Acupuncture: Acupuncture is the art and science of manipulating the flow of Qi and Xue through the body’s Channels, the invisible aqueduct system that transports the Essential Substances to the Organ Systems, tissues, and bones. Manipulation of the Qi and Xue is accomplished by the stimulation of specific acupuncture points along the Channels where these Essential Substances flow close to the skin’s surface.
Channels: Also called vessels and meridians, Channels are the conduits in the vast aqueduct system that transports the Essential Substances to the Organ Systems. They contain the acupuncture points that are stimulated through acupuncture and acupressure.
Disharmony: In Chinese medicine, when the Essential Substances, Organ Systems, and/or Channels are not balanced and functioning optimally, they are said to be in disharmony. Disharmony can be created by the Six Pernicious Influences or the Seven Emotions.
Eight Fundamental Patterns: Paired as Interior, Exterior; Heat, Cold; Excess, Deficiency; and Yin, Yang, the Eight Fundamental patterns describe the way in which the Six Pernicious Influences and Seven Emotions create disharmony in the mind/body/spirit.
Essential Substances: This refers to the fluids, essences, and energies that nurture the Organ Systems and keep the mind/body/spirit in balance. They are identified as Qi, the life force; Shen, the spirit; Jing, the essence that nurtures growth and development; Xue, which is often translated as “blood,” but which contains more qualities than blood and transports Shen; and Jin-Ye, which is all of the fluids that are not included in Xue.
Five Phases or Five Elements: This is a traditional theory and systems used by Worsley School acupuncturists and many Japanese and Korean practitioners to describe the physiology of the mind/body/spirit and to guide diagnosis and treatment.
Jin-Ye: All fluids other than Xue, including sweat, urine, mucus, saliva, and other secretions such as bile and gastric acid are considered Jin-Ye. Jin-Ye is produced by digestion of food. Organ Qi regulates it. Some forms of refined Jin-Ye help produce Xue.
Jing: Often translated as “essence,” Jing is the fluid that nurtures growth and development. We are born with Prenatal or Congenital Jing, inherited from our parents. Along with Original Qi, it defines our basic constitution.
Moxibustion: The use of burning herbs, placed on or near the body, to stimulate specific acupuncture points and warm the Channels. It is used to stimulate a smooth flow of Qi and Xue.
Organ Systems: Unlike the Western concept of organs, Chinese medicine describes Organ Systems. An Organ System includes the central organ plus it’s interaction with the Essential Substances and Channels. For example, the Heart System is responsible for the circulation of what Western medicine calls blood, and it also acts as the ruler of Xue and is in charge of storing Shen.
Qi: The basic life force that pulses through everything, living and inanimate. Qi warms the body, retains the body’s fluids and organs, fuels transformation of food into other substances such as Xue, protects the body from disease, and empowers movement, including physical movement, the circulatory system, thinking, and growth.
Qi Gong: The ancient Chinese art of exercise and meditation that stimulates and balances the mind/body/spirit.
Qi Gong Massage: An extension of Qi Gong exercise/meditation that also helps balance Qi and harmonize the mind/body/spirit.
Seven Emotions: Joy, Anger, Grief, Sadness, Fear, Fright, and Pensiveness/Worry are internal triggers of disharmony in the mind/body/spirit.
Shen: Shen, or spirit, includes consciousness, thoughts, emotions, and senses that make us uniquely human. It’s transmitted to a fetus from the parents and must be continuously nourished after birth.
Six Pernicious Influences: These include Heat, Cold, Wind, Dampness, Dryness, and Summer Heat. They are associated with the development of disharmony and disease in the mind/body/spirit.
Tao: The Tao is a philosophical concept and orientation. The word is sometimes translated as the “infinite origin” or the “Unnameable.” This philosophy sees the universe and each individual as part of the same process. That process moves all things toward unity and into opposition. In the Tao, there is no beginning and no end, yet whatever has a beginning has an end. Everything changes; nothing is static or absolute.
Xue: Although commonly translated as “blood,” Xue is not confined to the blood vessels, nor does it contain only plasma and red and white blood cells. The Shen, which courses through the blood vessels, is carried by Xue. Xue also moves along the Channels in the body where Qi flows.
Yin/Yang: The dynamic balance between opposing forces is known as Yin/Yang. It is the ongoing process of creation and destruction, the natural order of the universe, and of each person’s inner being.