Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine: How it can help you become a Champion!
By: Scot Somes, LAc., Dipl Ac.
Founder of Center for Integrated Eastern Medicine located in Denver and Broomfield
If there was a way to maximize your potential both physically and mentally, would you be interested? How about being able to concentrate better for school, increase your energy, increase you sports performance, decrease recovery time and reduce stress, would you be interested? Welcome to Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture.
People from all walks of life, countries and sports have been using acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for thousands of years. That’s right 1000’s of years. The Chinese developed acupuncture and herbal medicine over 4000 years ago and it used by more than a quarter of the earth’s population, which is close to 2 Billion people. Why would so many people turn to an ancient medicine with today’s modern science and drugs? Because it works!
So how does acupuncture work. In a nut shell, our bodies have highways of energy or Qi that travel through what we call meridians. Think of these like a hose that carries water to a garden. When the hose or meridian is working properly the water or Qi is able to nourish and keep our bodies functioning correctly. When there is a kink in the hose or a disruption in the flow of Qi through a meridian, then the garden doesn’t grow or our bodies gets sick or experience pain.
What does an acupuncturist do to help un-kink the hose or get Qi to flow correctly? We insert very fine needles, the thickness of your hair, into various acupuncture points along the meridians to get the Qi flowing correctly or un-kink the meridian. This will restore balance to the body so that it can perform at its peak.
So how does acupuncture and Chinese Medicine help you become a champion? If the Qi or energy in your body is flowing correctly, you are able to perform at your best. This means having better concentration for school, reducing pain and helping the body heal from sports energy, it also reduces stress for the mind and body.
What do champions do to become champions? They take care of their mind and body. They don’t wait until and injury is so bad that can’t perform, instead they get it taken care of immediately so they can continue to become a champion. Additionally, they come up with a plan and stick to it in order for their minds and bodies to function at their best. The champions that come in to our clinic do so on a regular basis so they can prevent sickness or illness from getting them off track or so they can heal from an injury faster. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine should be use d as part of your wellness plan. Basically, don’t wait!
I woul
d like to point at the most people think of Olympians as champions. If you watched the Rio games, you may have noticed most of the swimmers had round marks on their backs and shoulders. This is known as cupping in Chinese medicine and has b een around for thousands of years. It isn’t painful and is used to help the muscles recover from exertion. Basically, instead of pushing like a massage does, cupping is used to separate the skin, fascia, muscle and bone ever so slightly to allow the blood and Qi to flow freely relieving muscle tension and pain. It also separates the muscle fibers to get rid of adhesion’s and tightness so the athlete can perform to their full potential and be a champion.
In addition to utilizing cupping to treat our athletes, here are some other common ailments we treat on a daily basis: headaches, stress, any kind of pain, sports injuries, infertility, stomach issues, allergies, asthma, balancing of energy to prevent sickness or injury, PTSD, and emotional things like anger or depression. This is small sample so you can get the idea of what can be treated. There are a lot more ailments that can be treated.
Scot Somes, LAc., Dipl. Ac. founded the Center for Integrated Eastern Medicine over a decade ago in order
to help his patients become their own champions. He along with his sister, Stephanie Somes, LAc., MSTCM, and their unique approach to patient care and integrative medicine have helped over a thousand patients. The Center for Integrated Eastern Medicine has two locations, Denver at 1660 S. Albion St., Denver, CO and Broomfield at 1022 Depot Hill Rd., Broomfield, CO. Learn more at www.easternacucenter.com.
