For those of us who love getting acupuncture, it can be difficult to explain just why we like it and how it makes us feel to people who have never tried it before. And – come on, let’s be honest – if you have never tried it before, you probably are a little curious as to why your friends are so hooked.
For those of you who do love acupuncture there are lots of ways to explain why it’s awesome. Let’s go over one of my favorite basic modern acupuncture concepts and see what we learn.
Acupuncture and the Autonomic Nervous System
Acupuncture helps to reset the Autonomic Nervous system that regulates our body’s unconscious action. It is comprised of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Our sympathetic nervous system is also known as our “fight or flight” button. Way back in the olden days our ancestor would see a threatening bear in the woods. Before his mind had the opportunity to really ponder about his interaction with the bear, his body had already stepped into gear.
Thanks to his Sympathetic nervous system, our ancestor’s heart rate increased, his lungs expanded, his digestive and metabolic functions slowed down and his blood pressure rose so that he could have the physical strength and metal acuity to either fight or run away from the bear.
This is great! The Sympathetic Nervous System is awesome! When we find ourselves in moments of fight or flight survival we actually get a boost of power from our body before we even act.
It’s also problematic.
Unlike our ancestor in the woods, most of us do not find ourselves confronting life or death situations on a daily basis.
We do, however, have little bears to confront. Lots of little bears. All of the time.
Little bears are our everyday stressors or challenges. You need to get new tires. Your son is sick and you have to pick him up early from school. The internet isn’t working and you’re not sure why or when the guy can get to your house to fix it.
All of these little bears have the potential to put you into Sympathetic or Survival mode.
And if you end up staying in Survival mode for too long, the consequences become hefty. High blood pressure, insomnia, weight gain, digestive disorders, lowered immunity and muscular pain and tension are just a few of the problems that can arise when your body never has the opportunity to relax.
So how does acupuncture help?
Acupuncture is not going to change the fact that your deadline at work is tomorrow morning and acupuncture it is definitely NOT going to change the fact that your taxes are due soon either.
Acupuncture IS going to change how you react to these challenges around you through your Autonomic Nervous System.
Acupuncture has the ability to stimulate your Parasympathetic Nervous System into action.
Our Parasympathetic Nervous System is all about “rest and digest”. When our bodies are not focused on surviving, we’re metabolizing, breathing easy, sleeping and maybe even getting a little extra libido kick as well.
This is why we feel so good when we get acupuncture. And this why we are able to find a still point amidst the perceived chaos and challenges that surround us daily as a result of acupuncture.
And when we aren’t focusing our energy on fighting with or running from bears we have plenty of time to enjoy what really matters in life.
Tune in for more Acupuncture 101!
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