One size does not fit all
Dec 26th, 2006 by Michael Max
It has been a curiosity to me for some time now.
How those of us in the West. Those of us grown and cultured to fierce independence and the holy grail of individually have created a medicine of off the shelf, one size fits all.
Meanwhile, our brethren in the East, with their intense focus on group. Where you are defined by your relationships, not individual accomplishments. Over there, surprisingly enough, medicine is tailored to the individual.
Perhaps just another manifestation of the dance of Yin and Yang?
Because Yong Kang Clinic has an open door into the world, lots of people walk in looking for help, advice, or a cure for what ails them.
.
Frequently I hear…
What you got to treat asthma?
What are the herbs for high blood pressure?
For a cough?
For a stomach pain?
For an enlarged prostate?
Perhaps it is the exotic look of the herbs in their glass jars. It conjures up magical potions. Little colored pills are anonymous, herbs look like they mean business.
The answer, invariably is “it depends”. Two people could walk in with migraines and walk out with wildly differently herbal formulas.
.
Indeed, because it is medicine and not magic. And medicine requires not just knowing the name of an illness, but more importantly what kind of person has this problem?
How did it come to manifest?
What keeps it in place?
And where is the most useful place to intervene?
What we manifest may appear to be the same, but the underlying mechanism, the underlying reason that gives rise to the problem. Those can be completely different.
.
In the book I’m translating “10 Major Formula Families”, Dr. Huang talks about constitutional types as they relate to different herb groups. Constitutional typing not a new idea, and indeed popular here in the West.
.
We know we are not all alike, we know in essence we belong to different tribes. Pick up a diet book that speaks to your blood type, body type, or ancestry. Learn better communication skills by recognizing your Meyers-Briggs habits. There are plenty of books on relationship that talk about how to communication across the barriers of differences.
We may be human, but we are not all the same.
Dr. Huang talks about treating illness from the binocular perspective of paying attention to one’s constitutional body type, and at the same time, paying attention to nature of the illness. Diseases change over time, and with location, but the body’s mechanisms for dealing with illness are relatively unchanging. When seeking health, consider what works better. To fight disease? Or to support the body in ways unique to each constitution, so it can use it’s innate intelligence to bring about health?
Actually, a bit of both, skillfully applied is best!
Treating illness, as if it was not part of a person, leaves out the most powerful resource for health and wellness. Somewhere in between the extremes of the individual and the group lies the connection of relationship, and that is a powerful place to engage healing!
