Ancient Wisdom, Modern Rhythm.
When I first heard the term Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), I thought of acupuncture needles and vague mystical energy. It felt far away from the world I lived in — logical, fast-moving, data-driven.
But once I began exploring it — not just reading about it, but living it — everything changed.
What is TCM?
TCM isn’t just a collection of treatments. It’s a complete, deeply rooted system of medicine that’s been practiced for over 2,500 years. At its core, TCM sees you as a whole being — not a list of symptoms to fix, but an interconnected ecosystem with emotions, rhythms, and seasons of its own.
It’s all about balance — balancing your Yin and Yang, your Qi, your five elements. True harmony between movement & stillness, warmth and coolness, expansion and contraction. The invisible dance happening inside us and between us and nature 24/7.
Rather than simply targeting symptoms, TCM looks for the root cause. Why are you tired all the time? Why does your digestion only flare up in the afternoons? Why do your emotions feel heavier in winter?
TCM doesn’t offer quick fixes. It offers alignment. And when things are in rhythm, healing follows.
TCM Brief History
The roots of TCM trace back to Taoism, a philosophy that teaches us to live in flow with nature. According to this view, humans aren’t separate from the environment — we’re made of the same forces that govern the sun, the moon, the tides, and the trees.
One of the most important foundational texts, The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine, was written more than 2500 years ago — and it’s still referenced today. It introduced ideas like Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, Qi, and the belief that diet, emotions, and lifestyle directly shape health outcomes.
In TCM, your headache might not come from stress alone — but from an imbalance in your Liver Qi. Your irregular cycle might be less about hormones and more about cold accumulating in the uterus. It sounds different — but once it clicks, it often explains what modern models can’t.
TCM Modalities Explained: When to Choose Each Therapy
TCM is highly individualized. Often multiple modalities are in in combination for optimal results.
Food Therapy
When to Use: A foundational practice for everyone, especially for preventing illness, supporting recovery from illness, managing chronic conditions, and optimizing overall wellbeing and energy levels.
How it Works: Focuses on understanding the energetic properties of foods (cooling, warming, moistening, drying) and eating according to your body’s constitution and current needs.
Benefit: Empowers you to make daily choices that support your health.
Acupuncture
When to Use: Ideal for acute and chronic pain (back pain, headaches, arthritis), stress, anxiety, insomnia, digestive issues, reproductive health, and balancing energy (Qi) imbalances.
How it Works: Hair-thin needles stimulate specific points to regulate Qi, blood, and organ function, promoting the body’s natural healing.
Benefit: Targeted Relief & Energetic Flow.
Herbal Medicine
When to Use: Best for addressing underlying imbalances and chronic conditions like fatigue, digestive disorders, hormonal imbalances, skin conditions, respiratory issues, and strengthening overall vitality.
How it Works: Personalized formulas of potent herbs work synergistically to restore balance, nourish organs, clear pathogens, and support the body’s natural functions.
Benefit: Tailored Formulas for Deeper Healing.
Cupping Therapy
When to Use: Resolve musculoskeletal pain, migraines, digestive issues and respiratory & digestive problems.
How it Works: Suction cups are placed on the skin to create a vacuum, drawing blood and Qi to the surface, releasing stagnation, and promoting healing.
Benefit: Pain relief, reduced inflammation, improved blood flow, and increased range of motion.
Moxibustion
When to Use: Excellent for pain caused by cold or dampness, improving circulation, strengthening the immune system, boosting energy.
How it Works: Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort) is burned near specific acupoints, delivering deep penetrating warmth that invigorates Qi, dispels cold, and promotes healing.
Benefit: Gentle Warmth for Deeper Healing.
Tui Na Massage
When to Use: Excellent for muscle aches, stiffness, joint pain, sports injuries, repetitive strain, stress-related tension, improving circulation, and promoting relaxation.
How it Works: Uses various hand techniques along meridians and acupoints to move Qi and blood, relieve stagnation, and release knots.
Benefit: Restore Flow, Release Tension.
One of the most powerful truths in TCM is this: There is no one-size-fits-all path to healing.
Your story, your rhythms, your body — are unique. Sometimes its is recommend just one therapy. Often, a combination. But always — it will meet you where you are.
My Invitation to You
Modern life has normalized feeling off.
We accept burnout, PMS, fatigue, poor sleep, and digestive chaos as “just life.” But these are signals — not life sentences.
TCM gave me a new way to listen. And now I get to share that with others through my work here, at My Own True Balance.
So if you’ve ever felt like your body was trying to tell you something — It probably is.
And there’s a whole “new” language here, waiting to help you understand it.
My role? Very simple. I’ll help you to decode wellness, and guide you in how you can own your energy through Food Therapy.
Have you ever tried any Traditional Chinese Medicine modality? How was your experience? Which one would you like to try?