crowding out your pathology

I was in the treatment room this morning, when a patient asked why I was needling points on her "constitution". Of course there is no easy, short answer to such a question, so I pulled up my chair and talked about the garden.

Chinese medicine, which is a reflection of Chinese philosophy, says that we are conceived by our parents and are imbued with a destiny that belongs solely to us as individuals. That creation is a blueprint of our future in its shining possibility. It will come true if nothing gets in the way. Illness is what gets in the way. Like the acorn (which holds a perfect little oak tree) our fetus is the perfect us, just smaller.

A few years ago, I had so many thistles growing in my flower border that I could easily spend one to two hours weekly digging them up by their roots. But there were always more. I then had the bright idea to plant something desirable that would crowd out the thistles, making it tough for their roots to re-grow. So I planted this lovely groundcover which blossoms in the spring with bright yellow flowers. NO MORE THISTLES.

So what has this to do with Chinese Medicine and destiny? If I, as your acupuncturist, support your destiny (your constitution, your basic gifts, the things that you do really well,) then there will be NO ROOM for illness. As such, we want to crowd out pathology...make it hard to take root, difficult to generate.

So, in a given treatment, I have the option of eliminating a pathology, OR supporting what's healthy, and crowding out the pathology. Often I do both until the client becomes able to crowd out the pathology for him/herself.

I'm glad she asked the question.'