Acupuncture is an ancient system of healing which originated in China and has been practiced there for over 3,000 years. In this century, acupuncture – which was originally seen as arcane and foreign by many in the west – has become increasingly recognized and adopted as a therapeutic modality in Europe and America.

Acupuncture developed from a philosophy that relates to the whole of nature to understand how man’s body works and heals. It sees the human being not as separate from nature, but as an interrelated and integral part of it. And like nature, which is harmonious when it is in balance, so too the human body is healthy when it is balanced, when its organs function in harmony with one another, and when the energy within the body flows properly.

The acupuncturist sees pain and illness as expressions of an imbalance within the body’s system of energy. They are diagnosed and treated in relation to the whole person (whereas standard western medicine tends to treat only the specific symptoms of the disease). The goals of acupuncture are thus to address the imbalances that are causing the pain and illness and to restore harmony in the internal energy (qi, pronounced chee) of the body. By doing this, acupuncture facilitates the healing of illness, the prevention of further disease, and the maintenance of optimal health.