David Osborn

The whole of Greek Medicine is based upon the constitutional precepts of humor and temperament, and constitutional bodymind types, as embodied in the Four Temperaments, which are Choleric, Sanguine, Melancholic and Phlegmatic. Each of these four basic constitutional types is characterized by a predominance of a certain pairing of the Four Basic Qualities, as well as a certain humor. Although Greek Medicine has four basic constitutional types, each person has their own constitutional uniqueness, which is composed of their own unique admixture of these basic four types. Constitutional individuality expresses itself in other ways as well, many of which have been elucidated and developed by other pioneering figures of modern holistic medicine. Even when I was in acupuncture school, one of my professors stated that one can be just as individualized on the inside, in terms of their internal organs, as they are on the outside, with their unique facial features. One person can be blessed with amazing lungs but a stomach that is chronically weak or sluggish, whereas another could be blessed with great kidneys, but a liver that is vulnerable, for example.