"I Don't Believe In Acupuncture"

Beach Community Acupuncture has a good piece today on people who think you have to "believe in acupuncture" for it to work. In my opinion, you do have to believe in acupuncture for it to work, just as you have to believe in any other medical treatment for it to work. In the dominant scientific-technological paradigm of the 21st century, most of us are brought up with a specific set of unquestionable beliefs. In fact, to question some of these beliefs is considered completely unexplainable and therefore "crazy."

For instance, everyone "knows" that when taking antibiotics, you have to take the full course, or utter mayhem will ensue.

Everyone "knows" that slipped disks, pinched nerves, muscle strains and other physical abnormalities are the cause of back pain, not an associated symptom (except this guy, I guess).

Everyone "knows" that HIV causes AIDS, and everyone "knows" that AIDS came to the U.S. accidentally from a guy who was bitten by a monkey in Africa.

For treatment to be successful, patients must accept acupuncturists into their established belief system. That's why all TCM schools in the U.S. require their student interns to wear white coats and take blood pressure readings - we wear a costume to create the association in a patient's mind to the established image of a doctor with the power and authority to heal their sickness. That image is incredibly powerful.

Your self has a natural tendency towards health. The body, mind and spirit are incredible organic systems that work in harmony with the inner and outer world. Medical systems are designed to remind you of that, to nudge you back towards health when you forget your own power. What have you forgotten?

Case Study: Me!

Pre-cooked liquid decoction in individual dosage packs from Fat Turtle Herb Company







From the taste-of-your-own-medicine department, I bring you the success story of my current herbal formula. (Note: This post is a bit more technical than most and skips over explaining any TCM basics - if you have questions please leave a comment.) Starting a few weeks ago, I developed a rash on my stomach and legs - essentially the Liver and Gallbladder channels. In general I tend to express rashes when I have emotional stagnation. Emotional stagnation, in my case, leads to overconsumption of sugar, coffee, alcohol, and greasy, fatty foods.

The aforementioned goodies in small amounts will soften the Liver, but in large amounts will increase the amount of heat and dampness in the body. Then I went home for Christmas, where there was plenty of sugar and alcohol and fatty food and emotional stagnation.

I used the opportunity of a family outing for dim sum to get an exam and an herbal prescription from one of the herb stores in Oakland Chinatown (Hong Kong Trading, 449 9th St. at Broadway if you're interested). I poked my head in and asked "医生在吗？" (is the doctor here?) The guy at the counter pointed to the back, and I went and sat down at a desk. A few minutes later the same guy (the doctor, as it turns out) came back, sat down on the other side of the desk, and with a friendly smile started asking me questions in Chinese.

How I should have responded: "医生对不起，我只会说一点中文。可以我给你看？" (Doctor, my apologies, I only speak a little Chinese. Can I just show you?) - which is actually something I know how to say.

What I actually did: laughed nervously, said "uhh, I don't really speak Chinese," and lifted up my shirt to show him my rash. Sigh. He looked a little bit shocked, possibly because my accent when asking for the doctor was quite good, but also possibly because he didn't expect me to start acting like an undergrad on spring break in his herb store.

As a result of the language difficulties, we had a four-way translation - the doctor would ask questions in Cantonese to one of the other women who worked in the store, who would then ask Nini the same question in Vietnamese. Nini would then ask me the question in English, I would answer in English, and the whole thing goes in reverse. Fortunately experienced doctors are efficient when it comes to questioning and gather more from the tongue and pulse. The tongue he glanced at for a few seconds, but the pulse he took for a few minutes.

He told me to avoid beef, shellfish, spicy food, and deep fried food.

"What about alcohol?" Nini asked the lady. The woman translated for the doctor, who then shook his head and made a tsk-tsk noise. No no no, came the answer. "See?" said Nini.

"咖啡行不行" (how about coffee?) I asked the doctor directly, trying to preserve some tastiness in my life. Coffee's okay, just don't overdo it, he told me.

Then he proceeded to write an herbal formula in long, looping Chinese characters which I had no hope of deciphering even if I had the chance to examine them closely. Having been to a few herb-store doctors, I feel like that's part of the trade secrecy: even if someone were to steal your notebooks, they can't read your handwriting.

After writing the formula, he then went back to the counter and assembled it, with help from some other employees. Fortunately I was able to ID all the herbs and reverse-engineered it to pinyin, but then lost the page I wrote it all down on. However, I do remember some key herbs:

玄参 Xuan Shen
生地 Sheng Di
牡丹皮 Mu Dan Pi
土茯苓 Tu Fu Ling
金银花 Jin Yin Hua
丹参 Dan Shen
红藤 Hong Teng
郁金 Yu Jin
枳实 Zhi Shi
地肤子 Di Fu Zi
白鲜皮 Bai Xian Pi
泽泻 Ze Xie
柴胡 Chai Hu
甘草 Gan Cao

That's 14 herbs I can remember - there were actually 21 altogether. But you can see his idea: Blood Heat, Blood Stasis, Qi Stagnation.

I've been taking the formula for a few days now, and the rash has already subsided quite a bit. The redness is gone and it no longer itches. The formula actually doesn't taste that bad - it's more sweet than bitter, definitely cold energetically.

I've also noticed that it's harder than it seems to stick to a restricted diet. I know there are things I should avoid, but until a doctor told me I essentially have been eating whatever I want. I didn't want to take all these herbs and have it be for nothing! I don't think I'll be on this diet permanently, but it's still a bit of a hassle. Something to remember when asking patients to change their diets.

As you can see from the picture, I cooked the herbs all at once and packaged them using the Fat Turtle herb cooker. This is so convenient when taking a large formula or a long-term formula. Whenever it's time to take herbs, I just cut one open and drink it. Total time spent on herbs per day: 10 seconds. No refrigeration is required. Fat Turtle Herb Company can cook herbal formulas for you and your patients - click here to learn more or send an email to orders@fatturtleherbs.com.

Great Medical Advice from Thousands of Years Ago

The sages of ancient times emphasized not the treatment of disease, but rather the prevention of its occurrence. To administer medicines to diseases which have already developed and to suppress revolts which have already begun is comparable to the behavior of one who begins to dig a well after he has become thirsty and of one who begins to forge his weapons after he has engaged in battle. Would these actions not be too late?

- The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic, Simple Questions, quoted in Tao: The Subtle Universal Law and the Integral Way of Life by Hua-Ching Ni

Seems pretty straightforward, doesn't it? Hua-Ching Ni goes on to explain that, in the Chinese system, "it is possible to detect energy imbalances long before they are seen as an overt disease."

From the point of view of modern medicine, health is merely the absence of disease. But, by taking a preventive route, one may elevate one's general state of health to a level at which one may consistently enjoy a positive feeling of well-being with an abundance of physical and mental energy.

Sounds great, doesn't it? How does one get there, to a state of health where you just feel great and have lots of energy all the time? Four things: regulation of the mind and your emotions, proper physical activity, proper diet, and staying in tune with the four seasons ("proper" here means both the right amount and the right type).

Acupuncture Mitigates Side Effects of Conventional Breast Cancer Treatments

There's a new study which confirms that acupuncture can relieve the unpleasant side effects of standard medication. In this case it's tamoxifen and anastrozole, which are used to help prevent recurrence of breast cancer.

Tamoxifen is a selective estrogen reuptake modulator (SERM), which disrupts the body's ability to bind with estrogen. Anastrozole decreases the amount of estrogen made by the body in the first place. Estrogen is targeted because some breast cancers respond to estrogen.

This is from the National Cancer Institute:

The known, serious side effects of tamoxifen are blood clots, strokes, uterine cancer, and cataracts (see Questions 5–8). Other side effects of tamoxifen are similar to the symptoms of menopause. The most common side effects are hot flashes and vaginal discharge. Some women experience irregular menstrual periods, headaches, fatigue, nausea and/or vomiting, vaginal dryness or itching, irritation of the skin around the vagina, and skin rash. As with menopause, not all women who take tamoxifen have these symptoms. Men who take tamoxifen may experience headaches, nausea and/or vomiting, skin rash, impotence, or a decrease in sexual interest.

And this from the NY Times:

The acupuncture worked just as well as the antidepressant Effexor to curb hot flashes. Women who received acupuncture also reported fewer side effects and more energy, and some reported an increased sex drive, compared to women who used Effexor, the study showed.

So, to recap: All the women in the study were taking tamoxifen and anastrozole. Half of them took Effexor, and half got acupuncture once or twice a week for twelve weeks.

This sort of study is very important in advancing acceptance of acupuncture in mainstream circles. For those women who are taking these highly toxic medications, which suppress the production of their natural hormones, acupuncture should be available to alleviate their suffering.

If we accept the dominant bacteriological medical paradigm, this is the best that acupuncture can do: cleaning up around the edges after the worst diseases have taken their toll. This role is least threatening to pharmaceutical money and M.D. status, and therefore is not crushed.

The "modern" medical model ignores the role of emotion, jeers at notions of "energy" and would rather wait years for highly selective "evidence" to become available before admitting that dirty air and chemically-tainted water can cause disease.

But if we are true to our medicine, and do our best to advance the Chinese medical model of health, that is where I believe we will do the most good. Cancer is a form of stagnation. Therefore, to avoid stagnation, you have to move. It follows that exercise is one the single best ways to treat just about everything.

Stagnation can also be caused by overburdening the body's digestive system. Therefore, to avoid stagnation, don't eat too much. Limit your intake of fatty, greasy and sweet foods.

Lots of people talk about the "mind-body" connection, but in Chinese medicine there is no clear line between the mind and body. The mind, as a set of neuro/emotional habits distinct from the physical brain, is a part of the body just as much as your thigh bone or your endocrine system. In Chinese medicine, we say that long-term stagnation can transform into fire, and that is certainly true of emotions. It is therefore vitally important to your health that you understand your emotions. Meditation is a wonderful way to separate yourself from your "self", to gain some perspective on your personality and see yourself from the outside. When you realize that you aren't a slave to your emotions, the whole world becomes your playground. Or so I'm told... I've still got work to do in that department. ;)

Eat well, exercise, and express yourself - the three E's. It's easy advice to ignore because it's so bland. But it becomes less bland when you personalize it. One person's eating well is entirely different from another person's eating well - a small, weak person needs fortifying foods like lamb and small amounts of alcohol to aid circulation. But give that same prescription to a 6 foot tall, 300 pound 50-year-old man with high blood pressure and you'll be sending him to an early grave. Some people have a lot of energy and need to go to kickboxing class to work it off, while for some others, some gentle tai ji quan or qi gong would be best. And of course, emotional expression varies widely.

There is a fourth E! The three E's should be done everyday! Avoid cancer! Live your life! Be happy!

Healing and the Mind

This is a clip from "Healing and the Mind", the PBS series from the early 90's, hosted by Bill Moyers. Moyers goes to China and sees first-hand the way qi, or universal life force energy, is utilized for healing and prevention, from daily exercises to in-patient treatments in hospitals. This excellent series is, amazingly, only available on VHS, making it something of a collector's item.

This particular clip bends towards the martial arts aspect of qi. Martial arts and healing are really two sides of the same coin, but that's a topic for a future post. For now, it's enough to say that martial arts and healing both utilize qi to bring about change in the physical body.

Speaking of which...
Yosan alum Yangchu Higgins is hosting a workshop that utilizes EFT methodology to bring about change in your emotional body (which may very well lead to changes in your physical body).

Quantum Workshop: Tapping On What Others Think

Objective:
1) To apply Emotional Freedom Techniques on feelings around “What others think”;
2) To relate primate behavior to individual emotional states;
3) To clear an incident where “what others thought” elicits energetic dissonance;
4) To create a pathway of new possibilities towards others’ thoughts.
Every third Wednesday of the month 7:00-9:30
1313 S. Hudson Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90019, call 323.936.5152
Cost $65

So Cold... So Cold...

A new study has shown that the so-called "cold shoulder" can actually feel quite chilly.

In Chinese medicine, it's understood that emotions can have a very clear physical effect. In fact, emotions are one of the three classical causes of disease (the other two being weather and external trauma - newer Chinese medical concepts include "miscellaneous qi" or "pestilential qi" which roughly correspond to bacteria and viruses).

For instance, grief is said to "consume the qi." If you've ever known someone who was in a major depression, you know this to be true (remember, qi is roughly equivalent to breath or energy). Anger makes the qi rise quickly - if you know someone with an anger problem, you know this is true. What happens? Their face gets red, they start yelling and screaming - all indications that the qi has risen quickly to the upper part of the body and needs to come out.

It should therefore come as no surprise that even other people's emotions can affect you. A particularly devastating type of ostracism put to use during China's ruinous Cultural Revolution was to be "struggled" by your comrades - you would be put in the middle of a circle and made to confess to your various sins against the revolution. To be repeatedly publicly shamed (as well as physically beaten) drove many to suicide or insanity.

The next time you feel like shooting someone an evil look, or yelling obscenities at the guy in the parking lot who just took "your" spot, take a moment to reconsider. Beware of the casual use of insults or bad manners, even if you're "just joking" or "my friends know I'm only kidding". You could really hurt someone, emotionally and physically. The traditional Chinese belief is that the universe has a circular energy - what you put out there eventually comes back to you. So be nice.

New York Times: IBS Treated with Emotional Re-Education

This article in the New York Times shows that even M.D.s are rethinking their treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.

A small but growing number of specialists are seeking to reunite mind and body by treating patients with a combination of medications, dietary precautions and emotional re-education. Their early studies indicate that this mind-body approach is more effective than either alone.

Dr. Charles D. Gerson, a gastroenterologist affiliated with Mount Sinai Medical Center, works with his wife, Mary-Joan Gerson, a psychotherapist, and their daughter, Jessica, a hypnotherapist, at the Mind-Body Digestive Center in New York.

Dr. Gerson said in an interview that for patients who are seriously impaired by I.B.S., medications help but “there is no magic pill that solves the whole problem. Patients need a more holistic approach. Those who accept emotional as well as physical causes of their condition do better.”

Read the whole article here...

Pineapple Express

This movie's hilarious. Just go see it. You'll laugh yourself silly.

There's been a lot of research into the value of laughter. There's even a form of laughing yoga which relieves stress, stimulates the cardiovascular system, and improves digestion. It can also help your sleep!

I just saw Pineapple Express and I feel like I had a workout. My sides ache. But more than that, I feel like I had an emotional workout - all positive emotions! You know how sometimes after a big yelling and screaming match, you feel all exhausted, but kind of drained in a good way, like all the angry is gone? It's like that, except with all positive emotions! I feel rejuvenated.