Clearing up some myths about acupuncture

I wish I knew for certain!!  I have my suspicions and of course there are various different explanations dependant on the way in which you see and understand life.

The "conventional" medics i.e. doctors, explain the effects by saying that the body is stimulated to produce more of it's own anti-inflammatory substances and natural endorphins (natural opiates), to reduce pain and increase a sense of well being.

The Chinese Medicine viewpoint is that the main aim of a treatment is to bring the person into a sense of well being, with the 3 vital substances of the body - Qi (pronounced "chee"), blood and fluids encouraged to flow freely, removing blockages in the body, and getting it to work as it should. When all 3 flow freely there is no longer any dis-ease; be it pain, overwhelming emotions etc. It is a complete system to assess and heal the mind, body and spirit of a person. Simple!

There's also a spiritual component in terms of energetically getting your body, mind and spirit connected to Heaven above and Earth below. Don't worry you do not need to be spiritual or religious in anyway. This is just an aspect of how an acupuncturist assesses and then treats a client.

What I do know is that acupuncture and acupressure is very much a healing system based in energy. I have some clients that are so in tune they can feel the location of an acupuncture point as soon as I think of the point, and before I touch or look at the area of the body concerned! To me, "Magic" is really the only way of describing how it works.

The best bit is that in order to benefit from acupuncture and acupressure you do not need to understand or believe in it!

Before deciding on which acupuncture points to use, I will assess your energy by:-

• feeling the radial artery pulses in both wrists (different parts relate to      organs, 5 elements, Qi or blood etc),
• if you're happy with this by looking at your tongue, (for shape, colour, coating, thickness etc),
• assessing how you are overall,
• plus listening to your thoughts about what is going on in your life. Everything has relevance. You are a reflection of your environment around you and vice versa.

There are acupuncture channels running from/to your fingers and toes along the outer and inner aspects of all four limbs, towards and from your main body, head and diving deep to your major organs. It is these channels that are used in acupuncture and acupressure to encourage a person's Qi, blood and fluids to flow around the body.

There are various points along all of the energy channels (plus extra ones sited away from the main channel areas) that are utilised in acupuncture. A fully trained, Chinese Medicine style acupuncturist does not need to needle or acupressure a person at the location of a problem eg where it's painful. It's a bit like the lighting circuit in your house. You flick a switch on a wall and it turns the light on elsewhere in the room. Even when treating back pain I usually just use a couple of points on the leg and arm! I continually find it an amazingly, sophisticated, yet simple system.

There are twelve main acupuncture channels on our bodies and the points that lie along these channels, where we "tap" into the energy (or "Qi), are numbered from 1 through to the end point number.

The end point number varies from channel to channel because each channel is of a different length. The Heart and Pericardium channels are the shortest (9 points) and the Bladder channel is the longest (67 points). 

There are also other channels that acupuncturists use, such as the 8 Extraordinary channels. Only two of these eight (Ren Mai/Conception Vessel and Du Mai) have their own separate points. The other six use the points that are along the main 12      channels.

There are also other energetic Channels such as the luo-connecting vessels.

 In total there are 361 points across all the main acupuncture channels.  So, really I am very much spoilt for choice as to how I treat someone, and limited only by my imagination!

Where someone has trained often dictates the way in which they do acupuncture. Excluding "medical" acupuncture, most forms are based on ancient texts, with the main one being the Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon).

TCM or Traditional Chinese Medicine is perhaps the better known style, and is in fact perhaps the youngest in origins. It came about in the 1950s when the Chinese Authorities tried to simplify and standardise the many different lineages and approaches that had developed over hundreds, if not thousands of years. These ancient styles continued in other countries such as Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Stems and Branches style of acupuncture was brought over to the UK by Dr van Buren after receiving a book during his training in Korea. So when I say "Chinese" I'm really referring to the whole of the East Asian area that encompasses different countries.  Dr van Buren established the International College of Oriental Medicine (ICOM) in West Sussex and it was where I did my 3 year, degree level training. It is now the oldest running acupuncture college in the UK.  It is the only UK acupuncture college that teaches Stems and Branches acupuncture and I feel incredibly blessed to have studied there.

The body knows how to heal. It simply needs a gentle energetic nudge in the right direction.

I love Stems and Branches acupuncture! It is a more ancient form than the better known and relatively more modern type, TCM. It is a form of Five Element acupuncture but also considers the Five Elements in Heaven, not just here on Earth. If you are already familiar with classical Feng Shui, then the idea of space and time being represented by "Stems" and "Branches", and a person having a birth chart with "Four pillars" or four sets of stems and branches will not be new to you.

The Five Elements are:

1. Wood,
2. Fire,
3. Earth,
4. Metal,
5. Water.

Each element has a generating and a controlling aspect with regards the other elements. 

Like other acupuncture styles it is also very much rooted in assessing and balancing "Yin" and "Yang", to get your Qi (pronounced "chee"), or vital energies flowing freely around your body.

Stems and Branches philosophy goes back to Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor who was credited with establishing the astrological system of 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches. This system also gave rise to the compass school of Feng Shui.

The main classical Chinese text is the Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) containing 81 Chapters of the Su Wen ("Basic questions") and 81 chapters of the Ling Shu ("Spiritual Pivot"). There is much discussion about when this text was actually written, but most think it dates from between 400BCE to 260CE. Stems and Branches philosophy is referenced in Chapters 66 to 71 and Chapter 74 of the Su Wen.

Stems and Branches focusses on the natural cycles of Yin, Yang and the Five Elements within Yin and Yang, in relation to space and time. 

Unusually, Stems and Branches style uses a person's birth chart to help guide the treatments (in addition to the usual acupuncture way of "reading" the person's wrist pulses and looking at their tongue).

What does Stems and Branches style acupuncture mean for you?

1. Fewer acupuncture points are used - I often use only two or three and I      have sometimes used one point!
2. I needle one arm/hand and leg/foot. Most other types of whole body acupuncture such as TCM or Five Elements use both legs/feet and both arms/hands.
3. I use a very gentle needling technique.
4. My treatments take into account the energies of Heaven and Earth, and      therefore your own energies, at the time of your birth. To quote one of my      acupuncture patients, "it gives you back your "Mojo"!