Extra Details about Acupuncture - Kitsap Family Acupuncture

Here is a little more information about what I do, and what the NIH says we do…in case you are one of those people who really like to know what’s going on before you come in. I appreciate you.

What is Essential Oil Therapy?

What is Esoteric Energy Medicine?

How do I use the idea of Stillpoint in my practice?

How does Energy Medicine align with Chinese Medicine?

Acupuncture and Modern Science

NIH Consensus and WHO Viewpoint

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is the gentle insertion of very fine needles into specific points on the body. This process stimulates movement of energy within the body, allowing natural healing to take place. These points are selected based on years of training Acupuncturists receive, which is based on over 3,000 years of experience in China. Acupuncture helps to prevent illness by improving the overall functioning the body’s immune and organ systems. Acupuncture is helpful for:

Treating existing illnesses and injuries
Preventing both recurrence of illnesses and new illness
Improving overall health
Healing Anxiety and Emotional Stresses

How does Acupuncture work?

The Classical Chinese explanation is that energy (Qi) flows in channels (meridians) throughout the body and over its surfaces. These channels are rivers of energy, which are referred to as meridians. The Chinese have identified 71 meridians in the human body, which is a basic energy map for all people. The meridians are often compared to a series of interconnected highways. Each of the major organs in the body is associated with its own meridian. Through the network of meridians, the internal organs are connected to certain areas and parts of the body including: the muscles, bones, joints, and also other organs. The Chinese believe that health is a manifestation of balance, both within the body itself and between the body and the external environment. When the body is internally balanced and in harmony with the external environment, Qi flows smoothly through the meridians to nourish the organs and tissues. If an obstruction occurs in one of the meridians, the Qi is disrupted and cannot flow properly. When the Qi cannot flow smoothly or is forced to flow in the opposite direction, the body’s innate balance is disrupted and illness results. Acupuncture points are the specific points on the meridians where the Qi is both concentrated and accessible. Acupuncture engages the Qi by inserting needles at these specific points, the goal being to restore the proper flow of Qi. As the body regains its natural balance, well-being returns.

How can Acupuncture help?

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine complements conventional medicine. They are not substitutes for any conventional medical advice, medications or treatments. As a complement to conventional medicine, acupuncture can treat both acute and chronic problems such as insomnia, digestive and elimination problems, headaches, sleeping disorders, chronic pain, headaches, gynecological issues, aging concerns, smoking and eating disorders, and much more. For more conditions, see the World Health Organization list.
Acupuncture can help reduce or eliminate the need for medications for many conditions including narcotics and other pain-relievers, but your family doctor must always be consulted in such instances.

Traditional Chinese Medicine looks at illnesses from a different perspective than conventional medicine. The basic tenet of Chinese Medicine is that we have a life force that energizes all the metabolic activity in our bodies, and this life force (often referred to as “qi”) is always moving and flowing. When qi flows unimpeded, we are healthy. When qi is blocked, we get pain and ultimately disease. The strategy of the Practitioner of Oriental Medicine is to find the areas of blocked energy, and help remove those blocks, which in turn helps the body return to its natural healthy state.

When you first visit the office of an acupuncturist, the practitioner will sit with you and do an intake. We are interested in all your symptoms and medical history. This helps us begin to determine our treatment strategy. The Chinese medical model is often very effective at treating hard to diagnose problems since it does not rely on having to know the biochemical reason for your condition, which is not known in most cases, particularly where blood tests and MRI’s are normal. Even when blood tests show imbalances, it is not usually known why this is happening.

This difference in perspective means that Traditional Chinese Medicine can often make sense of illnesses that Western medicine has difficulty treating. In cases where Western medicine may be limited to prescribing medication for symptom management, acupuncture may be able to intervene and encourage the body in a self-healing process. Acupuncture/Oriental Medicine is currently the fastest growing healing modality in the country.

Essential Oil Therapy

Essential Oils are AMAZING. I LOVE THEM. They are a sacred gift from plants that is finely tuned to heal different aspects of our being. And it just so happens that acupuncture points are incredible synthesizers of this sacred medicine. I use Floracoepia Essential Oils, all organic and bio-harvested. Please let me know in advance if you are on a homeopathic remedy. Essential Oils counteract the healing benefit of most homeopathics. Essential Oils are best used in treatment to deepen relaxation, ground and root energy, heighten spiritual connection, open the Chakras and promote balance, heal respiratory illnesses and imbalances, create vitality and many many more purposes.
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Acutonics®

The Acutonics® Healing System is an energy-based non-invasive treatment that is similar to acupuncture. Precision calibrated tuning forks are applied to specific acupuncture and acupressure points to access the body’s Meridian and Chakra energy systems. These tuning forks represent a natural harmonic series based on the orbital properties of the Earth, Moon, Sun and planets. Their rich resonance and vibration connects with and supports the body’s natural frequencies. The sound waves of the forks vibrate and travel deeply into the body along energy pathways, affecting human physiology and reaching places not easily accessed by traditional medicine. Applying the forks stimulates and balances the body’s physical and subtle energy field to promote healing and inner harmony. Listening to the forks speaks to us deeply by connecting with our vestibular system, within the inner ear canal, and accessing our sense of motion, balance, space, memory, and healing.

How can it help?
Acutonics works similarly to Acupuncture. Like Acupuncture, the primary benefit is a balancing of energy. In many cases the tuning forks can be used by themselves without needles to achieve the same, if not deeper results of harmony. Acutonics treatments can be used to treat the same conditions as Acupuncture. In addition, many emotional and spiritual concerns can be addressed. We can, however, use the combination of needles and tuning forks to really address specific concerns.

Is it painful? 
There are no needles or insertions with Acutonics, so those who are sensitive to needles and to experiencing their own qi sensations will find Acutonics to be more relaxing and less fear-inducing. The sensations often reported with Acutonics treatments are a deep inner vibration, and the feeling of being washed in tranquility.

How are treatments different from Acupuncture?
Because there are no needles, there are no insertions with Acutonics. The only sensation is around the vibrations created with the tuning forks. With Acupuncture, it’s normal to have the needles retained for up to forty minutes. The tuning forks are on a point for usually less than a minute, and then the next point is selected. The amount of time spent on a treatment is the same.

When do I use Acupuncture and Acutonics? 
This distinction is made during each treatment. I choose combinations based on individual treatment goals. If you have a fear of needles and wish to only have sound therapies, please let me know and your wish will be accommodated.

What is Energy Medicine?

Energy Medicine is as ancient as time itself. It is the intuitive knowing that we all possess. Some of us have honed that knowingness into a useful tool for health and healing. Energy Medicine can encapsulate many different types of styles that are learned by different practitioners. Some of the styles work with breath, with motion, physically moving energy, and visualization among other avenues. It is a gentle and wonderfully effective way to raise vibration, move old patterns and beliefs, facilitate energy flow and surround yourself with a sense of peace and well being.

What is Esoteric Energy Medicine?

Esoteric Energy Medicine is a way to encapsulate a lot of what I do into a phrase. People often ask me what I do, and I feel like saying “I’m an Acupuncturist” doesn’t even begin to explain the concepts that encapsulate what I do. Chinese Medicine has been practiced for thousands of years, and it’s an amazing medicine full of history and rich tradition. Unfortunately, much of the tradition that resonates with me as a healer has been forgotten and replaced with a very medical model that can be assimilated more closely with Western Medicine. My thinking does not lay along those lines. Where Western Medicine tells you it can “heal you,” my tradition of healing focuses on how YOU can heal you.

How do I use the idea of Stillpoint in my practice?

Are you wondering what you need someone like me for, when there are so many other options? I am a vessel, for lack of a better word. It is my job to channel all the right healing energies and bring them to balance in this moment. In this moment you have come looking for a way to balance your energy and heal old wounds. There is a concept in a lot of different energy medicines called “Stillpoint.” Stillpoint is this place in time when for the briefest of moments everything becomes still, resets, and begins again. It’s the universal “reset” button. The Esoteric Energy Medicine that I practice takes the world of energy around me, from Acupuncture, from Reiki, from guided visualization, from Cranial-Sacral, from intuitive knowingness, from just being present with another human being, and looks for the space in time where all these healings come together. This is a place, a Stillpoint, where all these beautiful traditions meet, see each other eye to eye, and decide how they will assist you. Stop. Beat. And then begin again. It just takes breath. It just takes presence. It takes the desire to be your highest self. Esoteric Healings give you the space and time and understanding of how to step into what’s next, how to raise your vibration and keep it there, how to let go of what no longer serves you, so you can shine from every corner of your being. That is what I can assist you with. That is Esoteric Energy Medicine. That is what I do.

What is Reiki?

Reiki is Love Medicine. Reiki uses ancient symbols and intuition to create balance and health. Reiki was initially understood by Dr. Usui in Japan. Legend says he had a mystical experience on Mt. Kurama where he learned to facilitate this beautiful Love Medicine. Today, one can receive training in this amazingly effective art and learn to do Reiki on yourself, your friends, or if you so choose, professionally. It’s a great addendum to other healing professions. What do I mean by Love Medicine? Love Medicine is an ancient art of using the true love within to guide your healing. With Reiki this is exceptionally easy—this healing technique is so pure that simply staying focused on the best intentions for the patient provides dramatic and sustained results.

How does Energy Medicine align with Chinese Medicine?

Since I was a child I have been intuitive. I didn’t know what to call the sensations and visions I was having then, but over the years I have learned all the ways I was different from those around me.

I was drawn to Chinese Medicine for many reasons, the largest reason being I wanted to teach families to take care of their children in a natural way—and in so doing help people remember that the tools to heal themselves lie within. What I didn’t know when I started Chinese Medicine school was that the history of Acupuncture as an Energy Art is deeply rooted in its foundations. Learning acupuncture quickly accentuated the intuitive gifts I had been growing since I was a child.

My practice is built on the understanding that there is a middle ground between the ideas behind the Channel theories of Chinese Medicine, and the Chakra System found in many esoteric healing systems. The combination of these and other healing systems has been seamless, and for me become deeply rich with meaning. These integrated healings are creating dynamic healing transformations both for my patients and me as a healer.

Through a combination of intuitive knowingness, master reiki level attunements, and a deeply rooted understanding of Chinese Medicine, lasting and deeply rewarding shifts can be created and held. It is my great honor to continue to dive into the healing possibilities that exist when these distinct ideas are merged.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my healing philosophies and styles.

Acupuncture and Modern Science

To the human body, acupuncture needles are a physical stimulus. In Western science, a stimulus is defined as a detectable change in either the external environment or within the body itself. When the body detects change, it produces a response. Although acupuncture is not yet fully understood by Western science, with modern technology scientists can now actually begin to “see” the body’s response to acupuncture. For example, using an MRI (a very sophisticated x-ray), researchers have shown that when a needle is inserted at specific acupuncture points on the body, corresponding changes occur in the brain. In the West, acupuncture is most well-known for its ability to relieve pain, so the majority of research thus far has been done in this area. Acupuncture points are now believed to stimulate the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) to release pain- relieving chemicals into the muscles, spinal cord and brain. Acupuncture may also stimulate other chemicals to be released by the brain, including hormones that influence the self-regulating system of the body.

The NIH Consensus Statement on Acupuncture

In 1997 the U.S. National Institutes of Health published a Consensus Statement on the use and effectiveness of acupuncture for a variety of conditions. View the full Consensus.
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The World Health Organization

In the hands of a well-trained practitioner, acupuncture has much broader applications beyond pain relief. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the use of acupuncture in the treatment of a wide range of common illnesses including:
Upper Respiratory Tract

Acute sinusitis
Acute rhinitis
Common Cold and Flu
Acute tonsillitis

Respiratory System

Acute bronchitis
Bronchial asthma (Most effective in children and uncomplicated conditions.)

Eye Disorders

Acute conjunctivitis
Central Retinitis Myopia (in children).
Cataracts (without complications)

Mouth Disorders

Toothache
Post Extraction Pain.
Gingivitis
Acute and Chronic Pharyngitis

Gastrointestinal Disorders

Spasms of esophagus
Hiccough
Gastroptosis
Acute and Chronic Gastritis
Gastric Hyperacidity
Chronic Duodenal Ulcer (pain relief)
Acute Duodenal Ulcer (without complications)
Acute and Chronic Colitis
Acute Bacillary Dysentery
Constipation
Diarrhea
Paralytic Ileus

Neurologic and Musculoskeletal Disorders

Headache and Migraine
Trigeminal Neuralgias
Facial Palsy (early stage, i.e., within 3-6 months)
Pareses Following a Stroke
Peripheral Neuropathies
Sequelae of Poliomyelitis (early stage, i.e., within 6 months)
Meniere’s Disease
Neurogenic Bladder Dysfunction
Nocturnal Enuresis (bedwetting)
Intercostal Neuralgia
Cervicobrachial Syndrome
Frozen Shoulder
Tennis Elbow
Sciatica
Low Back Pain
Osteoarthritis
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Back and Knee Pain
Fibromyalgia
Chronic Fatigue
Sports Injuries and Pains

Reproductive & Gynecological Conditions

Premenstrual Syndrome
Dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramps)
Spotting and Excessive Bleeding
Amenorrhea (Loss of Menstrual Period)
Impotence
Infertility
Incontinence
Prostatis

Mental Emotional Problems

Stress
Anxiety
Depression
Insomnia

The World Health Organization Interregional Seminar compiled the above list of illnesses that may benefit from acupuncture treatment. The list is only a partial list and is based on clinical experience, and not necessarily on controlled clinical research. The inclusion of specific diseases are not meant to indicate the extent of acupuncture’s efficacy in treatment, since all conditions may vary in severity and response.

Source: World Health Organization. Viewpoint on Acupuncture. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 1979.
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Summary

Oriental medicine has been around for thousands of years, and has provided us with a unique and holistic approach to help prevent and treat disease. Western science and Traditional Chinese Medicine ultimately rely on the body’s natural healing ability to maintain health and protect against disease. Both have the same goal of helping a person stay healthy. Western science tends to use drugs and surgery as needed. Acupuncturists tend to use gentle needling and herbs. A combination of both systems creates an ideal environment of health and healing.

Cranial Sacral Therapy

There are many ways to explain Cranial Sacral Therapy, and many different ways of utilizing this profound, amazing healing modality. If you are receiving Cranial from an Osteopath it will be very different than receiving from an energy healer.

I have received a lot of Cranial over the years the only commonality is that I loved every treatment. Clearly I have never received my own treatments, but I can tell you what I’m experiencing while I’m working. There are many subtle energies that run through the body, and most simplistically, I am connecting with them and helping the energy return to a natural state of existence.

Ok, that sounds very eclectic, and that’s what I love best about this modality. It’s about listening to the body. When my hands are resting on you, your body literally guides me towards finding a place of balance within you. Sometimes I see images that I convey to you. Sometimes I start breathing differently and realize if you changed your breath to match mine you would connect in with a deep part of yourself that needs this gentle nourishment. Sometimes I just sit and wait, allowing you to decide when the time is right for pressure or movement, for release.

I have written in another section about the idea of Stillpoint, and it is very strongly connected in with the healing work I do. When your body can come to the center, balance itself, and take a deep breath, aligning with the shifts that have just occurred, then real, lasting healing happens. This master reset that we achieve through our breath is the greatest indicator that we are present in our bodies, and that we are listening and taking strides towards the ultimate state of health and balance that we crave.

Cranial Sacral aligns perfectly with the healing work I do. Manipulating and listening to these subtle energy forces, allows the Acupuncture to work much more deeply and profoundly both energetically and emotionally. This quiet, beautiful touch allows for reflection and the opening for profound growth and change in every session. The combination of Cranial work with the other healing modalities I practice deepens and solidifies our work. I feel honored to have found and thankfully continue to learn from this amazing healing technique.