ABSTRACT
Traditional Western medicine must expand its concept of healing to incorporate a human energy field, which is the foundation of Eastern medical systems, such as traditional Chinese medicine. Knowledge of the existence and effects of the human energy field is the first stepping stone on the path to understanding integral physiology, which is a new medical paradigm of integrative medicine that unites the enormous contribution of Western medicine with the profound insights of Eastern systems of human energy and health. In Chinese medicine, there is a central concept of a vital energy or life force, which is called Qi. Meridians are the names given to the complex pathways within the bodies along which Qi flows. Acupuncture points are specific points along the meridians at which Qi can be accessed and rebalanced. The art of medicine is a mystery. Those in the medical field need to embrace empiric observations even if there is no scientific context in which to hold them.
