Hitting The Reset Button

When something doesn’t go right with any kind of electrical equipment, appliance or computer device, the first step to dealing with the problem is to shut it down and restart it. Often this is enough to correct the problem. So too with the body, which encounters difficulties all the time such as unexpected stresses, physical injuries and inexplicable malfunctions. The first step to addressing such problems is to stop and let the body’s natural healing mechanisms take over. 

Nighttime sleep is one way in which the body resets itself. We also turn to physical exercise, a nap, quiet sitting, yoga, a massage or even a glass of wine to turn off the engine of life for just a short time before we get back into the driver’s seat and start things up again. During this down time the body’s restorative functions have an opportunity to turn their attention to the needs of the body that were neglected during the day’s busy activities.  

One feature of modern medicine is that it can place great demands on the body without providing support to the body’s restorative functioning. Medically prescribed therapies such as surgery and prescription medications often place new stresses on the body, have unexpected side effects, and can depress immune functioning. 

In contrast, acupuncture works mainly as a support to the body’s restorative mechanisms, boosting immune functioning and speeding up the healing process. Because of its calming effect on the nervous system it can reduce stress levels in the body and clear the interference that stress imposes on the body’s restorative functioning. In this regard, an acupuncture treatment has a similar effect to hitting the reset button on an electrical device.

During or immediately after an acupuncture treatment most patients report feeling very relaxed and even sleepy. Some describe the effect of the needles as inducing a deep meditative state. It is not unusual for patients to fall asleep during a treatment, or to report feeling that the body has become very heavy as if it has sunk down into the treatment table. 

Acupuncture gives the body an opportunity to let something go and renew itself. Muscles become more relaxed, tensions are released, and constrictions around organs and nerves are relieved. This allows for increased blood flow to areas in the body that need repair, increased transmission of signals through the peripheral and central nervous system, and smoother flow of energy through the subtle pathways known as acupuncture channels.

Toxicity And Imbalance

We live in a world that abounds in toxic substances. Some of these substances accumulate in the body and cause disease. Chinese medicine regards many substances as toxic which are not recognized as such in conventional medicine. Often these are substances which in their right measure are naturally occurring in the body and even necessary for the maintenance of health, but in excess or deficiency destabilize the body and lead to disease. 

In acupuncture and Chinese medicine poor health is regarded as a state of imbalance which arises when there is either too much or too little of something in relation to the needs of a particular organ or system in the body. In some cases we can name these substances, but sometimes all we can do is identify their qualities or their destabilizing effects. The language used in Chinese medicine to describe these qualities or effects can seem almost poetic: moves like wind or burns like fire. Identifying just the qualities or effects of a toxic substance is in many cases sufficient for diagnosing and treating an imbalance. 

Every organ in the body is prone to some form of imbalance, but each has its own characteristic tendencies and vulnerabilities. The Stomach, for example, is prone to overheating and to dryness, although in some case it can become too cold. The Spleen/Pancreas, on the other hand, almost never overheats but is frequently prone to overcooling and the accumulation of undigested food substances which have cold and damp qualities. Both dryness and dampness are imbalances related to substances with the quality of moistness - dryness reflecting a deficiency of such substances and dampness reflecting an excessive accumulation.

A state of imbalance in the body can have many causes, both external as well as internal. External causes include exposure to certain environmental conditions such as extreme heat, cold or wind, as well as exposure to microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. Perhaps the most common external cause of imbalance is the excessive consumption certain types of foods which weaken or overwhelm the digestive organs. Internal factors that cause imbalance generally relate to past injuries or constitutional weaknesses which predispose particular organs or systems to states of excess or deficiency. 

It can happen that substances which have accumulated to toxic levels in one part of the body will travel to other parts of the body and disrupt normal functioning there. For example, inflammation of the joints is sometimes due to an accumulation of a substance produced to excess in the digestive system. It is often difficult to make a direct link between the source of a toxin and the place in the body where it accumulates, and this can lead to difficulties in diagnosing and treating the true cause of a disease. 

If we could incorporate some of the Chinese medical understanding of imbalance into our daily lives we would probably make better choices when it comes to taking care of our health. For example, if we understood that an excessive accumulation of cold substances in the body can prove just as toxic to some people as an excessive accumulation of heat, we would likely avoid eating certain foods to prevent overcooling in the digestive system. We would probably also be able to identify states of imbalance at earlier stages, which would allow us to take steps to treat them before they develop into full blown disease.