A Brief Comparison of Chinese Traditional Medicine and Ayurveda

Both Chinese Traditional Medicine and Ayurveda see disease and illness as something that is caused by an imbalance in the flow of the energies in the human body. They are both derived as ways of life for the people that use and practice them. They are both methods that work for the people who believe in them and have faith in them.

Chinese Traditional Medicine deals with the flow of qi, energy, in our bodies. When qi is out of balance or blocked we get sick, moody or just plain feel miserable. The same goes with our homes; when the flow of energy is blocked in our house it becomes a place in which we are not happy and is cluttered. It is not just the space around us that can become cluttered, but our minds become cluttered also and can always use a good "spring cleaning". Once the energy flow is able to move freely through our bodies, or homes, and Yin and Yang are once again balanced we will feel well and even more energetic and our stress will be at a minimum.

Traditional Chinese Medicine methods, like Acupuncture and Moxibustion, are used to free the flow of qi in the body and allows the body to be healed and to heal itself. Keeping the mind and energy flowing as a rule of daily life will make for a healthier existence.

Ayurveda is a way of life for the people who practice it. It is one of the worlds oldest healing systems still in regular practice (Micozzi, 2006). Ayurveda deals with the three Doshas which are where each persons natural state is located; Vata, Pitta and Kapha. When the Doshas are out of balance the body can become weak and susceptible to disease and illnesses.

In Ayurveda it is believed that illness is caused by outside influences, like our environment. In Ayurveda disease is not just healed, but the whole process and use of this system is turned into a way of life. This way of life keeps the body in constant repair instead of what seems like constant illness in western medicine.

It is because of the treatment of the whole body, mind and soul that Chinese Medicine and Ayurvedic medicine are so much alike. They both take into account more than just the disease or illness, the take into account the person as an individual that is in need of the cure. This is important in actually curing, rather than covering up, what ails us.

References

Micozzi, Marc S. (2006). Fundamentals of Complementary and Integrative Medicine. Saunders Elsevier.