New Styles of Acupuncture
by
Ron Morefield
Acupuncture's urban legend is the master who is able to so accurately
perceive energy in the body that patients can be restored to harmonious
balance by the precise insertion of a single acupuncture needle.
However, that is not the form of acupuncture most commonly practiced
in the United States today. Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM
as it is commonly called, is the acupuncture style taught in most
certified schools, tested in national qualification exams, and licensed
in the various states. Although acupuncture has existed in China
for thousands of years, TCM is a recently formalized system designed
to co-exist with western medicine's scientific orientation.
Chinese metaphysical knowledge, prevalent in its martial arts, religious
disciplines, and Qigong, is absent in TCM. That is not a surprise
given the conscious effort to make it palatable to scientifically
trained doctors and students. As a result, TCM is a powerful
alternative to western medicine for many physical ailments, but
does not address more esoteric phenomena like stored memories, miasms,
subtle energy bodies, kundalini, and spirit. Today, new styles of
acupuncture are evolving to incorporate and revive esoteric principles.
Two such styles are Vibratory Acupoint Balancing and Esoteric Acupuncture.
The approaches of TCM and more esoteric forms of acupuncture are
very different. The TCM methodology is to first examine the patient
by observing, listening, smelling, touching, and inquiring. The
next step is to analyze the facts gathered during the examination
and determine the “patterns” that are present. These patterns
sound strange to our western ears with names like “liver yang
rising” and “yin deficiency heat,” but have been
well known in China for over a thousand years. They are the key
for finally selecting the specific acupuncture points to use to
improve the patient's condition. Textbook acupuncture formulas
exist for treating particular patterns. They often use six to ten
acupuncture points. When treated bilaterally on the body that means
twelve to twenty needle insertions.
TCM describes acupuncture points as “vortexes” primarily
located on twelve main and eight extraordinary “rivers of energy
in the body” – the meridians. Despite this metaphor and
intriguing names like “ghost points” and “window
to the sky points,” people who are familiar with other forms
of energy therapy would say, “Where's the beef?” TCM
acupuncture makes no mention of chakras, energy polarity, nadis,
subtle energy bodies, or anything else commonly found in energy
based therapies. TCM acupuncturists do not find point formulae in
the literature for opening the energy in the heart chakra or resolving
a negative childhood memory.
Vortex points and rivers of energy are not the exclusive domain
of TCM-based acupuncture. The esoteric teachings in many diverse
cultures incorporate the human energy matrix in one way or another.
The Hindu Chakra System, Ayurvedic Medicine, the Qabbalistic Tree
of Life, Sacred Geometry, Chinese Medical Qigong, and South American
Shamanism all work with subtle human energy. These are the diverse
teachings that are merging with traditional acupuncture and evolving
it into a more esoteric style.
Energy