My acupuncture treatments are designed to call on certain energies within the patient that correspond to different facets of the natural world. After all, Chinese medicine is based on long, careful observation of nature and how our planet moves through time and seasons. My goal is to find and root out stress in all its various manifestations, but that won’t look the same from one patient to the next. We are all very different of course. While one patient may benefit from a Liver treatment, which calls on the energy of a dark, calm, cool forest, another might benefit from its opposite, a San Jiao treatment that brings about warm, bright light. One size does not fit all in this medicine.
Think about medical cannabis, an excellent medicine for the right person. Anyone who’s ever tried it knows that it has an intense calming and grounding effect, a very Yin energy, and it is marketed that way. But once it achieves that effect the results can go many different ways. Some find it to be inspiring to creativity or that it makes them talkative and sociable. For others it makes them happy and uplifted. Yet others find it uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing. How could this be? Again, one size does not fit all. If you are a naturally Yin type of person, adding more Yin to your system puts Yin and Yang out of right relationship which leads to problems.
We’ve all seen the lists of supposed stress-reducing activities: meditation, epsom salt baths, hiking, cooking, playing music, time with friends, crossword puzzles, vigorous exercise, house work, yoga; as if these all have the same energetic impact. Any one of these activities might be relaxing, depending on the person. I had a patient once tell me that she cannot take baths, they make her anxious. If you have never cooked or done yoga, those activities might also make you anxious; there’s a lot you can get wrong and a lot of details that need attention and that might not be your idea of a relaxing activity. What I am getting at here is an invitation to begin to know yourself on a deeper level. Take a close look at who you are and try to understand what makes you calm and grounded, and also what gets you turned on and inspired. Understanding your own personal energetic signature will help me to help you during an acupuncture treatment. It will also empower you to take healing and wellness into your own hands. You might not even need to see me for a Liver treatment. Maybe you just need some time alone in a cool, dark forest.
