asheville

Mar

2016

Acupuncture Detox for Chemical Addiction Cessation

✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.

Auricular acupuncture is clinically proven to be the most effective natural method of chemical detoxification. Chemical addictions are insidious, and acupuncture can reduce cravings and lessen associated withdrawal symptoms that plague people in the process of quitting, and which so often sabotage success. It must be established, however, that acupuncture is not a magical cure. Although it does effectively mute and redirect the buildup of craving energy and bestows resilience to the human vessel, acupuncture treatment for cessation of addiction does not turn cravings off per se. A commitment from the patient to move forward with treatment and the healing process can only be made on a personal level by the patient. The physical and psycho-emotional health of an individual develops as it overcomes and transforms the shackles of chemical addictions, and acupuncture helps significantly.

My own hand-drawn design - aren't you impressed?

my drawing-design of the 5 auricular points

The Treatment: 5 auricular(ear) acupuncture points have proven highly effective for breaking addiction. Investigations into the efficacy of acu-detox have repeatedly demonstrated that acupuncture stimulates endorphin release, the body’s ‘feel-good’ hormones. At the same time, specifically, the principles of Chinese medicine show that acupuncture needling heals by stimulating a person’s inherent Qi. Harmonious Qi flow circulates and adjusts within the body, creating equilibrium that preserves and strengthens organ function and grants the organism structurally and emotionally flexibility. Adjusting Qi to release calming, pain-inhibiting endorphins amounts to a most successful natural method of successfully getting a handle on addiction to move beyond destructive habits toward freedom and health.Chemically addicting agents enter the Heart orifice, altering and injuring Shen (spirit that resides in the Heart), thus causing obfuscation of the Heart sovereign’s sensing and processing of thought. Addictions exhaust blood and shorten lifespan. In Chinese medicine, tobacco, specifically, is categorized as having a pungent taste and a hot, toxic nature. Tobacco use depletes Jing (essence of the kidney), which lends explanation to the particular toxicity of tobacco during pregnancy. According to Chinese medicine, tobacco pathologically dries vital fluids and Jing-Essence, on top of the focal harmful effects on the lungs, which is why it is considered to be largely, if not likely entirely, without medicinal benefit.

Tobacco was introduced in China in 1575. The last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chong Zhen (1611 –1644), enacted laws against smoking and by the Qing Dynasty it became known medically that tobacco scorches Kidney Jing and the vital fluids with its pungent and drying nature, damaging the lungs, throat, and stomach, as well. Tobacco was noted to lessen the perception of food and drink tastes, and to make the tongue coating dark yellow, or eventually black, indicating heat toxicity critically building up in the body. I offer to assist patients break their substance addiction, and most commonly for nicotine cessation.

Note from Wendy: Having gained hands-on knowledge from fieldwork and training in New York City and Boston area facilities that successfully apply the 5-point auricular method; Having participated in treating heavily drug and alcohol-addicted populations by applying the 5-point ear detox acupuncture method, and witnessing the noteworthy results it yields in the three decades that I have offered this method to patients; I invite you to please share this post with anyone interested in quitting their chemical addiction.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved. ELEMENTAL CHANGES Oriental Medical Arts.

Jan

2014

THE FIVE ELEMENTS IN LIVING FORM ☯

Nurturing core elemental tendencies while simultaneously balancing states of excess through a combination of diet, Chinese herbs and acupuncture and other mind-body techniques, we maintain innate elemental tendencies; transforming what may be hindrances into assets.

FIRE TYPES ☯ Are jovial pleasure-seekers. They like to relax, socialize and have fun. They often seek thrills and excitement, and love to entertain others. They are fascinated by sensory stimuli and often get carried away by the carnival of light, sound and image that the world presents. They often dislike school because it is not fun and the dislike grows as they get older and the workload intensifies. They try to make things more amusing by becoming the class entertainer.

EARTH TYPES ☯ Are all about the social world. They view their worth in terms of interpersonal relationships and they seek social contact. They want to fit in, and often play the role of peacemaker. These are the constant-talkers who get in trouble because they can not contain the need to connect with others. Quiet study periods are torture to them. Social matters are foremost in their minds, and they fret incessantly about who’s talking to whom and who will sit with them at lunch, all seeming far more important than their lessons.

METAL TYPES ☯ Are highly sensitive and detail-oriented. They see things few others do, and have an innate sense of order, beauty and perfection. They seek control and like to see their visions met. They value precision; where a Wood or Fire type might gloss over details, a metal type digs in. The Rigidity, inflexibility and getting stuck in their own sense of right and wrong, leaving no room for others, are a downside. They have difficulty letting go of small details, become anxious when something is not done ‘right,’ and they become negative when they feel out of control.

WATER TYPES ☯ Think and feel very deeply. They live in the realm of ideas and imagination and have only a modicum of interest in the physical, practical world. They are natural wisdom-seekers, and have a rather advanced interior world for their age. They often seem to be ‘off somewhere’, not particularly concerned with punctuality, and respond to time-pressures and other external demands by disconnecting, staring out the window, or retreating to their inner world. [Unlike Wood types who become confrontational, or Fire types who seek thrills, Water element types become withdrawn in chronic stress situations.]

WOOD TYPES ☯ Are very physical, competitive and want to be first. Natural leaders; they always want to win, to be in front. Pioneers who see a path and want to take it. They usually win the enthusiasm of peers. Since they live primarily in the physical world, they often act out physically when stressed, becoming aggressive, argumentative, ‘In your face.’ Under duress, they become the restless and assertive ‘Wild Child.’

* Dr. Stephen Cowan, who studied with Efrem Korngold, co-author of the modern TCM classic, Between Heaven and Earth, has spent 20 years affirming the distinctions of the Five Elements. He has amassed a vast library of work with thousands [of children] across the developmental spectrum, and believes the elemental tendencies begin to show themselves within the first year or two of life.

Apr

2012

The Pivotal Role of Emotions

How All Disease Is a Matter of Heart-Spirit, According to Classical Chinese Medicine

The defining classics of Chinese medicine establish that it is the invisible forces of Shen [Heart-Spirit] and Qi [vital energy] that rule matter. While western medicine is rooted in the modern science of matter analysis, modern and ancient physicians of classical oriental medicine view nature, energy, and consciousness in the relationship of matter..

“Heaven comes first,” states the Ling Shu, “Earth is second.” Or in the more elaborate words of Liu Zhou, a 6th century philosopher: “If the Spirit is at peace, the Heart is in harmony; when the Heart is in harmony, the body is whole. If the Spirit becomes aggravated the Heart wavers, and when the Heart wavers the body becomes injured. If one seeks to heal the physical body, one must therefore first regulate the Spirit.”

Chinese medicine asserts that discovering well-being comes from appreciating the real goodness inherent in very simple experiences, pivotal to emotional wellbeing.