How Acupuncture Works | Ancient Life Hacks

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How does acupuncture work? That’s a big question, but we will answer that here and now. By the end of this video, you will understand the basics of how acupuncture works. The challenge we face with understanding acupuncture is if we try to use a modern, scientific mind to understand this very ancient practice, we get stuck very quickly. So, for us to really understand acupuncture from the ancient’s point of view, we need to forget everything we know, or think we know, based on modern science, and dive into the magical world of acupuncture.

At the core of understanding acupuncture is understanding qi. What is qi, some sort of magical energy? Uh, yea, kind of. Fundamentally though, qi is function. All the things that happen in the body, the beating of the heart, digestion by the stomach, the lungs breathing in air…all of these functions are made possible by qi. So if you don’t want to think of it as this interdimensional energy that flows through your body, then you can think of it as function.

Like blood flowing through veins, qi also flows through the body, but in totally different pathways often referred to as meridians. These flow on the surface of the skin all the way into the organs. There is nowhere in the body the qi cannot reach through these pathways. Qi must move in order to tell the body what to do. If qi stops moving, we have problems.

Along the meridians, there are points that are called xue wei in Chinese, which translates to “cave points.” So basically qi pools in these caves. Sometimes the energy can get stuck in these caves. To put it simply, acupuncture is sticking a very thin needle into that cave of energy. The easiest way to imagine it is to think of electricity flowing through a wire to a lamp, if the wire is cut or damaged, the electricity cannot make it to the bulb, and the light won’t turn on. If we can reconnect the wire though, then magically the light will turn on. The acupuncture needle is helping to reconnect that pathway, allowing the qi to flow.

Acupuncture essentially tells the qi to move. As the movement of qi forms the basis of all function in the body, we need qi to flow in the correct direction down these pathways. These pathways on the surface of the skin connect deep into the body, and this is why putting a needle in an acupuncture point and releasing that qi will send the qi to a certain part of the body on the other end of the pathway, making that function work again. Remember, qi is function.

To imagine acupuncture another way, you can think of each acupuncture point as a switch on a wall or a power button on a machine. By pressing the power button to the laundry machine, we can now turn on the laundry machine. If we turn on the light switch though, we will not turn on the laundry machine. So having a deep understanding of each acupuncture point and its effect on the body, we can tell the body to perform functions needed, like healing a certain body part.

It is up to the practitioner of Chinese medicine to choose the right point on the right path to let the qi flow again in the right way to resolve whatever issue one is having. For example, if qi is having trouble flowing to the heart and we select a point on the meridian that leads to the heart, this may resolve the patients insomnia that came from stagnant qi.

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Edited by @iwestez

[mariskavh]

Thank you for this information, it is now less frightening. I do have a question, what about someonne with very bad psoriasis, can they also get treatments of any kind and exsist a treatment for psoriasis with acupuncture?