Skip to main content

Fall and Rise of Yin

Happy Fall! The prettiest season in New England with leaves changing color and the weather getting cooler, not to mention hordes of squirrels scurrying around gathering acorns for the winter (I just learned that a group of squirrels is in fact called a scurry!). Fall is also special for me because it's my birthday season (plus Halloween and Thanksgiving season)!

Changing color of leaves in Fall

In ancient medicine, Fall is associated with the beginning of the Yin cycle (of yin and yang fame) with the days getting shorter and cooler. The Summer element of Fire (signifying activity and energy) gives way to the Metal element in fall. The metal signifies calmness and organization, so here's to a more organized and structured lifestyle (which seems impossible right now with senior year and college apps on my head but oh, so necessary!)

An old Chinese saying by Tao Te Ching goes, 

When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need.
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. 

So in the spirit of the changing season of fall, I am going to commit to becoming more organized and not procrastinating on homework. Here's to a new me!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rx Symbol

Have you ever wondered why medicines are denoted with an ℞ or Rx symbol? There are actually many theories about its origin but the most common one is that the symbol for prescriptions originated from the "Eye of Horus", which was an ancient Egyptian symbol associated with healing powers. According to Egyptian mythology, Horus lost his eye in battle but his mom used her powers to restore his eye, hence it became a symbol of healing.  Eye of Horus In the 2 nd century, Greek physician Galen adapted this symbol to impress his patients. Galen’s influence on medicine was so strong that even the symbol was borrowed through the centuries and it eventually evolved into the modern symbol Rx (the eye of Horus kinda looks like an Rx). Other theories place its origin in Latin and Roman times. One theory is that Rx was used as an abbreviation of the Latin word recipere , meaning “to prepare,” which physicians wrote on medical prescriptions. Yet another theory points to the similarity of...

Concept of Qi

The Chinese (those who believe in Traditional Chinese Medicine) believe COVID-19 is caused by an imbalance of qi in the lungs. So what exactly is this qi? It has become a popular concept in the New Age movement, but it isn't very clear what it signifies, so I decided to dig a little deeper into it. Turns out, it is the fundamental basis of ancient Chinese medicine. Ancient Chinese medicine is based on the simple (in theory) principle that every system needs to be in harmony for health, well being and sustainability. When this harmony is broken, an imbalance is created in one direction and that leads to illness, disease, and many other sufferings. But it is more complicated than that- a system is not just a person, but everything that is interconnected and interdependent. That includes a family, community, environment… and the entire world. The harmony is created by two equal and opposite forces or elements: yin and yang. Qi (pronounced "chee") is the vital energy tha...

Origin of Neurology

As I consider majoring in neurobiology (the study of the biological mechanisms that control the nervous system) in college, I thought it would be interesting to delve into the origins of neuroscience. For hundreds of years from the ancient Egyptians to the Greeks, humans believed that the seat of intellect was the heart (which is why the ancient Egyptians went to great lengths to preserve the heart after death but discarded the brain!)    The birth of neurology began 2500 years ago with Hippocrates who pondered over the purpose and functioning of the brain, reasoning that the brain must be the organ controlling sensation simply because most sensory organs - eyes, ears, and tongue -- are located close to the brain. This was starkly different from other opinions of the time which held that the heart was the main organ that controlled everything in humans. The brain was simply thought to be a "radiator" for pumping the heart and keeping it cool.  Later, Hippocrates expanded ...