A holistic approach to mental + emotional wellbeing

Acupuncture for Emotional Wellness

Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine offer a transformative approach to supporting your mental and emotional wellbeing and healing trauma. Chinese medicine empowers individuals and releases them from the stigma and guilt that is often associated with mental illness, emotional disturbance and trauma. Rather than see one’s mental health as a “problem”, we view it as a symptom that relates to what is physically going on in your body. We look to see what channels and diagnosis are implicated and how these are manifesting in your spirit. Coincidentally, we typically find you are experiencing physical symptoms related to these same channels. For instance, someone who is experiencing grief, loss or difficulty letting go may develop a cough, difficulty breathing deeply, skin rashes, dryness or irritation, constipation, or restlessness between the hours of 3 am and 5 am - all related to the Lungs. Everything is interconnected in Chinese medicine.

Acupuncture is reflective of the natural world, and this gives us a helpful lens through which to see one’s emotional health. The organs and their corresponding channels relate to specific emotions and seasons of the year. We find that these emotions tend to be heightened in their corresponding season. Having this insight and language with which to connect the dots allows us to help patients move through difficult emotions, increase self-awareness, become interested in their experiences, and treat themselves with love and gentleness.

The Five Elements and the Emotions

The organs + channels and their associated elements, emotions, themes and seasons are:

Heart + Small Intestine // Fire // Anxiety // Joy, passion, relationships, connection, appropriateness // Summer
Spleen + Stomach // Earth // Worry // Compassion, family, worthiness // Late Fall or the transition between seasons
Lungs + Large Intestine // Metal // Grief // Forgiveness, letting go, integrity, self-value, beauty, ritual // Autumn
Kidneys + Bladder // Water // Fear // Wisdom, mystery, stillness, introspection // Winter
Liver + Gallbladder // Wood // Anger, Irritation, Impatience, Guilt, Jealousy // Motivation, creativity, leadership, justice // Spring

A Sampling of Our Treatments for Psychoemotional Wellness

Every single treatment we do supports your spirit. However, there are some special ones we frequently turn to when it comes to emotional healing. To give you more insight into the offerings we have for your emotional and mental health, here are some of our favorite approaches. These in no way encompass all of the treatment options we have for you. Your practitioner will decide on treatment based on your presentation and their personal style and affinity, selecting the points that meet you where you are.

Chong Mai

Unfolding - Chong Mai treatments are particularly beneficial for fertility, digestion, autoimmune conditions, anxiety and depression. Chong Mai is the first meridian created upon conception - it is the core of one's being. Spiritually, it symbolizes one's destiny or blueprint in life. What is the path one is meant to walk? Chong Mai is one of the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, which function on the deepest level of the body, equating to DNA and genetics. How are you evolving? Where are you headed? Might the wounds you experience be able to change your DNA into something that is more enlightened? Might your path become illuminated by wisdom and awareness? How is it that you are unfolding?

Yin + Yang Wei Mai

During the past year and a half of pandemic, we have found ourselves providing Wei Mai treatments for numerous patients. Just as this year has encouraged evaluating one's life, refining and letting go, the Yin and Yang Wei Mai vessels help one heal wounds, dispel unhelpful patterns and move forward in a new way. The Wei Mai (or Linking Meridians) are two of the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, which relate to the deepest level of the body. These correlate to one's genetics and the ways in which the environment changes one's DNA, or epigenetics. The Yin and Yang Wei Mai reflect the ways in which patterns of one's life are linked over time. These deal with the big phases of life, including aging, maturation, relationships, career, childrearing and more. They are especially pertinent when wounds, traumas or addictions from one point in life keep affecting someone much later on. We often use these meridians to help patients heal old wounds so that they can move forward into the new phases of their lives with those aspects tended to. This encourages shifts in holding patterns, both physical (such as hip or shoulder pain) and emotional. The Wei Mai can be a powerful place to work when people are ready to make big changes in their lives - when they're ready to stop doing things the "old way" and feel equipped to embrace their new selves and a new chapter in their lives.

The Luo Vessels

The luo vessels relate to the blood, which is said to hold the emotions in Chinese medicine. Luo treatments release a drop (don’t worry, just one drop) of blood from an acupuncture point called a luo point, which relates to particular emotional symptoms. Regular hair-thin needles are then inserted into points to harmonize the blood and calm the spirit.

By releasing a drop of blood from the luo point, this treatment helps you let go of difficult emotions. While it is valuable to do an archaeological dig into the self at many points during life, sometimes a release without having to figure out the story is helpful - this is what the luo treatment offers. When you need a strong shift for an intense emotional holding, a luo treatment may be just the thing for you!

Ghost Treatments

There are times when something comes over you - a veil between you and the rest of the world. It may feel that suddenly you just aren’t yourself. Any “entity”, be it a psychological condition, fungal or bacterial infection, parasite, or being affected by someone else’s energy, can be considered a “ghost”. It’s psychological baggage that dulls your senses and disconnects you from yourself. A ghost treatment is a very simple treatment that serves to clear the fog that’s weighing you down and open you back up to the world and your self.

Begin with us today.

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