A pulse reflecting the process
I am seeing a patient that is going extremely deep in her process. She is questioning every aspect of her life, including why she is seeing me, as well as every other thing ~ Life, Work, Husband, you name it...
What I am finding to be very interesting is how her pulses are reflecting her process.
Last appointment she was very external. Things in the outside world were bothering her, a lot. Her pulsese were "surging," or stronger at the surface, wider and with more force. This time she is very internal, questioning everything; her pulses are deeper and less forcefull.
As I have written about before, feeling the pulses is where I always say the "science of Chinese Medicine meets the art of acupuncture." By that I mean that it is where I have to be able to discern specific, concise differences in the quality of a pulse and describe those differences in logical, conscise specific terminology. To say it is a challenge is an understatement.
So where do I go with this? Well in this particular case I am opening up the Liver meridian to coarse or reduce the Liver Qi Stagnation, but I am also opening up the Lung meridian as that is where the Liver Qi flows to, then I am tonifying the Lung Qi and opening up the Large Intestine meridian as that is where the Lung qi flows to. 10 needles, could have a dramatic effect, or could have no effect that I ever hear about.
Regardless it is always interesting to see how a pulse can reflect a process and I do respect how deep this lady is going in her process....
What I am finding to be very interesting is how her pulses are reflecting her process.
Last appointment she was very external. Things in the outside world were bothering her, a lot. Her pulsese were "surging," or stronger at the surface, wider and with more force. This time she is very internal, questioning everything; her pulses are deeper and less forcefull.
As I have written about before, feeling the pulses is where I always say the "science of Chinese Medicine meets the art of acupuncture." By that I mean that it is where I have to be able to discern specific, concise differences in the quality of a pulse and describe those differences in logical, conscise specific terminology. To say it is a challenge is an understatement.
So where do I go with this? Well in this particular case I am opening up the Liver meridian to coarse or reduce the Liver Qi Stagnation, but I am also opening up the Lung meridian as that is where the Liver Qi flows to, then I am tonifying the Lung Qi and opening up the Large Intestine meridian as that is where the Lung qi flows to. 10 needles, could have a dramatic effect, or could have no effect that I ever hear about.
Regardless it is always interesting to see how a pulse can reflect a process and I do respect how deep this lady is going in her process....
posted by Michael Clifford, L. Ac. | 3:35 PM
3 Comments:
So when you say "going deep in her process", is this like a spiritual quest? A personal, life-affirming quest? Help us (me and others) out here, please.
Ah, Grasshopper, you are becoming so wise! Yes she is entering into a spiritual quest, a personal quest that is getting deeper and more significant than she had planned on it being.
I always think that it is a spiritual life affirming quest, though some of my patients may not appreciate that perspectvie...
I love it when you call me "Grasshopper" instead of "Mom". P.S. You misspelled "perspective".
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