The Quantum Leap 

Dear NITC readers, here is another guest blog from a friend I affectionately call Zen Dog.  She will be doing a few blogs whilst I am away which will be more focused on Chinese Medicine, yoga, massage and, I am sure, many other interesting things thrown in!

 

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Hi NITC readers!  I thought I would start my guest blogging with a subject close to me, that subject being acupuncture...it's a tiny bit longer than normal but hopefully interesting....

I started to have acupuncture a few years ago for back pain issues and was so amazed at the results that, to cut a long story short, I am now studying it!

One of the things I have found is that acupuncture has had a very positive effect on many people's lives, but they are not sure why. I'd like to just share with you how I was able to make sense of acupuncture. 

If we start at the very beginning then we know that the body's building blocks are cells and cells produce energy as they actively do their jobs to keep us alive and functioning. This energy is called qi in Chinese medicine.  Changes to our health, in the very beginning, are said to occur at this cellular level. The changes are then reflected in the energy of those cells. 

Stress on cells can occur through things such as overuse of a certain area of the body, long term emotional frustration, changes in environment and also diet.   These issues cause contraction of the cells and they start to dysfunction and simply not work effectively, with potential that they eventually stop being able to rid themselves of cellular waste.  This tends to make them particularly tired and irritated just as we can become tired and irritated when stuck on a platform filling up with people but not going anywhere during tube delays! Unlike the tube though, we are very fortunate that the body is an amazing feat of biological engineering and has an innate mechanism for self healing. Every second of every day systems are running checks on things like pressure, volume, chemical levels and temperature to then send in help where necessary to maintain a balance so we can function optimally. This balance is called homeostasis in the west and yin/yang in the east. 

The closest related theories that gel with the approaches of Chinese Medicine are those of the quantum physicist. Quantum physics describes everything as interrelated and a continuum. A change in one will inevitably cause an effect in another and incidents cannot be isolated.  So after quite detailed questioning, your acupuncturist will be thinking along the following lines; Where could this issue have come from? Why is it affecting this person this way? Do they have symptoms of any progression of where the next likely place to experience changes could be? How can we help nourish this energy to facilitate a positive outcome?  Is there anything underlying that keeps making this issue arise?

Now to the needles! The energy, or qi, of the body can be accessed via the meridians. There are 12 main ones running up and down the body. These meridians are the gateway to being able to tweak the energy - using needles. Needles are not the cure. Needles facilitate the bodys healing mechanism when placed on specific points that are linked to the presented condition of the patient.  The aim is for your qi to be in a healthy state and flowing evenly around the body.

The tradition of Acupuncture is over 3000 years old and the premise was to maintain wellness over treating illness. In the west, we are used to not really thinking about our bodies until they are sick and there is a physical manifestation that we can label  and symptoms start affecting our daily living. 

If we try to listen to small changes then the potential big changes may not get so big.  And this could be be true for any area of life! The quantum world is in our hands... 

Zen Dog