When I was in clinic, I took the constitutional pulse, gave constitutional acupuncture — and told patients neither their constitution nor what to avoid eating. Here is why, and what I would do differently now.
Why Different Clinics Give You Different Constitutions, Part 2: How ECM Diagnosis Works
ECM adds tools Sasang lacks — the constitutional pulse and the response to food and acupuncture. So why do ECM clinics still disagree? Because some pulses are clear and some are not, and confirmation takes time.
Why Different Clinics Give You Different Constitutions, Part 1: How Sasang Diagnosis Works
Constitutional diagnosis is not like a blood test or an X-ray — there is nothing yet to measure. Here is how Sasang constitution is actually diagnosed, and why two clinics can reach different answers.
How the Four Sasang Types Become Eight: The Two Organ Pairs Behind ECM
Two pairs of opposing organs — lung and liver, kidney and spleen — decide which Sasang type you are. The order of the other pair then splits each type in two. Here is the map, with a pen in hand.
Sudden Death as an Accumulation of Small Things: An ECM Reading
Sudden death is hard to explain because it rarely has a single cause. Like an air disaster, it may be small events lining up — and ECM adds unsuitable food and exercise to the list.
The Hidden Cost of Eating Only What Suits You: Fragility, and a Body Used to the Limit
Eating only what suits your constitution sounds like the safest possible diet. In my experience it carries two hidden costs: a body that loses its toughness, and the temptation to spend every gain until something breaks.
The Treefrog, the Pesticide and the Predator: When Does an Unsuitable Food Actually Harm You?
A pesticide that did not harm treefrog tadpoles in the lab became deadly once predator stress was added. I think constitutionally unsuitable food works the same way: its harm depends on the state of the person eating it.
What the Colours on the Constitution Chart Mean — and How Much They Matter
ECM’s lifestyle chart lists beneficial colours as well as foods. A story about coloured kinesiology tape shows where the idea comes from — and why, in daily life, colour matters far less than food.
“Sweaty Exercise Is Harmful”: How Pulmotonia Should Read the Exercise Line on the Constitution Chart
The ECM lifestyle chart tells Pulmotonia that heavy-sweating exercise and saunas are harmful. Taken too literally, that line can stop people exercising at all. Here is how I think it should be read.
Why Pancreotonia’s Lower Body Lags Behind — and How to Build It Up
Pancreotonia tends to have a stronger upper body than lower body. Why qi that gathers in the middle and rises leaves the legs short — and what eating, rest and exercise can do about it.