What is acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a therapeutic technique of East Asian origin that involves penetrating the skin with small needles to promote healing. The western health care system, including the WHO, validates acupuncture as an effective treatment to assist individuals who suffer discomfort, hormone imbalances, stress-related conditions and more. Acupuncture has evolved into an integrative medicine intervention in line with western health care. 

How does it work?

Small, fine needles are inserted into various points of the body to activate the flow of (Qi) energy in the body to bring the individual back into a state of balance. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the human body has over 2000 acupuncture points connected by meridians to assist the flow of Qi. Disruption to the energetic pathways causes blockages and disrupts the natural flow, causing disease and pain in the physical body. Applying needles to the specified points is said to stimulate the better flow of Qi through the body to bring the individual back to a state of ease, harmony, and homeostasis. In medical terms, this may correspond to many changes, but a few key ones are shifts in inflammatory markers, white blood cell count, nitrous oxide (NO), and neurological shifts. 

What is Qi?

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qi is the term used for energy that moves through the body, and the world around us. The Qi moves through pathways called meridians, what in modern day we might translate as neuromyofascial pathways.

Qi is manifest when Yin and Yang energies are balanced. When the Qi is blocked, pain and imbalances ensue; freeing blockages and moving the Qi helps re-establish the balance between the Yin and Yang. 

What are the Yin and Yang?

In acupuncture, everything in the human body and nature is associated with the concepts of Yin and Yang. They are a lens, or a way of looking at the world through polar opposites. The opposite forces of Yin and Yang energy balance and nourish each other, and create the conditions for life. Yin and Yang separating means death.

Yin energy is associated with cold, feminine, the moon, nurturing, introspective, dark, mysterious, slowness, passiveness, the earth, water, softness, and water. It is the potential energy stored within, like a seed before sprouting. 

Yang energy is associated with warmth, masculinity, the sun, action, excitability, lightness, creativity, restlessness, heaven, heat, hardness, and fire. It is the expansiveness and opening of a flower in the heat of the day.

The outer body is dominated by Yang, while Yin governs the inner body (the spaces we cannot see). When the Yin/Yang energies are imbalanced, a weakened immune system poses a risk for the body as it’s easier for foreign pathogens and bacteria to enter. 

What are the 5 Elements? 

The 5 elements can be thought of as 5 phases of energy flow, associated with the seasons of nature but also reflected within our physiology. They are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. We can intuitively connect to this by observing nature and aligning ourselves to what is happening in nature:’

1. Wood: corresponds to spring time, the Liver and Gall Bladder, growth, development, early life, leadership, drive, goals, any movement of upward, outwards and pushing, much like a seedling sprouting in spring, or the baby animals born this time of year. Each year we can feel that renewal of energy within us after the dark winter months. If our Wood element is out of balance, we may struggle with either too much upwards/outwards (like headaches, shoulder tension, and eye strain), or too little (like depression, PMS, or fatigue). An imbalanced Wood phase may bring on frustration or anger, as this “pushing” energy feels blocked.

2. Fire: corresponds to summer. The organ is Heart and Small Intestine, and is an energy of flourishing, having reached a peak, like that seedling coming into blossom or all the midsummer celebrations. We may feel ‘flourishing’ when we take the time to just enjoy a summer holiday, or a fiery summer romance! An imbalanced Fire phase may feel obsessive, manic, anxious or disconnected.

3. Earth: corresponds to late summer, or the beginning of energy coming back down and in, our centre. It’s like the gravity of the earth, except our own gravity is our own centre (our abdomen). The associated function is digestion, what we call Spleen/Pancreas & Stomach. As summer turns the corner to fall, we reap the harvest of the year and have an abundance of nourishing, root vegetables. We are gathering the harvest for the coming winter and taking in nourishment.

4. Metal: corresponds to Fall, the organs of the Lung and Large Intestine. At this time, nature is contracting inwards--storing what is most essential to get us through the winter, like the sap of a tree, and releasing what is no longer essential, like the leaves. In our bodies, the Lungs and large intestine take in essential oxygen, and release the “crap”, no longer needed. 

5. Water: corresponds to the deep, yin time of winter when all the energy should be stored, and much of nature is hibernating (at least in our Canadian climate). Nature has fully contracted, like a seed waiting below the snow for spring to come, or a good long sleep that leaves us feeling rejuvenated. The corresponding organs are the Kidney and Bladder, the lower level of our torso and the deep, root storehouse of our energy (qi). Ancient sages sought to prolong their life force by keeping these life forces strong and held within the low abdomen, and many forms of martial arts teach to keep our sense of presence held deep within the abdomen (known as the Tan Tien). 

All these phases or elements function within the physiology of all of us, all the time. What’s key to notice is how much we are in alignment with the balance of these, according to the cycles of seasons, or of time of day, or of time of life. A teenager naturally has more yang/Wood energy of up and out than an elderly person. Many of us naturally turn to heartier foods once the fall chill comes on. Often, our energy starts to turn down and in, several hours before bedtime. These are in accordance with natural rhythms. 

In contrast, a teenager with fatigue and depression isn’t displaying the amount of energy expected for that period of life; a light salad in the winter time may not be warm or nourishing enough. Someone who has insomnia every 3 am is not keeping their yang rooted and stored during the yin time of night.