Using Acupuncture To Heal

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.