Acupuncture is now used the world over to treat a wide range of health conditions. The foundation of acupuncture, of it’s theory and practice, derives from the Nei Jing (Ling Shu and Su Wen), a classic text compiled in the Warring States time in China over 2000 years ago. All traditional forms of acupuncture can be traced back to this text.
Acupuncturists treat what is called ‘Qi’ to release blockages and create balance and harmony in a person’s body.The idea is that if the rivers of the body flow freely then natural health will follow. Qi is often translated as energy but this is not really a helpful translation. It is best understood on its own terms simply as Qi. Qi is everywhere – it can move quickly or very slowly and appear as solid and immobile – for example a rock. Acupuncturists work with needles, but also with moxabustion (artemesia vulgaris that is used to warm and stimulate Qi), cupping and with stroking the skin with implements (Gua Sha for example).
When I work with acupuncture, I have a few tools in the toolkit, as it were, with a number of different styles and approaches to draw on. We all have imbalances and areas of comparative depletion in our body, mind, spirit. I try and identify imbalances in a person through looking, listening, palpation/ touch and asking questions. This leads me to reflect on how which approach I might best take – to optimise their health at that given moment. What works on one day may not be so effective the next and what works for one person may be unhelpful for another. Over time we learn what seems to work best. When its been a good treatment the person’s pulses feel better (there are six pulses in each wrist) and there is a sense of calm and feeling of wellbeing.
A guide to different traditional acupuncture approaches and traditions
TCM – this is the most widely used style of acupuncture and it came out of efforts to standardise Chinese medicine in the People’s Republic of China. Herbal medicine and acupuncture are combined. Using the eight principles and an understanding of the pathology of the organs, patterns of disharmony are identified. When you hear someone talking about things like Liver Qi Stagnation, or Dampness and Phlegm – this is coming from a TCM approach.
Five Element treatment. Five Element acupuncture treatment strengthens the core of a person at a profound level through working on a person’s constitutional or guardian element. It is particularly good (in my view) for supporting a person at an emotional level. Some people are uncomfortable about using words like spirit but I think acupuncture does touch a person at a spirit level and five element approaches aim to do just this.
Meridian Therapy – These Japanese approaches involve diagnosing the root pattern or ‘sho’ and using a range of treatment approaches to work on supporting the root and targeting symptoms directly. Needling is subtle and delicate. These are the most gentle of approaches.
Toyohari – a form of acupuncture that evolved from Meridian Therapy and the ‘Return to the Classic’s movement in Japan and developed in the latter half of the 20th Century. It was mainly practised by blind physicians until more recently when Stephen Birch and Junko Ida have worked tirelessly to bring the knowledge and skills of these extraordinary physicians to the West. The sense of touch becomes more highly developed with blindness and the teachers of Toyohari are so generous with sharing knowledge to help us help our patients.
Shonishin – Japanese acupuncture for children. Simple techniques can also be taught to parents so that they can administer treatment to their children. Children usually love this treatment. Needles are not necessary. Children’s Qi is vibrant and they respond very quickly to what seems like minimal intervention.
Manaka – Manaka was a Japanese acupuncturist who was a true innovator. He dealt with many patients after the nuclear explosions and treated burns victims routinely – learning how to balance the body and help them recover- he was also an inventor and took acupuncture in new directions.
‘Advanced Acupuncture’ – following the lineage of Jeffrey Yuen. ‘Advanced acupuncture’ is a term used to describe acupuncturists working with the complement channels, which include the divergent channels, the eight extra channels, the connecting channels, sinew channels and cutaneous channels – as well as the twelve primary meridians.
Please get in touch if you have any further questions or queries about acupuncture, moxabustion or cupping.
Taking a person’s pulses – six different pulses are felt in each wrist