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DAOIST PAIN MANAGEMENT Resources Liu, Cheng-Tsai, Liu Zheng- Cai, and Ka Hua. 1999. A study of Daoist acupuncture and moxibustion. Boulder: Blue Poppy Press. Maciocia, Giovanni. 1994. The practice of Chinese medicine: The treatment of diseases with acupuncture and Chinese herbs. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. Teh-Fu, Richard, and Jackie Bensinger, eds. 2003. Dr. Tan's strategy of twelve magical points. San Diego: Tan. Veith, Ilsa, translator. 2002. The yellow emperor's classic of internal medicine. Berkeley: University of California Press. Yan, Cui-lan, and Zhu Yun- Long. 1999. The treatment of external diseases with acupuncture and moxibustion. Boulder: Blue Poppy Press. In comparison to Image 1, this Tai Ji image shows the skewed yang energy. meditation will be familiar with the concept of visualizing the qi flowing. In the second Tai Ji image (Image 2), pain derived from excess yang, or energy that is invading yin, is represented in the more skewed image. Yang can represent two signs of inflammation—heat and pain. Notice how the yin on the right, representing coolness, relaxation, and no pain, has diminished in this example. But what do the two small circles, one black and the other white, mean? As mentioned earlier, Daoists believe that the two concepts of yin and yang were complementary but opposite. When you look at the Tai Ji symbol of cyclical relationships, you notice that the two curved parts in the diagram are like two fish of opposite colors lying in opposite directions. This suggests that the two parts composed of everything are different in nature and move in different directions. However, even if they are opposite, they share the same circle. This implies that there is unity between the two opposite poles in anything. In the illustration, the yin (black) fish has a white eye, whereas the yang (white) fish has a black eye. This means there is yin within yang, and there is yang within yin. One engenders the other. In Image 2, even if the pain is extreme, the yang condition still has in its nature to embrace the yin aspect. The dividing line between yin and yang has no space between it, meaning that the yin and yang fish embrace one another within the circle. According to TCM, the skin is described as yang, while the inside tissues and organs are described as yin. One has to remember that yin and yang also represent opposite energies, like that of a battery, except that this energy is not the electrical energy we find in the nervous system. Scientists talk about this energy being a biomagnetic force, or qi. Yang represents positive energy and yin represents negative energy. When the therapist presses the acupressure point on the skin, he or she is connecting the positive yang on the outside with the negative yin on the inside of the body. Since opposites attract, we have an energy circuit. DAOIST PAIN MANAGEMENT In terms of pain management, the Daoists believe in a rule of opposite correspondences based on a mirroring format. The mirroring format is designed to specify which part or parts of the body reflect tenderness or weakness distal from a "sick" area. If the knee is sore and has myofascial pain or arthritis, then the therapist mirrors that body part on an elbow that is most distal to the "sick" knee. That would be the opposite elbow. If the knee is sore on the outside, then the therapist looks for a corresponding area on the lateral side of the opposite elbow. The exact acupressure point location is found by checking for an experiential sore point on the elbow. An experiential point is an acupressure point that falls outside the normal established path of the meridian. It might even be on the meridian and not an official acupressure or acupuncture point. However, the past experience of countless acupuncture doctors from China who use the Daoist system has shown that it is a valid acupressure point because it corresponds to the sore or sick area of the knee. connect with your colleagues on massageprofessionals.com 75