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Acupuncture and Religion

Where Does Acupuncture Come From?

Acupuncture comes to us from the foundation of Daoist (Taoist) philosophy that originated in China. Since Daoism is also a religion, this has led some people to ask me (and others) if acupuncture is compatible with their particular religious beliefs.

I am not a clergy member of any religion: I’m just an acupuncturist. As such I can not speak authoritatively for any particular religion. I can make some observations that I hope will put some people’s minds at ease, however.

Philosophy and Religion Are Different

The first observation is that while the foundation of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine is Taoist philosophy, the foundation of “western medicine” is Greek philosophy. I have yet to hear of anyone concerned about going to a medical doctor and being asked to worship Zeus or other ancient Greek gods. Both the eastern and western systems of medicine have been secular for centuries. No particular belief systems are required.

People of All Faiths Get Acupuncture

The second observation is that acupuncture is practiced on billions of people around the world on (and by!) people of many different faiths. Even in China people of diverse faiths receive acupuncture.

As for my practice, I don’t ask my patients about their religion. Still, I am fairly certain I have treated people who were Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Quakers, and other religions. I also know for certain that I have treated Christian clergy members of different denominations. In the Durham area, many people have deep religious conviction which is a wonderful principle to live by. Acupuncture does not go against that ideology.

If you have doubts, ask your clergy member if acupuncture is okay. I think it is important that you feel comfortable with whatever health care you are receiving.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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Examples of Yin and Yang

As I discussed in my last post, “What are Yin and Yang?”, the concepts of yin and yang are difficult to impossible to define. The best anyone has yet come up with to teach these concepts is to provide examples of each.

Here are some classic examples of yin and yang to help illustrate the distinctions:

Yin Yang
cold hot
female male
dark light
hard soft
low high
winter summer
matter energy
structure function
inner outer
descending ascending
accretion expansion

These are all complementary pairs. Each defines and contrasts the other. Without the one the other has no meaning.

It’s also important to realize what yin and yang are not. Not all pairs of concepts we generally hold to be opposites in our society are examples of yin and yang. For example, absent from this list are such pairs as “good” and “evil” or “right” and “wrong”. These concepts, while very important, are created by humans in order to establish order in our society. Nature has no need for concepts like right and wrong.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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What are “yin” and “yang”?

Sign displaying the Taijitu and Bagua

What are Yin and Yang?

If you let most any acupuncturist speak for long the words “yin” and “yang” are likely to come out of his or her mouth. What do these words really mean?

First, I hear lots of people pronounce “yang” as if it rhymed with “rang”. Instead pronounce “yang” like it rhymes with “gong”. (i.e. with an “ah” sound) With that out of the way, on to the origin of the words.

The terms come from Taoist philosophy. The ancient taoists were extremely adept at observing and describing the universe and its dynamics. The terms came from the observation of the differing characteristics of the shady (yin) and sunny (yang) sides of a hill. Taoists realized that this dichotomy and duality exists in everything in nature. Furthermore they realized that without yin yang would have no meaning, relevance, or existence and vice versa.

Chinese words tend to be dense with meaning. These two words are no exception. Yin and yang are especially tricky as they somewhat defy classification as a part of speech. I would call them “noun-adjectives”, as they are slightly more noun than adjective. In use I might say “the yin of the body” or “kidney yang”.

Since yin and yang can be used to describe everything in the universe it is difficult to apply a definition to them. Instead the words are best understood through example. In my next blog post I will provide some examples of yin and yang to help create understanding of the concepts.

Yin creates Yang and Yang activates Yin.

To see if acupuncture might be right for you, give us a call at our Durham location or you may call us at 919-228-8448. If you find it easier to make an appointment online, you can simply click here to use our online schedule to set up a free face-to-face consultation.

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