In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there is no separation between physical and mental health and well-being. Body pain or other symptoms we may tend to associate with our physical state, such as digestive issues, often indicate stagnancies or deficiencies that can further manifest as mental or emotional challenges.
At our clinic, your acupuncturist's approach to overall care is holistic — meaning, rather than assessing and treating presenting symptoms singularly, there is an understanding of interdependencies and a reference to the whole person and their complete experience.
Erin Cranford, LAc, MAcOM explains more below.
From a TCM perspective, emotions are seen as nothing more than a pattern in the body.
Each organ system has a corresponding emotion associated with it:
liver is irritability
heart is joy
spleen is rumination or worry
lung is grief
kidney is fear
There is no distinction between mental and physical health, which is so amazing for emotional processing! There is absolutely no shame or stigma connected to negative emotional experiences or behaviors.
For example, a person who is easy to anger might have liver fire due to stagnation. Liver fire may also manifest as a red face, dizziness, ringing in the ears, or a stiff neck.
Another common emotional experience, grieving, will deplete the lungs, making us more susceptible to respiratory problems or fatigue. Nourishing the lungs is one thing I always do when I know a patient is grieving. I also prescribe deep breathing exercises.
If a patient finds themselves ruminating, or unable to stop worrying, I know that they might also be experiencing food cravings, digestive bloating, or lower energy levels, because the spleen is involved, and in TCM the spleen is in charge of digesting and extracting qi/energy from the food we eat. For worry/rumination, I will nourish the spleen in treatment, and have a variety of herbal formulas I prescribe for this pattern.
For trauma specifically, the kidneys are often most impacted. Overwhelming events can be a shock to our nervous system, which will scatter our qi. The kidneys then have to generate replacement qi, which can deplete the body, leading to kidney yin or yang deficiency. Ongoing anxiety (AKA stress) will tax our kidneys, heart, and digestive system(spleen/stomach), which can eventually lead to a plethora of pathologies, including insomnia, low or high appetite, dizziness, shortness of breath, night sweats, palpitations, fatigue, and more.
Erin Cranford, LAc, MSAOM treating a patient.
In addition to weekly acupuncture treatments, there are many lifestyle choices that will encourage healing. These changes sound simple, but they can be tough if a person has never done such a thing! Being gentle with ourselves is necessary.
One behavior that I believe is very impactful for deep healing is daily meditation. I recommend meditating twice a day, for 10-15 minutes each. If that seems like it might be too hard to commit to at first, start with 5 minutes. The important part of this technique is consistency — actually doing it.
For me to stay consitent, I had to make it fun for myself. I set up a small corner of my room with candles, photos of loved ones, a few crystals I especially like, and a salt lamp. I sit on a cute pillow and a small folded up quilt I made to keep my back and ankles supported. I will often burn some cedar leaves or sage before a session. I really make it special, and make it my own. When I routinely sit in the morning and before bed, I'm more easily able to get to the meditative space, because my body now associates sitting in that spot with deep breathing, peace, and quiet.
I also use a meditation app to track my sessions. The particular app I use gives me a "star" for every 10 days of consistent meditation I do. As silly as this sounds, I love my little star collection! There are many apps out there to try, I use Insight Timer. I've heard good things about Headspace, Waking Up, and others as well. The important part is sticking with a practice, so if an app helps, use it!
With regular sessions, old, stuck emotions will slowly unfurl, body awareness will increase, and mood will shift. We are teaching ourselves to feel safe in our bodies without the use of substances or maladaptive behaviours. It is an incredible thing!
I’m also an avid reader and if you are too, there are so many good books out there about trauma, addiction, and nervous system healing!
It’s been interesting for me to learn so many different perspectives on these topics. Although addiction is seen as a different topic than something like stress reduction, both addiction and the inability to relax reflect a pathological brain/Central Nervous System function. Therefore, reading about one subject will help with other subjects.
In my experience, if someone is trying to rewire a maladaptive nervous system or quit an addictive substance, replacing the old patterns with a practice of gratitude, meditation, and self cultivation of some kind will help jumpstart the process and more easily facilitate healing.
Having curiosity about our psyches, deeply reflecting, and facing the traumas, addictions, and behaviors directly (with compassion, softness, and at a speed that feels safe, of course!) is the trick, and looking to those who have been through the fire and come out the other side is helpful and important.
For books on healing trauma, I suggest:
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter A. Levine
When You’re Ready, This is How You Heal by Brianna Weist
For books that focus on healing in a general sense, I recommend:
The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck
Whole Again: Healing Your Heart and Rediscovering Your True Self After Toxic Relationships and Emotional Abuse by Jackson MacKenzie
For books on alcohol cessation I recommend:
Quit Like a Woman by Holly Whitaker
The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Grey
In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Mate
For books that support spiritual growth I suggest:
Be Here Now or Be Love Now by Ram Dass
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Dao De Ching by Lao Ze
AUTHOR: Erin Cranford, LAc, MSAOM. Learn more about Erin here.
For more specific examples of holistic results experienced by one of our patients (and our clinic’s Practice Manager, Allison), check out Consistiency & Results: How a steady schedule of care really helped.
