Acupuncture for Wellness
Should I get acupuncture if I’m not sick? This is a question people often ask. For more than 2,500
years practitioners of acupuncture & Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) have emphasized the importance
of preventative medicine rather than waiting until the disease begins. Yang-sheng is the preventive
branch of Chinese medicine. Yang-sheng means to “nourish life.”
The tradition of drinking bone broth to nourish
well-being comes from the yang-sheng branch of Chinese medicine.
Another key concept from the yang-sheng tradition of acupuncture & TCM is emotional balance
is the key to wellness and longevity. According to TCM, external and internal factors bring health out of balance. The external factors include environmental factors (weather, pollution, viruses, etc.), while the internal factors are our emotions. The key to maintaining health is keeping our emotions balanced and not getting stuck in any emotion.
Western allopathic medicine usually doesn’t recognize the role of emotions in creating illness beyond
acknowledging stress exacerbates or causes 80 percent of all diseases. According to TCM,
specific emotions are linked to specific body parts: being stuck in a feeling can bring that
part of the body out of balance. Acupuncture & OM can help us stay healthy by balancing ouremotions.
TCM theory identifies specific emotions that bring us out of harmony in particular ways. How did thistheory develop? TCM practitioners have kept meticulous records for 2,500 years; there is a long tradition of scholarly observation and analysis of case studies. Through this long history, patterns of health and disease were identified; these patterns held consistently true and thus became an integral part of TCM theory.
One of the oldest books on Chinese medicine, “The Inner Classics of the Yellow Emperor,” compiled around 100 BCE said excess joy slows and scatters qi, excess anger causes qi to ascend, excess sadness and grief weakens qi, excess worry knots and binds qi, fear descends qi, and fright induces chaotic qi. The good news is each excessive emotion can be ‘harnessed,’ transformed and channeled into a virtuous emotion, which restores harmony and well-being.
This transformation of emotions is vital to the yang-sheng branch of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.. Among the most common excess emotions is the tendency to overthink, worry and rumination; this will tend to result in digestive issues, fluid metabolism concerns, and muscular tension and pain. To transform overthinking and worry into the virtue of creativity and dynamic insight, develop a regular meditation practice; even five to 10 minutes once a day can make a difference!
Marc teaches simple and effective meditation and Imagery exercises to assist in living life with more ease.
You will develop the discipline to redirect worry and overthinking into a dwelling in the present moment more often. A quote from “The Dhammapada” (The Buddha’s Path of Wisdom) expresses this, “As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring the flower, or its color orscent, so let a sage dwell in his village.” When you worry or overthink something, think of your thoughts like a bee.
Allow yourself to collect the ‘pollen’ of your thought while germinating future ideas and transforming your thoughts into honey. A bee does not cling to only one flower
Additionally, try acupressure at St36 and Sp3 to change worry into creative action. St36 is the excellent harmonizer point: this point does it all! St36 energizes your motivation to accomplish your goals while improving your energy, digestion and boosting the immune system! Locate this point by placing one hand just below the outer knee cap (index finger by the knee cap), use your other hand to find St36 (just below your pinky finger) just off the outershin.
Pair St36 with acupressure at Sp3 to clarify your mind and regulate your digestion. Locate Sp3 along the inside of the foot, run your finger along the edge of the big toe until your finger ‘falls’ into a divot, about three finger width from the base of the big toe.
Contact Marc Gian in the Flatiron District of NYC and Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to start feeling better!