J Altern Complement Med. 2001 Feb; 7(1): 83-91.

Emerging paradigms in mind-body medicine.

Shang C.

Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA. [email protected]

The emerging paradigms in medicine can be seen through mind-body interactions. Observations in many meditative traditions suggest a series of objective indicators of health beyond absence of disease. Several of the physical signs have been confirmed by research or are consistent with modern science. Further correlation with long term health outcome is needed. Integration of meditation with conventional therapy has enriched psychotherapy with parallels drawn between the Nine Step Qigong and Freudian developmental psychology. A unified theory of the chakra system and the meridian system widely used in traditional mind-body interventions and acupuncture is presented in terms of modern science based on the morphogenetic singularity theory. Acupuncture points originate from the organizing centers in morphogenesis. Meridians and chakras are related to the underdifferentiated, interconnected cellular network that regulates growth and physiology. This theory explains the distribution and nonspecific activation of organizing centers and acupuncture points; the high electric conductance of the meridian system; the polarity effect of electroacupuncture; the side-effect profile of acupuncture; and the ontogeny, phylogeny, and physiologic function of the meridian system and chakra system. It also successfully predicted several findings in conventional biomedical science. These advances have implications in many disciplines of medicine.