ACUPUNCTURE & CHINESE MEDICINE
Chinese Medicine is a comprehensive medical system that addresses the needs of the individual rather than just a named condition. The goal is to re-establish and maintain a state of health.
While there are practices dating back even earlier, the compilation of the classical texts on acupuncture and herbal medicine has a history dating to the Zhou dynasty during the Warring States period (403-221 B.C.) A medicine deeply rooted in philosophy and the cyclic nature of life, while intimately understanding the physical biomechanics of the working body, acupuncture and its complementary modalities function as a system of medicine to restore the natural balance to interconnected body, mind, and spirit and remedy the acute and chronic issues that result from such a disharmony. A key feature is that the care addresses both the surface and deeper needs of the individual. The perspective is person – rather than disease – oriented.
Our capacity to heal on our own is astounding. The medicine sees the body as a “self-rectifying dynamic whole, a network of interrelating and interactive energies” (Firebrace, B.Ac., Peter. Acupuncture: Restoring the Body’s Natural Healing Energy. NY: Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited). Often physical maladies creep up when we are undergoing a stressful time in our life; or the constant worry about something that leaves us with sleep or stomach issues. Our bodies have so many elements that work so well together, but to have that interdependency it serves us to care for ourselves in all ways. Frequently the acupuncture serves as a guide for, and message to the body, to tap into its own intuition and heal itself.
CLASSICAL CHINESE MEDICINE
“What the acupuncturist does when they needle you is to show the soul a direction for liberation”
A medicine this old naturally has many family lineages and schools of thought that have developed. Classical Chinese Medicine is a practice of the medicine utilizing the principles of the classic medical texts which details anatomy, physiology, and pathology, characteristics of the multitude of energetic channels (many of them unused in today’s TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine), and various techniques and practices.
As a Classical trained practitioner, much care is put into how we can help direct the energy to allow the body to heal itself. The message we send, in the acupuncture points we choose and the methodology of how the treatment is executed is part of the directive in the narrative of your healing process.
Having the focus in Classical Chinese Medicine provides a more in-depth study of the acupuncture channels, including Sinews, Luos, Eight Extraordinary Vessels, Divergents, and the Primary Channels, which allow for more nuanced treatments and access to the deeper holdings of the body.
Classical Chinese Medicine works to realign and restore us to a state of balance in which we are not just reacting to our injuries, stress, and illnesses, but as an empowering force to help us live beyond that. Utilizing these deep and complex channel systems, it becomes a medicine that can help remind us of the richness of our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical lives.