the Healing Effect

For an acupuncture treatment to be successful there has to be a healing shift. Different people experience it with different intensity. Some folks are instantly relaxed while for others a tide of relaxation slowly inundates the body. Others don’t feel anything until they go about their day and notice a different feeling in their body/mind.

Acupuncture is an engagement with the nervous system the Chinese call “getting the qi.” The Qi in this case is an activation of the chemical electricity of the peripheral nervous system. From the acupuncture point to the spine to the brain and back, the feedback loops of the nervous system shift the state of body towards healing. This acts as a neurological “oil-change” as the brain waves, organ function, and inflammatory condition are regulated and harmonized.

This effect, this shift in the consciousness and chemistry of ourselves is profoundly healing and makes acupuncture one of the original “body hacks.” For those who do yoga, I call acupuncture a short cut to Shavasana, the pose of collecting relaxation. There are many ways, methods, techniques, lifestyles that allow us to de-stress and increase relaxation and resilience (vagal tone) but acupuncture allows a concentrated, palpable experience of that shift. That is the healing effect of acupuncture. And then we can work on your knee pain.