Being that I am a practitioner in the holistic healing world, I have come to understand that by merely addressing symptoms without looking at the root cause of the health issue, I am not truly doing my clientele any service.
The beauty of Chinese Medicine is that it sees the person as whole, and all symptoms as just the surface of a deeper underlying issue.
Whether they be emotional, past injuries, or poor diet -- symptoms are just that -- not the cause.
Many people want their back pain or shoulder pain gone quickly, and sometimes holistic modalities such as acupuncture can do that in just a few treatments.
The problem with this is that the person may have back problems from sitting in their office on a full-time basis, or they are in an unhealthy relationship and their bodies may be talking to them by creating "lower back pain."
This would require that the person implement a lifestyle change to truly correct the problem, because one acupuncture session would not really suffice.
Another example would be if a client comes to me for knee pain. If it is evident that he or she is over-working themselves to the point of exhaustion and they developed knee pain right after the exhaustion sat in, by me only addressing their knee pain, I am basically taking away their body's wisdom.
Our bodies are so wise that if we are out of balance, the body will create a symptom in a least important organ before it goes to the most important ones, such as the heart or the kidneys.
So imagine if I do a treatment to take their pain away, but they keep over-working themselves, non stop. What do you think would happen? They could have a heart attack. Do you see my point?
People want a quick fix, and I can empathize with that -- but for true healing to take place, we must look at the whole picture. Questions such as the following are helpful guides to preventive maintenance:
How is your diet? Do you exercise regularly? Do you get ample sleep and restful time? Are you fulfilled in your family life? Are you satisfied with your job and finances? Have you had any traumatic events that may be affecting your present situation?
When we get to the heart of the matter, the healing happens on a much more holistic and long lasting level. In Chinese Medicine, the client is seen as a whole universe. Every organ is connected to each other and the emotions play a huge role in whether people have symptoms or not.
My focus and passion is not just on offering the treatment, but also on educating them about some of their underlying issues as to why they may be experiencing those symptoms in the first place. It is like the phrase that says: "If you give a person a fish they eat for a day, but teach them how to fish -- and they eat for a life time." With this blog I will leave you with a short video with three acupressure points on how to release anxiety.