Acupuncture

Ancient Chinese Health Practice

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medical technique. In acupuncture needles are used to manipulate a person's life force for the purpose of re-establishing balance. Evidence of the use of accupuncture goes back at least 4,000 years. It is said that acupuncture was introduced to the Chinese by Huang-ti, the yellow Emperor. He lived some time around the 28th Century B.C. According to pupular belief, he brought the knowledge of things like bows and arrows, writing, the calendar and a medical text called Nei Jing which is still in use today. This book introduces the idea of life force and its importance to a person's mental and physical health.

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The basic belief behind acupuncture is that illness is caused by the failure of a person's life force to move properly along internal "power lines" called meridians. Of them there are mainly 14 in the human body. Very fine needles (sometimes in combination with electrical stimulus or with heat produced by burning specifit herbs) are inserted at some points along these meridians to release blockages and restore balance.

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A very important concept of acupuncture is the concept of natural balance. According to this concept, life spreads out itself in the alternating rhythm. Day gives way to night, night to day; a time of light and activity is followed by darkness and rest. Flowers open and close, the moon waxes and wanes, the tides come in and go out; people wake and sleep, breathe in, breathe out. Their proper relationship is health the opposite is disease.

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Traditionally, there are 365 acupuncture points on the body. Most of the points have a specific energetic function. Some points are at the meeting of meridian pathways. Some other points are junctions on an internal pathway of the meredian. Some points tend to move life force towards the interior of the body. Other points bring energy to the surface.

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The choice of acupuncture points varies from patient to patient and from treatment to treatment. It relies on very careful diagnosis. Diagnosis requires the observation of the body through looking, touching, smelling and listening. One of the primary diagnostic methods is pulse taking. It takes fifteen years to master this delicate art.

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Today, acupuncture enjoys great pupularity in China and many parts of the world. Acupuncture, the ancient medical art offers a well-tested health practice. It is inexpensive, safe and effective against many types of physical and mental illness. __ (Velayudhan Features)