I know from bio-science that there is a direct link between one’s attitude and one’s expression of life, with evolving DNA sitting somewhere in the middle.

TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) claims to be holistic in nature; so this begs the question – can it affect one’s expression of life without a change of one’s attitude? There’s no doubt that attitude affects emotions and if acupuncture also affects emotions, can it also affect one’s attitude and subsequently one’s expression of life? In other words, does it sit in the middle and work both ways or is a change in attitude and thus lifestyle still necessary for full healing to occur?

In a nutshell, my question is – does acupuncture work completely independently of attitude and lifestyle change or is there some kind of symbiotic relationship between the two?

If the cutting-edge scientists are correct and our attitudes are directly affecting our choices, which are directly affecting our lifestyle and emotions, then an attitude that is receptive to acupuncture will in and of itself have an affect on emotions and lifestyle, which in turn affects DNA, bodily health and ultimately one’s expression of life.

The mind and the body are not separate beings because the jam in the sandwich are emotions, which seemingly are affected from both sides e.g. bodywork can unblock emotional energy and so can mind-therapies such as psychotherapy and hypnosis. I know this because I do both. However, my experience has taught me that body-work without lifestyle (attitude) change only temporarily unblocks emotional energy whereas mind-work can effect a permanent change if it results in a change in attitude.

Using TCM’s own analogy, we can say that the mind is the spring or well, the body is the sea and emotions are what flow in between (the stream/river). Can acupuncture somehow change what’s coming out of the spring? I must say I would very much doubt that. Can it somehow alter the flow of emotions before they get to the sea? I’m struggling to see how that is possible. To my mind, it has to come into the category of body-work – changing the flow of energy in the sea, which would mean it only causes temporary bodily changes in one whose flow from the spring never changes.

Ignoring external environmental factors, ‘syndromes’ presented will have an emotional base and if not addressed can proliferate into worsening conditions. Treating the Chinese syndromes with acupuncture is a step ahead of Western medicine because, by doing this, it’s possible for the body to be corrected prior to Western doctors being needed. However, neither East nor West deals with the root cause! And often all that is needed is to either remove the person from their environment and/or deal with their emotions using my ECT (Emotional Clearing Technique) that is found in my book ‘We are here to know ourselves’.

Having experienced ‘real’ acupuncture and seen its effect on others, I’ve witnessed that certain acu-points can calm the mind and soothe the spirit. Notwithstanding this fact, I feel one mustn’t forget to include other factors such as a person’s complete surrender to the treatment, which will also have the desired relaxing effect. You don’t need to know why a patient is feeling the way they are if all that is on offer is temporary relief. It’s a bit like meditation – you feel good whilst you're doing it!

Regular acupuncture to calm the mind and the Shen (Spirit) is an obvious benefit and of course permanent change can occur through the course of treatment but it will not be without a change in the patient’s mind. Also, when assessing the changes in patient conditions, apparently due to acupuncture treatment, one must firstly look at other plausible factors such as the patient’s environment. Feedback is rarely black & white and it can be highly subjective.

If a soul is troubled or a person’s mind is in an emotional groove, then the only permanent solution is found by helping the person out of their ditch. It doesn’t matter how you label the therapy (e.g. counselling, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, psycho-analysis); what matters is the knowledge and mental skill of the therapist or teacher.

Reading this I must admit it sounds a bit like I’m anti-acupuncture but in fact this is not the case. There is an element of truth in everything and acupuncture has its place. It’s like my partner said, “it’s a valuable tool in an holistic therapist’s medical bag.” (She is an Anaesthetist who has previously studied TCM for 2 years).

Naturopaths will argue (and in my opinion successfully) that the foundation of all bodily disease is found in the gut. Hence they recommend diet and colonics with a degree of success. If the colon is cleansed and the body is ‘oxygenated’ at a cellular level then good health can be achieved but the products have to be continually taken and the processes continually repeated. In the same way, people who think they are no more than a body will always look for a ‘physical’ solution because they are only operating on one level (mass to mass). Hence they will look predominantly to drugs, body-work or nutrition.

Every single thought you are having and in particular the regular patterns in your thinking are constantly setting off a cascade of chemicals being created in and coming from the hypothalamus gland in your brain. These chemical messengers directly affect your body on a cellular level via triggering the flow of neuro-peptides and hormones through your endocrine glands and the firing of your nerves in the chemical baths found at the synaptic clef. All of your thoughts that are not in alignment with unconditional love (i.e. those of your emotions) are causing unfriendly bacteria in your gut. As you sow so you reap. Change your mind change your body.

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