“Vital Energy” in Ancient Medicine

Previously I wrote about Qi, the vital energy or life force energy derived from traditional Chinese medicine. Interestingly but not surprisingly, Chinese medicine is not the only one that believes in a vital energy guiding a person’s physical and mental processes.

Indian medicine has a similar concept called prana. Prana is also a life force energy that flows through the human body. When it flows freely and is balanced, it results in good health and well-being. If it gets blocked or thrown off-balance, it causes illness.

Chinese qi and Indian prana are very similar concepts, both help maintain health and happiness in humans by controlling physical and mental processes. And they are not the only ones either. Ancient Greek and Latin philosophies have a very similar concept: the Greeks called it pneuma (defined in the dictionary as the vital spirit or creative force of a person) while the Latin named it spiritus. The Japanese apparently call it ki. In fact, it seems 97 cultures around the world have a similar concept of life force energy. In the modern world, I guess this translates to the idea of spirit or soul, that's derived from the Latin spiritus. The phrase “May the Force be with you” takes on a whole new meaning now, doesn’t it?

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