Acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the art of inserting very thin needles just under
the skin to stimulate specific points on the body in order to bring about relief of pain and
wellness to the body. This is accomplished by restoring the balance of qi to the
body.
Qi is the life force which is found in every
thing, both human and non human, from breath to the blood that flows through us, and the
movement of qi throughout the body is a sensation brought about by acupuncture that you will
not want to miss.
It kind of feels like blood flowing, as if you could hear it, but
not really. When the acupuncturist takes the needles out of your body you can almost feel the
qi moving, it feels like a thread being pulled from your leg, or foot, or wherever the needle
is being drawn out from.
It is a very calming experience. Simply, the flow of your qi is
being restored by stimulating it using needles.
The philosophy of Dao, ying and yang, must be understood in order
to understand acupuncture.
Dao is the way of life in Chinese Medicine and acupuncture. Dao
advocates living in moderation, and striving for balance with nature.
The Chinese believe that moderation is the key to living a long
life, and use the practice of acupuncture to balance bodies and spirit to maintain health and
to bring into balance ill health.
We are made up of three elements, qi (pronounced Chee) is our
energy, Shen is your spirit, and Jing is the essence of ourselves.
Qi establishes the interconnectedness with everything and is found
in ones blood and heart, lungs and oxygen.
Shen is compared to ones soul in that it provides thought and the
awareness of the self. Jing helps us grow and reproduce.
Once we lose jing, it can not be replaced, as the Chinese believe
that we are each born with a finite amount. Because we lose jing if we live carelessly,
acupuncture can reduce the loss by balancing the qi, or energy, helping to preserve jing.
When our Jing is used up, we die.
Now on to ying and Yang, the other elements of life, when these
two opposing forces are balanced we are at peace, we are much more likely to let things slide
and take life easy, when they are out of balance we exhibit arrogance, pride, lust, gluttony,
and the other excesses of living which eat away at our Jing. The emotions run amok and we
become sick.
This is also why acupuncture is often used in cooperation with
herbal therapy. Acupuncture works with the yang because it comes from outside the body and
goes inside (the act of inserting the needle), while herbal therapies are considered to be
ying therapies because they move throughout the interior of the body.
While acupuncture is widely thought to be used primarily to
control pain, acupuncture can benefit a host of other illnesses, such as respitory ailments
(asthma), cataracts, hiccups, ulcers, migraines, and toothache, just to name a very
few.
The truth is that I have never seen an ailment that can't be
alleviated with acupuncture, including alcoholism and addiction cravings.
There is a point in the ear which can help alleviate cravings of
all addictive behaviors, and acute withdrawal from alcoholism can be helped with the point
used for the liver.
Western medicine is beginning to concede to acupuncture for its
use in alleviating chronic pain, such as neck and back, which a lot of westerners suffer
from.
We are only now beginning to accept the fact that it can also be
used to help anxiety and chronic fatigue, and more and more medical insurance is beginning to
include acupuncture on claim forms.
This article is meant to be informative only, and does not go into
the detail that acupuncture deserves; please see a practitioner of Chinese medicine for more
information.
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