Acupuncture at Acu Spirit
Acu Spirit Healing Centre situated on Wollaton Street in the centre of Nottingham state that they are dedicated to maintaining a balance of body and mind using a holistic approach catered to the patient.
Bing -the owner recently invited me along to experience a consultation and treatment and having heard a lot about the positive benefits of Chinese medicine, I was intrigued to know more…
The centre is fairly small and intimate with a reception area and display cabinet full to the brim of Chinese herbal medicines and teas and to my delight I was offered a cup of white tea on arrival taken of course without milk or sugar- just as is. I instantly felt as though I had entered a healthy environment and was at the very beginning of my Chinese holistic health journey.
Bing the owner and practitioner specialising in acupuncture, asked me to complete an in-depth form about my health and then we began my consultation. For years I have suffered with digestive/stomach issues being passed off by Western doctors as IBS – which can cover all manner of things and cannot be cured- simply managed. Made worse by stress, certain foods, alcohol or general unhealthy living I have had to learn to manage it as best I can and now know the signs of a pending flair up. Having made my way through all kinds of prescribed medicine and blood tests over the years, the best results have always come from natural, alternative therapies and so I was completely open to hearing what Bing had to suggest.
Bing’s diagnostic techniques are both interesting and impressive, he will be able to pin point where your issues are on your body and get to the root of the causes just by going through a series of questions, feeling your pulse ( to which he will close his eyes and concentrate), look at your face /skin and relate this to the five elements of Chinese astrology- metal, wood, water, fire and earth.
The treatment room is also small and cosy but warm with soft mood lighting. I was asked to lay on the couch, relax, close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. Bing spent some time looking at my posture and the alignment of my body, shaking my feet to see where they fell and walking up and down from my head to my toes correctly diagnosing that I have long standing pelvic issues (I was born with ‘clicky hips’ and had to wear a splint for the first two years of my life), also noticing that I tend to stand on one leg more than the other, which has subtly made my posture lop sided- something that my osteopath already stated a few months before!
My acupuncture session began and lasted 45 minutes. For those not experienced in this popular Chinese treatment, acupuncture aims to promote all aspects of health and well-being; physical, mental and emotional. Good health is a positive state rather than merely the absence of illness or pain. In the view of traditional Chinese philosophy, this positive state of health depends on the smooth flow and balance of the ‘chi’ – our body’s motivating energy – as it moves through a series of channels under our skin. The flow of chi can become blocked or put out of balance by physical or emotional factors such as infection, trauma, poor nutrition, anger, grief or stress, resulting in illness.
Very fine acupuncture needles are inserted at points along the channels of energy appropriate to the condition being treated. Thus the body’s own healing system is stimulated and the correct balance restored. The aim is to treat the cause of the condition as well as your symptoms, often resulting in (or leading to) a more permanent solution to your health problems.
I received the fine needles mostly on the right side of my body, in my fore-arms, legs, feet and my third eye (forehead between my eyes). You can feel them going in slightly and some areas are more sensitive than others, but once in you very quickly forget they are there and do not cause any discomfort if you lay still and relax.
Bing then left the room and set the mood lighting to my colour of choice – this is forced downtime if anything for the busy, so an excuse to lay still and not be able to go anywhere for 45 minutes of your life which isn’t a bad thing!
I was told that this treatment can bring out all kinds of emotions if causing a blockage in your mind/body and he was correct, as I did feel extremely emotional at one point- it came from nowhere and I couldn’t avoid the tears. Having asked Bing if that was normal following the treatment he stated that yes he sees it a lot- some people literally release everything in that room and feel so much better afterwards – like a weight had been lifted. This may not happen in just your first session- it may take a few goes, but will be different for everyone.
Interestingly Bing also mentioned that as there is a lot of emotion and energy released in his treatment room, he has installed an large extractor fan to suck out all of that energy to cleanse the room ready for his next patient!
I have since booked a series of sessions at Acu Spirit which include 5 sessions of acupuncture with 2 free and this includes a consultation and a lifestyle plan for £190.00
I’d highly recommend trying it for yourself and at least booking in for a consultation whatever your reason – Bing is extremely knowledgeable in a lot of areas and also offers various types of massages, cupping and other treatments within the centre.
Fiona Duncan-Steer
