By Suzanne Friedman, LAc
The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon (Neijing) was compiled in 200 BC and is still considered the bible of Chinese medicine today. The Neijing discusses four major healing modalities: acupuncture, pharmacology (herbs), massage and qi gong. Qi gong was then called dao yin, which translates as "guiding and pulling" but is sometimes called "gymnastics" in translated texts. Early Chinese medicine and Daoist texts frequently grouped massage and qi gong together as the two most powerful methods of self-healing. Qi gong became an official part of Chinese court medicine by the Tang dynasty, and it is likely that massage therapists were already part of court medicine before that time.
Read More
By Kaleb Montgomery, DTCM
I was lying in bed trying to get my two sons asleep thinking about what I was going to write this article about. The deadline for submission was two days past and I had not even started writing it yet. Worse than that, I had no idea about what I was going to write. Lying there I was cycling through the list of excuses as to why I didn't have anything written or even a topic to write about.
Read More
By Marilyn Allen, Editor
In March 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved new guidelines for acupuncturists dispensing herbs. According to the FDA, Chinese herbs are classified as dietary supplements. The current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) guidelines can be difficult to understand since they are complicated by legal terminology.
Read More
By Neil Gumenick, MAc (UK), LAc, Dipl. Ac
In previous installments of this series, I emphasized the importance of questioning deeper than the superficial information or data to reach the unique individual patient and understand how, and in what way, they are in need of help and support.
Read More