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I ask everyone to bring or wear a t-shirt and shorts or yoga pants for comfort.

First, you need to fill out paperwork, a short intake and Consent to Treatment form.

You tell me all of your physical issues, even the ones you don’t think are related to your main complaint.  You may also include your mental and emotional issues, since those are intertwined with the physical in Chinese Medicine philosophy.

I will check your tongue and pulses (both sides) to help me figure your unique diagnosis and help me choose your supporting points.

Needling is next.  I will insert about 20 needles.  You will rest on the table for 20 to 30 minutes.  If I include cupping, that will be first with a shorter acupuncture session to follow.  If I include CranioSacral Therapy, I will insert a few needles into your lower limbs, work a little on your back and head, then insert some needles in the upper part of your body.  Regardless, each session lasts 60 minutes.

Everyone has a cup of tea after the session.  It’s a good restorative.

I will also prescribe a bag of tea for you, one of my custom blends.

Then, you can make another appointment, if you like.  Or you can wait to see how you feel the next day.

If you need to cook your herbs, here’s how you do it:

1.  Soak the contents of the bag of herbs in 4 cups of cold water for 20 minutes.
2.  After soaking, bring the herbs to a boil in the water.  Then, simmer for 20 – 25 minutes.
3.  After simmering, strain off the liquid into a container, for example, a glass jar.
4.  Return the herbs to the pot and add 4 cups of fresh cold water.
5.  Boil and simmer again for 20 – 25 minutes.
6.  After cooking the second time, add this second decoction to the first.  Store the resulting concentrate in the fridge.
7.  Drink one portion as a tea mornings and evenings for eight days, adding hot water to each.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, we treat diseases using energy channels or meridians.  When considering the health of a person, Qi can be translated as energy of the body.  Qi is considered to be a life-supporting substance of the body and, at the same time, the motive force of the functions of organs, tissues, and systems of the body.

Before receiving acupuncture, the client would choose the most prominent symptom of the day, for example, insomnia.  The acupuncturist would choose a combination of points that would focus on that symptom, as well as points to achieve balance throughout the body.

Once a needle is inserted, the client will feel a distention, ache, or numbness at the point.  This is the Qi sensation.  The client may also feel a warmth or electric shock going out from the point. Occasionally, the client may feel a little pain at certain points, but it will disperse quickly.  Qi carries the effect of acupuncture from one area of the body to another.  The meridian or channel guides Qi along its path.

Two basic types of Qi in the body are congenital and acquired.  People are born with congenital Qi, so it is basically limited.  It makes up a person’s basic constitution.  Acquired Qi comes from food intake and breathing.  The quality of acquired Qi depends on food quality, air quality, water quality, emotional balance, and physical maintenance.

Qi has four basic types of imbalance in the body.  They are Qi deficiency, Qi sinking, Qi stagnation, and Qi rebellious.  These states are all addressed with the unique diagnoses and treatments in Traditional Chinese Medicine.