Discover how Chinese medicine and acupuncture restore Qi flow, ease pain, improve sleep, and support digestion, mood, and overall wellbeing.
In Chinese Medicine (CM), the Channels and Collaterals are the pathways where Qi (pronounced “chee”) flows through your body. You can think of Qi as your life force or energy, it’s what fuels your vitality, keeps you resilient, and helps everything in your system stay balanced.
There are many types of Qi, and each plays a role in your health:
- Original Qi is what you inherited from your parents.
- Food Qi is created from what you eat.
These 2 types are the foundation for all of the following:
- Gathering Qi comes from combining Food Qi with the air you breathe. It is a refinement of Qi for easier use supports your Heart and Lungs.
Further refinement happens creating:
- Nutritive Qi, which flows through every channel, organ, and system, nourishing them.
- Defensive Qi circulates at the surface of your body, protecting you like a shield from outside pathogens.
When you come in for acupuncture, we’re working directly with your Nutritive Qi, helping it move smoothly and restoring balance wherever it’s blocked or weakened.
How Acupuncture Restores Balance
The beauty of acupuncture lies in its simplicity: when we find where Qi isn’t flowing correctly (whether it’s stuck, weak, or running in the wrong direction) we can correct it. Acupuncture needles are precise tools that guide your body back into harmony.
Alongside acupuncture, we may use cupping, moxibustion, dietary therapy, facial reflexology and gentle movement to support your body’s healing.
Here are a few real-world examples:
- Digestive issues & irritability: Redirecting Liver Qi and strengthening Stomach Qi can ease reflux while calming the mind.
- Cold hands, cold feet, and swelling: Warming the Kidneys and supporting the water-metabolism channels can reduce edema and regulate body temperature.
- Painful periods & abdominal tension: Strongly moving Blood and Qi clears stagnation, which helps ease pain and dissolve masses.
The Benefits of Acupuncture
Most people are surprised by just how many areas of life improve with regular acupuncture, even if they don’t have obvious symptoms. Treatments can:
- Improve sleep quality and energy
- Support digestion and metabolism
- Reduce pain and inflammation
- Ease stress and regulate mood
- Strengthen immunity and resilience
Acupuncture is also incredibly supportive alongside other care. For example, while it can’t repair a ligament tear, it can ease the swelling and pain that come with it, helping your body recover more comfortably.
Why Try Acupuncture?
Really, almost everyone can benefit from acupuncture. Whether you’re coming in for pain relief, digestive health, hormonal balance, or simply to feel calmer and more energized, acupuncture helps your body find its natural rhythm again. And Acupuncture feels good too!
If you’ve been curious about how acupuncture can support your health, I’d love to welcome you into the clinic and help you experience what it feels like when your Qi is flowing freely.
