What's Involved In A Consultation?

Your practitioner will ask questions about all aspects of your body function (energy, emotions, temperature, digestion, appetite, thirst, urination, bowel motions, menstruation, sense organs, pain, medical history). The pulse will be taken, and the tongue will be observed. Abdominal palpation or Hara diagnosis may also be used. These are clues that will enable the practitioner to identify disharmony and formulate an appropriate treatment.
Your practitioner may talk about:

• YIN Passive, night, dark, cold, still, moist. Opposite of yang. “Yin deficiency” may manifest as symptoms of heat and dryness.
• YANG Dynamic, day, bright, warm, active, dry. The opposite of yin. “Yang deficiency” may manifest as coldness and fluid retention.

Everything has both yin and yang aspects.

• QI Often translated as ‘energy’ or ‘life force’, but it encompasses both function and structure. It is yang in nature.
• BLOOD Nourishing and moistening, blood is yin in nature. It is the material manifestation of Qi. Qi is necessary to move the blood.
• DAMPNESS An accumulation and congealing of body fluids, often related to a poor diet or poor digestion.
• DEFICIENCY A disharmony may be caused by a lack of Qi, blood, body fluids, yin or yang.
• EXCESS A disharmony may be caused by an accumulation of something within the body. Accumulation of dampness, rising of yang, stagnation of blood, stagnation of Qi.
• STAGNATION Disruption to the usual movement of Qi or blood.

What Causes Disharmony?

Factors that may cause disharmony include: emotions, diet, trauma, climate (wind, cold, damp, heat), exercise, prolonged illness and inherited constitution (from our parents).