Acupuncture
Acupuncture
Your body makes millions of healing substances and knows exactly how to use them. Acupuncture is the most advanced technique for activating the natural self-healing abilities of the body and
strengthening and supporting the body to prevent future illness and disease.
Why Is Acupuncture So Popular?
Here are just a few reasons:
It's Incredibly Safe
Acupuncture is proven to be one of the safest therapies on Earth, used by millions of people the world over on a daily basis. Sterile, single-use, disposable needles. No bleeding or pain. And, virtually no side-effects.
Proven Results
Acupuncture is perhaps the oldest form of therapy on planet Earth. It has stood the test of time and continues to demonstrate effectiveness today. Study after study has shown it to be effective for a wide range of health conditions. Again, because it amplifies your body’s natural healing mechanisms, it can help in virtually any situation.
It's POWERFUL
Zen-Like Relaxation
Acupuncture is one of the most relaxing therapies you’ll ever experience. You’ll look forward to its rejuvenating effects.
How Acupuncture Works
According to ancient Chinese theory, Qi (pronounced “chee”) circulates in the body through 14 main meridians to all parts of the body. Meridians form a highly-complex invisible network that transports and directs Qi to every part of the body, not unlike your circulatory system. Meridians are like rivers running from your head to your fingers and toes—energizing, nourishing and supporting every cell, tissue, organ and bodily system: skeletal, muscular, endocrine, circulatory, digestive, respiratory, urinary, reproductive, and nervous.
Qi is the vital energy in all living things, from the smallest cell to the largest tree. Qi is necessary for growth, development, movement, maintenance of body temperature, protection against illness and overall regulation of the body. Our health is influenced by the quality, quantity and balance of our qi. When it flows freely and in abundance, we feel well. Yet, sometimes our Qi can become blocked or imbalanced. Physical and emotional trauma, stress, lack of exercise, overexertion, seasonal changes, diet, accidents, surgeries, and insufficient sleep can lead to a blockage or imbalance of Qi. If the disruption to Qi is prolonged or excessive, or if the body is in a weakened state, then illness, pain or disease can set in.
When the balance of your Qi is restored, your body, mind and spirit are returned to the ability to heal anything that has not been damaged beyond repair. When your Qi is in balance, you have a strong immunity to illness, and when you do get sick you recover quickly. If you are injured, you heal easily. Each of your physical systems continues to work as it should, without manifesting symptoms of illness.
When your Qi is in balance, you are healthy on the mental and spirit levels as well.
Your mind is quick and clear, inquisitive and growing. You have a sense of purpose in your life, a sense of well-being and energy to live life to the fullest.
Through Five Element Acupuncture treatments, your Qi is guided back toward the balance that is required for good health on all levels. Because ANY illness or problem ultimately manifests from an imbalance of Qi, treatment that helps to restore this balance will have a beneficial effect.
With fine, sterile, single-use acupuncture needles, the acupuncturist stimulates purposefully selected acupuncture points along the course of the meridians. Such stimulation helps restore the normal balance and flow of Qi so organs and body systems can work together in harmony. This promotes the body’s natural capacity to heal itself. While there are several Western biomedical theories about how acupuncture works, there is not yet a definitive consensus.
Other treatment modalities, such as herbal medicine, acupressure, Qi Gong and moxibustion, may also be used. Acupressure is a massage technique that stimulates the meridians, facilitating the flow of Qi. Qi Gong is an exercise using specific breathing and movements to improve health and vitality. Moxibustion is the use of a dried herb called mugwort, which is rolled into a small cone and burned as a warming therapy during treatment.
In Five Element Acupuncture, we work to restore balance to your whole system by addressing the underlying causes of imbalance. These causes can originate at either the physical, mental or spirit level within your system.
Most are familiar with the physical level (symptoms such as pain, itching, tension) and the mental level (a lack of clarity or focus, depression) however the spirit level is not as commonly understood in our culture.
One might describe it as that part of us, which when vital and strong, is able to feel optimistic and full of purpose even when things are not going the way we would like. Many people these days are not in touch with this sense. They are trying to make everything around them the way they want so that they can feel good. This indicates a lack of connection on the spirit level, which is an imbalance that ultimately leads to physical and emotional symptoms.
With Five Element Acupuncture, we address the imbalance at the levels of origin, be it the physical, mental or spirit level, giving your whole system to the ability to heal itself, and restoring you to your natural vitality, enthusiasm, decisiveness, and inspiration, as well as physical well-being.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) focuses on the acupuncture point functions to alleviate symptoms while Classical Five Element Acupuncture honors the ancient roots of acupuncture and works in a more integrated and holistic approach — finding and treating the root cause across the physical, mental or spirit levels within your system and restoring balance to your entire being.
Five Element Acupuncture differs greatly from today’s modernized acupuncture practice. What is commonly known as TCM is a deviation that started centuries ago during China’s Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644).
During that period, the Imperial Academy considered Classical Acupuncture to be too complicated to practice and, with their bias towards herbal medicine, they believed acupuncture was only effective for acute problems and not chronic diseases. Acupuncture became simplified into what is now a Primary Meridian based treatment rather than the ancient complex practice based on five different energetic systems.
Another big shift occurred in the early 20th century with the influence of Western science in China.
For a short time, Western medicine and herbal medicine were considered to be more effective treatments for modern infectious type diseases and acupuncture became, essentially, illegal to practice. Fortunately, the acupuncture tradition was kept alive by the rural population and the continued practice eventually led to its restoration as a legal medical practice in China.
In an effort to legitimize the practice and understand its efficacy, acupuncture was significantly influenced by Western science, leading to the creation of today’s modern standardized acupuncture point-based and symptom-focused system of treatment – TCM.
