The Vital Substances That Keep You Going
Foundational Substances That Move, Nourish, And Sustain Life—And How to Care for Them
This post is Part 3 of a 6-part series: TCM Basics
Explore the foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine—nature-based, people-rooted, and relevant for everyday life. Posts in this series:
The Vital Substances That Keep You Going (you are here)
The Organ Clock: Living in Rhythm with Your Body
The 7- and 8-Year Cycles of Life: Growing, Changing, Aging Gracefully
Qi, Blood, Body Fluids, and Essence are the four foundational substances in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Together, they represent how your body moves, nourishes, stores, and sustains itself. This post explores what each one does, how they’re connected, and what it means when something goes out of sync.
The Energy That Moves Us
Qi (pronounced “chee”) is usually translated as “energy,” but that only scratches the surface. It’s more like the behind-the-scenes magic of being alive—movement, function, impulse, warmth, breath, digestion, emotion, thought. It’s life doing what life does.
You might hear people talk about “Liver Qi” or “Spleen Qi.” That’s just a way of describing how your TCM Liver or Spleen system is functioning. (Fun fact: your TCM Spleen isn’t the same as the Western anatomy version—it’s more like your digestion’s project manager.)
When Qi is strong and flowing, we feel clear, focused, capable, and adaptable. When it’s blocked, scattered, or running low, we get tired, foggy, irritable, stuck—or just... off.
Qi is involved in everything: breathing, circulating blood, digesting food, regulating your cycles, managing emotions, keeping your immunity sharp. If Yin and Yang are the dancers, Qi is the music. Always moving. Always coordinating.
Signs Qi might be out of sync:
Fatigue or burnout
Poor appetite or sluggish digestion
Shortness of breath
Feeling stuck or emotionally heavy
PMS, breast tenderness, cramps
Anxiety, depression, insomnia
Getting cold or sick easily
When Qi flows, we feel like ourselves. Capable. Connected. Clear. When it’s not, everything feels like a bit more effort than it should.
Blood: The Deep Nourishment
Blood in TCM isn’t just what shows up on a lab report. It’s a living, vital substance. Thick with meaning. Full of nourishment.
It anchors our emotions, grounds our minds, and softens the rough edges of life. It moistens tissues, supports fertility, helps us sleep, helps us feel safe inside our skin. If Qi is the movement, Blood is what’s being moved—like the water in a river that needs a steady current to keep flowing.
In TCM, Blood is created from the food we eat (digested by the Spleen), then finalized and “infused with meaning” by the Heart—connecting it deeply to emotional and spiritual life.
Signs your Blood might need some love:
Dizziness, paleness, dry skin
Anxiety or a scattered, restless mind
Irregular or painful periods
Feeling unmotivated or emotionally flat
Cold hands and feet
Hair thinning or falling out
Supporting Blood isn’t about a quick fix. It’s about making time for what nourishes: rest, warm and deeply cooked foods, acupuncture, herbs if needed. It’s the part of us that reminds us we’re allowed to soften.
Body Fluids: The Moisture of Life
Body fluids in TCM include all the juicy bits—tears, saliva, digestive fluids, joint lubrication, sweat, mucus, lymph. They moisten, cool, soothe, and smooth the edges. They help you stay flexible, not just physically but emotionally too.
TCM breaks fluids down into:
Thin fluids: light and mobile (saliva, sweat, tears)
Thick fluids: denser and more nourishing (synovial/joint fluid, cervical fluid, reproductive fluids)
Hormones?
In TCM terms, they sit somewhere between Qi and fluids, depending on how they show up.
Fluids are created through digestion and moved around by Qi. So if digestion’s off, or Qi is stuck, the fluids can dry up—or build up in ways they’re not supposed to. You can get too dry or too soggy.
Signs fluid balance might be off:
Dry skin, dry mouth, dry stools
Brain fog, heaviness, fatigue
Puffiness, swelling, excess mucus
Stiff joints, dizziness
Scanty menstruation or dryness with intimacy
It’s not just about drinking water (though that helps). It’s about helping your body hold on to moisture—by eating digestible, hydrating foods, supporting your Spleen and Lung systems, and letting rest do its quiet work.
Essence: The Inherited Reserves
Essence is the deep stuff. The core. It’s the part of you that was passed down from your parents, and it’s what you draw on over a lifetime.
You can think of it like a savings account with no interest. You’re born with a set amount, and while you can’t “refill” it exactly, you can protect it—and you can definitely burn through it faster if you’re living in fifth gear all the time.
Essence is tied to growth, reproduction, fertility, and aging. It governs things like egg and sperm quality, bone strength, hearing, memory, and how quickly (or slowly) we bounce back from deep fatigue or illness.
Signs Essence might be running low:
Premature greying, hair loss
Weak bones, teeth, or hearing
Fertility struggles or low libido
Deep fatigue that doesn’t lift, even after rest
Poor memory or slow healing
Caring for Essence is a long game. It’s slow medicine. Not about hacks or hustle. It’s about slowing down, getting quiet, protecting what matters most. This is where the idea of “slow aging” comes in—not pretending we don’t age, but honouring the process and moving through it with grace.
These Substances Dance Together
None of these substances work alone. Qi moves Blood. Blood nourishes Qi. Fluids moisten and protect both. Essence is the foundational reserve behind it all.
In TCM, we don’t treat each one in isolation. We look at the relationships. Where things flow, where they get stuck, and how one imbalance might ripple through everything else. Care isn’t just about topping up a tank—it’s about restoring rhythm.
Tending to What Matters
You don’t need a perfect routine to care for these vital parts of you. But you do need some consistency. The everyday stuff matters. The small, steady choices add up.
Supporting these substances helps reduce symptoms like cramps, anxiety, burnout, fertility issues, low mood, perimenopausal shifts, and more.
Here’s where you can start:
Rest when you’re tired—not just when everything’s done
Eat warm, easy-to-digest foods when you feel depleted
Breathe deeply, move often, but don’t force it
Stay hydrated—and support your body to hold moisture
Honour your limits. Say no when your body says no
Your body speaks in patterns. Chinese Medicine helps you hear the message. And once you do—you can meet it with care.
We’ve explored what moves and nourishes the body—now we turn to where that all happens. In the next post, we’ll look at the organ systems in TCM—not just as anatomical parts, but as energetic networks with physical, emotional, and spiritual functions.