IMPORTANT Q&A’S TO READ BEFORE YOUR FIRST TREATMENT
HOW DO I PREPARE/WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?
Loose shorts/palazzo pants/skirt and a large billowy/loose short-sleeves top or tank top works great.
Acupuncture points are all over the body--but the most commonly used points are on the extremities (hands, arms, feet, legs) with a few on the abdomen, chest, and upper back.
**Please avoid wearing body sprays, perfumes, or cologne.
WHAT IS ACUPUNCTURE? AND WHAT ARE THESE CHANNELS YOU MENTION?
There are a plethora of image-based analogies in regards to conceiving the acupuncture meridians; In traditional literature these channels are referred to as estuaries of water--rivers, seas, streams.
In regards to the points, there are over 2,000 of them (361 in Western-standardized nomenclature (as per the World Health Organization)). And an additional 200 (39/per WHO) auricular/ear points.
It resonates most for me to think of the points along the merdians as circuit breaker switches --tried&true mapped out places to go to reset the electrical workings of a particular part of the mind-body-soul complex.
DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER WAYS TO DESCRIBE ALL OF THIS?
Sure! If we were paying attention in middle school A&P, and not watching the clock or daydreaming about our crush two rows up (: perhaps there’s a memory of those body maps or old-school posters of the blood flow out of and back into the heart. This circulatory system map is then overlaid, with another map of the lymphatic pathways following a fairly similar trajectory. Even finer than that, the pathways of the cranial and spinal nerves. The neurotransmitters, voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, synapses--we can’t see any of these but modern science has shown us how they all interplay in a complex electrical symphony in our body--affecting everything from our hormones, digestion, posture...to our thoughts and emotions.
Here, we find ourselves much closer to workings of the acupuncture meridians which run in parallel to the above systems. They are even finer interstitial pathways* and because of this all the more influential to functioning of every finite aspect of our being.
These channels not only effect all physiological systems--blood, lymph, and nerves, but also something beyond that, something called Qi, which loosely translates as energy, or vital motive force.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO SEE MY…TONGUE?
According to TCM theory, the tongue provides a geographic map of the internal organ systems offering additional insight into meridian functioning. Dating from the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC to 1000 BC), tongue evaluation is considered a pillar of TCM diagnosis and consists of visually inspecting the tongue body for vitality, shape, color, moisture, and movement and assessing the tongue coating for color, thickness, distribution, and characteristics at the root.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I COME?
This decision is a multifactorial one-- age/season of life, budget, desire, need, the whys of what brings you to Acupuncture all come into play.
► A good baseline to consider, is if you are young, and feeling vital, sleeping well and living a low-stress life, then once per the changing of the seasons (there are 5 seasons within the context of TCM) is sufficient.
► If you are looking to take a more preventative approach to beauty and/or wellness, or simply enjoy the restorative self-care aspects of an acupuncture treatment, then once per month is likely a good fit.
► If it’s a season of high output, or you are looking to conceive a baby within the next 6 months to year, balance hormones, or wishing to work with an acute or chronic condition (pain, headaches, insomnia, digestive woes, aggravated skin, mood fluctuations, etc) then 1-3 times/week for a period would be befitting in this case.
WHAT WILL THE NEEDLES FEEL LIKE?
In some areas of the body, sometimes it might feel like a quick rubber band flick or a mosquito bite. And I say ‘sometimes’, because our sensitivity will vary by the day, depending on our sleep, mood, levels of inflammation, what phase we might be in our monthly cycle.
However, it is also entirely possible that on other times you may feel…nothing. So much so that I have to giggle at the number of times that a client has asked me with a clenched face:
“Did you put it in?”
“Yess. (:”
“Oh…”
WHY ARE YOU NEEDLING…THERE!?
Back to that circuit breaker analogy…
In most of our homes the circuit box is in the basement or tucked away in a corner of the kitchen--we go to this spot, maybe move a poster out of the way, open that gray door, find the switch we need, and voila, the effect is felt rooms or perhaps even floors away. Done, and we don’t think much about it. Same with the acupuncture points (except we acupuncturists think a lot about it), in that for example, it is entirely common to go to the foot to treat a headache or to the wrist to treat the shoulder!
Fret not, if it is within scope of practice, what you ask us to address will be addressed. And if there is time, you can always inquire after your treatment--”Hey, sooo, what was that point around my second toe that made my toothache go away, immediately?.”
Over time, your sensitivity to the points will expand in a really beautiful and empowering way. In residency, I had the cutest 8 year old client who I would give stickers to and tell her to mark the points we might want to work with that day. She loved it! And she was always 80-90% on the money with her point choices. Kids are mighty beings, but we all have the capacity to know our bodies this acutely.
It’s a beautiful thing for me to see self-awareness and self-empowerment grow in my clients, especially in children--in fact it’s the most fulfilling aspect of my work! To borrow from Ram Dass, “We are all walking each other home.”
By whatever means you have found your way to Jasmine Cove, it is my true honor.
Warmly,
~ ♥️ Erica ♥️