Qi - A Driving Force.

The most highly controversial and discussed aspect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is Qi. What is it? Is it real? Do I have it? Do I have enough Qi? Or is it just make-believe mumbo-jumbo to take my hard-earned money? TCM believes in a different system to the conventional Western medicine. Now, of course, it respects the science behind the anatomy, there is just more than meets the eye. Vital substances, philosophical theories, and pathogenic factors make up the bases of TCM in practice. This ideology dates back thousands of years and includes abstract notions such as Yin and Yang, 5 elements, and Zang Fu (hollow and full organs)

Qi belongs to the vital substances subcategory in the body and is defined as “the circulating life force of existence.” This seems a bit extreme and outlandish to someone who has never heard of the word Qi, let alone they would have never thought it was the basis of all life as we know it. Qi essentially is what makes things move and perform tasks, the driving force of life. There are a few different forms, but the principle is the same. Can you see it? Touch it? How do you know it is there? Well, you don’t, you cannot see it or touch it and one cannot prove its existence, however you can feel it. Low energy? Less Qi. Feeling blocked? Qi is not moving. Too energetic? Too much movement of Qi. Occasionally, when receiving acupuncture, you may feel a sensation that travels a certain direction or moves between acupuncture points, this is Qi.

There are five vital substances in the body according to TCM. Qi, blood, body fluids, Jing, and Shen. Blood and body fluids are not abstract notions, these are the things that you can see, feel, smell. or excrete. They perform similar roles, mainly nourishing the body and its constituents. Jing or essence and Shen, spirit, is again where things can get complicated. Jing, similar to DNA it is what we get from our parents. This is often referred to as our pre-natal Qi, therefore the Qi that is gifted to us whereas the Qi that we make and consume is coined post-natal Qi. This comes from eating and drinking. Shen is compared to the mind or thought. It is also referred to as spirit due to the ancient nature of TCM and its knowledge of the human body 4000 years ago. Shen is greatly important when treating mental health, grief, and other chronic and acute conditions.

With these five vital substances, that make up the human body, we then apply them to some ancient and some relatively new philosophical theories about the body and the way in which is works. All the organs have different relationships with each other and perform slightly different tasks than that of Western Medicine. This either requires one or more of the vital substances and or Yin Yang theory.

Yin Yang is the hot and cold, in and out, up, down, opposites with each other but need each other to exist. They are often attributed to the good and evil in the world however, this is not really the case. They are more closely related to night and day, in that, one can does not exist without the other. You can find Yin and Yang within everything in the world including yourself.

The Yang wakes you up in the morning and as the day goes on slowly turns into Yin which makes you tired and puts you to sleep for the cycle to continue the following day. This also applies to the Qi cycle for the day, as the day progresses as does our Qi through our body, passing each organ and allowing them to perform their tasks. Most people move their bowels in the morning this is due to the Yang Qi that is passing through the Spleens time of the day which is involved in digestion.

Whether you believe Qi exists or want more evidence or would like me to dive a little deeper, the same principles stand. Your body needs energy to live day to day and in TCM we believe that we can influence with energy with acupuncture and herbal medicine. The science remains the same, the concept on how our bodies are connected changes. You do not have to understand or care about how any of this for it to work, just keep and open mind, trust in the process and reap the rewards.