Acupuncture

The section of The Yellow Emperor's Classic that describes acupuncture techniques is called The Spiritual Pivot, which details the art of facilitating each patient's shift towards better health. Another name for this text is The Spiritual Compass. At its core, the modality of acupuncture, like a compass showing true north, aims to guide patients to a state of wellness and to their true selves.

For thousands of years, acupuncture has been a cornerstone of East Asian medicine, offering a path to holistic healing. There are several different types of acupuncture. For example, there are many different types of Western pain relief drugs: Norco, Aspirin, Tylenol, Advil, Norco, etc. One person swears by one drug, while another person believes only a different drug will help them. I have found the same principle applies to acupuncture techniques. Different styles of acupuncture are extremely complex and suit different individuals. This is one of the main reasons I have students helping me and my patients in my office. These students want more than the basic education afforded to them by the entry level Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The styles of acupuncture I practice are Japanese and Classical Chinese acupuncture. Because students have very little exposure to these styles in school, they seek me out as a teacher. However, students will only observe treatments when patients are completely comfortable with their presence.

In my experience I’ve found TCM to help a limited number of people, with other styles of acupuncture having farther-reaching applications. For example, Japanese acupuncture provides specific techniques to shift the pituitary gland’s hormone output and how the ovaries respond to these hormones. Japanese acupuncture also forms the bedrock of my Structural Acupuncture Techniques which can align the body to relieve pain.

Classical Chinese medicine and Japanese acupuncture are both complete medical systems. They have medical theories, diagnostics and treatments for everything from a simple cold, to the sequelae of a stroke, to infertility.