September-October 2012 Red Clover Clinic Newsletter
Published: Wed, 09/05/12
September–October 2012
In this Issue
What is unique about German auricular acupuncture?
Blue Vervain—identification and uses
Did you know? Tidbits from Red Clover Clinic
What is unique about German auricular acupuncture?
In the last issue of the Red Clover Clinic Newsletter you learned about German auricular acupuncture and why the ear provides us with such a powerful landscape from which to treat the whole body. Here's a quick review:
The brain projects a representative map of the entire body onto the ear.
Any injuries and illnesses are part of this projection.
Treating these areas has a healing effect on the related parts of the body.
Now I would like to focus on the different types of points that can be found on the ear, as well as what makes the German system of auricular acupuncture unique among its other auricular counterparts (Chinese and French).
Types of points on the ear
There are three types of points we look for and use on the ear:
Reflexpoints, also known as anatomical points, are the most basic, shared in all the systems of auriculotherapy. Each part of the body (knee, forehead, liver eye, etc.) has a corresponding point on the ear. If you put a needle in the liver point, you have a direct effect on the liver.
Functional
points exert a certain influence on the body systemically. There are functional points that calm the nervous system, lessen inflammation, alleviate pain, regulate hormone levels, and more.
Focus points are reflex or functional points that harbor a body/brain memory of a particular stress or trauma on one's body. Injuries, illnesses, surgeries and emotional trauma can all cause focus activity in a point.
What makes German auricular medicine unique?
It is recognition and treatment of focus activity (#3, above) that makes German auricular medicine unique among its other auricular counterparts. This is very important, because a failure to heal may be due to focus activity that is still plaguing the body. Once the focus activity is cleared, the body can heal. In other words, people suffering from longstanding afflictions that don't seem to respond to other treatments may have the opportunity to heal if old focus activity is cleared.
The rain barrel theory
Focus activity tends to be a chronic burden on the system, preventing it from returning to its previous level of homeostasis. A great illustration of how focus activity overloads the body is the rain barrel theory.
The body collects the impact of stress, injuries, and trauma as if it were a rain barrel. As the rainwater level reaches the top, there is a danger of it spilling over. Sometimes it takes just one or two drops too many to cause the barrel to overflow. Each individual has the capacity to handle only so many stressors before their rain barrel overflows and a cascade of symptoms appear.
In order to effectively recover from these types of scenarios, you must either make your rain barrel bigger, or drain it. It is possible to make your rain barrel bigger by reducing stress, improving diet, getting better sleep, exercising, meditating, and taking more vacations. To drain your rain barrel, German auricular medicine is a good choice, because it offers methods to both identify and clear focus activity.
How full is your rain barrel?
Blue Vervain—identification and uses
Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata) has many medicinal uses. I primarily use it to calm and ease all types of tension in the body. Tension can result in many conditions including spasms, tremors, pain, hypertension, headaches, dizziness, emotional tension, ADHD, menstrual and menopausal complaints, and more.
Blue Vervain is an attractive plant that produces spikes of small purple flowers. It is a North American native that grows abundantly throughout the Great Plains region and beyond. It is a close relative of its European cousin, Verbena officinalis.
It is important to distinguish Blue Vervain from another North American cousin, Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) when collecting for medicinal purposes. Even though these two plants have a lot in common, their medicinal effects are slightly different. The most noticeable distinguishing characteristic is that Hoary Vervain has fuzzy leaves, and Blue Vervain doesn't. Hoary Vervain's flowers are also slightly bigger than Blue Vervain's.
Blue Vervain
Verbena hastata
Hoary Vervain
Verbena stricta
Did you know?
I will be speaking at the North Country Herbalists Guild on November 7, 2012. The title of my talk is "Treat The Pattern Not The Disease: Making Sense Of Signs and Symptoms."
Please note that prices were increased in September.
We are making adjustments to the onlinescheduling system to make it more accurate as to what times are available. If you're unable to schedule what you need, please e-mail [email protected] or call 612-308-3597.
