How to Choose a TCM Practitioner
Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM is one of the oldest form of medicine, dating back more than 2500 years. It is considered the Medical part in the Five Arts in Chinese Metaphysics, whereby the Five Arts include Mountain (Qigong); Medical(TCM); Divination; Destiny; Physiognomy.
In TCM, it contains ancient methods that some are even lost or unheard of in this modern era. These methods are used by Emperors, Empresses, Imperials of multiple dynasties to heal and treat illnesses which may be deemed terminal in today’s medical world, maintain health and even to the extent of working against the toil of time on the physical body, in other words: anti aging. One of the methods that are still in existence today is acupuncture. Practised by many, one may then question, how do I choose a practitioner? What is the difference with being sticked with needles by a practitioner for hundreds over dollars a session and another at a highly discounted fee as seen in promotions and roadshows?
Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM is one of the oldest form of medicine, dating back more than 2500 years.
Simple as it looks, the needling of acupuncture administered by different practitioners boils down to the years of practise, level of mastery skills, intellectual analytical abilities and most importantly integrity of the person administering. You may be agreeable to the first few points in terms of time, effort, intelligence of the practitioner but integrity?
In Chinese, integrity can be translated as “正气”, which also means righteous energy or positive energy. In acupuncture, it is a treatment modality that deals a lot not just with the physical muscles, nerves, glandular systems but also the energetic aspects in the body. Yes, even scientists have recognised that everything in the Universe is made out of energy, which includes us and the human body. Quantum physicists1 discovered that physical atoms are made up of vortices of energy that are constantly spinning and vibrating, each one radiating its own unique energy signature. Therefore, if we really want to observe ourselves and find out what we are, we are really beings of energy and vibration, radiating our own unique energy signature.
“Simple as it looks, the needling of acupuncture administered by different practitioners boils down to the years of practise, level of mastery skills, intellectual analytical abilities and most importantly integrity of the person administering. ”
Hence when a practitioner administer acupuncture on a patient, he/she need to be positive enough and possess the strong smooth flow of energy in order to remove energetic blockages in the patients that are causing them pain or discomfort and manifesting as illnesses in their body, at the same time reenergising the body with positivity as well. This positive energy comes from cultivations, morally or even spiritually, and years of it. That’s the differentiation amongst practitioners. And the reason for the difference in monetary value you put in for the positivity you are receiving from the years of cultivation of the acupuncturist both in practice and as a person.
Here we can see the specificity and customisation of TCM and acupuncture apply for both the patients and the choice of practitioner. Hence it is advisable to check the background of the practitioner first before embarking on treatments with him/her and it is definitely not advisable to skip around practitioners once you have found the ‘right one’.
1T. Folger, “Quantum Shmantum”; Discover 22:37-43, 2001
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