Unlike Taiwan’s damp wind that blows like a smothering grandmother’s kiss; Beijing’s wall of dry sand filled bluster is like the smack of a binge economy gone on the rocks. Startling in its invisible blinding strength; sheets of dust, sand, now falling leaves, and a confetti of litter all take to the sky and shimmer like a 3rd world aurora borealis.

Wind in Chinese medicine is both a pathogen, and the result of illness. But, it shows up too in human relationships. Usually as anger and a blindsided confusion. A relationship dance where after a few seemingly routine steps there is suddenly a gaping void of misunderstanding. Such has been my dance with the publishing house in Beijing where I erroneously thought a job awaited.

Actually, there is a job here. There are two of them in fact. But, just because a need is waiting to be filled, and I have the qualifications to fill it, does not mean that job is mine. There is navigating “human resources,” which has very little to do with qualifications, and everything to do with neither agreeing or disagreeing to disagreeable terms. Us Americans like the terms of a deal clean and clear; upfront and agreeable. The Chinese? It is more like get on the boat and let’s see how your weight and momentum jibe with our flow and direction.

My Chinese is not great, but I do get by. The black box of culture though, that is a completely different story. It is oh so easy to seduce oneself into thinking you actually understand, when in fact the wind blown sand has distorted your vision.

This you feel in your bones, or it comes as an irritation like a stone in the shoe, a constant non-ignorable ongoing frustration that wears you slowly down down down.

Cold is that which reduces the speed of life, it stagnates and freezes. It is like forgetting your spirit. It is constant like joint pain that whispers a crippling hymn.

Oddly enough, when effecting the digestion it masquerades as acid and twisting dull pain. Think about the last time you could not get warm. The numbness and desire for warmth. The frustration of being bundled up like a February Beijing baby, but the ice in your bones was stubbornly present. This is cold.

In health, cold is not just a climatic condition, it is can act as a pathogen. It stagnates the flow of blood, and freezes the micro-circulation. Ices up pathways of nutrient exchange. Turns our joints into rusty hinges. Anyone who desires hot drinks, has aversions to uncooked foods, tightens their shoulders in a vain attempt to ward off a chill, or finds they rarely sweat, all know something very personal about the effect of cold on the body.

Those people who in the summer hated air conditioning. They are suffering from internal cold. Ask them if they have trouble with their joints, and many will affirm they do. Ask them if they like iced drinks, and most will wrinkle their nose in disgust. The body, unless it has been believed the propaganda of advertising or culture habit, usually knows what it needs.

How to banish cold? There are a number of methods that have come down through a few Chinese centuries. One is moxibustion. The other is use of warming medical herbs. Acupuncture can also help, but to really expel cold, moxa and herbs are your best friend.

We all have had this experience. It may come suddenly as we step between downtown buildings, or as we push up over a mountain ridge, or as a blast that heralds a storm. Formless yet powerful, it hits not with a strength, but as a force. That gust which suddenly changes the directional lean of our steps, or throws an irritation of dust into our eyes, or causes us to refocus our movement .
Wind has a scattering disorienting feel about it doesn’t it?

We know this from our experience of it.

And we know it in our bodies as well. Dizziness, itching and irritability, eyes that water and itch, sneezing and headaches that rove around like a breeze blows a tree full of leaves. These too, are wind. Notice how it has a nature that comes and goes. How it tends to disorient like an interrupted conversation. Wind, it has immediacy like the twig snapped borderline between placidity and anger. Wind does not flare like fire, it is more like an encompassing rush that leaves your feet solid on the ground, while from the waist up there is a tilt off center.

Wind blows through all the cracks of life, carrying dirt and grime and disease. Ever notice that a few days after a particularly strong windstorm lots of people have colds? Water may seek the lowest level, but wind slips through the cracks.

Watch for anything that has a scattering come and go nature, and you will notice the influence of wind.

If you have been to see a practitioner of Chinese medicine then you already know that most diagnoses sound more like weather reports than an explanation of a medical condition. Seemingly more poetic than prognostic it can lead to a sense that Chinese medicine is more art than science. Oddly Asian, we either accept it as mysterious, or reject as lacking in rigor.

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Truth be told, it is science.
Chinese science.

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Old science that is consistent within its frame, but unlike Western science includes a flexible frame.

Everyday Acupuncture is a new occasional series that will appear here on “Ancient Medicine Modern World.” It is an attempt to translate Chinese thought not just into English, but into experience. Check in from time to time to get a better idea of what your acupuncturist is talking about, and if you have questions, but all means, add them to the comments.