Introduction to Acupuncture

Whether you have had acupuncture before or you are considering it for the first time… you are not alone if you find yourself fascinated by the fact that hair-thin needles can change your life…literally. Even for those of us that have dedicated years to learning and practicing East Asian Medicine there remains a mystique. There is always something new to learn, some new twist on this 5,000 year old system.

When practicing acupuncture, or East Asian Medicine, one must learn to hold two seemingly opposite ideas in mind at one time, and hold them both as true. What do I mean by this? For example, “East Asian Medicine is infinitely complex, and…at the same, time exquisitely simple.”

How can these two both be true?

Acupuncture relies heavily on metaphor. For example the energy flows in the body start at the hands and the feet and build as they move toward the center. As they build moving inward the metaphor is that of a water way. The points along the meridian are named accordingly, for example the first point is Jing-Well, Ying-Spring, Shu-Stream, Jing-River, and He-Sea. Thus creating a picture of a well feeding the spring, which in turn feeds the stream, into the river, all the way to the sea.  We can imagine the energy starting small and building as it moves toward our core, picking up more volume, more energy. We can begin to imagine what would happen if this energy were blocked and we therefore understand some of the symptoms we experience with physical and emotional stagnation. The use of metaphor helps make the medicine accessible to each of us and in this way it is simple and accessible.

On the other hand, this is a very intricate system with many different correspondences. Each aspect of our being is constantly interacting and affecting others. These interactions are important considerations when making diagnosis and giving treatment. It is not a system of absolutes. It is a qualitative system, so the quality of energy in a point, a meridian, in a person is assessed during each visit and the information gathered allows ever finer distinctions to be made. One can study and practice this medicine for a lifetime and still never learn all there is to know. For this reason it can be said to be infinitely complex.

And this may be one of the greatest gifts of the medicine, the gift of learning to hold two seemingly opposite ideas in our mind at the same time and hold them both as true. What if by doing this you could start to see the places in your life that you thought were all wrong…and you began to see that they are ‘alright’? What if everything that you’ve come to believe is a problem…with your health, with your life, is actually exactly what you need; it is calling you to the next step? Do you see how something can be perfect as it is, and be something that you choose to change? We generally don’t change if we are comfortable. So what if those things in your life that are making you uncomfortable are perfect because they become the catalyst; the thing that gets you to move into new territory?
Each visit you will be seen as whole and your symptoms will be seen as sign posts helping you and your practitioner to know what direction you are being called to move.