Acupuncture for Anxiety
Emotions are physical. They happen in our bodies. They are created by our bodies. They sometimes happen to our bodies.
Emotions are specific movements in the body, specific physiological cascades and relationships running from head to toe.
Anger is a rushing upward as blood rises to the head, the heart pounds, the face turns red, and the muscles prime to jump in action. Anger is the spark to make the body act in defence of self or others.
Fear is a sinking movement. Blood leaves the head, the spine slumps down and back, thoughts sink inward compelling the body to curl up to protect itself.
Grief is a scattering. Breathing becomes shallow and the body feels tired, spread thin, emptied.
Depression is a heavy weight on the body that makes any movement, of the body or the mind, feel like a massive undertaking.
Anxiety is a bit trickier because we use this word to talk about a couple of different feelings. It may be worry: a knotted feeling in the chest or stomach. Or panic: a chaotic, wild kind of knotting. This knotted feeling can be mixed with fear or depression.
Acupuncture treats anxiety first by changing how the body reacts to triggering situations. Teaching a new pattern. We look at the specific physical signs that happen when you feel anxious. We look particularly closely at the heart, lungs and digestive system. We find the places where the body is holding tension, where healthy blood is not nourishing tissues, where the nervous system is either raw or silent. And we smooth the rough edges, unknot the knots.
Calm can come immediately and stay for a while. It takes a little repetition for the new habit to become strong, but I have seen that the body really wants to be at ease, and is grateful for the help to get there.
The mind, where we usually talk about emotions happening, is a slightly different thing. Mind is intangible, rooted in the body but able to wander around and beyond it. We can think about abstract things, about things half a world away, about things past or future. But as soon as that thought triggers an emotion, we are in the body. Ideally, the mind should always be rooted in the body so that emotions do not sneak up on you or stew beyond your awareness. This part is not always easy and takes practice, but is well worth the effort.
So the physical environment can create emotions, as when a car runs a red light just before you step out to cross the road. Other people can create emotions in us, like when your toddler refuses to get dressed when you are running late for work. And thoughts are also affected by emotions. Thinking patterns will change based on the emotions that habitually shape the body. If the body is repeatedly knotted in the chest or abdomen, thinking will become knotted, confused, and foggy.
Meditation is the one of the best treatments for the mind. But if the body is unsettled, then meditation is really difficult. Acupuncture makes meditation easier by calming the emotions that are moving through the body so that you feel more like a still, deep lake. The mind likes to be in a place like this. When emotions stop creating turbulence in the body, the mind can be clear, focused and present in the moment. When emotions can come and go easily without creating turbulent echoes in the body or the mind, you are resilient. This is one of the cornerstones of health and a long life.
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Henry practices acupuncture and natural medicine in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He also teaches Tai Chi and Qigong, and teaches acupuncture courses at undergraduate and professional levels.
Cover photo by Jenn Wood on Unsplash.
