Happy Chinese New Year 2021!

Friday, February 12th marks the first day of the 2021 Chinese New Year. The date of Chinese New Year changes annually since it is based on their ancient calendar, typically falling on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice. This means it can occur in January or February depending on the year. In Chinese culture your animal zodiac sign is determined by your birth year, not your birth month. Because of this, those of you who were born in these two months need to check the date of the New Year when you were born before determining your zodiac sign.

There are twelve Chinese zodiac signs and they are cycled through one by one in the same order every twelve years. The Rat is the first of the twelve. As the story goes, the Jade Emperor decreed that the order of the zodiac signs would be determined by the order in which the animals arrived at his party. Rat tricked Ox into giving him a ride but just as they arrived at the door Rat jumped down and landed ahead of Ox, becoming first. In Chinese culture, people born in the year of the Ox are strong, reliable, fair and conscientious, inspiring confidence in others. They are also calm, patient, methodical and can be trusted. Although they say little they can be very opinionated. They believe strongly in themselves, but are also stubborn and hate to fail or be challenged.

Since the Ox is hardworking and methodical, 2021 is a year when hard work will be rewarded. However, it will also be a year in which we will fully feel the weight of our responsibilities, a year in which it will be necessary to double our efforts to accomplish anything at all. No explosive or catastrophic events are predicted to occur so it is a favorable year for economic recovery, saving, and long-term investments. This year is predicted to be a perfect time to focus on relationships of all kinds, a year in which discipline and organization will be successful at solving problems, especially in family life.

There are many traditions surrounding the New Year. In preparation for the upcoming holiday it is important to sweep your house out to get rid of any bad luck left over from the previous year. Never sweep or dust on New Year’s Day, however, or all of your good luck will be cleared away. On New Year’s Eve you should open all of your doors and windows at the stroke of midnight to allow the old year to escape and the good luck of the New Year to enter. Firecrackers are set off to scare away evil spirits, send off the old year, and welcome the new.

For New Year’s Day itself there are many considerations. It is thought that on this day precedents are set for the entire year. In particular, it is important to not lend anything out on this day or you will find yourself lending things out all year. Also, never spank a mischievous child on this day to avoid tears that will last the whole year through. It is taboo on New Year’s Day to refer to death or the past, to use foul language or unlucky words, or to tell ghost stories. In general, knives and scissors may not be used because they may cut off your good fortune. Do not wash your hair on New Year’s Day or you will wash away good luck and do not get your hair cut during the first lunar month of the year because it places a curse on your maternal uncles.

How you dress is also important as are the types of gifts that are given. On New Year’s Day it is thought that you should wear red because it scares away evil spirits and bad fortune and ensures a bright future. Black and white should not be worn as black symbolizes bad luck, and white is a Chinese funeral color. People also dress in all new clothes and shoes to symbolize a new beginning. Children are given red packets or envelopes containing even numbered amounts of money since odd numbered amounts of money are traditionally given during funerals. However, $4 is never given since it is an unlucky number (because the Chinese word for “four” sounds like the Chinese word for “death”).

5 Myths of Community Acupuncture

Since 2006 there has been a new style of medical clinic popping up all over the country that goes by the name “community acupuncture.” Practitioners at these clinics treat multiple patients at the same time in the same room, dividing their overhead costs among a higher volume of patients. This allows them to charge a lower rate per treatment, which makes their services accessible to more people. However, this system requires that they divide their time and attention among that many more patients and it significantly limits which acupuncture points can be used. While I agree that healthcare in our country is overpriced, and that the more people receiving acupuncture the better, imitating the high volume model of mainstream medicine negatively affects quality of care. Paradoxically, those who practice community acupuncture advertise their services as more traditional and more effective than private one-on-one sessions. Below are five points that are commonly found on the websites of community acupuncture clinics and a refutation of each.

In the long history of medicine in Asia, acupuncture has been practiced in many different ways. For example, there were the traveling healers (the famous "barefoot doctors") who made a living doing the rounds of nearby villages on foot. Then there were the practitioners who worked for the upper class and royal families, who offered private treatments on a strict one-on-one basis, considered to be the optimal ratio for the highest quality health care. Often, these highly skilled acupuncturists would be hired exclusively by a wealthy family to be their personal physician. Yes, there were also clinics where patients were seen together in large rooms.

Even today in China practitioners work in a variety of settings, including community clinics, just as they do here in America. However, there are two very important distinctions between Chinese and American community clinics. First, in China it is not considered taboo to disrobe in front of strangers like it is here in America, especially in a medical setting. Because of this, Chinese patients may completely undress, even if there are others around. Since this is not done in America, it means that community acupuncture here is limited to the points that can be accessed only while fully clothed. Second, in China clinics use regular examination tables for treatments while here community acupuncture is usually done with patients reclining in armchairs. This means that in America community acupuncture is typically limited by the inability to access any of the points on the back of the body. So in community acupuncture, as it is practiced in America, over half of the total acupuncture points are inaccessible. This is especially problematic when dealing with chronic conditions, which respond best when the area is treated directly.

In Chinese medicine there is no frequency of treatment that is considered to be ideal for all conditions. This is actually determined in many ways, especially by how long you have had your condition and by your overall state of health. For example, the longer you have had something, usually the less often you will need treatments. This is because chronic conditions tend to both develop and resolve more slowly, gradually shifting over time. Also, if your health is poor your ability to heal can be compromised, so your condition will resolve more slowly. On the other hand, conditions that come on fast, like acute injuries or viral infections, will definitely respond and change faster, so more frequent treatments are ideal. Other factors that can influence the frequency and regularity of treatment include your age, the severity of your symptoms, and your compliance with taking herbs and making dietary and lifestyle changes. So, for some conditions frequent treatments may be ideal, while for others treatments every other week would be better. If the patient's goal is to utilize acupuncture for preventive medicine or to maintain wellness, they will need treatments even less often, say once per month to once per season.

While I agree that the high price of health care needs to be addressed so that more people can afford it, there is no absolute correspondence between cost and treatment efficacy. Efficacy has much more to do with the skill of the practitioner, especially their ability to make an accurate diagnosis. On the contrary, I would argue that the limitations of community acupuncture have a greater potential to negatively affect treatment efficacy. First is the limitation on time. Optimally, a proper initial appointment will include questions not only about the patient's chief complaint, but also about other systems and functions, as well as a physical exam, dietary and lifestyle counseling, and a discussion of the treatment plan. In addition, there should be time allotted to answer the patient's questions and, especially in the case of pain, to do some of the other traditional therapies that practitioners of Chinese medicine are also trained in, like acupressure and cupping. There is simply no way to complete all of this when you are seeing multiple patients per hour. Second is the significant limitation on which acupuncture points can be used, as mentioned above.

I don't think the best way to address the high cost of healthcare is for the practitioner to increase patient volume, especially if this means sacrificing quality of care. More effective solutions include simply charging less per patient, reserving a certain number of appointments per week for low-income individuals, or volunteering a certain amount of your time for free as a practitioner.

Actually, throughout the centuries, this medicine has been practiced in many different cultures and in many different ways. In China there has been everything from traveling doctors to court physicians, from integrative hospital practitioners to guarded family lineages. In India there is an ancient form of acupuncture that is part of Ayurvedic medicine that is based upon the Suchi Veda, a 3,000 year old text that predates the written record of Chinese medicine. In this tradition the needles were dipped in herbal liquids before insertion. In Japan traditional acupuncturists use needles that are much thinner than those used by the Chinese and there is one particular style in which only one point is needled per treatment. The Japanese also developed shoni-shin, a type of pediatric treatment in which various metal tools are used to stimulate the acupuncture channel system without piercing the skin. They even have a 400-year old tradition of blind acupuncturists, representing about a third of all acupuncturists in that country today. In Korea there is a focus on needling the hands only. This is a kind of "microsystem" acupuncture in which the different areas on the hands are said to have a one-to-one correspondence with other specific areas of the body. Another microsystem form is auricular (ear) acupuncture, which is used extensively in America by members of the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association to help patients break drug addictions. There are also separate traditions in other countries like Vietnam and Tibet. In truth, there have been many different ways in which this medicine has been practiced, and community acupuncture actually represents something totally new.

I agree that receiving a treatment in a group can raise the qi dynamic and enhance healing, but it can also lower it. For example, I have heard from multiple people who have tried community acupuncture that being in a room where people are constantly coming and going, snoring, listening to music on headphones, and having emotional releases can be very distracting. While I do agree that under certain circumstances group endeavors can raise the energy, I think it is important to acknowledge that this is not the only circumstance under which this can happen. In my experience, the more deeply we can rest during a healing session, the better. A private, quite room free of distractions, with soft music and low lighting can also be very effective at raising the qi dynamic. The qi dynamic also depends on the practitioner's approach, especially their intention, skill, and bedside manner. If the room you are in has a peaceful ambiance, if you are comfortable and warm, and if you really feel like the practitioner is attentive and caring, healing will also undoubtedly be enhanced.

Finding Balance in Imbalanced Times

What a strange year it has been, paradoxically both speeding by and slogging on. A year full of stress, anxiety, political division, a pandemic, and a future unknown. Though it has been hard for me to find balance in these times I have found much solace in the ideas behind Chinese medicine. For example, in the theory of yin and yang the universe is made of two opposing forces that are always moving toward balance. This can be seen in the yin yang symbol below in which there are two equal halves, black and white. This process of balance is dynamic, not static, so that when things swing too far in either direction, it is guaranteed that they will eventually swing back. So, if things feel imbalanced now please know that balance will be retuned once again.

Yin and yang are also interdependent and cannot exist without each other. This is why both halves of the yin yang symbol contain a dot of color of the other. For example, there cannot be day without night, expansion without contraction, or activity without rest. Basically, yin and yang are really just two different aspects of the same singular unity that is constantly shifting from one form to another. In this time of great political division it is important to remember that we are all interdependent, too, and cannot exist without each other. Hopefully one day we too shall be unified.

The concept of chi symbolizes this unity as well. In this theory everything has a common denominator, everything in the universe is a different manifestation of chi. Chi is an ancient Daoist concept that refers to the primary force that forms, connects, and governs the interplay of everything in existence. It is the basic power of the universe that enables things to go, move, change, shift, and transform. The theory of chi is very similar to the theory of energy as it is understood in physics; everything is chi and chi can neither be created nor destroyed, only transferred or converted to another form. This theory is an important reminder that we are all one, that we are all in this together we will get through this together. It is also a reminder that everything is in a constant state of change and that nothing lasts forever; the universe is always in a process of transformation. By their nature major transformations can be bumpy so hang in there. I'm looking forward to the next phase, aren't you?

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