🪴 Are You a Mechanic or a Gardener?

published 1 YEAR AGO | 3 MINS READ

When people ask, "What is Chinese medicine?" or "How does it work?" this is one of the analogies I use:

Western medicine is like being a mechanic; Chinese medicine is like being a gardener.

Here's what I mean...

Mechanic vs. Gardener

So this is a pretty simplistic explanation, but it starts to highlight some of the differences between western medicine and TCM, and it goes like this:

👩‍🔧 The Car Mechanic

Western medicine is like going to a car mechanic. They'll listen to the funny clunking sound your car is making, or they'll hook it up to a fancy computer that can run diagnostics. And from that they can figure out which part is broken or malfunctioning, and they can fix the part or just replace it with a new one.

👩‍🌾 The Gardener

But practicing Chinese medicine is more like being a gardener. It's not about fixing broken parts; it's about create an environment that allows the plant to thrive.

And creating this thriving environment requires balance. Plants need sunlight, but not too much and not too little. They need enough water, but you don't want to over-water them. The pH of the soil has to be right -- not too alkaline and not too acidic.

And in order to maintain this balance, you have to know how to read the signs. If the leaves are yellow and wilted, does that mean the plant is getting too much water? Or does the plant need more fertilizer? Or did you use the wrong kind of soil?

And you have to be skillful, because all plants are different. Some plants like full sun, while others prefer partial shade. I've killed plants by giving them too much water; does that mean that water is bad for ALL plants?

Chinese Medicine

So this is what we're doing as TCM practitioners. We're creating an environment where the patient can thrive, and that depends on balance. Not too hot, not too cold. Not too damp, not too dry. Not too much upward movement, not too much downward movement.

Like a skilled gardener, we read the signs to know which adjustments to make. And we treat patients as individuals: some constitutions need full sun, other's require partial shade.

Reductionism vs. Holism

And this essentially illustrates the difference between reductionism and holism.

Western medicine reduces the body to its functional parts. As long as all the parts are working properly, the whole thing should be healthy. So diagnosis is about finding which part is malfunctioning and fixing or replacing it.

Whereas Chinese medicine looks more at the whole. What are the factors that are affecting the whole, and how can we restore balance so the whole can thrive?