Acupuncture, Ancient Healing for the 21st Century...The practice of acupuncture dates back thousands of years. It is a practice culled from the experience of a people's struggle with the sometimes harsh conditions of nature. The ancient healing arts of China have long been shrouded in a veil of dragons and metaphor, but acupuncture is in fact deeply rooted in the ways and wisdom of natural law and has a proven efficacy unbowed by the test of time. 
The practice of acupuncture has long served the people of China. Its power is revealed in its ability to awaken "the inner healer." We all possess the internal elixir needed for whole healing, nature has seen to this. Time, technology, and our modern day lifestyle have simply separated us from this basic knowing. This truly holistic approach can help us recall that awareness, leading to a true restoration of balance and a reclaiming of our innate well-being. In the United States, acupuncture is associated, almost exclusively, with pain relief. While acupuncture can be extremely beneficial in the treatment of pain, in the hands of a seasoned practitioner, it has far broader applications. In the real world people want to be healthy, not just "unsick." Discomfort is nature's way of telling us something is wrong. Rather than simply masking pain, the holistic use of acupuncture can lead to discovering pain's underlying cause. In this way, not only can the "dis-ease" state be addressed at its root, it can be treated without undue side-effects. Acupuncture has a proven record in this regard, as well as in the overall promotion of optimal health and vitality. The goal is not simply to extend life, but to enhance the very quality of day-to-day living... We are immersed in the cycles of nature, the metamorphosis of day into night and Spring into Summer. Each of us is a microcosm of nature's wonder — flowing, adapting, and expressing ourselves through an ocean of transmutations. The body/mind/spirit is an interweaving of constant change — the rising and falling tides of the breath, the nonstop flood of messages moving through the nervous system, the never ending rebirth of our very tissue — we are ceaselessly transforming and being transformed. Through these processes, nature seeks to maintain balance and harmony. We are ceaselessly adapting to changes in the environment while compensating for adjustments elsewhere in our being, at times successfully, at other times not. During times when this process is weakened, due to stress, trauma, or other uncontrollable factors, the use of acupuncture can provide powerful support. Beneficial Side Effects of AcupunctureIn a study in six clinics in five states, researcher Claire Cassidey, Ph.D., documented the following positive results of acupuncture:
From "Health Vision 2000," Meridians, Vol. 3, No. 2, Tai Sophia Institute. |
