How acupuncture helps with depression and other emotional experiences

A recent study from the University of York found that acupuncture works better than ‘usual care’ at reducing depression. Usual care means drugs prescribed by your GP.

It seems unlikely that placing a tiny needle in, perhaps the foot, or arm could trigger a chain reaction that brings about peace of mind, so how does it work?

The Western scientific view is that acupuncture likely works by stimulating the central nervous system to release chemicals called neurotransmitters and hormones. These chemicals dull pain, boost the immune system and regulate various body functions.  Clinical trials have shown that there is a difference in stimulating the release of the chemicals between using specific acupuncture points and sham acupuncture (which use points not recognised by acupuncturist).  Yet, there is no Western scientific evidence for qi (life giving force/energy) or the pathways along which qi flows.

In Chinese medicine qi, in its most gross, material form in the body are the bones, muscles, blood and liquids. The lightest aspect of qi is Shen, or spirit.  According to Chinese philosophies, it is through Shen that each individual manifests their life purpose, which is imprinted in their DNA (jing). This is closely linked to Yuan Shen, or Yuan qi.

‘By experiencing one’s Yuan Shen the unity of life is realized; the inseparable nature of life is realized; the clarity of one’s true nature is realized. By directly experiencing one’s Yuan Shen, it becomes clear what Yuan Shen is not.’ Dr David Twicken

Acupuncture can assist in releasing blocked or repressed emotions that lead to depression. Clearing these blocks makes room for insight and inspiration which motivate us to make change in our lives that allow us to live our ‘soul’ purpose.

Acupuncture theory has a unique understanding of the manifestation of Yin and Yang in the body and the energetic qualities of the emotions: joy, sadness, grief, loss, anger, frustration, thoughtfulness, worry, fear. These emotions can be released along the primary channels. But in addition there are some deeper channels, known as the eight extraordinary channels, which can have even more profound effects.

Some of these channels carry imprints from pre-natal influences. The Ren channel can carry influences from when the child bonded with its mother, so if there was a lack of bonding the adult may seek that experience in future relationships. The Du channel carries imprints from when the child moved out to experience the world. A lack of development may create someone who holds back and lacks motivation to move forward. The Wei channels assist in linking periods of our life, and so can help us release from living in the past, or facing forward too much. The Qiao channels relate to our stance in life, and so can be used with issues of self-esteem. The Dai channel is like a cupboard where we stuff unprocessed experiences.

The skilled practitioner will use the appropriate points at the appropriate time to release the body from ‘emotional baggage’ allowing them to become a fully realised individual.

Not all acupuncturists learn this more classical form of acupuncture, and so it is important that you work with a practitioner you resonate with. Call your practitioner when making your first appointment, rather than messaging, to see if you are a good fit.

 

8 Tips for staying healthy this autumn

This Sunday marks the autumnal equinox, when the sun shines directly over the equator, giving equal hours of night and day across the globe. For us in the northern hemisphere it marks the turn of seasonal energy from the yang of summer, to the yin of winter.

In Eastern philosophy, on which acupuncture is based, humans are part of, and affected by the natural changes of the seasons. These changes can be difficult for us to adapt to, but it also offers opportunities. Autumn is a time of distilling and decay. It is also a time of clarity.

Let be and let go, in order to let in

Just as the sap of the trees start to sink towards the roots to store for next year, and the leaves of the tree are discarded, we humans also need to withdraw, review and restore. This letting go can feel like loss, or grief. People can feel sad, at the change of season, and this can be a time of year for remembering lost loved ones, or to keenly feel other losses experienced in life. Meditation can be good for connecting to these feelings to understand where they come from, and why there are here, which is: to allow you to let be and let go, in order to make way for the future. We can also assess the year, seeing with clarity what is holding us back, and make peace with that, over the coming winter.

Wrap up

There is an acupuncture point on the back, just below the neck, called Bladder 12, Wind Gate. It’s commonly used by practitioners at the start of a cold due to invasion of wind in the body. So it’s advisable to wrap up warm, but particularly to remember to wear a scarf around this area that is susceptible to wind invasion. Also keep the mid-region covered, after the crop tops of the summer, which if not, can lead to cold penetrating the kidneys.

Protect from dryness

With the central heating coming on we need extra protection for our skin from dryness. The organ system associated with autumn is the Lung, and if this is your constitutional weakness, it will need extra support at this time of year. Keep hydrated. Drink plenty of water, but also keep a bowl of water in your room to stop the air from drying out too much.

Strengthen the lungs

To protect yourself from catching colds, and strengthen the lungs against environmental irritants, practice deep breathing daily. Breathe in from your kidneys, and feel the heavenly qi of the breathe be rooted in your body by your kidneys (one of their important functions in Chinese medicine). You can also use a neti pot to keep your nasal passages clear.

Pay attention to your intestines

Whereas the lung receives from the exterior, its paired organ, the large intestine, lets go. If you experience constipation, it maybe because you are having trouble processing emotional issues related to loss and grief. This could be for a person, a former time of your life, a lifestyle, job or relationship. Using acupressure on Large Intestine 4, joining the Valley, can help with the physical, mental and emotional aspects of letting go. Take note, this is an extremely strong point and should not be used when pregnant, or when pregnancy is suspected.

Use the thumb and index finger to press firmly on the webbing between the thumb and index finger of the hand.

Eat seasonally

It’s time to dispense with eating salads and eat warm, seasonal vegetables. Eat the colours of the season: dark leafy greens and brassica, deep orange butternut squashes, winter squashes and pumpkins in soups or baked, roasted root vegetable. And it’s a good time for the fall fruits, stewed apple and pears, and figs and elderberries.

Keep moving

While we naturally reduce our activity in autumn its important to prevent our circulations systems from clogging. This ensures every cell is nourished with oxygen and nutrients, and that the systems remove toxins efficiently. Try yoga, swimming or gentle rebounding.

Take time to enjoy nature and align yourself with it

Take time to observe the changing season, and while you’re doing so, top up your vitamin D by finding daily time in the sunlight. Enjoy the drawing in of the evenings, spending time catching up on reading, indoor hobbies, family and friends.

Autumn

Wind passes over the lake

The swelling waves stretch away

Without limit. Autumn comes with the twilight,

And the boats grow rare on the river.

Flickering water and fading mountains

Always touch the heart of man

I never grow tired of singing

Of their boundless beauty.

The lotus pods are already formed,

And the water lilies have grown old.

The dew has brightened the blossoms

Of the arrowroot along the riverbank.

The herons and seagulls sleep

On the sand with their

Heads tucked away, as though

They did not wish to see

The men who pass by on the river

Li Ch’ing Chao

A.D. 108101141

 

More on the Dao

What has the Dao got to do with acupuncture? Well, something and nothing. You don’t need to know about Daoism to learn the skills of an acupuncturist (especially the more Westernised form known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and certainly not the medical kind, used by physiotherapists etc. But, I feel that understanding, inhabiting the worldview that underpins acupuncture enriches my practice, and helps me maintain my own sense of balance and well-being. As a Westerner, that takes a conceptual shift from expecting, and demanding universal truths from my science, to one that allows competing theories to co-exist, and who’s first principle is not the absolute, but change. Often, we try to pin things down to gain a sense of control over our lives, whether that be our jobs, other people or certain events; we may actively work to avoid change happening. But if we can go with the flow of change, be more naturally adaptive, then we really are working in tune with an inevitable feature of life.

The demand for universal truths permeates Western culture and is influenced by religious beliefs in the one true God (see my previous blog ‘Start at the Beginning’). We see this in our scientific methodology; eliminating competing ideas, until one theory prevails. It is also evident in our legal system, and in our politics. By contrast, in China, as Unschuld puts it, there is ‘the continuous tendency towards syncretism of all ideas that exist (within accepted limits)’ (1)

Chinese thought is influenced by the worldview contained within their major religions/philosophies; Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Their view of the world is ordered through concepts I have spoken of previously, Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and although they part ways on how they see man’s relationship to the universe, they perceive order through observations of nature. The theories behind acupuncture may appear less rigorous than Western science, but it is probably more accurate to say that they are less rigid. It’s like we are standing either side of a window, and you take a snapshot of your view from the window. Then, I take a snapshot from the other side, and from above and below, and then we have to agree which one gives a true perspective of the view from the window, or which one is more consistently correct. Perhaps we would decide that by measuring how much more often people look out from each side of the window. We would have to make a compromise to agree on one truth. Following on from that analogy, in Chinese medicine, we would of course allow all perspective to co-exist and recognise their usefulness for different situations (and we wouldn’t be complaining, ‘But in that other way we looked at it, the tree was over there, so that can’t be right!’).

But I have become sidetracked rather from exploring the concept of the Dao. I think it’s important because Chinese philosophy, religion and Five Element acupuncture focus on the state of the mind in governing health. Eastern meditation and yoga practices are aimed at stilling the mind and cultivating mastery of the mind. Some schools of Buddhism go so far as to believe that our physical reality is manifested by the mind. In that sense, we could conceive of a mutli-dimensional universe that contains as many dimensions as there are human minds (And indeed, modern physics does offer up a theory that the universe is made up of an infinite number of dimensions).

In the first chapter of the Dao De Jing (Way of Virtue), the book said to be written by the father of Daoism, Lao Tzu, somewhere between 6th and 3rd century BC, there is an interesting allusion to this theory.
The Dao that can be spoken of,
Is not the Everlasting Dao.
Name that can be named,
Is not the Everlasting name.

Nameless, the origin of heaven and earth;
Named, the mother of ten thousand things.

Therefore, always without desire,
In order to observe the hidden mystery;
Always with desire,
In order to observe the manifestations.

These two issue from the same origin,
Though named differently.
Both are called the dark.
Dark and even darker,
The door to all hidden mysteries (2).

The Dao is the state that existed before the creation of duality; before the creation of heaven and earth, when there was no thing in the universe, no material thing. Therefore the Dao is implicit in all things and all things are implicit in one another. The Dao is the unknowable unity of the divine. When used by philosophers, the Dao became the Way, the path that directs the unfolding of every aspect of the universe. Dao is the wisdom of the divine made manifest in nature and in each individual life.

Lonny Jarrett, a practitioner academic, has given an interpretation of this text that I cannot match, and so next I will summarise his chapter on the subject (3).

The first two verses of the text mean that fundamentally the Dao is unknowable, the very act of naming it, conceptualising it with the mind, changes it from the Dao of the eternal to the Dao of the transient. Whatever we may say about it, the eternal truth always lies beyond the reach of words, but we know it through intuition and feeling.

As soon as it is named the Dao is no longer one but two, that which knows and that which is known. The Dao gives rise to the two universal poles of heaven and earth, Yang and Yin, perfectly blended with original qi, the original dynamism of the world. This is the here, the there, and the space in between – it could be viewed at the holy trinity. The duality of Yin and Yang exists in all things that can be comprehended by the human mind. It is the human attempt to comprehend that splits apart the primal unity of heaven, earth and qi to generate the material universe of the ‘ten thousand things’ (ten thousand being an inconceivably large number in the 6th century BC).

The human heart may know or understand unity through intuition and feeling, but the mind may never know it, for its evaluative process equips it only to understand the pieces and parts of material existence. The Character De in the title Dao De Jing, means virtue, implying the true self bypassing the evaluative mind.

Chinese medicine does not study things but the space in between, and that is where the eternal Dao is to be found. It becomes evident why true self-knowledge cannot be gained with the rational mind, but only by going inside, and listening with the heart.

(1) Unschuld P O, 1990 Forgotten traditions of ancient Chinese medicine. Paradigm Publications, Brookline, MA

(2) Chen EM, 1989 The Tao Te Ching. A new translation with commentary. Paragon House. NY

(3) Jarrett L S, 2004 Nourishing Destiny. The inner tradition of Chinese medicine. Spirit Path Press. MA

The five elements of life

And finally, to the five elements.  Although I am a Five Element acupuncture practitioner, it is probably the aspect of Chinese medicine (CM) theory I am least comfortable explaining to people.  That’s because I feel it’s essential to understand them in terms of Chinese numerology, otherwise there is little value in merelydescribing them. In my previous blogs,’ Yin and Yang (after the big bang)’, and’ Man Stands between Heaven and Earth’, I explain the phenomena that emerged after the big bang. The one is the Dao, or original qi, which is the source of all things in the universe; two is Yin and Yang which describe all things that emerged after the big bang into this universe of duality.  Sitting in between the opposites of heaven and earth, the lightest and heaviest aspects of qi respectively, is Man, who, with his higher state of consciousness, is the mediator of heaven on earth.  And four, the directions, need no further explanation. Whereas the first four are about separation, the Five Elements are about integration.

Lou Zi, the author of probably the best known Daoist text, ‘Dao de Ching’ – ‘The Way of Virtue’ describes the Dao, or original qi as being in an eternal state of self-becoming, revolving around a central pole of emptiness, eternally emerging and returning to itself.  Philosophically, the book describes the Way, the path or cosmic law that directs the unfolding of every aspect of the universe.  The phases of movement of the Dao; becoming, moving away, and returning to itself can be seen in all creative cycles in the universe. Whether it is the emergence, expansion and collapse of the universe itself; the unfolding of the four season year after year, or creative cycles in developing and manifesting plans, they all follow the same movements.

Water, the first stage of the Dao represents the potential basis for the manifestation of life. The moving away from itself and separation into the two poles of heaven and earth is the second stage, represented by Fire. The third stage is Wood. Its function is to blend Fire and Water back into one harmonizing qi. The fourth stage, Metal, signifies the return from the duality of Water and Fire back into the original nature of the Dao. The four transitions occur around a centre, which corresponds to Earth, the fifth element.

In Chinese medicine (CM), the classification of the movements of qi into Water, Fire, Wood, Metal and Earth has all sorts of uses.  Different maps of the elements help us to understand their relationships in different ways.

Here, with Earth in the middle, highlights the centrality of Earth to all other processes.

This next map shows the generative cycle of the elements. In CM, the meridians of qi that flow around the body are named after the organs in the body, but they are more than just about the function of the organs, they are also about the communication of the quality of energy associated to the organ system.  So, each of the elements has a Yin and Yang pairing of organs associated to them which reflect their energetic function in the body.  The Wood energy is about integrating Fire and Water in order to manifest. The energy is assertive, generative. The Liver, which stores the Blood at night, has the function of ensuring the smooth flow of Blood around the body, and is strongly related to stable emotions (Heart and Small Intestine relate to Fire, Stomach and Spleen to Earth, Lung and Large Intestine to Metal, Bladder and Kidney with Water).  If one energetic system is underperforming, it will have a knock on effect on the entire generative cycle. If Fire, for example, is weak, it can drain the mother in the cycle, Wood, or not energetically feed the child in the cycle, Earth. Symptoms could show in either the mother, or the child, when in fact it is Fire that needs treating.

Similarly, the energy must be in correct balance between the elements, otherwise the elements will fail to control each other. A Metal element that fails to control Wood, for example, may see a patient with symptoms related to Liver and Gallbladder.  Qualities of energy relate to body, mind and spirit. The densest, most Yin aspect of body function is the organ, and the lightest Yang aspects are emotions and mental function. The emotional and mental associations of Wood are anger and assertiveness. So, in this case, someone with uncontrolled Wood may exhibit symptoms related to irregular or heavy periods (since in CM, the Liver controls the smooth flow of Blood), and may get angry and frustrated, often because they are unable to assert themselves effortlessly. Again, the skilful practitioner would tonify the Metal element, rather than pacify Wood.

How does a practitioner know what is going on, are the symptoms in the weak element, the mother or child, or along the control cycle?

The practitioner uses signs and symptoms to diagnose the Causative Factor: the element which is at the root cause of illness. The elements (as manifestations of energy) vibrate at a particular frequency, which can be observed in the colour, sound, odour and emotion of the patient. The five element practitioner is trained to identify these vibrations.   A preference or aversion to a set of associations to one of the elements can also provide a clue.

As a form of classification, the Chinese associate manifestations of life to each of the elements. Some common ones are:

Element	Wood	Fire	Earth	Metal	Water
Colour	Green	Red	Yellow	White	Blue
Phase	New Yang	Full Yang	Balance	New Yin	Full Yin
Direction	East	South	Centre	West	North
Life Cycle	Infancy	Youth	Adulthood	Old age	Death
Energy	Generative	Expansive	Stabilising	Contractive	Conserving
Season	Spring	Summer	Between	Autumn	Winter
Season	Windy	Hot	Damp	Dry	Cold
Development	Sprouting	Blooming	Ripening	Wilting	Dormant
Smell	Rancid	Scorched	Fragrant	Rotten	Putrid
Flavour	Sour	Bitter	Sweet	Pungent	Salty
Mental quality	Sensitivity	Creativity	Clarity	Intuition	Spontaneity
Negative	Anger	Hate	Anxiety	Grief	Fear
Positive	Patience	Joy	Empathy	Courage	Calmness
Body	Tendons	Pulse	Muscles	Skin	Bones
Aperture	Eyes	Throat/tongue	Lips, mouth	Nose	Ears

That was a whirlwind tour of the elements. The elements represent qualities of movement which are universal to all things. They are a way of categorising all phenomena, whether solid, material things, or immaterial concepts and emotions.  In the human body they provide a model to analyse the correct functioning of relationships between organs and physiological systems.

For my next blog, I will discuss the Dao in a little more depth to discover what Chinese philosophies  has to say about the role of the Mind (heaven) in our manifestation on Earth.