Acupuncture specialist
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCEProfessor Juan R. Villverde is a specialty within traditional Chinese medicine, in which Professor Juan R. Villaverde has more than forty years of experience. He has been the founding president of the SAC-AEA (Society of Acupuncturists of Catalonia / Spanish Association of Acupuncture), and has trained hundreds of acupuncturists in various countries.
Professor Juan R. Villverde< /strong>.
Acupuncture is, on the one hand, a type of totalitarian medicine, fundamentally dia lectic and dynamic, which considers the being as a whole both from the structural point of view and from the point of view of its relations with the surrounding environment. Like all the great "traditional" medicines, it considers man as a "microcosm" within a "macrocosm", both governed by the same laws.
The treatment technique of inserting fine needles into very precise points on the skin surface in order to balance the patient's disturbed energy and thus restore health. This is due to the fact that the inside of the human body can be considered as an electrolyte solution, whose electrolytes have positive or negative polarity, tending to group the positive with the negative and vice versa. If we introduce a needle, a temperature difference will be established between the tip, which will be kept warm by the body temperature, and the handle, which is cooler because it is exposed to the elements and has a silver-plated copper "refrigerator". The needle will behave as a bipolar electrode, whose positive pole, in this case, is immersed in a subcutaneous electrolyte bath. The electrolytes of negative polarity will tend to cluster around the positively charged needle tip until saturation occurs and equilibrium is established between the needle tip and its surroundings. In other words, it will have a "sedative" effect on the area.
On the contrary, if we heat the handle that remains outside the skin, being its temperature higher than that of the tip, the opposite effect will occur, i.e. it will be the electrolytes of positive polarity that will be grouped around the tip of the needle. This corroborates one of the principles of acupuncture that says that the so-called "fire needle", a needle with a moxa pricked in the handle, has a "tonifying" effect.
En occidente, el término energía proviene del griego en = en y ergon = acto. Por lo que energía significará la fuerza, el poder de la acción.
In physics, energy is an abstract notion linked to all manifestations of force, motion, heat, gravitational, electric and magnetic fields.
In mechanics, energy is the ability to do a certain amount or magnitude of work. This mechanical energy, as is well known, manifests itself in two known forms: kinetic and potential, and two practical forms: aerodynamic and hydraulic. On the other hand, the transformation of heat energy into work gave birth to thermodynamics.
Thus we could go on enumerating different types of energy and yet we would never find a satisfactory definition of this word, since even accepting the similarity of energy with force, force as such is not susceptible of being measured, only its manifetations are measurable. Daily experience shows us: how can we measure the physical energy of an individual? We have devices such as the ergomyograph or the electrocardiograph; we can evaluate the pulmonary capacity of an individual, his indexes of robustness, his blood pressure or the functions of his cardiac muscle, but all these are only manifestations of the energetic power and not of the energetic potential itself.
For the Chinese, the essential problem is precisely the study of human energy. This energy is of the same type as the energy existing in the Cosmos. We can measure its effects, but we do not know its origins and its intrinsic power.
The human being, as a living unit, is constituted by a whirlwind of energy that has attracted and arranged certain molecules scattered in space, which remain in continuous perpetual changes that give rise to effects of controlled creation and destruction.
At the same time, every living phenomenon can be considered as an "open system", since it possesses an economic organization structured in such a way that it demands an input of energy, while at the same time eliminating organic waste. Between these two extremes lies all vital work.
In the words of M. Mussat «the living being is a subset produced, defined and determined by a raw set-environment. This work is made up of numerous levels of transformation, from the cell to the complex organization of an organ or a vital function
We can, therefore, define a living system as “an energetic group in dynamic equilibrium”, provided that no external disturbance intervenes, which would constitute disease.
Life is governed by a synthesizing and shaping energy that coordinates and organizes into a functional unit the histological, endocrinological, humoral, biochemical and psychic elements of the organism that, in this way, are reciprocally correlated, to the point that it is unthinkable to isolate in life any of them from the general economy without causing damage to the entire body.
Everything, from the central nervous system to each of the cells of less noble tissues, is subject to the ordering influence of this energy.
When this dynamic function is altered, a functional dysergy is produced that causes an imbalance in organ function and homeostasis, giving rise to the disease state.
This bioenergy has received different names throughout human history: Prana in Ayurvedic medicine, Ki (Chi) in traditional Chinese medicine, orgone for Wilheim Reich or “alain vital” for Bergson, but in all cases there is a point in common. Basically it is the energetic quamtum that maintains life.
In our daily work with patients we can see how most diseases arise when an energy imbalance occurs in the person, and only by restoring the bioenergetic balance can we restore the person's health.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE CORRECT TREATMENT IN ACUPUNCTUREOne of the problems faced by acupuncturists who begin to treat is knowing how to choose the most appropriate treatment in each case. Generally, the "most comfortable" route is chosen, which consists of consulting a vademecum, of the many existing on the market, such as "101 diseases treated with acupuncture and moxibustion" published by E.L.E. from Beijing, Fundamentals of Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion also published by E.L.E. from Beijing, Patogénie et pathologie energétiques en médecine chinoises by Nguyen van Nghi, Ed. Don Bosco, Marseille, L'Acuponcture chinoise by G. Soulie de Morant, Ed. Maline from Paris or the Therapeutic Formulary that I published in 1980 with the Ed. Miraguano, among many others on the market. The problem is that we choose the one we choose, it is always about the personal experiences of those who wrote those treatises, and their "therapeutic formulas" correspond to specific patients in very personal circumstances.
(George Soulie de Morant and his work)
The problem increases when, when consulting several texts, we verify that the proposed treatments are completely different from each other for the same pathology. In that sense it is much more comfortable to have a single book, because that way there are no doubts. Of course, that means dealing with the “parrot” method, that is, I do something – that maybe works very well for me – but I don't know why I do it.
The second method is what we could call the conviction or faith that one can place in a certain "teacher" or in an ancient text such as the Ling Shu Jing Jiao Shi (灵枢经校), Qian Jin Yao Fang ( 千金要方) of Sun Si Miao (孙思邈), the Zhēn Jiǔ Dà Chéng (针灸大成), etc. But, who guarantees the reliability of its contents? That it is a book written hundreds or thousands of years ago does not imply that its content is true.
Therefore, the most reliable way is what my dear professor Dr. Maurice Mussat, founder of GREMA, called the "voie de la douleur", since it implies leaving our comfort zone consisting of "imitating" what others have said and try to "deduce" what is the most appropriate treatment in each case and for each patient that we see. Of course, this implies the "pain" of having to study, investigate, learn the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, etc.
THE RELIABLE SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE
The problem begins because the "sources" from which we can learn are generally unreliable, since they simply repeat the same principles, over and over again, copying the ideas of each predecessor. On the other hand, the so-called "classical texts" or what they publish in China, are somewhat "esoteric" for us, since they use a generally incomprehensible language typical of a culture very distant from ours. In order to access this information, we must “decrypt” said information and translate it into our language. Certainly, it is a semantic problem on the one hand, and an "enculturation" problem on the other, that is, we want to use the rules and norms of a culture very different from ours with our rules of the game.
But perhaps that language and way of transmitting the information in a somewhat incomprehensible way was intentional, so that the "uninitiated" could not understand anything, and that way they would not make any mistakes. On the other hand, the texts that have survived to this day are few and fragmented, since throughout history they have been lost or destroyed. One of the best-known destructions was carried out by the emperor Qín Shǐ Huang Dì 秦始皇 帝 (259-210 BC), the same man who ordered the construction of the great wall or his terracotta army. Some texts were rescued and remained hidden for centuries, especially thanks to Motze or Mozi (墨子), also known by the nickname "Lord Mô", who lived in China during the so-called Spring and Autumn periods, and the Warring States; founder of Mohism and defender of an egalitarian society, which will spread strict utilitarianism and mutual love among people. But these "original" texts where the authentic sources of traditional medical knowledge were preserved disappeared over time, until in 1973 in an archaeological excavation of Mǎ Wáng Duī (馬王堆, literally Horse of King Ma), located Wulibei (五 里牌) a few kilometers east of Changsh (長沙) in the province of Hunan (湖南), three tombs from the Han dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD) appeared, that of the Marquis of Dai, Li Cang (利蒼), that of his wife Xin Zhui (辛追) and that of an unknown man. In the tombs, despite having suffered several looting, a large number of objects were found, especially ceramic and silk, bamboo and strips of wood, but the most interesting thing was the large number of written texts that appeared in tomb number 3 (that of the mysterious man, in our case). The texts were on astronomy, Taoism and also medicine, the latter, written on silk, and have been considered the oldest books on acupuncture, which contained a series of information that could change some of the known concepts of traditional Chinese medicine. until now. Five years later, in 1978, and thanks to the mediation of Dr. Maurice Mussat and the influence he had among the Chinese medical authorities, I had the privilege of being able to access part of that information.
THE SYNTHESIS BETWEEN SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
According to what has been deciphered in the ancient texts from the excavation of Mǎ Wáng Duī (馬王堆) and in other manuscripts rescued by the Jesuits from the colonies of Macao (澳門) in the 16th and 17th centuries, the wise men Ancient Chinese already possessed knowledge of quantum physics and the behavior of atomic particles. That kind of knowledge was "hidden" in ancient systems like the Yì Jīng 易經 (I Ching), and could be applied in any aspect of life, from the art of war to medicine.
THE SYNTHESIS BETWEEN SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY
According to what has been deciphered in the ancient texts from the excavation of Mǎ Wáng Duī (馬王堆) and in other manuscripts rescued by the Jesuits from the colonies of Macao (澳門) in the 16th and 17th centuries, the wise men Ancient Chinese already possessed knowledge of quantum physics and the behavior of atomic particles. That kind of knowledge was "hidden" in ancient systems like the Yì Jīng 易經 (I Ching), and could be applied in any aspect of life, from the art of war to medicine.
The laws of physics discovered (or perhaps inherited) by the Chinese sages of antiquity were not limited solely to mere “scientific” rules of “rigid” application, since for these sages science and philosophy were the same thing . For these wise men "science engenders philosophy and philosophy governs science." Unlike Westerners, who tend to predominantly use the left hemisphere through analysis, Easterners use the right hemisphere more through synthesis. Perhaps it is this ability to synthesize scientific and philosophical principles, through a marvelous fusion of concepts, that is most difficult for us to understand.
The first of those concepts that are difficult to explain in words is that of Yīn 荫 and Yáng 阳, attributed to Fou Hi 伏羲 who came to the conclusion that the intimate nature of the Universe was manifested thanks to the positive activities of Yáng 阳 and negative of Yīn 荫, but at the same time no phenomenon was totally Yang 阳 or totally Yīn 荫, rather all phenomena were highly varied manifestations of combinations of these two fundamental and universal activities.
And it is precisely on this principle of Yīn 荫 and Yáng 阳 that all the science and philosophy of the Far East is built, as well as acupuncture as part of traditional Chinese medicine.
ARITHMOSOPHY
We must differentiate the concept «arithmology», which is the science of numbers, which includes arithmetic and algebra, from the «arithmosophy» in charge of studying the «hidden keys of numbers» and whose knowledge was only transmitted from teachers to disciples, among the "initiates". But in order for this knowledge to endure throughout time, the wise men of antiquity "encrypted" this knowledge using a very simple language, in the form of stories or examples that are very easy to transmit. For example, Yáng 阳 was related to the sun or light, Yīn 荫 with the moon or darkness, the emperor with electromagnetic energy, the empress with gravitational energy, the son with strong nuclear energy or the daughter with the weak nuclear power. In this way, essential energy concepts would remain "hidden" in everyday concepts, waiting for someone, in the future, to "decrypt" them. A very important work in this sense was the one carried out by the members of GREMA, under the guidelines of Dr. Maurice Musssat, a pioneer in the "energetic biodynamics of living systems".
Si podemos comprender las leyes que rigen el universo, también podremos conocer los principios que rigen la vida de todos los sistemas vivientes y por extensión su salud y sus enfermedades. Y la clave, como ya hemos apuntado está en el significado oculto de los números. Por ejemplo la astrofísica nos dice que todo comenzó hace 13.700.000.000 de años se conoce como el «Big-Bang». En la «gran explosión», de algo más pequeño que la cabeza de un alfiler, surgió el universo entero. Esa fecha de (13,7 ± 0,2) × 10-9 (13.700.000.000 de años) la ha establecido la NASA midiendo la «Radiación de Fondo del Universo» (Cosmic Microwave Background), gracias a las observaciones hechas con el telescopio Hubble.
A ese instante de la creación del Universo es lo que los científicos llaman «el tiempo de Plank» y se expresa mediante la siguiente fórmula: Tp =Öh/c5 » 5.39124(27) × 10−44 segundos.
Un tiempo tan cercano al Big Bang que equivale a una coma decimal seguida de 44 ceros de segundo después de la «gran explosión»:
0,000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001. En ese instante de 0,1 -44 seg. después del Big Bang existía lo que se conoce como «gravedad cuántica». La temperatura era de cien quintillones de grados, en una densidad de trillones de trillones de Kg/l. En ese momento, tan solo operaba una fuerza (el uno), pero aún no se ha logrado descubrir cuál. También los sabios de antigüedad eran conscientes de ello podemos leer en el Dào Dé Jing o Tao Te Ching (道德經), de Lao Tsé 老子: «el uno es lo desconocido, lo innombrable…»Y siguiendo el mismo principio tampoco podemos utilizar una sola aguja en nuestros tratamientos, a pesar de que los seguidores de la homeosiniatria de Weihe, al establecer una similitud entre ciertos puntos de acupuntura y algunos remedios homeopáticos, defendieran el principio de la «aguja única». Como veremos más adelante la complejidad energética en los sistemas vivientes «trasciende la unidad».
EL PRIMER NÚMERO ES EL DOS
0,1 -35 seg. después del Big Bang la fuerza electrodébil aún no estaba separada de la fuerza nuclear fuerte. Solamente operaban dos fuerzas en el universo: la gravedad y la fuerza electronuclear. Esto supone la aparición de la dualidad: Yīn 荫 y Yáng 阳. Por lo tanto, el primer número en el proceso de la creación es el dos, símbolo par de lo femenino y es un número Yīn 荫. Con la aparición de la dualidad: Yīn 荫 y Yáng 阳 surge el movimiento, la onda que se desplaza a lo largo de una línea (las dos dimensiones).
< /p>
The duality of Yīn 荫 and Yáng 阳 also allows the beginning of life in all living systems, manifested in the form of sperm and ovum.
The entire universe revolves around the principle of duality, since there can be no enduring unity. It is the first of the cosmic laws (Newton's 3rd law: action-reaction). In ancient China this duality was represented by the terms Yīn 荫 and Yáng 阳. There is nothing in creation that cannot be expressed through the Yīn 荫 and Yáng 阳 concepts. In the human organism there are numerous manifestations:
Regarding the principles of Yīn 荫 and Yáng 阳 we must say, first of all, that these are two adjectives, which do not designate absolute principles, but rather different manifestations of the same entity. In other words, the absolute Yīn 荫 and Yáng 阳 do not exist, but we know the one based on the referential established by its opposite. For example, we cannot know if there is "a lot" or "little" light in a given room if we do not compare it with another room that is "less" or "more" illuminated. And we could say the same in regards to cold or heat; to the soft or to the hard; up or down, etc.
In acupuncture, the notions of Yīn 荫 and Yáng 阳 are used to establish energetic variations. The superficial zones (Biǎo 表) of the body are Yáng 阳 in relation to the deep zones (Lǐ 里) which are Yīn 荫.
The main mission of acupuncture is to restore the balance between Yīn 荫 and Yang 阳, whose imbalance causes disease. This perfect interaction between Yīn 荫 and Yáng 阳 is called Dào 道 (Tao), and the constant generation process that results is called “mutation”.
A second after the Big Bang, the heat was still so intense, it beat even the strong nuclear force, which holds protons and neutrons together, so the universe was a kind of "soup of free quarks" . Neutrinos appear.
One hundred seconds after the Big Bang, the universe had cooled enough for protons and neutrons to unite and the first hydrogen atoms appeared, followed by helium.
Between 400,000 and a million years later, the density had dropped enough for photons to fly freely through space without colliding with other particles: this is the appearance of light.
With the appearance of photons, the most notable characteristic of the Yīn 荫 and Yáng duality is revealed. Two opposite and complementary forces that symbolize matter and energy, but which turn out to be the two sides of the same coin, since photons can behave like a particle (matter) or like a wave (energy), everything depends on the "observer".
THE TERNARY
But let's go back to the first moments of creation. One ten billionth of a second after the Big Bang, the heat was still so intense that the bosons and photons acted alternately and the universe was governed by three energies:
1. The electroweak force.
2. Gravity.
3. The strong nuclear force.
The three or ternary, whose geometric figure is a triangle, does not represent a structure, but the condition of all creation; it is therefore an operator. The three shows us the necessary conditions for life to appear, for a creation to take place. It is not life itself, but the necessary conditions for it to arise. The three basic components of the universe are energy, matter (or structure) and movement (or transformation). We can make this same verification at the cellular level: the membrane, the cytoplasm and the nucleus; or tissue: ectoderm, endoderm, mesoderm.
From the spiritual point of view, Faith, Hope and Charity are the conditions of all spiritual creation, or according to other traditions:
In acupuncture, for the energy to move, three needles will also be necessary. The ancient Chinese expressed it in the form of a seesaw, and for it to move two people had to be placed at one end and a single person at the other. We find this principle in the Nèi Jīng 內經 as the "law of the swing" Qiū Qiān 秋千.
NUMBER FOUR, THE BASES OF LIFE
traditional cough: air, earth, water, fire, or with the four cardinal points: N, S, E, O.
But the number four represents, without a doubt, the basic components of life, and we can see it in the DNA itself, made up of four nucleic bases: A, C, G, T. These are the “construction materials” to create life, now we just need to order them, that is to say "build" and for that we need to establish an order, a balance referential, which would come with number five.
NUMBER FIVE, THE ORDER
"what changes, what acts without ceasing." It is a communication system similar to Hopfield's neural networks, whose purpose is the storage and recognition of "information patterns".To understand the origins of the Wŭ Xíng 五行, we must begin by knowing that in the traditional Chinese calendar (Nónglì 農曆) the beginning of the seasons is not marked by the solstices and equinoxes, but rather by the ancient Chinese This succession was illogical, since it is not possible to suddenly pass, in a single day, from one season to another. In each seasonal change, the Chinese considered that there was an intermediate stage of approximately 18 days, which they called the "fifth season".
About Wŭ Xíng 五行 there is a lot of confusion and this is not the place to clarify it, so you can consult my book about it: Wŭ Xíng 五行 the five elements of traditional Chinese medicine, published by Ed. Mandala.
WITH SIX APPEARS THE DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY
Six is the synthesis of the activities of man, engendered on Earth Yīn 荫 by the action of Heaven Yáng 阳 (3 x 2 = 6). Now we can more clearly understand the words of Genesis when they tell us that man was created "on the sixth day." Six, therefore, is "the synthesis of life".
The geometric representation is the hexagon and the six-pointed star. A six allows us to anticipate all the possible situations of a set. We are facing the birth of the hexagram, a basic element of the Yi Jīng 易經 (I Ching) or Book of Changes divinatory process.
Regarding the arrangement of energies in the human being, it is about 3 + 3 = 6, three levels of Yáng 阳 energy and the three levels of Yin 荫 energy. Its flat representation is the Star of David. In this case the trigrams represent "organic functions": respiratory, digestive, circulatory, nervous, etc.
When we want to refer to the distribution of energy in the human being, we have to resort to the «fundamental particles» and their interactions. In all cases the arrangement is "six" and the figure par excellence is the three-dimensional carbon atom (basic constituent of all living beings).
With the carbon atom we arrive at the idea of the hexagram. A hexagram is the sum of two "function-trigrams" and represents both a "biological situation" (material or energetic) and a "clinical situation" (somatic or emotional).
By “system six” we also represent the “acupuncture meridians”, which are the channels through which energy circulates in all living beings. Every manifestation of man's life necessarily responds to one of these six terms. These "meridians" run through the body in two opposite directions, forming a closed circuit with energy. The "Yang 阳 meridians" start in the hands and end in the feet (Yang energy goes from Heaven to Earth), while the "Yin 荫 meridians" start in the feet and end in the hands (Yin energy goes from Earth to Heaven).
THE SEVEN SYMBOLIZES THE ENIGMA
His geometric representation of the number seven is the heptagon or seven-pointed star. In most traditional cultures, seven is related to the end of a creative process, to close the spiral cycle of a manifestation. "The world was created in seven days" (Genesis).
Seven also represents planes of energy and spiritual manifestations. Thus we have the seven chakras of Tantric Yoga, the seven operations of the great work of alchemy, the seven zones of the auricular pavilion, the seven stages to complete a spiritual creation or the seven valleys through which man must pass to achieve the communion with divinity.
In the first chapter of Sù Wèn 素問 we can read that «in women at age 7 the energy of the kidney becomes abundant, so the milk teeth are replaced by the permanent ones, at age 14 (7x2) the JM meridian begins to flow and you can get pregnant, at 21 (7x3) the wisdom teeth begin to come in... at 28 (7x4) the body is in its best condition, at 35 (7x5) the mouth begins to weaken strength of the Yang 阳... at 42 (7x6) the face appears more withered and the hair begins to gray and the Yang 阳 continues to weaken, at 49 (7x7) the energy of conception becomes deficient and the woman stops conceiving»
THE EIGHT REPRESENTS THE TRANSMISSIONEight is represented by the octagon or eight-pointed star. The number 8 is linked to the process of transmitting life. For example, in Africa the number eight is part of the verb "to create", it is related to water (creative source of life), sperm and the "forces of fertilization". In the same way, the baptistery of the great cathedrals, the place of the transmission of spiritual life, had eight faces. Also the tantric temples are built in base 8 or 16 (force of the duality of 8). Finally, the "chips" of computers (computers), which are used for "transmission of information", are built on the basis of eight and its multiples: 8, 16.32, 64, 128, etc.
THE NINE OR ENNEAGRAM
Its graphic representation is the nine-pointed star or the enneagram. It is the “culmination of a process”. For the ancient Chinese it represented Heaven, the supreme wisdom. For this reason all the books had 81 chapters (9x9). There is a symbolic representation of a turtle (symbol of wisdom) in whose shell 9 numbers are represented, arranged in such a way that they always add up to 15 both horizontally, vertically, and diagonally.
Since the number nine symbolizes the "mental" and also the "spiritual", we can see it represented in the "nine capital passions" of the Sufi enneagram, and which has been recovered by Gestalt psychology (the nine virtues). And as far as spirituality is concerned, its clearest representation is the Bahá'í Faith (the second most widespread religion on the planet, after Christianity), and whose religious symbol is a nine-pointed star.
WHAT NOW?
So far we have only seen the tip of the iceberg on bioenergetic principles, then we have to know the "energy movements" and the principles that govern them, for example to be able to apply the Dǎo Mǎ 倒馬 therapy or "therapy of balance» so popular nowadays, especially for the followers of Shì Dǒng 氏董 better known as Master Tung, and which is inspired as we have already commented on the great puncture Miu 谬.
In order to understand how Dǎo Mǎ 倒馬 therapy works, it is essential to know the movement of energies, and for this, as Qi Bo 岐伯 indicates in chapter 67 of Nèi Jīng 內經 «Yin and Yang cannot be explained through calculations, but through images.”
>
In the bioenergetics applied to acupuncture courses given at CITABE we explain to our students the basic movements of energies, with so that they can apply these principles to develop the most appropriate therapeutic formula in each case. For example, if a person presents with scapulohumeral pain on the left side, we can apply a balance for the "inverse" value of the function trigram: The patient presents with pain along the Tai Yang of the Hand (ID). ☱ near point 12 ID, on the right scapular supinator muscle. The meridian to treat is the Zú Jué Yīn (H) ☴ on the right side (same side) and the appropriate points to treat are 4 H and 5 H.
Now let's see an equilibrium for the «opposite» value of the function trigram. A patient presents with left knee pain in the foot at the Zú Jué Yīn (H) ☴ around point 8 H. Treatment is performed on the Shǎo Yáng meridian of the Foot (VB) ☳ on the right side . The appropriate points to click are 33 VB and 34 VB.
It is clear that these treatments are impossible to perform if you do not previously know the movements of the energies and how to handle trigrams and hexagrams.
