TIRED OF STRESSING?

Stress and acupuncture: the solution that relaxes.

Article by Olivier Roy, Acupuncturist.

We are exposed daily to multiple sources of stress. Through acupuncture, an approach derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that is 5000 years old, we can pause at the peak of a workday and change everything in the span of 15 minutes. Stress and acupuncture: a scourge of modern life and a natural solution that is highly effective for managing it.

Physician Walter Cannon, one of the first to describe the phenomenon of stress in 1915, explained that all situations leading an individual into a fight-or-flight position constitute stress¹. This is equivalent, on an emotional level, to experiencing the full range of emotions revolving around anger and fear. Even though it is not always easy to recognize these states in ourselves, we often translate stress toward others through tense relationships where frustration and confrontation darken our interactions.

In acupuncture, stress is considered as energy that circulates poorly, thus causing discomfort. Treatment allows us to recycle what was no longer flowing into reusable energy, much like the spring breakup, which gives way to the flows of the river.

On a physiological level, the more we stress, the more the storm rages. We drive our adrenal glands to inject a cocktail of adrenaline into the bloodstream. The cerebellum, for its part, a primitive annex of our central computer, does not see the difference between a stressful possibility and reality. We therefore send emergency signals to the brain centers and reflexes tense our targeted muscle groups like a shield, whether the threat is real or not. If we compare the human machine to a chain, the weakest link will thus be stimulated by the dose of adrenaline. From there, our sensitive area risks giving way, consequently bringing additional stress to the entire body. We are talking here about individualized stress reactions: some will react with discomfort, a spasm in the back, anger, others with difficulty breathing, digesting, sleeping, etc.

While we can worsen any imbalance with a dose of stress, many diseases often have stress itself as their primary cause. If we can die suddenly under the effect of intense stress, any stress can cause tangible physical injury in the medium term. We also experience several unconscious stresses; automobile pollution is a good example. Even though we become accustomed to certain stresses, we often neglect to correct certain situations before they become damaging...

In all cases where stress is a factor, one will fully benefit from acupuncture. We will first see why from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which has never separated the body from the mind.

As we saw above, the fight-or-flight reaction to stress involves two emotional poles: anger and fear. It is explained by the theory of the Five Elements (wu xing) that anger is the negative reverse of the Wood element. Fear, for its part, is the dark side of the Water element.

Furthermore, it must be known that acupuncture needles are made of an alloy of two metallic materials.

Also, one always finds the Wood element of the stressed subject in excess. To treat it, we exercise with the Metal element a controlling relationship over the Wood element; exactly as we use metal to sculpt wood.

For effective treatment of the tense patient, it is necessary to nourish the Water element, which becomes depleted through stress. Metal enriches Water. Indeed, the nutritive qualities of water are attributed to the minerals that compose it.

With acupuncture needles, we also release the muscle envelope. This allows for dilation of blood vessels and consequently a therapeutic drop in blood pressure. We observe an increased concentration of endorphins, the hormones of well-being, within the fluid in which our brain bathes. We feel good. The parasympathetic nervous system, which we use when settling into a hammock to digest well, then takes over the sympathetic nervous system, which we usually blame for making us climb the walls. We then experience profound relaxation and leave the acupuncture clinic refreshed and invigorated!

For approximately $70, everyone can benefit from acupuncture. In fact, the more stressed one is, the more the disposable needles, without injection and as fine as a hair will do good. When consulting acupuncture for a health problem, one generally needs to count a month of weekly treatments per year of symptoms to return to optimal health. If the symptoms have appeared recently, one can hope for sustained follow-up in the short term. Unanimously, one surely savors the pleasures of relaxation from the first visit!

¹Developed further somewhat later in the first phase of Hans Selye's adaptation theory.

Olivier Roy, Acupuncturist, Clinique Shanti Acupuncture Montréal

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