Acupuncture as preventive/ long term medicine: How do I know when its time for an acupuncture treatment?

Greetings folks,

   In this post, I would like to address an issue that I feel those of us who are recipients of acupuncture should investigate. When using acupuncture as a form of preventative medicine-or perhaps the phrase "for maintenance of wellness" is a better way of putting it- how do we know when to come in for a treatment?


   One of the challenges that we face is that we have become out of touch with our body and with our self. We live in a fast paced, high stress society that is becoming more and more cerebral and increasingly wired to electronics. We must learn to reconnect to our body, re-learn how to listen to its messages. Regarding a few simple practices that may help us to this end, please see my post about quiet sitting and/ or write me an email and ask for a copy of my free article "10 Easy Ways to Improve your Health" where this is given more in depth attention. For now, I just want to share a few obvious indicators that we can watch for. So...

 I know it is time for me to get an acupuncture treatment because: something has changed!

- I had several headaches in the last week or two (it wasn't just a random headache), and that is not normal for me.

- I didn't sleep well last night, and come to think of it, I haven't been sleeping that well lately.

- My digestion/ elimination feels off, and it's not because I ate something bad. If it was from something I ate, I would probably know right away, and it would have cleared up within a couple days.

- I've been feeling really tired lately for no apparent reason. Or, I've been feeling really wired and energetic lately: I can't calm down.

- Come to think of it, I think I've been feeling stuck lately. This one particular emotion seems to keep coming up, even when there's no real reason that it should.

- I've been getting angry easily lately. I've been feeling anxious lately. I've been feeling tense/ wound up for no reason lately. I feel like I can't get over this emotion and it is starting to consume me.

- I keep getting sick lately. It's like I can't get over this bug or my immune system is down.

- I just feel a little off, I'm not sure exactly what it is. I just don't feel like myself.

- Everything is great. I noticed that the season changed and figured it's probably about time for my seasonal treatment.

   When everything is going smoothly, I usually recommend people come in once every 1-3 months for a tune-up. This helps to ensure that things continue to flow smoothly, and when something comes up we may increase the frequency until it is cleared up. Often we will find that some seasons present us with no trouble, while others are more difficult.

    Though we are accustomed to only seek medical care when something is wrong, we must learn to see and take note of the bigger picture of our lives when we make decisions that concern our health. We are used to taking in our cars for their tune-up and oil change every 3 months. How much more so should we care for our body, the one machine that we can't do without- the one that is irreplaceable if we run it in to the ground.
   If we come to our practitioner for treatment of a specific issue, we will most likely set up some sort of schedule such as weekly treatment for 4-6 weeks (or maybe 10 sessions) and then re-evaluate. Though we may come in for shoulder pain (or anything else) we often notice that there are many beneficial subtle effects from the acupuncture- we feel more at ease, things that used to stress us out no longer do, other aches and pains seem to clear up, our system begins to function better. We feel more like ourself... These are good things.

    Don't just live, live well

Keith Judelman, EAMP
www.HillsideAcupuncture.com

Nature is my teacher- Mushrooms in the fall; the importance of timing and the environment in our lives

    The rain is arriving to the nw, and the temperature is dropping. In these early days of fall, each rain brings a proliferation of mushrooms and fungi. We often walk right by these amazing organisms. Literally over night a bare field may awake to find itself covered in mushrooms, and a few days later they will disappear.
    As I was foraging for wild edibles with some friends the other day, a lesson was brought to light that I think we all know, but too often forget.
   We made several stops- First we found a patch of Birch boleets under some Birch trees. The next 2 sites didn't yield much at all. One was a perfect spot, but we were perhaps a few days or a week too late. The next was not as appropriate of an ecosystem, and the timing was off- we found nothing.
    Finally we came to our last spot, a north facing slope with mature forest, most covered earth etc. Prime conditions for mushrooms. And our timing was better in this location.
  What can we learn from this? 2 important lessons:

1) The importance of putting ourselves in the proper environment so that we can flourish.

When the conditions are right, life flourishes of its own accord. Things happen easily, and we happily go about our business and everything is smooth. We are in harmony with the rhythm of life. A mushroom will never grow in the desert. If we are not living in an environment that supports who we are and nourishes the best parts of us, we will suffer, our growth will be stifled, and we won't be able to find the nourishment that sustains us. When we live in the right environment, everything feeds us just what we need. Birch boleets grow under Birch trees, not Cedars. Its their nature.
     If things are such a struggle and we feel like our growth is being stifled, sometimes one thing we can do is examine our environment- both the physical environment around us and even more so the community in which we live. Are we around people that share common goals with us? That support our growth in healthy ways? That give us the strength to be ourselves in the best ways? That give us encouragement to change our bad habits into good ones? That help us develop our weaknesses into strengths?


    We should all give each other the strength to continue growing healthy and positive ways.

2)  The importance of timing.

Even in the most perfect of conditions, if the timing is off life cannot grow. A flower that blooms too early will be killed by the frost. A fall mushroom will never sprout in summer. They wait and they wait, and then just when the stage is set perfectly- the temperature is not too hot or too cold, the moisture is just right- they come out and they flourish. It seems to come naturally to other organisms, but for us humans it can seem so difficult to get the timing right. Yet if we can settle ourselves down, if we can reconnect with the rhythm of life I think we will find that things will become much less of a struggle and we won't feel so much like we are paddling upstream.

You'll know when the time is right, trust yourself.

Keith

welcome to my new blog!

Greetings and welcome to the Hillside Acupuncture and Healing Arts blog. I run an office/ healing center in Seattle, WA, USA dedicated to helping you get the most out of life. I specialize in acupuncture, East Asian Medicine (the new descriptor for Chinese medicine), and qi cultivation (i.e. exercising to build up our vital energy). This blog is meant to be a place to discuss any issues related to natural medicine, keeping ourselves healthy, and whatever else we deem relevant or worthwhile of a post:). I will try to post regular tips on how to stay in harmony with the seasons, so that our vitality can flourish and we can live a full, happy life. We all hit the rough spots, and sometimes we just need a little help or support to get back into the flow of life. Please feel free to contact me through the website (www.hillsideacupuncture.com ) if you have any particular questions or topics you would like me to address.

take care,
Keith Judelman, EAMP