How to Use Acupuncture to Reduce Stress

Daily Stress

Coping with stress is a major issue in our fast paced modern world. Stress is something that affects your entire body, and in many situations is good. As one of the body's defence mechanisms, stress is what gives us the focus and the energy to deal with challenging situations. If you are walking alone at night, and you think a robber is following you, your senses are heightened, your muscles are ready, and your mind focuses on the situation at hand. The stress that we feel today comes from many of these primitive emotions, but are converted into our modern day to day world of deadlines, relationships, money worries, etc. In the modern world, stressors can be more constant, causing long term stress which can have negative effects.

So if you feel 'stressed', it means that your worries, defence mechanisms, and other systems are overworking, which is a bad psychological place to be, and at the same time something which can negatively affect your health.

Alternative Ways To Deal With Stress

In Chinese medicine, stress is seen to block the flow of blood and energy in the body, causing stagnation. Acupuncture deals with this by stimulating the body's energy flows, countering tension and spreading relaxation. Chinese medicine sees the body as a series of paths (or meridians) through which energy (also known as qi) flows. When we are healthy, the energy flows smoothly from one part of the body to the other. Stress causes muscle to tense, which in turns blocks energy and makes us unhealthy. Those experiencing high levels of stress often have pain in their upper back, shoulders, and neck, the areas which tense when we are stressed.

When you see the body in this context you can start to see how acupuncture works to stop stress. Many are skeptical of acupuncture, as it seems like such a strange idea - sticking needles in people's backs to relieve pain and such - but in the context of energy flows it makes more sense.

Acupuncture is an ancient art, dating back possibly as far as 3000 BC, and has been a popular form of medicine in Asia throughout modern history. So it has been around for a long time, and tested through the generations. Today, there is also significant scientific literature on the efficacy of acupuncture. It is also a safe treatment, as long as it is done by an experienced practitioner.

Acupuncture And Stress

Acupuncture works by inserting a very thin needle into key points on the body which correspond to body organs. These needles then stimulate the flow of energy, breaking down musculature barriers and moving blood and energy to areas where it is needed (the conventional western notion of acupuncture focuses more on how the needles cause the brain to release endorphins, as well as increased blood flow). Thus energy flow returns to normal and both the body and mind can relax.

Acupuncture not only treats stress but also many other health conditions.