An acupuncturist gets to the heart of the healing process
By Hilary Laferriere-Boly
I work as an acupuncturist. I'm often asked, "What is Acupuncture?" In 30 seconds: Acupuncture involves inserting, solid, hair-thin needles in the body at specific point to 'move stagnation." Oriental Medical theory suggests "where there is pain, there is stagnation." Acupuncture works remarkably well at moving stagnation thereby alleviating pain, easing the symptoms of addictions, as well as preventing illness or to ease acute symptoms of colds or flu.
Acupuncture also works on other profound levels too. When I have more than a minute to explain, I notice that the power of acupuncture is wonderfully described through story:
In her initial appointment, I asked "Katie" why she wanted to quit smoking. She said she felt like a hypocrite — Katie worked as a massage therapist and feared any clients might find out she smoked. How could someone whose job was to assist with another's health, smoke? She had concerns about the odor, and the toll it was taking on her. She said she'd quit once before.
I asked why she started again? She said it was 5 years ago, just after her mother died of a smoking related illness. She'd been about a pack a day smoker since then.
[In Oriental Medicine, the lung is related to the emotion of grief]
Katie was very emotional when she talked about her mother. Her eyes filled with tears. Katie and her mother were close. While her mother was dying, Katie was afraid, and even said to herself, "I won't have anyone to talk with, once my mother is gone..."
It was clear, Katie was still, 5 years later, grieving the loss of her mother.
Her intake form indicated that she had her jaw replaced two years ago. I asked about it. Katie said her jawbone literally disintegrated. Her other bones were fine. The damage was severe. She required surgery — bone from her hip was grafted to create a new jaw. All of her teeth were false.
The acupuncture pathway that runs through the jaw is the stomach meridian. It begins below the eye, extends down to circle the mouth, and around the jaw, extending beneath the breast, internally to the stomach, down the torso and leg and ends at the 4th toe. It rules the stomach organ, and is of course responsible for digestion — energetically this is true too. It's about digesting life experiences. It is also associated with one's mother and offers centering, stability, receiving nourishment (running through the breast). For many of us, our first nourishment, and first companion is our mother.
With her first treatment, I gave Katie an acupuncture to help her reconnect with the love of her mother.
Her 'homework': If she wanted to smoke, that was okay, but she was to thoroughly enjoy it. I asked her to feel how it feels when the smoke enters the lung. Indeed, "do nothing but be present with the cigarette. No reading the paper or talking on the phone. Be with yourself and the cigarette, the smoke and your body." Katie agreed.
In a traditional treatment sense, I did nothing to help Katie "stop smoking" — no points for detoxification or decreasing addiction.
At our appointment the following week, Katie reported between the sessions, she'd smoked 3 cigarettes. She said they did not taste good and she didn't actually 'enjoy' them.
It was immediately clear to me, and to Katie (pack a day to three in a week), her smoking was not a physical addiction, it was emotional and related to her grief.
I treated Katie 5 or 6 more times, touching the points that struck me. In some cases I wished to offer her a clearer foundation, to nourish her bones and jaw bone- energetically, this relates to our ancestors and genetics (the foundation of who we are), self acceptance and self forgiveness.
Katie noticed the connection and power of her words "I won't have anyone to talk with anymore, after my mother dies." In saying that, her jaw, being integral to communication, dissolved.
Part of her healing was to connect with her friends and family. In her life, this manifested with Katie hosting a party of her siblings and friends. Communication, support systems were coming back into place.
At one point, I gave her an acupuncture point called "Great Oneness." I explained the poetry of the point: Great Oneness offers the gift and image of a child at her mother's breast. The child being nourished and enveloped by her mother's love. Picture a mother and child connected. Mother and Child are One. Katie felt the connection with her mother and wept during her treatment. Katie was making remarkable progress.
We talked about the Lung and how the Lung is about taking in (Inspiration, literal and symbolic) and letting go, exhale.
When it feels like there is nothing, one strives to fill up the emptiness. Katie said she saw how she smoked to connect with her mother — one of her mother's "less inspiring behaviors," she said. Katie remembered that her mother loved to knit. Katie decided to take up knitting as a way of allowing her mother's love to live through her.
She stopped smoking, when she was ready. Most importantly, Katie healed.
Elizabeth's Story
About Hilary Laferriere-Boly
Hilary earned her Master of Acupuncture degree from the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture in Florida and her BA in Education and Human Development from Prescott College in Arizona.
She is trained in acupuncture for fertility and weight loss. Hilary uses Acutonics vibrational "tuning fork" treatments in conjunction with acupuncture, or for needle-free treatments.
Hilary is a Diplomate of Acupuncture by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, licensed in Oregon and Washington. She is the past President of the South Sound Acupuncture Association. Currently, Hilary serves as President of the Oregon Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (OAAOM).
For more information you may find her at www.Acu4You.net
Latest articles by Hilary Laferriere-Boly in Spirit of Maat:
January, 2011:
Elizabeth's Story An acupuncturist gets to the heart of the healing process
January, 2011:
Katie's Story An acupuncturist gets to the heart of the healing process
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