4 year already

Well today is the day! 4 years ago today I took my first FULL paying acupuncture client: at woodland Herbs.  Back in the days when I worked full time in a call centre and just 3 hours a week at Woodland Herbs.

That 1st client was a gentleman with depression, didnt see him for as long as i'd have liked, but managed to help lift him at least a little - based on subsequent feedback.

Now 4, incredibly quick, years later I have worked with it must be at least a few hundred people, from all walks of life, builders, postmen, lawyers, medics (in many guises), journalists, lecturers and many many forms of office based mon to fri 9 to 5 workers.  Working with MANY conditions: ME, fertility, period problems, pain in so many places I cant keep track, lots of emotional stuff. e.g depression, anxiety and of course good old faithful stress and even helped someone through a break up of a relationship.

A few of the cases have had such good results its been a surprise to even me including 'agonising pain' in the ankle that all but disappeared after just one session, a girl with abdominal pain that was making her feel suicidal who'd had medical intervention for over 6 years to no avail, and within just one session felt better, and now (after many sessions) just pops in on occasion essentially for a 'top up', so many pregnancies that i've supported the parents through and a delightful man with bipolar who suffers badly with anxiety.

I've also supported people with long term problems, seeing them as and when needed to just keep them topped up, M.E.being one of the biggies in that field.

Four years in and I love what I do more than ever before! I have grown so much in that time, learning daily from the all the people that walk through my door, learning how to be a better person & therapist with my interactions, not to mention improving my skills as a therapist with lots of research, and clients who  willing to be guineapigs for me and who's opinions I value when im tweaking my treatments.

I still can't believe that in just 4 years I have gone from working part time - only 3 hours a week to the 39(ish) i now do, splitting my time between two very different clinics run by two very different people, and providing me with different types of people to work with.

As an acupuncturist working in her home town of Glasgow I am delighted to share my skills and experience with everyone I meet, and as many of my friends will attest I'm sure, acupuncture for me is not just a job, its a way of life!  I'm quite sure they  are sick of me saying 'in TCM terms...'

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all my friends family and clients who have supported me in this challenging, yet incredibly rewarding, 4 years! Looking forward to the next 40!!!

Why I am an acupuncturist

As an acupuncturist one of the most common questions I am asked is why i do it.

I have a bit of an interesting route into it, as do most acupuncturists I know and have worked along side.

I started out doing a degree in Psychology, realising before I graduated that it wasn't for me, I did want to 'help people' but psychology just didnt cut it for me.

Upon graduating I wandered around the globe a bit, ending up in South Korea teaching English as a second language.  The town I lived in was a relatively small one, and if one ever saw a white person one said hi! I did such a thing whilst sitting in a internet cafe catching up with mates! Got chatting to a lady who told me about this yoga type class she went to most nights.. I was intreged, and a few days later was introduced to one of the most influential couples I have ever had the privaledge to meet.  I soon became a regular - going to class up to 5 times a week, it wasnt quite yoga, and to this day I still don't know what it was called, what I know is that the regular movements were having a positive influence on my life.

Anyway, not too long after that I was persuaded to try having a massage with the Wangjang Neem, a very intuitive therapist who spent up to 90 mins working solely on my abdomen.  I then saw his wife Bo Wangjang Neem, who gave me healing in the form of energy work as well as massage.  A few months later, I managed to burn myself and the Wangjang Neem offered to experiement with his new therapy.. Acupuncture.. and from that day I was hooked!! but hadn't yet considered it a career option.

By Feb 2003 (i had been in Korea for 8 months) I had a new flatmate, Suzanne, who was a reiki master and also practiced yoga on a daily basis, having spent a lot of time in India & Thailand, she introduced me to the idea of therapy as a profession.

By the end of May i was coming to the end of my time in Korea and considering what to do next, on a PURE WHIM, decided to look at how to become an acupuncturist... and quickly realised this was meant for me.. my dad has just moved to Manchester.. and guess where I could study?

I am soo very grateful to my time in Korea, it completely opened my eyes to a new system, a new way of looking at the world, I loved the gentleness of the people, their kindness & respect for others as well as a whole new way of eating...

Food in KOrea is hugely important, and everyone knows the importance of food for healing and maintenance, and changes their diet dependant on weather, lifestyle etc, I found it fascinating that they considered eating Chicken and Ginseng to keep them strong through the hot/humid summers, certainly within my family, food was not there to nurture.

Anyway, by the time I got back to the UK I applied to the University of Salford, but had a year to kill until starting the degree, so decided to do a 'wee massage course' to get me back into studying and to begin to learn about the body.... and it just so happened I loved it.

Soon as I finished my degree (2007)I returned to Glasgow, and found Woodland Herbs, and also now The Bothwell Clinic, I am rapidly approaching my 5th year as an acupuncturist and massage therapist in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire, and I can honestly say that I still adore it.. on a daily basis I learn something new as well as help people to rediscover their health!

I am forever grateful to that chance meeting with Pat in a internet cafe that started me on this path to finding my vocation.. and hope that I can share my passion for health and especially for acupuncture with everyone so they can too benefit and lead a more fulfilling life, free of what ails them!

YIn Yang...

As part of my talk I explained the Yin Yang symbol to which I think we are all familiar, but not sure how much its understood.  It is the basic foundation upon which Acupuncture, and traditional Chinese understanding on how the world works is based, it is dynamic.

The first thing to consider is that it is a contained circle - that one gets smaller and turns into the other.  It is also important to note that there is a little of one in the other, that they are NOT mutually exclusive.

Chinese characters are essentially pictures of what they are try to describe. The pictogram for Yin Yang shows a mountain.  One side facing the sun, and the other in the shade.

Yang is the bright side of the mountain, whilst yin in the dark and as such, in the very familiar image to the left: yang is white and yin is black.


Other things attributed to Yang include: the front of the body, day time, sunshine, warmth, heat, movement, Qi,
Those things attributed to Yin: The back of the body, night time, the moon, coolness, stillness, water, blood.

These things have been categorised as being either predominant in Yin or Yang, but they always have a little of both: for example the front of the body is yang relative to the back, but the upper body is yang compared to the lower body which is yin.

A lovely easy example to understand Yin Yang is to consider 24hours.  Midnight is considered upmost yin (so will be the big bit of the black), noon considered upmost Yang (the biggest white bit) and between is a mix of yin and yang.

What this means for our health.

For me this constant change is what gives us our routines, the fact that we get tired is a result of yang waining and yin increasing as well as explaining many many other patterns found in our bodies.  Women are considered Yin in nature due to the monthly period cycle and our ability to nourish and create life.  As such, Yin declines with age, and menopausal women often show signs of Yin deficiency in that they are overheating, especially at night, as Yin is not subduing Yang, it is incredibly common for women in China to take 'Yin tonics' as they age. 

This dynamic way of explaining the workings of us humans allows me to spot patterns in peoples symtoms and help to rebalance their out of sync Yin Yang and thereby optimise health.

My work with John

I am in the very lucky position to work with some amazingly experienced and knowledgeable practitioners in the clinics I work in.

Over the month of October, John Williamson and Myself have been giving a course on acupressure.  John is a Zen Shiatsu practitioner and his understanding of how the elements relate in real life gives me such insight that I can then use to enhance my practice.

Today we were talking about emotions and how they affect our health.  The average 'lay person' would more than likely agree that emotions play a part in our physical health.  John was describing the metal element (the one i struggle to comprehend the most) and talking about how its all about barriers and how our interaction with others is about the formation of those barriers... and grief  the emotion related to the Metal Element .. is our way of helping to break down those previously understood barriers or Links as I was reinterpreting it.

Which is why when we are first bereaved of someone we love, to use that example, there are lots of these barriers/attachments/links that we have formed that remind us of that person, be it that they used to share a bed with us, or that they used to shout at the TV when a particular show is on, it reminds us of that relationship that is now lost...

and if we don't deal with it (as with any emotion) it will just keep reoccuring until such times as we figure out how to deal with them.

What I have also realised on this course is just how much I do know and do without thinking now.. especially in terms of locating points... it has become second nature to me.. and thats such a lovely thing to become aware of!