Chinese Principle for Pain Free Living
Bu Tong Ze Tong, Tong Ze Bu Tong. This phrase, taken from the The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine written around 200BC, translates literally as: “when open there is no pain, when there is pain, it is not open.” This is one of the basic principles of my practice as a pain/massage therapist. If we can allow the energy (qi) to take it’s natural course of healing, then it pushes against the blockages or stagnation until there’s enough energy pushing on it that it clears it out. Think of river with a dam in it. On one side of the dam, the river becomes a pool of stagnant and rotten smelling water, while the other side dries out, devoid of all life and energy. When the water is flowing, the river is healthy and self cleaning. It's the same with your body, flowing energy means healthy cells and tissue. Body awareness is another of my guiding principles for living a pain life. In my Tai Chi and Qigong classes, I am constantly urging my students to take a moment to just breathe...