In our hubris, we often think we are the centrepiece of the world, with everything else on the planet being set pieces as the background for our performance. This view is the basis for fantasies about humans able to control nature, to prevail over the uncertainties of life, and it has grown more and more strong in recent years and lead to much suffering. However, the opposite view is, slowly, discretely gaining traction as well. The world is alive, and nature enforces her own patterns. Even the soil is brimming with life, and even making sounds at it! (2) The earth is not a passive place where we were dropped unwinkingly, but the pulsating, breathing overflowing cradle that is sprouting humans, and taking them back in her lap once their time is up.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) works with these natural graining patterns, rather than against them. There are many branches of TCM, including traditional acupuncture, but a rather recent sprout of TCM, Neijing Nature-Based Medicine (1), deserves a special mentioning because it embraces these principles explicitly.
- https://neijingstudies.com/
- https://knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2022/life-soil-was-thought-be-silent-what-if-it-isnt