People

by Rosaria Vettori
Doctor of Acupuncture

Acupuncture, an ancient and traditional Chinese medicine

This article is intended to provide a short introduction to acupuncture.We will be examining some of the aspects connected with illness in future editions of the magazine. Acupuncture is one of the therepeutic methods used by Traditional Chinese Medicine and is a global and energetic medicine where man is seen as being in close connection with the macro and microcosmos, in other words, with Heaven and Earth. According to oriental philosophy, the principal creator of all things is TAO, which represents the mysterious and unfathomable, and of this only the revelation is known, in other words the various forms of an Energy that manifests itself in a double aspect, INN and YANG. The universe, the world, natural phenomena, objects and men all possess a dual aspect. Absolute INN and YANG do not exist, everything is relative and therefore the two entities can alternate and are indissociable: when INN is at a maximum it produces YANG and viceversa.

Ancient Chinese drawings with information about acupuncture

Heaven is the maximum YANG quality that it is possible to reach, while the earth is the maximum INN quality. The Chinese consider man as being a "vertical", thus, with his hands raised, he points towards celestial energy, while his feet below are in contact with the energy of the earth. When this relationship between heavenly and earthly energy is interrupted, then illnesses develop. Man's energy is also vertical (it goes up and down), so that when the energy is broken up and dispersed, then a pathological event comes into being. The meridian lines are the theoretical paths for the conduction of energy: in fact energy circulates in our bodies along these lines. The acupuncture points are situated along these meridian lines and represent points of correspondence between our personal energy and situations in space and time. For information: Phone.+39 55 213854

by
Silvia Messeri & Sandro Pintus