The Power of Private Acupuncture

I am writing this to shed more light on our decision to let go of the community aspect of Clarity acupuncture. I will begin with a very current story.

I have a patient who discovered her “recipe” just last week.  Our work together was set into motion by her concern for her heel pain, and also a desire to live a more peaceful and relaxed life. 

She could have gone to a specialist, told them she had plantar fasciitis, and gotten on some medication for it, like a good American. Or she could have gone to an acupuncturist who “fixes symptoms,” and tried that out. But she was with us.

We began by letting go of the label “plantar fasciitis.”  Labels come with a lot of baggage. There is a universal story about what they mean and lots of other people’s energy and experiences attached to them. If the patient is willing we ask them to “kiss it and scooch it aside.” (Our mentor, Diane Connelly’s words). She agreed and I suggested that we break it down into the exact phenomena she experiences.

With any symptom that comes and goes, the first practice for the patient will be to notice the exact moments of coming and going of the phenomena. So, my patient agreed to get more curious than ever about her heel pain, and over the next couple of weeks she realized that it was more noticeable in the evenings. She then realized it was even more noticeable on evenings in which she had been on her feet quite a lot that day.  She then noticed that on some evenings in which she had been on her feet all day, it was not noticeable at all. Hmmm. She kept watching and realized that the day had to also be “stressful” AND she had to be on her feet quite a lot.  So the recipe was really starting to coalesce.  After a couple more weeks of being curious, she also narrowed it down to a particular pair of shoes that seemed to really aggravate the heel pain.

So let’s look at where we are:

Recipe for heel pain:

• One part “stress”
• One part being on her feet all day
• One part those pesky shoes

= heel pain.

 All of the practicing and noticing she did brought us to the recipe for her heel pain, which is actually why the body created the heel pain in the body in the first place:  In hopes that she would listen deeply to the phenomena so that it could kindly nudge her back into an awareness of how she needs to be taking care of herself.

 We now have a much more empowered patient who sees the meaning behind the symptom, and most importantly, does not need an acupuncturist or other “expert” to “fix” her.

 ALL SYMPTOMS THAT COME AND GO HAVE A RECIPE.  THEY ARE ALSO ALL TEACHERS. They are gifts from our bodies. They are inviting us to follow them into a more balanced and effortless way of being, and ultimately are encouraging us to live and fulfill our destinies.

 True Chinese Medicine is the philosophy of movement. It never tries to fix what’s so.  That is because we can always trust that what’s so is perfect.  I did create movement around her heel pain with my treatments: on two separate occasions I touched Kidney 1. The rest of the points were all done to treat her gifts, expand what’s well about her, and help her to become more in her senses so she was more awake to what her body was offering.  She now experiences the heel pain very infrequently. She still wears those shoes sometimes and that’s an okay thing because now she is making an empowered decision about them. We are on to unraveling some other mysteries, and in the meantime, she feels more peaceful than she has in a long time.

 This story really embodies what we can achieve with a dedicated patient. We offer a mix of real Eastern Medicine (a philosophy of movement that never tries to fix what’s so) with a cutting-edge approach to modern dis-ease care.

 Our decision to let go of practicing community acupuncture was based on the fact that we did not have the time or space for the crucial coaching piece. This involves quite a lot of listening and exploring, curiosity, reminding, updating, notating and sometimes privacy.  And it seems that this is what we do best.  We want patients to leave empowered and in-touch with the language of their bodies.  One-to-one private acupuncture provides all of the space and time to create the meaningful awakenings we were taught to help others uncover.  We also have the use of all of the points on the body, which I have found is no less than crucial to creating the movement that’s possible to create.

 The bottom-line is that we practice a rare and resurfacing approach to illness: We want to give the power back to the patient. In a world of experts and specialists and medication, you can count on us to hold that your body is very wise. You only need to remember how to tune into it.  Please visit us for a natural return to wellness and thank you for being a part of the ever-unfolding flow of this year.  -Sarah Thomas, MA, LAc

Can Acupuncture create weight-loss?

Acupuncture can enhance and quicken weight-loss in two ways. One: through physically intentioned treatments and two: through spirit/emotional treatments.  First, I will address how it can help your body directly. Then I will address how it can (more pivotally) create movement in the deeper aspects of our beings that are at the root of our struggle with weight.

In Chinese medical theory, there is a fire called the Ming-Men. It is the sole source of warmth for our entire body, and is located between the kidneys on the lower back. Much like the fireplace in an old-fashioned home, many vital processes are contingent on the strength of this fire.  Metabolism and digestion are two key functions that rely entirely on the health of Ming-Men.

When Ming-Men, also known as The Gate of Life, is warm and strong we experience efficient digestion, effortless transformation of food into nutrients and effortless excretion of the parts of food that do not serve us. Most importantly our metabolism is fast and we can burn calories and transform food into nourishment rather than fat. We all have that friend who eats whatever they want and seem to stay thin. They have a faster metabolism; a warmer Gate of Life.

Acupuncture and herbs can be used to warm and nourish your gate of life, quickening your metabolism.   A lot of education can happen in acupuncture, too. You will learn how to keep the fire warm and do your part at home.  For example, people tend to think salad is a good food to eat when trying to lose weight. But lettuce and tomatoes are not only cold in temperature, but are also cold foods energetically, causing the Gate of Life to cool.  For the same reason, it is helpful to stay away from ice water, and eat other cold things in moderation. When we eat warm foods, especially in the winter, our bodies do not have to overuse the energy of Ming-Men to heat the food in order to digest it, and our Ming-Men (metabolism) can remain strong.  Soups and stews are best.

This fire is responsible for more than just digestion and metabolism. It also has a powerful effect on energy levels, sex-drive, and mood.  Like exercise, Chinese medicine can help your Ming-Men get hotter and your metabolism get faster.

Acupuncture is also an incredible option for detoxification.  If cravings for foods that aren’t exactly good for you is a part of your weight-loss journey, acupuncture can detox the “damp”(dairy, milk-products, cheese, sugar) and toxins (preservatives, heavy metals, pesticides) out of your body and help you feel clear-headed and experience less cravings.  It is not YOU who is craving that cookie. It’s actually the sugar that’s inside your body that is craving it.  Once that clears out, you will not experience as many cravings.

These physical phenomena are very helpful to address, and still there is so much more we can do with good spirit-centered Chinese Medicine. The most important part of transforming your body is noticing and addressing your body’s connection to your heart and soul. Anyone who has struggled with weight knows very well that it can be such an intense emotional journey and at times, quite a struggle.  If you are reading this, you have already begun to heal and change.  You have made a step towards a new possibility.  The transformation has already started.

The key to creating real and lasting transformation is beginning with the crucial first step: a deep bow to exactly what is so right now.  Yes, you are at the perfect weight right now. You are actually perfect exactly as you are in all ways. Notice your reaction to that thought.

If your reaction was anything less than peaceful acceptance, then there is possibility for you in spirit.   Real Eastern medicine is such a gift because it teaches the truth: fighting disease/struggle doesn’t work.  We are not fixing what’s broken, because nothing is broken.  You are whole and complete right now. There ARE possibilities present, however. Everything is perfect now, AND there is worthy work to do. A paradox.

I practice a form of healing that pays a lot of attention to what’s going on in a person’s heart. I believe that all illness, like all wellness, is rooted in spirit.  This does not mean that physical issues are of a reflection of something being wrong in one’s spirit. It does mean, that somewhere in your spirit, there is a possibility.

When Spirit (with a capital S) wants to give us something, it will make us aware of our need for it.  There is something Spirit wants you to know about you. There is something She wants you to get about what your unique gifts are. If you have been struggling with something for a long time (food, weight, illness, etc.) then you know that Spirit is really dying to make you aware of this gift you have. She is not going to let you go on without getting this. And this gift you have probably has a lot to do with your role here on the planet. You have something the world needs that no one can presence but you.  There is no one like you, and no one can presence your gifts. Does the world need your faith, your creativity, your wisdom? Your joy? What if the world were never to receive the true potency that you are?

We begin to see that we are blessed if we have an illness or addiction, because we have this opportunity to become present and pay attention to the healing process – which alone contains the possibility of change.  The world needs your gifts and your destiny is so very important.  So the journey that you are on is one big opportunity. You have been blessed with this world-healing possibility. And you don’t simply do it for you. Every time you come to your edge and you choose to practice, you change the world for everybody. Everyone’s strength grows a little more. Everyone sees a little more light at the end of the tunnel. And I mean everyone –animals, trees and stars, too. That’s how connected we are. Who else in your life gets to come home when you hit a home run?

And we are blessed with this Eastern medicine which, (when done correctly) knows that fighting disease, or trying to fix what’s broken, is not going to be as potent as shining the light on these inspirational and exciting possibilities.

When you wrap this kind of healing relationship around this journey with your body, then real, deep, sustainable, inner transformation can occur. And you begin to realize that you actually were perfect all along. You simply were not seeing it before. You don’t care if you are fat or if you are thin, because you are at peace.  And when you are present and at peace, you naturally and effortlessly want to come into communion with your body. You choose foods that make you feel good without struggle. Effortlessness begins.

When this conversation really begins to shift inside of you from “something is broken that I need to fix” to “something incredible is possible” then true and lasting healing is taking place. We begin to shine a light on what is healthy and natural and whole inside of us and the stuckness and non-movement lets go of us.

 

The acupuncture wakes you up to who you really are. All of that wisdom is held in your body.  If you feel like you want to explore this path, we can do it together.  And we can hold both: The practices (work-outs, eating habits) AND the wisdom that you are perfect now.  I think this might be the great possibility…walking the path and holding both.

Don’t forget: If weight has been a struggle for you, you are blessed. There is something about you that you need to become aware of that will begin to show itself as you move forward in the healing process.  You have a gift that the world dearly needs and you are the only one who can presence it.  Not only are you not broken, you are whole and extremely unique. When you change, you change for all of us. Effortlessness can emerge when you choose this perspective, and the struggle will let go of you.

Byron Katie writes, “Let yourself have a flaw. Who else is going to teach us to be perfect now if not you? I like to say that we are all looking for one teacher, just one, who will let us know that it is okay to be who we are now.”

I suggest the following books, which have been critical to me on this path:

The Gift of Our Compulsions by Mary O’Malley

A New Earth by Eckhardt Tolle

A Thousand Names for Joy by Byron Katie

Walking with God by James Keeley

                                             Gratefully,

                                 Sarah E. Thomas, L.Ac.