The Yin and Yang of the Healthy Individual
The Chinese believe our bodies are complete halves, one side
being the passive and the other being the aggressive, and it
only through the successful union of the halves, that we have
the healthy whole.
Western medicine has so far, not subscribed to this theory, in
whole. There is compelling evidence to support many of the
Chinese theories on the joining of the body's energy forces and
balancing our flow of energy through the entire body.
Chiropractic and acupuncture philosophies base their entire
practice on the successful correlation of the body's energy
flow, nervous system impulses, and skeletal alignment.
What we do know, about individuals is that the entire system
must be in balance for attainment of true wellness and health.
Our physical, mental, and spiritual existence must be aligned
and working as a whole. To better understand this principle, we
need to take a closer look at some of the ancient healing
techniques and philosophies. Perhaps then we can develop a
better understanding of how our body works with itself to heal.
In the tradition of acupuncture, the vital energy flow occurs
along pathways known as meridians. These meridians connect over
2,000 acupuncture points along the body. There are 12 main
meridians, and 8 secondary meridians. Although traditional
western medicine does not completely understand how acupuncture
works, the proof that it does work has been shown in several
studies conducted by western medical facilities.
The very nature of chiropractic care is the belief in the body's
own healing properties. Quite often, we can have small problems
in one area of our body, and not even realize it until the
effect is felt in a much larger way, somewhere else.
The practice of chiropractic care focuses on the relationship
between your spine and your nervous system. The spine is the
structure, and the nervous system is the function. Chiropractic
believes these two systems work in unison to keep and then
restore your body's health. The word "chiropractic" is taken
from Greek, and means "done by hand".
If you take the basic premise from each form of healing, and
apply it to the knowledge that we have about the interaction of
the mind, body, and spirit, you can see that these ancient
healing philosophies are very accurate in their belief about
treatment and how the body works. They were able to discern this
hundreds of years before science could actually provide the
proof.
The amazing part thing to me is that with all of this
knowledge, and all the opportunity for self-help and healing
that we have available, we still have individuals who suffer
simply because they aren't willing to put forth the effort to
learn and participate. We have every possible venue for healing
options available, for the low-income, for the middle-income,
and for the wealthy. There is no bias when it comes to
availability. We simply need to take advantage of the yin and
yang of our opportunity. Part of the halves is in place, now we
just need the participants.