function of the organs and their link to our emotions
Stay with me ok?
Understanding this might help you to understand the link between our emotions, mental health and physical health a bit better
Naturally, this is the mind body connection although I won’t be going too deep and technical for today
Fire Element
The heart relates to the emotion of joy, and it also relates to mental activities such as consciousness and thinking
Excessive or lack of joy can dull the mind in this manner
Shock also affects the heart (as well as the kidneys) and might scatter qi and cause confusion, memory loss, as well as palpitations
The primary function of the heart is to circulate blood throughout the body for nourishment and this is sometimes referred as the heart-yang or the heart-qi
A secondary function of the heart is to take charge of mental activities (although it is the view that all the organs relate to the mental activities of the brain)
The heart is the yin and the small intestine is the corresponding yang organ, and they have a relationship with each other
When there is excessive heart-fire, it might go into the small intestine and cause burning sensation when urinating, or even blood in the urine
(But this is also because the excessive heart-fire can affect the bladder as well)
Conversely, the excessive heat from the small intestine might travel to the heart and cause internal hyperactivity of the heart-fire, and this might appear as a crimson tongue or oral ulcers

Metal Element
The lungs relate to the emotion of grief and sadness
Grief consumes the lung-qi, while sadness blocks it from flowing
Excess of either can cause one to be in depression and lethargy
The primary function of the lungs is to govern our qi, with breathing in qi
This leads to the secondary function, which is to allow our qi to descent well into our body and disperse throughout the body
Our lungs also nourish the body by disseminating food essence and body fluids throughout the body, as well as setting up a basic defensive qi
This leads to the tertiary function, which is regulating the waterways
Body fluids is absorbed from food and water, and spread around for nourishment
It will go down to the kidneys through the descending action of the lung qi and where the waste is taken out to convert into urine
The lungs is the yin, while the large intestine is the yang and they have a relationship with each other
Our large intestine can only perform the function of transportation of the waste well when we have descending function of the lung qi
Conversely, constipation may affect the descent of the lung-qi and thus, cause some chest distress or coughing
Earth Element
The spleen relates to the emotion of anxiety
Excessive anxiety can affect the spleen ability to digest food and can also make us lose appetite to eat properly
The spleen has 4 major functions
Firstly, food is digested by the stomach and spleen, and later send into the small intestine to separate the pure substances from waste, which the spleen will take to transport to nourish the rest of the body
That is the transformation and transportation function
The next function is that it governs the dispersal of qi
The spleen can function well if the qi ascends, and this works together with the lung-qi in transportation and distribution of water
If the spleen isn’t working well in this area, there will be water retention, or edema
Keeping blood in the blood vessels is the third function of the spleen and if the spleen-qi is deficient, then one might find themselves bruising easily
The last function is to nourish the muscles and limbs, ensuring they are well developed and can move properly
The spleen is the yin and the stomach is the yang, and they work together for the digestion, absorption and transportation of food and nutrients
An improper diet can also affect the function of the stomach, which affects the spleen, and can cause digestive issues such as being bloated or diarrhea

Wood Element
The liver relates to the emotion of anger
Anger can cause the liver qi to ascend upwards to the head, causing headaches, dizziness, red eyes and irritability
The primary function of the liver is to govern the free flow of qi which helps maintain the normal activities of qi and blood
It works with the heart to harmonize mental activities and emotions
The secondary function is to store blood and govern its flow
When we are sleeping or resting, the liver will store excess blood as we need less of it to function
Whereas if we are working vigorous, the liver will release the necessary amount of blood to meet the demands of the body
The tertiary function of the liver is having a connection with the eyes
Like how a lack of sleep might cause the liver to overwork, and it shows as red eyes
The liver is the yin and the gallbladder is the yang
Surplus qi from the liver is converted into bile which is then stored and excreted by the gallbladder
If the gallbladder is unable to excreted bile properly, the liver function will be affected
Water Element
The kidneys relate to the emotion of fear
Fear can cause the kidney-qi to travel downward instead of the usual ascending nature causing incontinence, increased urination, and weakness in the legs
Shock affect the kidneys by shattering the qi
The primary function is to store the essence of life, which can be split into congenital essence and acquired essence
Congenital essence is inherited from the parents and is transformed into kidney-qi, an essential material in the growth and development of the body, as well as for reproduction
Acquired essence is derived from food essence, the excess after been used for daily physiological needs is stored in the kidneys for other functional needs
The secondary function is to regulate water metabolism, and this is done in 2 ways
Firstly, it nourishes and moisturizes the entire body by distributing body fluids and secondly, to discharge as waste
The tertiary function is to control and promote respiration
When the lungs perform respiration, the qi descends, and it is grasped by the kidneys
If the kidneys fail to grasp the lung-qi, exhalation might occur more than inhalation, leading to shortness of breath
The last function is to rule over bones and marrow
Essence in the kidneys is transformed into marrow which is stored in the bone cavities to nourish the bones
It is also used to nourish and replenish the brain, which is considered a sea of marrow
The kidneys are the yin, while the bladder is the yang, and both relate to water metabolism
When the kidneys have sufficient qi, the urinary bladder is able to open and close normally, which maintains a normal water metabolism
However, when the kidneys have deficient qi, the bladder will open and close abnormally and this results in possible issues such as incontinence and frequent urination

The organ network
As mentioned earlier, Traditional Chinese Medicine looks at our organs as a complex network system and we have only just touch on the individual organs
Although the 5 Elements or WuXing have a supporting and controlling cycle, the organs tend to work closely with each other
For example, the heart circulates blood throughout the body, and the spleen produces the blood and keep it within the vessels
We can see the heart (fire) and spleen (earth) working together
In addition, the liver stores the blood and releases when we need it
And we see an example of the liver (wood) supporting the heart (fire)
Now fire is normally controlled by water, although when we look at the heart (fire) and kidneys (water), we note “an interdependent and restraining relationship”
This is because the heart sends its fire down to warm the kidneys, and the kidneys send its fluids to the heart to cool the heart
Lastly, even though fire is supposed to control metal, the heart (fire) and the lungs (metal) work together to circulate blood and qi
I won’t go into the other organs and their respective relationships for now (cause the blog quite long already haha)
The essential idea is that when one organ is affected, the other organs might be affected too

So is there a link between TCM and mental health?
The short answer is yes
The long answer is to read all the above again HAAHHA
As mentioned earlier, anxiety might cause one to lose appetite and thus not eat properly, which can naturally affect their physical health as well
In this manner, besides resolving the anxiety, they need to change their diet to have the right nutrition too
Now what if someone gets a traumatic event?
That counts as shock, and it shatters the qi of the heart and the kidneys
Since the heart’s secondary function is to take charge of mental activities and the kidney’s 4th function is to rule over bones and marrow
Remember the brain is considered a sea of marrow in TCM?
Then that traumatic event can affect the mental state of the person, as well as affect its nourishment and replenish (especially if there is physical trauma)
Depending on the type of trauma, there might be fear (affecting kidneys again) or anxiety (affecting spleen)
And since the kidney-qi is shattered by the trauma, it is unable to grasp the lung-qi well, causing shortness of breath, or even hyperventilation
Since the lungs is affected, the emotion of grief, sadness, or perhaps depression might come into play too
We can see it as PTSD
Of course, even with the right food or exercise, the trauma might still be embedded in the unconscious mind
And that’s where hypnosis can help to release and heal
Think of it as a 2-pronged attack!
The psychological with hypnosis and the physical with food!
Anyway since this blog is getting a bit long, so I’ll share about the other stuff I learnt about TCM some other time
By the way, if you notice anything off while reading, do let me know to correct the information!
I’m still learning after all š