You aren’t complicated

There are two things I cannot stand when it comes to acupuncture:

when acupuncturists say that their patient is a “complicated case” & when acupuncturists refer to the complement channels as a complicated treatment.

Patients are just humans, with their unique experiences—as we all are—and they come to acupuncture for help; if we are unable to notice that we all come with layers and instead jump to judge that their case is “complicated”, we are not only dismissing their humanity but also demonstrating that we don’t yet understand how beautifully simple Chinese medicine physiology is.

The other thing that sends my yang through the roof (this is a Chinese medicine joke that means I feel very activated [laughter]) is the comment or implication that the complement channels are a complicated treatment.

So let’s do a quick refresh in 60 seconds or less:

In the complete system of acupuncture, we have the primary channels & the complement channels. There are 12 primary channels, and these are the channels that resonate with the organs and have names we all recognize: the lung, the liver, the stomach, spleen, etc. These are the channels that govern the 24/7 functioning of the body, on which TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is based, & what is taught in schools across the world, but the catch is that in school, we’re not really taught to think of them in terms of channels. We’re taught that individual points have individual functions.

We’re taught to memorize point functions, and then it’s a game of memory to match point prescriptions to patient symptoms.

The thing that’s missing from formal acupuncture education, and therefore, largely, in the practice of acupuncture, is the understanding that the complement channels exist to protect the primary channels. Anything that threatens the functioning of the primary channels is immediately whisked away by either the sinew, the luo, the divergent, or the eight extraordinary channels, depending on when the threat occurs, the nature of the threat, & the condition of the person’s resources (mediumship) at the time of the threat.

The complement channels rely on some form of medium to hold the pathology in latency; this just means that the channels hold it for safe keeping so that the person can carry on with their life, except that as the body continues to hold, it gets tired, and the medium starts to get run down, which is when people start getting symptoms/sick/diagnoses.

Review completed. Did I make it in 60 seconds? I’ve been practicing. [laughter]

The LEAST COMPLICATED and most direct way to treat literally anyone, whether or not they seem complicated, whether they have a cold or cancer, is to go where the problem is being held by the body, which in most cases, means using the complement channels.

The complement channels are not fancy or complicated, but they do require our willingness to think about and understand how pathology is going to move within the body, the resources necessary for that movement, and then the ability to work backwards in order to reverse a disease process.

When acupuncturists forego pulse diagnosis & rely on reported symptoms, this simply will rarely get to the root cause.

When we work in-person with someone, the pulse is our best tool to find out exactly what that person needs on that day, but when we listen carefully to their story & make sure to ask what was going on just before their problem began, we can also make the right treatment choice once we understand what the different channels are about.

Today’s podcast episode also touches on this topic: why acupuncture doesn’t work for some people, and the quick answer is that sometimes the primary channels aren’t going to have enough of an impact for people to get better and freer.

I like to say that using the primary channels is like trying to organize a hoarder’s house: until you get rid of the junk, you’re still just going to be organizing junk.

For some people, primaries are enough of a message to support the body to release or store what it needs to, which is wonderful. But so many others, they’re left wondering why acupuncture didn’t work for them, and in many cases, acupuncturists are left feeling that their patient was “too complicated” and therefore, couldn’t be helped by acupuncture.

This is simply not true. It’s the most clear and most uncomplicated treatment possible.

If you’re an acupuncturist & want help with the techniques of the complement channels, stay in touch for upcoming classes to support you on your learning journey.