I had a black dog, his name was depression

In previous posts I have written about the effect that stress and unresolved anger can have on physical and emotional health. Today I’d like to discuss depression. From the point of view of Chinese medicine, depression is the result of unresolved emotions (especially anger) turned inward and “deep-pressed”. When the energy of anger is not allowed to motive us to change our lives and relationships, the eventual result is the energetic collapse that is characteristic of depression. Depressed individuals feel cut off... [Read more...]

Your body as a garden

The concept of gardening gives us an excellent illustration for the theories behind Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and acupuncture. Imagine you are a gardener whose job it is to help a garden thrive. To help nature along, you must provide necessities such as water and fertilizer. You must make sure plants receive the right amount of sun, and you must weed out any undesirable elements. Gardening takes time and effort, but the reward is a beautiful, healthy garden, abundant with flowers and vegetables. One of the philosophies underlying... [Read more...]