Does it hurt?

Well….. the question can’t accurately be answered without direct knowledge of your pain threshold. What hurts to you?? Does breaking a bone hurt excruciatingly badly or does it hurt badly enough to just make you mad? Does getting a tattoo hurt badly, or does it feel like you are scratching a sunburn? I could list several examples of what some would consider pain, but the truth lies in your particular definition of pain. Here’s the deal: It hurts; there is a sensation of pain. How badly or how intense? The best analogy I can come up with is that it feels about like pulling a single strand of hair out of your head. That’s it. It’s over in a fraction of a second. The sensation immediately after the needle is inserted can range from immediate relaxation to a rush of energy or heat. Sometimes, certain points can ache a bit.

How a person “takes” acupuncture ranges, also. I know several people that can type with acupuncture needles in their hands. Me? I feel so relaxed that I don’t even want to move. Everyone is different. The best way to find out is to find a practitioner and get a treatment. Most patients actually fall asleep on the table and leave “acu-stoned”, which is very similar to how one feels immediately after a massage.

I severely dislike hearing children told that shots don’t hurt. Not cool. Not true. They DO hurt. Acupuncture hurts, but it is not PAINFUL. Again, there is a slight sensation of pain, but not enough to be discouraging. It is SO worth it!!

How does acupuncture work?

Over the years, I have heard this question countless times. The truth is, the answer is complex, having many layers and tangents. However, the easiest way to answer is to make an analogy to something most people are aware of. Basically, acupuncture works by “rebooting” or “restarting” the body. Computers and smartphones (to name two) are very common technologies. Most of us have or use one of these on a daily basis; some of us feel our lives are completely run by them. What would happen if we never restarted them? Never powered them down to reset? What would happen if we turned them off without following the proper shut down procedures? Hard drives get bogged down by cookies and temp files, processes may stop working or end without our knowledge, and not following proper maintenance steps takes a toll on the equipment.

The same is true of our bodies. The constant submersion into stress, stimulation, and cycles of days collaborates to do harm over time. Adding these to major health issues, accidents and injuries, and down-right neglect and harmful habits causes the negative stimuli to compile and we end up as physiological wrecks. What now? Medication, mostly. This is sad, simply, because for most of us there is another way. For many others, there can be a significant reduction in synthetic treatments.

Acupuncture helps us reset by correcting and ensuring the proper flow of qi (chi). The body houses a set of energy pathways, much like the circulatory system (veins, arteries, and capillaries), called meridians. As described by Will Mitchell of Merritt Wellness Center, Austin, TX, When these become kinked, much like a garden soaker hose, the energy flow is slowed or blocked. If you garden, or know someone who does, they most likely use a soaker hose. What happens to the flowers, vegetables, or plants that occur along the path of water after the kink? They suffer; worst case scenario, they will die from a lack of water. This is also true of our body systems. Acupuncture takes the kinks out, enabling qi to flow smoothly, providing us with the best chance of being or becoming healthy.

What stops us??

Often times, we seek the shortest distance between two points- we want what we want when we want it (or yesterday). How is that working for us?? How many steps are we skipping? Two of the most important lacking elements when trying to change behaviors around health and fitness are commitment and consistency over time. And you know what? It’s hard! But, what would it look like if we let the commitment to be healthy make us press on instead of the voice inside telling is to stop because of “whatever” reason- I can’t, this is stupid, it isn’t working, I will do it later, I’m too tired……..?? Try that on and stay with me!

This characteristic affects Every part of our lives, from finances to relationships to our health. My experience with being aware of and rising above my own internal dialogue is that not only am I successful in the endeavor at hand, my confidence and momentum bleed over into other areas of my life. I say this because, honestly, I think that one of the most confronting and manageable places to battle this is through making positive changes around our health.

Ask yourself what your triggers are- to eating, smoking, sleeping too much or not enough…? What sabotages you? What argument did you previously find that created a “quit”? Nail that and then create a shift, a new space within which to let that argument continue, but it is as if it is sealed behind walls and can’t touch your ongoing CHOICE to move forward.

This isn’t Oriental medicine, right?? Actually, maybe it is. One of the fundamental elements of Oriental medicine is the fluid relationship between Yin and Yang (that’s “yahhhhng”, people, not “yayng”, just sayin’…). This is a mutually-dependent exchange of opposites. One cannot exist without the other; one creates and opposes the other. Being aware of the internal opposition and letting it drive you, not hinder you, and coexist without a conscious battle creates an internal peace.

Be just as aware of what will stop you as you are of your goal and you are already setting yourself up for success. Now, where do we go from here?

Hello world!

Welcome to my blog!!  This is exciting for me as I have spent the past ten years learning and loving Oriental medicine and hope to pass a few things on to you , so that you can benefit from things I know.  It is important to say up front that I have not completed my masters degree yet.  I am not a doctor of Oriental medicine.  However, I have studied both formally and informally.  Life took me in a direction away from school and, in the meantime, I switched my focus to educational technology with the hopes of opening up the field of Oriental medicine education up to a broader student base through distance learning.

I have remained in touch with the discipline and brilliant mentors over the last several years. I hope to guide you through the wealth of information about Oriental medicine and the human body to some powerful text resources, provide links to great websites, and will do my best to answer questions. I will be posting on some important topics that often are not explained well or in layman’s terms. That is what I will do in my blog.