Traditional Model

The Traditional East Asian (TEAM) view of the body is in many ways a common sense description. It has evolved over hundreds if not thousands of years of observing the human condition, during illness and health. In contrast to modern western medicine, which through technology is able to explore the details of each part of our bodies, the traditional Asian view stands back and encompasses the whole person.

This leads to a model that is stresses connections across physiological systems, across mind and body, and between the person and their environment. These two views, the western and eastern co-exist and complement each other, both are needed. One uses language of the physical/measurable and can shed light on the specifics, the other speaks more in terms of analogy and points to the behaviour of the whole.

The TEAM model of the person evolved at a time of no X rays or MRI scans, the way to investigate health and ill health was via one’s senses. Thus through careful looking, listening, touching, and asking, a complete picture could be built up about the condition. It was realised that though everyone’s experience of illness is unique, that symptoms often form patterns. These patterns were described in simple common sense terms such as cold, damp, depressed vitality, stasis of blood etc. that both reflected the subjective experience of the patient as well as a diagnostic label for the healer.

These descriptions are of the human condition as witnessed from the point of view of another human; as such they are a complex mix of both physical and mental/emotional components. It is because they describe the broad picture from the “outside” that they are unable to give a detailed mechanistic description of what is happening on the “inside”.Never the less they have lead to the development of simple empirically proven techniques to correct these imbalances and restore health.These include the use of massage, exercise, dietary advice etc.

In time diet in all probability lead to the use of medicinal herbs, and massage in turn lead to the development of heat therapy (moxibustion) and the use of needles – acupuncture.