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This article was published on the Holistic Junction web site on September 4, 2007 under the category Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine:
The Neijing, one of the oldest known Chinese medical texts, tells us that the healing process is not just mechanical - it is not the placing of a needle. The most important thing for healing to occur is the relationship between the practitioner and the patient.
In our Western world, where we are obsessed with knowledge, qualification, academic study and proof, we may easily skip over the very simple truth that unless a 'relationship' exists between two human beings nothing can change, as there is no real communication.
The skill of the Acupuncturist, Healer, Doctor or whatever healing mode is applied is to communicate health to the patient. This can be done with drugs, lifestyle recommendations, needles or touch, but whatever the means in which this communication occurs, it must be supported by the relationship.
This is the basis of classical five-element acupuncture and sets it apart from other systems of Chinese medicine practised in the West today. Classical acupuncture was developed thousands of years ago at a time when people readily understood their role as part of Nature's greater plan.
They saw that their lives were subject to the same natural forces that created, sustained and at times destroyed their crops each year. They also understood the importance of personal destiny and their responsibility to maintain the gift of life. Acupuncture was developed to support the individual through this process of life, maintaining life and health, preventing illness and supporting one's personal purpose.
Life is no different today. The main difference is our approach to life and how we see our role within the bigger picture. For hundreds of years within the Western medical paradigm we have been taught to believe our health will somehow maintain itself and when it starts to fail only then will we seek support. For most of us the miracle of the human body does exactly that for many years but often by the time disease takes hold it can be too late to turn things around. The Chinese believed the gift of long and healthy life was available for all, provided we maintain ourselves in body, mind and spirit.
The London Institute of Five-Element Acupuncture (LIFEA) teaches a style of acupuncture that remains true to the original concept and theory of Classical Acupuncture. The Institute has been established to continue the lifelong work of the late JR Worsley who studied with some of the great Masters of acupuncture in the 1960s and refined and developed this practice style here in the UK.
Acupuncture in this country is currently enjoying an unprecedented boom period. This growth is due to public demand rather than hype or fashion. Even though scientists still cry for more scientific evidence before they will confirm its efficacy, the move towards this system of medicine is astounding.
The role of the acupuncturist is to 'care' for the patient in the widest sense, to listen, to understand, to develop an authentic professional relationship, and then to interpret the entire experience into an intelligent and effective treatment that will take the person out of suffering.
Classical Five-Element Acupuncture is an elegant, sophisticated system of medicine, supported by a strong theoretical model based on the natural laws, and intrinsically linked to the practitioner's ability to develop as an instrument of healing. This means the practitioner must be prepared to develop personal and professional skills that go beyond the pursuits of academia.
The student maintains a balance of intellectual study alongside the development of 'self' as an instrument.
This important relationship the Neijing speaks of, begins with the personal attitude and inner behaviour of the practitioner. We can only take the patient along the road of health as far as we have been prepared to go ourselves. This is true of our knowledge of disease and our own wisdom of life through personal experience, and so the role of the acupuncturist is not static but ever evolving and improving, setting the standard higher and higher.
The core difference between this style of teaching and other colleges is that the main focus of diagnosis is not the presenting symptoms of the patient, but the unique, underlying qualities of the person. This does not mean symptoms are not treated. The symptoms tell us that something has gone wrong, and so by helping the person's body, mind and spirit return to a point of balance and health, symptoms begin to drop away. It really can be as simple as that!
To be a great acupuncturist requires dedication and commitment. The study is rigorous and demanding as well as fascinating and rewarding. The demands of who we are as people is challenging, exciting and sometimes frightening, but the way it allows us to develop, both personally and professionally, is profound and in itself a wonderful gift that we can share with our family, friends, colleagues and, most of all, the patients who seek our help.
[All work by author is copyright protected. If you would like to use this article, please contact the author for permission.]
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