Traditional Chinese healing methods continue to gain traction in modern wellness, offering holistic approaches to health.
If you follow wellness trends and practices, you have seen continuing mentions in the news about TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine.
A recent South China Morning Post article claimed that scientists have found that TCM is based on knowledge of a complex web of proteins, thousands of years prior to scientists gaining empirical knowledge of those interactions.
You may have also seen the news that a new viral trend of TCMs in food has taken hold in China. A Traditional Chinese Medicine hall in Zhengzhou has blown up Chinese TikTok for infusing traditional Chinese medical herbs into popular food and drink menus.
Li Jiahui started a kitchen in her TCM center, which offers foods like kudzu root, yam porridge, and Poria mushroom egg waffles. Jiahui told Xinhuanet News that she “started the kitchen to offer customers convenient and healthy meals. However, it’s now bustling with young people eager to experience a TCM diet.” The practitioner told the news source that sour plum juice, a traditional TCM medicinal, was selling out all last summer for its taste and capacity to provide a variety of health benefits.
TCM is clearly evolving to change with cultures and society. While acupuncture, cupping, and medicinal botanicals are still a mainstay of the practices, others like using medicines from endangered animals are fast fading away due to new societal pressures to understand the fragile ecosystem in which we live.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is an ancient, holistic approach to healthcare that has been practiced for thousands of years. In recent decades, as Eastern and Western cultures have become increasingly intertwined, TCM has begun to undergo a remarkable transformation, adapting to the needs and expectations of modern society
“Our bodies are not made for quick fixes and cure-all
methods.”
—Helina Fan, CEO Redmint
Modernizing TCM Practices
One of the most significant adaptations of TCM can be seen in the spa and wellness industry. Luxury resorts and retreat centers around the world are incorporating TCM-inspired therapies into their offerings, blending ancient wisdom with modern luxuries.
At the Sangha Retreat by Octave Institute in China, for example, guests can experience a Personalized TCM Acupuncture treatment that utilizes AI-powered diagnostics to create customized treatment plans. The resort also features a TCM-Inspired Hydrotherapy Circuit, where visitors can soak in herb-infused pools and steam rooms.
Other TCM treatments fusing traditional wisdom and modern science include TCM Foot Treatments at Six Senses Spa (multiple locations), which involve acupressure to specific meridian points to achieve balance. The Ganbanyoku Beds at Miraval Arizona offer heated beds made of black silica-rich stones used in traditional Japanese and Chinese medicine.
Even legacy resorts like the Four Seasons are getting into TCM with the Four Seasons in Toronto offering full 90-minute sessions, followed by a 30-minute, in-depth assessment of the client’s current state of health, which is then followed by 60 minutes of a specifically chosen treatment such as cupping, gua sha, acupuncture, and energy work.
Helina Fan, a doctor of TCM and founder of the San Francisco-based TCM wellness center, Redmint, says that it is important to know that “our bodies are not made for quick fixes and cure-all methods.” She founded her own center as a way to find holistic solutions to her own health issue, finally “reclaiming my health and through acupuncture, herbal medicine, skincare topicals, and many more TCM healing modalities...”
Redmint offers herbal bars at its locations with modern fusions of herbs and botanics based on this ancient wisdom. The Xiao Yao San, for instance, harmonizes liver and spleen functions and tonifies spleen qi (energy) while nourishing the blood. It includes Angelica Root, White Peony Root and Thorowax Root. The libido-boosting Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan offering boosts yang-fire energy by tonifying the kidneys, preserving qi, while nourishing yin and reinforcing blood flow through elements like Cinnamon Twig and Rehmannia Root.
Redmint’s Herbal Bars echo China’s newest viral fad of including TCM in popular social venues for food and drink.
Will your next IRL date with a swipe right be a qi-building beer at a botanical bar?