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Quite the poetic image, yet it is a simple metaphor for the flow of energy which is surging within each of us.

In East Asian medicine, we call this flow “Qi” (sometimes spelled Chi) and we call the many rivers of the body “meridians” and within each of us, this flow is constant.

We have access to this flow through the acupuncture points located along the meridians.

Now imagine a tree has fallen down within the river bed; the blockage disturbs the water’s flow, creating eddies and stagnant pools.

In our analogy, we would view this as an imbalance within the meridians, or disease.

Qi no longer flows in a healthy way.

In our bodies, this can be experienced as a headache, stomach ache or muscle spasm. It may appear as confusion, abrupt anger, extreme timidity or anxiety/depression, gynecological problems or infertility or the myriad of symptoms we associate with all disease.

The tools used for diagnosis include pulse taking, which is more than simply determining the heart rate. We use tongue diagnosis to gather even more information about the internal functioning of the body. We palpate the abdomen to determine how Qi is flowing and look at face color, listen carefully to how a person speaks and asks questions.

We come to a diagnosis that reflects the unique individual in front of us. In this way we treat the whole person, not just the symptoms.