Welcome New Members

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona （日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

 August 11, 2011

Welcome New Members

In the past few weeks, quite a few of you become members and I thank you.  I plan to give more benefits for members as we go along.  Please read the bottom page for this month special.

About Acupuncture:

In the simplest term to describe how acupuncture works and why it works is that:

1)  All living cells strive to be balanced.  They always (every minute and every second) want to be healthy.* The human body developed an elaborate system such as the endocrine and the immune systems to balance, to be in homeostasis.  Acupuncture restores the balance, and this is the primary reason why an acupuncturist treats the whole body rather than aiming for a segmented, specialized approach common in western medicine.

2)  Hairs and nails will grow until death.  We have the healing power within to regenerate until we decide to go.  Doctors still do not know the source of the regenerative power and are unable to tap into it.  Qi (in Chinese, Ki in Japanese) is the Life Force Energy.   Where and how does this happen?  It is written in the Chinese classic text written 2000 years ago.  “The Mist of the Lungs (oxygen) combined with the Gu Qi (food energy – carbon/carbohydrates) which is produced by the Spleen (and the Stomach) to become the Blood.”  Blood and Qi must flow.  All diseases are caused by a stagnation of the Two.  The stagnation manifests along an acupuncture line called the meridian (like the foot reflexology). Acupuncture restores the flow and maintains the balance of the two energies by treating the lines.  As long as the Two flows properly, we have a stronger power to regenerate cells.**

Suggestion:

Try not to be your own doctor.  Do not assess a prognosis by yourself.  Once in a while, ask me how many sessions you need.  Most of the time, when people assess themselves, they end up prolonging symptoms and not getting healthier.  Concentrate now.  You will get better and healthier in the least amount of time, and in a long run, you will save money.

Special Of The Month For Members Only (Ends on August 31, 2011)

30% off from regular price of Ba Wei Di Huang Wan (H-07), the kidney Chinese formula:  regularly $32, 30% off = 22.40 + tax = $24.48

Benefits of this formula: any kidney/bladder ailment, diabetes, edema, vertigo, tinnitus, night sweat, cold hand/cold feet, cataract, Alzheimer, ED, low libido, etc.

I recommend anyone over the age of 40.  Aging is the weakening functions of the kidneys.  Order and pick up at the time of your appointment.

(Next Month:  alkalizing droplets by TriMedica)

*This is deep down in the cellular level. Each cell has memories.  If you doubt it, ask any organ transplanted person.  They can tell you stories of the past which were the donor’s history.

**Yes, meniscus disk eventually be regenerated (we use knees everyday, so wearing is greater but it does not mean we need to live with pain forever).  Yes, spine is also regenerate.  Degenerative disease is, to me, just a word.  Aging is about degeneration.  We are loosing proteins and are aging but we do regenerate at the same time.

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona （日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 3:  June, 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Note From Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2011:  

McDonald's Under Pressure to Fire Ronald by Julie Jargon

"More than 550 health professionals and organizations have signed a letter to McDonald's Corp. asking the maker of Happy Meals to stop marketing junk food to kids and retire Ronald McDonald...The letter from the health providers urges McDonald's to cease marketing food high in salt, fat, sugar and calories to kids, from the use of Ronald McDonald to Happy Meal toys."  I think it is about time we demand corporate responsibility in creating a healthy diet.

Reminder:

As a member, you receive 25% off from any product by Natural Partners (www.naturalpartners.com) and TriMedica (www.trimedica.com) from us.  Sorry, no shipping.  You need to pick them up at our clinic.

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #3

I love myself,

I love you.

I love you,

I love myself.

                   Rumi

The above poem is close to the following zen poem:

The cool wind gently blows through my mind,

No matter what happens.

No matter what happens,

The cool wind gently blows through my mind.

                                                            Ummon

Mara, the Devil or the Death, who confronted the Buddha is the metaphor of "conditioned" existence we all live.  We suffer because we are conditioned to attach ourselves to emotions.  It is the ego of "I" telling us this is how and why we exist (so, we've been "told.").  Joseph Campbell writes:  "Death can't touch you if there is nothing you desire.  So the Lord of 'I' presents himself to the Buddha in the aspect of Mara, …Unfortunate for them, there is nobody there, so when these weapons reach this field of nobody being there, they are transformed into bouquets of adoration."  Jesus had to go through the similar temptations.  What do we do with endless desire, temptation, death, lust and fear?  The Buddha touches the Earth with his fingers, achieves illumination.

Acupuncture's power is not in reducing pain (although it is an extremely efficient tool) or in stop smoking.  These are rather tertiary compare to its power to heal emotions and to nurture spirituality.  Its purpose is to open the Third Eye, moving the energy to the sahasrara, the seventh chakra.  It is an instrument as a yana, a ferry boat to reach the other shore of enlightenment.

For the purpose, my style requires to reduce pain by acupuncture needles as much as possible (my mentor once said:  "if it is painful, it is not acupuncture.").  Induction of pain is not about achieving or bringing about Qi, the life force energy.*  Acupuncture is far more subtle than giving pain and thinking it is good for people.

I have found that most American women are Spleen deficient.  Obesity, IBS, celiac disease, diabetes, hypothyroidism, all fall into the category.  When their symptoms are combined, especially with adrenal imbalance, their whole body becomes pain sensitive.  In some cases, they could be under severe stress and depression.  Yet, the Spleen is the one to harmonize all.   For example, the Liver Element I wrote about in past newsletters is greatly helped by the Spleen.  In fact, to balance the right side and the left side of the body, harmony between the Liver and the Spleen is essential (which leads to the Heart and the Kidney balance – the upper and the lower).

How do we then change the negative aspect of the Element, which is worry, into the positive aspect, harmony?  The way to do it is when worry comes in start loving ourselves.  We need to affirm that we love ourselves and are comfortable with what we are and who we are.  Accept, as I have mentioned many times before, that things are As-Is at the moment of Now.  The affirmation becomes self-confidence, and we achieve illumination of self-realization that is totally free from emotion, judgment, temptation, desire, and even death:  "Cool wind gently blows through my mind."

Acupuncture gently redirects your thought energy to be free from worry because its fundamental purpose is to balance and harmonize the body and the mind.  The Spleen** connects crucially to the Heart Element, mainly to the PC (pericardium).  The PC is more closely connected to spirituality and the Heart is connection to the function of the heart.  For example, if it is depression, take the Spleen points, and if it is an irregular heartbeat, take the Heart points.***  Lastly, the Spleen pairs with the Stomach, therefore, harmonizing the digestive system is utmost importance in balancing the Element.

Start loving yourself.  If you do not and don't know how to love others, you will have hard time understanding my next chapter, the Lung Element, which connects with sadness.

*However, when I need to disperse energy, slight sting would be induced.

**The Spleen Element is considered to be a small heart within the heart.

***Of course, other practitioners have different opinions.

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona （日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 2:  February, 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Dear Friends,

Please do not forget to tell people suffering from cancer that I am having a special session on each Sunday in March, 2011, from noon to 6 pm.  I know I can help them.  Let them know. 

Thank you.  Frank

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

  

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #2

"Every thought creates a story."*  Our identity is determined by thoughts of the past arising in the present moment.  We are incessant about the psychological identification to be “I or Me.”  Therefore “I or Me” has full of stories to tell.  What we think as a person is made up with a concept of endless thoughts.  As everyone knows that Rene Descartes’ famous words were:  “I think, therefore I am.” (Cogito ergo sum).  If we discard all five senses, what we are left with is an identification of one’s self that is thinking.  Nobody can take away our thoughts and ideals even we are in jail. 

However, unfortunately thing about thought is that it is an illusion.*1  It comes and goes constantly.  It is ever changing and intangible.   Thought is also dualistic, for example love and hate, anger and happiness.  Tragedy is that since we are so dwelled on thoughts, we forget that it is the thought doing the interpretation of “I or Me.”  Most of us, most of the time, we do not realize the illusionary cycle and we suffer by attaching “I or Me” to thoughts, not knowing who we really are.  When we are calm, we know that past and future are simply presently-arising thoughts, then we know that the awareness of being is here and now regardless of thoughts.  Take away all your thoughts, (Remember, Descartes took away all five senses but thought) what you are left with is the undeniable awareness that you exist at the moment of now. *2  When we become aware of the Awareness, we can replace the Descartes words with “I Being, therefore Being.”  No thoughts necessary.  Thought does not see, only awareness does.  When we become aware of true being, we can liberate ourselves from endless interpretation of “I or Me,” and see the true self in the real light, which is endless (universal) love and compassion, and freedom from pain and suffering.

We often mistakenly believe that the end of our suffering comes from further thinking.  However, what we are really seeking is the end of seeking itself.  Whys, hows, and what-to-dos are all ego driven way of resolving conflicts arising in the chain of thoughts.  By doing so, we are deceiving and lying to ourselves by creating stories that are not true.  The process creates suffering within ourselves and with the others.  Many relationships go down this road and many times we repeat the same process over and over.  Enlightenment is knowing what we already are.  Away from endless story telling, but accepting and knowing that no “I or Me” is doing the seeking.  There is no us to be enlightened:  we simply already are.  Awareness sees thought and emotion rising, but not attached to them.  Awareness is free of thought, time, and dualism.  Awareness is simply Is.  Take away all our senses and even thoughts, and we know this is to be true. 

People come to see me for pain and attachment to pain.  May it be lower back pain or anxiety depression, there are many people who are suffering.  How do we make them to reach the other shore of non-suffering?  It is a very difficult task, but as I mentioned in my last newsletter, that a proper function of the digestive system must be attained to bring the self in the body (remember, the Earth Element function is to bring the body into harmony).  In order to bring out the strong self- awareness, I have recently started to think that the PC (pericardium), the Heart, and the Lungs are effective.  My readers would know that the combination of the PC and the Liver or the PC and the Spleen are great pairs.  The combination of the Lungs and the Liver would give more energy. 

I would like to end this page with a customary Chinese poem.  Chen Zi Ang was a soldier.  I believe he was in the moment when he came across a vast and barren landscape which overwhelmed him with the awareness of being rather than sad about a circumstance.  It is, to me, a very bold poem to be alive and free, in the moment, as you can read the first two lines.

            No one from the past in front of me

            No one from the future in back of me

            In the vast landscape, understanding the grief (his  

              circumstance) of the heaven and the earth (nature)

            I, alone, indistinct, …tears dropping

         前不見古人

         後不見来者

         念天地之愁愁

         独蒼然而涕下

                陳子昂（Chen Zi Ang)

*1:  Time is thought, an illusion:  we cannot touch past or future except through thinking.  A Buddhist monk will always tell you to go beyond time and space.

*2:  Baruch Spinoza:  “By substance, I understand that which exists in itself, and is conceived by itself, that which does not need the conception of any other thing in order to be conceived.”

*:  from the book, "Reflections of the One Life" by Scott Kiloby

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona (日本鍼灸アリゾナ）

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Phoenix, Arizona

Volume 3, No. 1:  January, 2011

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

  

Chapter Three

Spleen:  Worry, Harmony, and Illumination  #1

In a Buddhist mandala, the Buddha of the East is Aksobhya who represents the integrity of illuminating experience.  The Buddha of the South is Ratnasambhava who represents the radiance of beauty of illumination.  The Buddha of the West is Amitabha who is the symbol of great compassion.  The Buddha of the North is Amoghasiddhi who represents directed effort.  Vairocana, the Illuminator, sits in the center. Together, the mandala points to the way of releasing fear and desire and to harmonize our individual life. 

In Five Element Theory, the Spleen Element, also called the Earth Element*1, contains the Stomach and the Spleen.  Implication of the Earth Element is quite important since the acupuncture meridian line starts from the center of the Stomach.  Most acupuncturists belong to the Stomach School which regards the digestive system is the key to balance the other Elements and the whole body.  The last words of Master Nagano in Japan were I-no-Ki (胃の気:  Wei-Qi in Chinese).  Master Sawada dedicated Ren-12 (the point directly above the stomach) as the primary protocol treatment point.  Settlement of Stomach Qi is for all ailments.  Without proper stomach functions, there will be no recovery.  For example, weak absorption rate of foods makes us susceptible to many illnesses. Proper digestive functions must be restored and the process must start from the Stomach.  When the Stomach is restored, the energy moves and settles at the Dantien (丹田), about an inch below the navel.  This is an important physiological fact that not only acupuncturists should understand but all of us.  Anyone who practices martial arts, Tai-Qi, yoga, or meditation knows that the area of the lower abdomen is the center of concentrated energy.  The life force comes from here, and the skin tone of the area must be taut and supple.  Softness, droopiness, and weakness of the area indicate a weak body function and a sickness (life span maybe limited in a certain case).

Regarding major acupuncture points on the center of the abdomen, Ren-4, 6 and 12 (plus Ren-10 and Ren-13), Master Sawada said when we “Open” the area, “it becomes San Jiao, and (properly) Store, it becomes the Three Guans. *2”  The sentence only comes from an experienced practitioner who has practiced the art of acupuncture for years.  You may not understand what I write here, but the center of the abdomen is quite important in treating people, especially for the Tai Qi Treatment (whole body treatment).  Like the real estate slogan, “location, location, location,” the same is said of acupuncture:  stomach, stomach, and stomach (or digestion, digestion, digestion). Arguably, the Stomach is the center of Five Element and it is the harmonic Element.

As the name of the Element suggests an Earth personality is grounded and gentle.  However, an Earth type is susceptible to worry.  We all experience, a second after we start to worry, we feel queasiness in our stomach.  As if our thought in the brain has a direct connection to the stomach.*3　　Emotion and illness are inseparable, and attachment to worry will result in a chronic digestive problem. 

How we detach ourselves from emotions and bring the whole body in balance is the subject of this chapter.  It is interesting to know that Buddha had a chronic digestive issue, yet he attained illumination and realization.　　Let us hope we can all do the same.

*1 Earth Element:  the paired combination of Spleen and Stomach Elements.  It is said in a certain school, when a baby drinks the first milk from mother, the meridian lines start to function from the moment on.

*2:  開けば三焦、納むれば三完

*3:  I believe western science is considering the stomach or the intestine as the second brain.

© 2011 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona, 日本鍼灸アリゾナ

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Arizona

Volume 2, No. 10:  September, 2010

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

  

Chapter Two

Heart: Joy, Arrogance, and Transcendence #10

I would like to end the Heart Element with the following simple poem by Wang Wei.

独坐幽篁裏                        sitting alone in quiet bamboo forest

弾琴復長嘯                        playing an instrument, breathing deeply 

                                            (Qi Gong)

深林人不知                        in the forest, nobody knows my presence

明月来相照                        only the luminescent moon light shines upon

      at the Bamboo Lodge (竹里館)          王維 (Wang Wei)

Unlike Du Fu (杜甫) I wrote about in my last newsletter, Wang Wei was talented in being a bureaucrat.  Common to the both is that they were once arrested in the turbulent time and almost died.  Wang Wei loved the quietude of nature and he left many master poems praising mountains and waters (山水).

I like this poem because of its simplicity and the realization:  deeply in meditation, reflecting on his life, accepting AS-IS-ness.  It tells us that the transcendence is an acceptance:  very simple. 

Through out this chapter, I mentioned about the nature of emotions and how to overcome and transcend beyond.  However, when come down to the core, we understand that it is the simple lifetime wisdom of acceptance with a pure heart.  Trick here is how do we achieve the pure heart? We need to let go everything we hold dear and be content in the instance of this realization.  Namaste.

Epilogue:  What is the sound of one-hand clapping?  Zen Koan

My answer:  the sound of the wind

What is yours?

© 2010 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

Japanese Acupuncture, Phoenix, Arizona 日本鍼灸アリゾナ

Japanese Acupuncture Newsletter, Arizona

Volume 2, No. 9:  September, 2010

Japanese Acupuncture (480) 246-0624

600 N. 4^th Street, Unit 147, Phoenix, AZ 85004

This newsletter is dedicated to my good client and friend, Andrey Polischuk who really, really, and really knows how to live AS-IS with full happiness every single day.  I admire you greatly.

Oriental Medicine & On Human Conditions

Chapter Two

Heart: Joy, Arrogance, and Transcendence #9

鼓角緑辺群            川原欲夜時            秋聴殷地発            風散入雲悲

抱葉寒蝉静            帰山独鳥遅            万方声一概            吾道竟何之

                                                                                   杜甫

All of us once in a while loose who we are and what we are.  Shall I say, a middle age crisis is one of them?  Like the Chinese master poet above (Du Fu) who quitted a bureaucratic job (he was about 48 year-old) he never liked, an uncertain mind created a distant drum beat reverberating with the time, echoing his pessimism:  no longer sure about His Way (Du Fu went on producing master pieces from this time on).

It is a terrible feeling not knowing what to do to be happy again.  Self-criticism turns negative and the deep pessimism sets in.  However, a difference between a person who hits the bottom and able to rise up and a person who cannot is, the Japanese calls it, paper-thin:  flip a paper, one survives and an other does not.  It is a mental constitution, either you have it or you don’t (although, definitely, you can train to possess it).  How do we get out from all negative thoughts?  I met quite a few people who could give me a dozen negative answers to each suggestion I gave:  always can’t do this and don’t have that with certain disdain and anger.  It is too bad that we are not taught in school how to unlearn all the mores and rules we were taught from childhood.  Their negative thoughts were constructed with what other people said in the past, therefore, they thought they supposed to (behave negatively).  Most of the time, we do not know how to differentiate the free will and what we are taught to behave and desire.  When we filter out all the what-other-people-said syndrome, in a deep meditation, when the mind is clear, we can come close to the answer.  In real life, it actually happens all the time:  a painter who concentrates in painting can have a glimpse of so-called a zen-moment; musicians create the mysterious unison that is pure music (beyond descriptive words).  Once you see the other side, we see the infinite possibilities and abundance (Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith calls it the abundance consciousness).   This is because we discover once again our excellence and creativity.  When we are depressed, not certain about the future, it is the best time to concentrate on creativities.  However, one thing we must accept is that everything is AS-IS at the moment.  Our life energy force is meant to be what it Is at this very moment, never meant to be otherwise, and that there is nothing wrong with us being depressed.  We live in the moment (not in the past and not in the future), and only thing to do is to accept it as AS-IS and move on.  Spend money on a wonderful meal or a chocolate paffe, feel the joy in being alive.  There are many things available right now which give you the joy of life, find it out! (you might go back to your early childhood and rethink what really made you happy:  an ice cream cone?  riding bicycle?

Since Joy relates to the Heart Element, the opposite emotion will affect the heart functions.  How do we change pessimism to joy and lead to creativity with acupuncture?  My style calls for treating the Du-line.  Du-9/12 are powerful points for creativity. Treat the liver with UB-19s.  Since the Heart Element is affected, you need to palpate T-4 and 5 to see if there is any pain.  If pain, needle UB-14 or UB-15. (remember UB-14 and DU-8 and UB-18 are related).  If T-5 is tender, you need to treat the heart itself:  left SI-11, left HT-7 and SJ-6 would be effective.  Ren-12 is essential for neurosis. 

© 2010 Dr. Y. Frank Aoi (NM State)/Japanese Acupuncture, LLC

I Am The

Japanese Acupuncture, LLC:  480-246-0624

Y. Frank Aoi, L.Acu (AZ)

What I Am

I am the bringer of health, happiness, and hope.

The Foundation of Oriental Medicine

Qi (in Chinese)/Ki (in Japanese) is a relationship.  It is the relationship of polar opposites, creating the Universal Harmony of the Yin and the Yang (positive vs negative, male vs female, matter vs anti-matter, etc.).  All diseases are caused by the imbalance and the stagnation of the two energies.*1

The Yin and Yang concept has never changed over millennia, therefore Oriental Medicine has the strong foundation to base its medicine (whereas Western Medicine, because of a modern scientific approach, appears to have a strong background but it is always changing as a new discovery unfolds). 

Essence of Acupuncture

Ancient Chinese observed the body and the natural and cosmic phenomena and applied and incorporate them in treatments.  They started out by following the natural cycle of seasons and the human life growth and life span.  They knew that the menstrual cycle and the moon cycle were not merely coincidence.  To observe the cosmos was to observe the micro cosmos of the body.  They cannot be separated.*2  They also knew that our emotions greatly influence our health and wellbeing.  An attachment to a certain emotion would manifest in the body physiology:  for example, worry gives you queasiness in the stomach; sorrow makes the lungs weaker, excessive fear makes you neurotic, etc.  Since acupuncture deals with energy and its field by incorporating emotional components, as in yoga, the ultimate goal is to awaken the body and mind to spirituality.*3 

*1:  Scientifically, we are made of vibrating atoms with certain frequencies.  Sickness is the state of    desynchronization of the energy.

*2:  Nuclear physicist would agree.

*3:  Acupuncture is not a religion.  It makes you aware and attune to the bliss and the happiness of being alive by realigning body functions.

Treatment Prices

Adult:  $95/first session  $70/second time on

Senior Age 75 or Over:  $65/first session  $50/second time on

Child Age Between 16 and 10:  $65/first session  $50/second time on

Child Under 10: 

  Parent must experience my acupuncture first.  First session is free, $40/session
Short sessions are available on the third or fourth Sunday:  $55/first session, $40/second time on

Occasionally, I give a special discounted offer:  please inquire