Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) roots are deep and ancient. The efficacy of the practices have grown over 5,000 years, drawing inspiration from the natural world, envisioning the human body as a microcosm of the greater macrocosm of the earth and cosmos. Just as climates, seasons, tides and environments are constantly changing, so is the internal world that comprises our biology. TCM honors this elegant dynamism by employing holistic, natural strategies to nourish, detoxify, and balance the ever-changing landscape within us.
This holistic approach provides a 3-D map of how the body works and a blueprint for achieving optimum health. Within the map of the body, each organ is responsible for a different physiological pathway used to deliver essential nutrients and information throughout the body; and our bioelectrical system (Qi or life force) is responsible for pumping our heart and glands, and fueling all biological transactions through highways, or networks, called meridians.
Illness, injury, hormonal problems, metabolic changes, menopause, depression, anxiety, insomnia and countless other ailments are often a result of blockages occurring within the meridians. These blockages compromise the body’s ability to deliver blood, nutrients and information-rich Qi to where it needs to go, causing stagnation and dis-ease of every kind.
Emotional stress, pharmaceutical use, drug abuse, diet, parasites, bacteria, viruses, etc., create challenges for the body, forming blockages and disharmony, and everyone develops these in varying degrees, as a natural part of living. Fortunately, Traditional Chinese Medicine offers a wide range of modalities to break up points of stagnation in the meridians, helping to create and maintain balance and harmony in our bodily systems.
TCM beautifully complements Western medicine and we need both systems. The Western doctor is a mechanic, tinkering with things, taking them apart and fixing them as isolated parts of a machine. A practitioner of Chinese medicine is more a gardener, tending everyday to the organic whole. If the leaves are browning, they look at the soil, at the surrounding plants, perhaps offer more shade, water or fertilizer. The two approaches do not negatively interact in any way. In fact, TCM greatly alleviates the potential negative side-effects of Western treatments, hastening recovery and elevating mood.
Essential to maintaining good health over a lifetime actually requires us to address stagnations and blockages as they appear, before they become chronic problems. TCM employs a wide range of amazingly effective modalities to reliably break up blockages while restoring vitality and health.
Acupuncture is one way to encourage effortless flow of Qi in the body, using tiny, hair-thin needles placed on specific points along the meridians. Superficially inserted into major neural bundles or acupuncture/pressure points, they gently vent out and break-up kinks in our meridians, improving conduction of Qi. It’s painless and even has a soothing effect, releasing endorphins throughout the system, creating a calming, tranquil state as the Qi begins to flow smoothly again.
Medicinal Chinese Herbs are another method of supporting balance in the body. These ancient formulas use the earth’s organic materials to nourish deficiencies in our blood and endocrine system, igniting and providing all the fuel needed to perform optimally. Unique to Chinese Internal Medicine, a skilled practitioner can create formulas tailored to the specific health needs of an individual, as no two bodies are the same. In addition, Chinese herbs are safe, non-toxic, time-tested and extremely effective at restoring balance.
Cupping is another important way of changing the body’s internal climate to achieve optimal health. It’s one of the oldest, most ubiquitous medicines on earth, used everywhere from Greece to Bolivia, Iceland to Costa Rica. Suction cups are placed on specific acupuncture points to pull fresh blood and Qi into an area in need, thus increasing circulation. In turn, this helps to remove toxins deep in the tissues, drawing them up to be flushed out, in an efficient, quick process.
Qi Gong is the oldest Chinese medicine, mother of TCM and the martial arts. It’s a holistic, self-care practice, based on the guiding principles of nature and the cosmos. Qigong empowers and supports one in their overall health and wellbeing, using breath, movement or postures, focused awareness and visualization, as well as, intention to enhance qi flow throughout the body. Both a medical and spiritual practice, Qigong transforms the mental/emotional energies that create blockages and stagnations in the body, helping to remove impediments to fluidity and flexibility in life, while enhancing a deep sense of connection. A variety of styles and techniques are available to address individual needs.
Solfeggio Retreats impact healing in an exponential way, because they offer all these harmonizing practices and modalities, while connecting you with nature, earth and sky, the forces that ultimately nourish, balance, restore and energize all life…
Solfeggio has skilled practitioners with expertise in the application of these systems, helping support you on every level and in every step of your journey to wellness. But, more than anything, our goal is to empower you with these new life skills and physical health improvements, so that you can leave with a new “lease on life” and a toolbox for total self-care.