Week 11

1. Acupuncture as effective energy medicine.
The whole premise behind acupuncture is Qi. The best translation of qi is 'energy', so, since acupuncture is an effective healing modality, as well as an effective process/practice for maintaining health, then one can conclude that it is an effective energy medicine.
When I searched around the internet for definitions and studies related to energy medicine, acupuncture was categorized as 'putative' energy medicine, meaning, I believe, that they cannot quantify it, but they have found 'it' effective.
I am really entertained by all the effort to substantiate, quantify, and study TCM through the scientific method. There is this belief that it must be quantifiable in order for it to be legitimate. I wonder if those same researchers ever stop to think about where their thoughts come from or transmit to, and why they can tell if their spouse is happy to see them or not when they get home?  How do you quantify any of that? It just is. The same is true for qi, it just is.
Descartes,  the father of modern medicine, said "I think, therefore I am". What a statement! So, what is thought???

2.Conclusions from Kirlian photography
From what I have read, there may be some merit to using it as a diagnostic tool for assessing wellness as well as disease. It seems to be effected by current emotion so much, that it would be hard to use it as a concrete tool, as it could change so rapidly.
I will have a better idea of it all after we go and have our own pictures taken.

3.Human intent as it affects health.
Human intent affects health in so many ways. Our intent is intimately tied to our emotions, and TCM puts great emphasis on the emotional effects of health and illness. There has been research on this topic. When I looked up energy medicine, it was seperated from spiritual or religious healing by intent.
Energy medicine is practiced with the intent of restoring or maintaining health, where spiritual and religious healing is practiced with the belief that a higher power, outside of oneself will restore health.
Both practices are using intent, just very differently.
Intention is what gets me out of bed every morning, and keeps me happy and healthy despite many obstacles. I intend to keep it that way!

Week 10

I looked up the definition of 'physics' and the latin root means "knowledge of nature"; so maybe 'biophysics' is the study or knowledge of living nature.
That sounds pretty similar to Oriental Medicine. One of the other definitions was 'to treat with medicine' and the 'art of healing'. Again, this all sounds very much like the study of Oriental medicine.
Qi, this wondrous substance/non substance, the function of all that is, seems to be very similar to physics, which ponders the function[s] of the universe. It seems that as physics studies move into more depth, they move towards metaphysics. We are now seeing science claim that the body is more holographic than previously believed, that each cell possessed the information of the whole being.
Oriental medicine has always been saying this. The shen/mind is in every aspect of the being, not just in the brain. It is exciting to watch western science move in this direction.

Week 10

 I know I'm a "living system" because
I am animated. I think that is what distinguishes living from non living; an awareness. I class we discussed the meaning of living as a system that is constantly becoming. Our cells, our thoughts, are constantly becoming, keeping us who/as we are. Our bodies recognize non self cells as intruders and wage a defense, thus keeping us 'becoming'.
Another way to phrase that might be living beings are 'composing', constantly, until we die and thus de-compose. At that point we are no longer continuing to become with animation, although we are still becoming in the sense that we are returning to the earth, something different.
From this definition, it appears that the earth is 'becoming', is animated in some sense...