TCM Explorer

acupuncture (16)·Carl Jung (1)·de qi (2)·Destined Path (1)·meditation (2)·mindfulness (3)·Predictive Processing (2)·Preventive Health (1)·Somatic Awareness (1)·Stress Management (1)

For many people navigating modern life, stress is not an abstract concept—it is a daily reality. Between managing family logistics, navigating complex relationships, juggling heavy professional workloads, coping with personal health issues, or caring for aging loved ones, the burden is relentless. This ongoing pressure manifests across every dimension of our well-being: mental exhaustion, emotional… Continue reading Somatic Awareness and the Winds of Fate: How Acupuncture Mirrors Meditation

bioelectric (1)·chinese medicine (7)·dynamical models (1)·FEP (2)·generative models (1)·Neurophilosophy (2)·neuroscience (8)·qi (4)

Against my better judgment in some sense, but because of pure curiosity as to what others will think, I am posting a chat with Gemini here, as a blog article. This is another in the series of articles on how Active Inference, and Karl Friston’s Free Energy Principle can frame theoretical concepts found in meditation,… Continue reading And now for something completely different.

Active Inference (1)·Acupuncture Neuroscience (1)·Bayesian Brain (1)·de qi (2)·Neurophilosophy (2)·Predictive Processing (2)·Qi Zhi (1)

The integration of modern cognitive science with classical East Asian medicine has reached a fascinating threshold. A recent paper published in MDPI’s Brain Sciences presents a pioneer attempt to frame the therapeutic mechanisms of acupuncture through the lenses of Predictive Processing (PP) and Active Inference under Karl Friston’s Free Energy Principle (FEP) [1]. At the… Continue reading Active Inference, De Qi, and the Neurobiology of Acupuncture: A Critical Response

Please check out my new substack feed, subscribe and share if you would…. Here is a post on Substack that features a few paragraphs from the introduction of my upcoming book Neurophilosophy, Qi, and the Science of Consciousness. Substack Article

Acupuncture for inflammation (1)·biomechanics of pain (1)·Chinese herbal medicine (1)·cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (1)·chronic inflammation (1)·Qi and Blood stagnation (1)·TDP heat therapy (1)·tendinitis treatment (1)

Inflammation is one of the most fundamental defensive mechanisms in human biology. Long before modern immunology identified the cytokines and cellular cascades that govern immune responses, classical observers recognized its outward physical manifestations. In the first century AD, Roman physician Aulus Cornelius Celsus codified the cardinal signs of acute inflammation: Rubor (redness), Calor (heat), Dolor… Continue reading Inflammation: From Classical Signs to Modern Neuro-Immunology

Bi syndrome (1)·cupping therapy (1)·disc herniation (1)·Low back pain (1)·sciatica relief (1)·spinal inflammation (1)·spondylosis (1)·TCM back pain (1)

Low back pain is arguably the most ubiquitous biomechanical failure of the modern human form. Whether it manifests as acute lumbago following a sudden postural error, the radiating neuropathy of sciatica, or the chronic, insidious ache of structural degeneration, spinal pathology severely limits our functional degrees of freedom. Patients arriving at our Nyon clinic frequently… Continue reading Treating Low Back Pain Through Acupuncture

acupuncture (16)·chinese medicine (7)·neuroscience (8)·theory (5)

In clinical practice, patients experiencing a sudden onset of severe pain or profound exhaustion frequently express bewilderment. They describe an innocuous trigger—bending to pick up a pen, a minor disagreement at work, a slightly disrupted night of sleep—that seemingly caused a catastrophic systemic failure. We often contextualize this using familiar idioms: “the straw that broke… Continue reading Error Stacking and the Somatic Tipping Point: A Predictive Model of Chronic Pain

In the landscape of “alternative medicine,” a common and persistent trend exists to misconstrue what Qi (气) actually is. Rather than utilizing Qi as a refined language system highlighting dynamic interrelationships within physiology—or between ourselves and our environment—it is often miscategorized as a supernatural force. This is sometimes referred to as the “reification” of Qi,… Continue reading Navigating Medical Qigong: Skepticism, Somatic Focus, and Clinical Reality

A patient was recently deferred from donating blood immediately following an acupuncture session at our clinic. Because modern clinical practice utilizes sterile, single-use needles—rendering the historical risk of bloodborne infection effectively obsolete—patients are often surprised by this restriction. However, the twenty-four-hour waiting period enforced by organizations like the Red Cross is not based on infection… Continue reading Blood donation after acupuncture

Today, we’re looking deeper into the physical body to explore another one of TCM’s concepts through the lens of groundbreaking modern neuroscience. For centuries, students of Traditional Chinese Medicine have wrestled with the concept of the Wu Shen, or the “Five Spirits.” Classical texts like the Huangdi Neijing assert that consciousness is not confined to… Continue reading The Minds Within: Organ-Intrinsic Nervous Systems and the Five Shen

chinese medicine (7)·FEP (2)·neuroscience (8)·theory (5)

In this post we will continue to bridge the classical frameworks of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CM) with the cutting-edge neuroscience of the Free Energy Principle (FEP) and Active Inference. For thousands of years, Chinese Medicine has utilized a highly sophisticated, systems-based language to describe human health and disease. Today, modern theoretical biology and cognitive neuroscience… Continue reading The Predictive Body: Chinese Medicine Through the Lens of Active Inference

1. Introduction: The Enigma of the “Arrival of Qi” The practice of acupuncture, a cornerstone of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), rests on a fundamental yet elusive physiological phenomenon: the sensation of De Qi. Historically described in classical texts such as the Biao You Fu as the “arrival of vital energy,” De Qi is not merely… Continue reading The Somatic Gateway: De Qi, Theta Oscillations, and the Hypnagogic Threshold

acupuncture physiology (1)·arteriovenous anastomosis (1)·AVA (1)·CV4 (1)·Five Shu-points (1)·heat dissipation (1)·internal warming (1)·Jing-Well (1)·Shu-Stream (1)

Introduction In contemporary physiology, we know that the hand-and-foot glabrous skin (palms, soles, nail-beds) houses a rich network of arteriovenous anastomoses (AVAs) — direct connections between small arterioles and venules that allow large volumes of blood to be shunted to the surface and radiated as heat. (PMC) In the realm of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM),… Continue reading Arteriovenous Anastomoses, Extremity Acupoints and Heat Regulation: A Dialogue Between Modern Physiology & Classical TCM

acupuncture (16)·body awareness (1)·chinese medicine (7)·interoception (3)·mindfulness (3)·neuroscience (8)·qi (4)

Do you believe you see the world as it truly is? Do you think you know why you feel happy or angry? For centuries, we’ve operated under the assumption that our senses are clear windows to the world and our emotions are primal, universal reactions. But modern neuroscience is dismantling these fundamental beliefs, revealing a… Continue reading Your Brain is Inventing You: 4 Scientific Truths That Redefine Reality

acupuncture (16)·chinese medicine (7)·interoception (3)·mindfulness (3)·neuroscience (8)·qi (4)

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the concept of Qi (氣) represents far more than a mystical life force. It is a language of continuity—a way to describe how breath, emotion, food, and the natural world move through and connect all living things. Recent neuroscience, meanwhile, is beginning to rediscover this internal awareness under a new… Continue reading Qi and the Science of Interoception: Ancient Pathways to Modern Awareness

acupuncture (16)·interoception (3)·moral psychology (1)·neuroscience (8)·research (5)

A recent study published in The Journal of Neuroscience reveals a compelling link between interoceptive awareness—our ability to perceive internal bodily sensations—and moral decision-making. Researchers found that individuals with heightened interoceptive awareness tend to make moral choices aligning with societal norms, even in complex ethical dilemmas without clear right or wrong answers. https://www.jneurosci.org/content/45/23/e1114242025 This study… Continue reading Interoception and Acupuncture: Bridging Ancient Wisdom with Modern Neuroscience

biomedical (3)

Although not exactly Traditional Chinese Medicine, this research discusses the use of Artificial Intelligence image analysis to diagnose 3 different diseases using analysis of tongue images. For many centuries, Chinese Medicine has used tongue observation as a key diagnostic method in differentiating syndrome patterns. A 2000-year-old practice by Chinese herbalists – examining the human tongue… Continue reading AI and Tongue Diagnosis

acupuncture (16)·pain (3)·research (5)

In recent years, the scientific community has increasingly turned its attention towards the potential benefits of electroacupuncture in managing various types of persistent pain. Research focusing on the effects of electroacupuncture on inflammatory, neuropathic, cancer, and visceral pain has shown promising results. The way electroacupuncture interacts with the nervous system appears to differ depending on… Continue reading The Power of Electro-acupuncture in Pain Management

acupuncture (16)·neuroscience (8)·pain (3)·research (5)

To continue the series of posts based on quotes from the text Biomedical Acupuncture for Pain Management, let us discuss the concept of qualifying acupuncture points as “latent”, “passive”, or “active”. Latent points are those which are not at all tender to a patient (normal tissue state), passive points are those that when palpated with… Continue reading Neural circuitry: latent, passive, and active acupoints

acupuncture (16)·biomedical (3)·neuroscience (8)·pain management (2)·theory (5)

I have begun reading a new text book, and I thought I would make a series of posts to highlight some interesting quotes: An interesting neurologic fact is that the limbs below the elbows and knees occupy largerareas in the sensory gyrus in the brain. Therefore the acupoints below the elbows and knees also occupy… Continue reading Exploring the Significance of Acupoint He Gu (Large Intestine 4): Bridging Traditional Acupuncture and Modern Neuroscience