The three questions I will always ask you during intake:
How are you eating, how are you pooping, and how are you sleeping?
No matter what else may be going on with your health and symptoms, if you can tick off these three questions with good if not great, you are doing fine. If you have trouble in any of the three, consider it your body communicating that it needs you to slow down and pay attention, that something is out of alignment.
Let’s talk about sleep.
Acupuncture can improve sleep for individuals who suffer from insomnia, whether occasional or chronic. I don’t need to rehash all the harm related to sleepless nights so let’s skip to discuss the two most common types of sleeplessness.
Firstly, we have a segment of the population whose struggle is falling asleep. Perhaps our mind is busy and it is going over all the open issues at work or elsewhere in life where our minds are engaged. Could it be worrying, overthinking, ruminating and anxiety? This points to disharmony in the relationship between the Heart and Spleen. The Heart is the place where the ‘‘Shen’’ or spirit or mind is housed. Consciousness is ascribed to the Heart, not the brain as it is in Western medicine. The Spleen is charged with transforming and transporting all that the body and mind have ingested. Overthinking and rumination point to the Spleen over processing and not carrying out its designated function of transforming and transporting Q’i. With a Spleen-Heart Q’i imbalance, the points we select will be to allay the Spleen so the flow of Q’i can restore the Heart and Spleen dynamic for ease of falling asleep.
Another segment of the population falls asleep easily enough but is awakened in the middle of the night unrelated to emptying the bladder and falling back asleep is difficult. This phenomena points to a possible Heart and Kidney imbalance. The quality of sleep lacks deep anchoring of a healthy Kidney Q’i. This awakening may be accompanied with night sweats, dry mouth and throat or palpitations and feeling of restlessness. Acupuncture points will be selected to support the Kidney Yin. I will ask questions about your dietary habits to ensure proper nutrition to anchor the Blood. Eating too much salad or raw food will be discouraged with Heart and Kidney imbalance with suggestion to avoid strenuous exercise, late night work and excessive screen time before bed. The ancient text from the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine states that “Skills and ability stem from the Kidneys.” We are often inspired late into the night with our endeavors. Doing so regularly, however, is injurious to our Kidney Yin not only disturbing our sleep but weakening the functioning of the Heart.
Insomnia or any other sort of unease or dis-ease, the symptoms and causes are as many and as varied as there are numbers of us. I love Acupuncture because it is a highly individuated medicine that recognizes and honors each of our unique journeys in life. Acupuncture works.
See you in the clinic.