“Focusing on Treating the Spirit (神)” in Acupuncture and Moxibustion: The Dialectical Unity of Regulating the Body and the Spirit

Abstract

”Focusing on treating the spirit (神)” is an important principle in acupuncture and moxibustion. It is a unique psychosomatic therapy involving the doctor and the patient, which includes regulating the spirit and the body. Traditional Chinese medicine attaches great importance to it. Focusing on treating the spirit is also a component of the standards of medical ethics. Only when doctors have noble medical ethics can they achieve clinical treatment of the mind and give full play to their skills to cure diseases. Focusing on treating the spirit runs through the entire clinical process of acupuncture and moxibustion. Before the treatment, it is necessary to focus on the spirit to distinguish the spirit and qi. During the treatment, attention should be paid to the mind to regulate the spirit and qi. It is the premise of clinical diagnosis and treatment of acupuncture and moxibustion and the key to the curative effect. Focusing on treating the spirit is also in the realm of doctor-patient double treatment, which requires doctor-patient communication before treatment and the preservation of the body and spirit after treatment. Therefore, concentration of the mind is the key to acupuncture and moxibustion treatment.