QiLife23 patterns in traditional Chinese medicine
Each page below explains what the pattern is, the signs that suggest it, and which acupoints, foods and tea formulas the library lists against it — so you can go from a name to something specific to do.
How to read these pages
Patterns are not diagnoses. Chinese medicine reads combinations of signs as patterns, which is why no two people with the same symptom are usually described the same way. These pages exist to explain the vocabulary and to connect it to the reference material — not to tell you what is wrong with you.
If you have not assessed yourself, the constitution assessment is the place to start; if you have a specific set of symptoms, the symptom decoder returns a ranked list instead of a single answer.
Qi, Blood, Yin and Yang (8)
The substance patterns — the layers that get thin, move badly or turn the wrong way.
Qi Deficiency
Qi deficiency means your defensive and transformative Qi runs low, so ordinary effort costs more than it should and colds come easily.
7 acupoints · 12 foods · 4 teas
Yin Deficiency
Yin deficiency is insufficient cooling, moistening fluid — you run warm and dry, and rest does not fully restore you.
5 acupoints · 14 foods · 4 teas
Yang Deficiency
Yang deficiency is insufficient warming function — you feel cold, digest slowly, and move with less spark than the seasons call for.
6 acupoints · 7 foods · 1 teas
Qi Stagnation
Qi stagnation is Qi that cannot move — emotion, breath and digestion pile up, and the pressure shows up in the chest, throat or mood.
7 acupoints · 8 foods · 1 teas
Qi Constraint
Qi constraint describes Qi that moves but distends and refuses to disperse — the pressure builds in a specific place instead of clearing.
4 acupoints · 7 foods · 1 teas
Qi
Qi is the umbrella concept in Chinese medicine — the body's capacity to move, warm, transform and defend, rather than a single substance.
6 acupoints · 6 foods · 1 teas
Yin
Yin covers everything cooling, moistening, contracting and substantial — the half of the pair that sustains and contains.
5 acupoints · 5 foods · 2 teas
Yang
Yang names everything warming, activating, expanding and outward-moving — the half of the pair that drives change and defends.
6 acupoints · 4 foods · 1 teas
The Zang-Fu systems (6)
The five functional systems, plus the Triple Burner, and what governs each of them.
Spleen
The Spleen governs transformation and transport — turning food and drink into usable energy, and moving what has been transformed.
1 acupoints · 13 foods · 3 teas
Liver
The Liver governs free coursing — the smooth movement of Qi throughout the body — and stores blood between uses.
1 acupoints · 12 foods · 1 teas
Heart
The Heart governs blood and vessels, and houses the Shen — the classical term for the mind and consciousness.
2 acupoints · 5 foods · 2 teas
Kidney
The Kidney stores Jing — the constitutional essence that governs growth, ageing and reproduction — and governs water metabolism.
5 acupoints · 11 foods · 1 teas
Lung
The Lung governs Qi and respiration, and controls the skin — it is the body's outer defence against cold, wind and dryness.
2 acupoints · 11 foods · 2 teas
Triple Burner
The Triple Burner is a functional system, not a paired organ — it governs the body's waterways and the exchange between its three regions.
5 acupoints · 2 foods · 2 teas
Compound patterns (6)
Patterns that are not about a substance but about a state — heaviness, heat, stagnation.
Balanced
A balanced constitution is the reference point the other eight are measured against — no strong lean toward heat, cold, damp or deficiency.
1 acupoints · 7 foods · 1 teas
Phlegm and Dampness
Phlegm and dampness describe fluids that transform slowly, leaving the body heavy, coated and prone to congestion.
4 acupoints · 7 foods · 1 teas
Phlegm
Phlegm is the thickened, obstructive form of trapped fluid — the concrete congestion that dampness produces when it concentrates.
3 acupoints · 7 foods · 2 teas
Damp-Heat
Damp-heat combines sluggish fluid with excess heat — the pattern behind breakouts, burning sensations and a bitter taste.
3 acupoints · 10 foods · 1 teas
Cold-Dampness
Cold-dampness is dampness that has been chilled — heaviness plus cold, which is what a weak digestion produces when cold food meets it.
5 acupoints · 5 foods · 1 teas
Blood Stasis
Blood stasis describes circulation that has slowed or become obstructed — dark complexion, fixed pain and a purple or dark tongue.
2 acupoints · 6 foods · 1 teas
Methods and approaches (3)
Not patterns themselves but the responses used when a pattern is identified.
Food Stagnation
Food stagnation is the Spleen overwhelmed by more food than it can transform — the pattern behind most indigestion complaints.
3 acupoints · 12 foods · 1 teas
Qi Obstruction
When Qi stagnation persists long enough it impedes the blood, and the two together produce fixed pain and obstructed circulation.
3 acupoints · 6 foods · 1 teas
Warming Yang
Warming Yang is the self-care approach for people who feel cold — warming food, warmth retained, and stimulation of circulation.
0 acupoints · 5 foods · 0 teas