STEMS AND BRANCHES FOR ACUPUNCTURE PATIENTS

The term Heavenly stems and Earthly branches refers to the most important concept in Chinese Daoist philosophy: each individual is but a small piece of an interconnected universe, each part of which affects the rest. It gives the concept of holistic treatment a new dimension. It seeks to align us (Humanity) in harmony with our deepest nature, physically, emotionally, as well as spiritually (to whatever feels true to us in our innermost being). It seeks to align us also with our environment (Earth), so that we are at ease and not so buffeted by the many things which attack our immune system and wear us down. And, importantly, it seeks to harmonise us in time (Heaven – i.e. the apparent movement of the Sun and Moon about the Earth), so that our sleep-wake pattern is in harmony with day and night, that we are attuned to the natural ebb and flow of the seasons and are not struggling with it.

The Neijing, the oldest known acupuncture text book, frequently uses music as a metaphor.  For instance the five elements (related to the meridians and acupuncture points) are referred to by notes of the scale and the meridian pathways are referred to as ‘pitch pipes’ as in tuning instruments.  It is as if the individual acupuncture points are like notes which can be combined together to form chords which then resonate through our bodies. One can play chop sticks with the same notes, one can simply bang on the instrument and hear some sort of sound, but if we can reproduce a chord that is in harmony with our innermost being, in this time and in this place, that to me is one way of describing a state of health.  So in addition to feeling free of aches and pains, or hormonal or other physical problems, stems and branches acupuncture seeks to realign us to our own nature.