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 name: interoception—our ability to sense the state of the body from within.
A recent study in The Journal of Neuroscience revealed that people with heightened interoceptive awareness—those more attuned to their heartbeat, breath, and bodily sensations—tend to make moral choices that align more closely with social norms. Their internal perception seems to guide not only emotion but also empathy and ethical behavior.
This resonates deeply with classical Chinese understandings of Qi. Early medical texts such as the Huangdi Neijing describe Qi as circulating through channels that link the body’s organs and emotions. Balance and clarity of Qi were seen as essential not just to physical health, but to moral and spiritual cultivation. Mencius, the ancient Confucian philosopher, called this the “vast, flooding Qi” that fills the space between Heaven and Earth—a cultivated integrity that harmonizes one’s internal state with the world around.
Acupuncture, qigong, and meditation practices work precisely at this intersection. By regulating the movement of Qi, they train interoceptive awareness—enhancing sensitivity to breath, heartbeat, and subtle internal shifts. From a modern view, these practices refine the brain’s mapping of the body, strengthening the same neural networks that support emotional balance and empathy.
In this way, Qi may be seen not as an obsolete concept, but as a remarkably early science of interoception: a language for perceiving, refining, and harmonizing the body’s inner signals. As neuroscience begins to describe how awareness of the body shapes thought and morality, it echoes an ancient insight: that ethical clarity begins with inner harmony.
Summary of M. Stanley Baker’s chapter in The Routledge Handbook for Chinese Medicine
