It's All Relevant

I just wanted to take a minute here and talk about something that comes up from time to time in clinic, in hopes of giving you a more complete picture of the medicine we’re working with.

Often as I’m talking with a patient about what’s going on with them and what they’re hoping to address, they will often preface what they’re about to say with something like “I don’t know if this matters but…” or “I don’t know if acupuncture treats this, but…”

Spoiler: Yes! It most likely matters and acupuncture probably does treat it. Unless you’re having a heart attack at that moment or have broken a bone (please go to an emergency room for those) we can likely address it in the clinic.

Here’s why: Chinese Medicine is based on a holistic philosophy. The organs, to which the 12 channels correlate, each have corresponding colors, tastes, emotions, seasons, times of day, external body parts, etc. For example, the correspondences of the kidney are blue-black, salty, fear, winter, hair, under eye area, and so on. In addition to this beautiful system, the medicine is rooted in the notion that bountiful health comes from a person being able to fully express their purpose in this life.

So the things you may think don’t matter actually do, and often fit quite well into a complete pattern within the system of Chinese medicine. That lower back pain you’re having and that dream you’ve been having about water, yep they’re related. Or, the seemingly lifelong issue with self-acceptance. That too is within the scope of Chinese medicine.

Chinese medicine is both poetic and practical. The body is a concrete expression of our genetic and spiritual inheritance as well as our thoughts and actions of the past and present. And it is always speaking.

So, don’t hesitate to say it next time you’re in, and certainly pay attention to whatever your body is showing you. It matters.