Healing is Chaos: An Ode to Acupuncture

The first time I was in the student clinic with a well-known Daoist practitioner, he said, “I can fix this person with one needle.” I thought, “Really?” How can you summarize a person with only one point? We are complex, after all. (And I just went to 4 years of intense schooling to learn that one needle was all it takes?) Gaff. Surely there’s more to it.

Now, 15+ years practicing, I have many times come up against this attachment to complexity. Drawing from a labyrinthine library of acupuncture points, herbs, and lifestyle changes can get tricky. Of course, when we don’t feel well, we want all the answers to support recovery, but are we overcomplicating how the body can and often does heal? I think the answer is mostly yes.

I get asked a lot about acupuncture points, what they do, why they work, or how I selected a certain combination. I love when this happens, as it not only keeps me on my toes, but reminds me that concrete explanations help affirm what the needles are actually doing, and this, in return, helps a person connect to their own inherent healing.

Yet acupuncture is not just a physical needle being inserted into a specific location to achieve an end result. It is also a metaphor for life, and life can be unpredictably chaotic at times. Healing is a kind of disorderly process that strives for order and ultimately, liberation from suffering.

For instance, Hegu, Large Intestine 4, is a common point for pain and headaches. It also has a deeper, more profound energetic quality that surpasses its physical function and location. It is a key point for releasing what is “no longer needed.” In other words, it moves things along. If we miss this important layer, well, we miss the point!

Acupuncture is a haiku, a song, a poem to the body we live in. It mirrors the streams that connect us to every ocean, to the universal and personal grief we all experience when we have to let someone, a pet, a partner, a child, or our body go. It’s the great remover of obstacles, allowing us to be more present with life itself and to trust our innate intelligence. The points open up something already inside us, a reflection of our depths and layers.

Of course, there are many styles of acupuncture, some rooted in the instant physical relief a trigger point needle can bring. “Where there is pain, there is no free flow.” So we try to find and restore the flow, whether it's an elbow injury or a broken heart.

Learning to trust your body to heal is part of the healing. What does it take to look beyond the physical and have the courage to remain present with what is here? What does it take to have the gall to not know, to let go of timelines and ask our body to be present, to trust our natural ability to find equilibrium and lay quietly while the needles do their thing?

What’s the saying? “It’s not the destination but the journey.” Healing, like life, is imperfect. When things are feeling extra chaotic, sometimes all it takes is one long deep breath, one talk with a close friend, or, possibly, just one needle.

Angela Coon: “I believe health is a nuanced process and I understand how key it is to meet people where they are, that each person has their own starting point, and that the complexities of our lives matter. There are many roads that lead to wellness. Together we can remove the roadblocks and take workable steps to make lifelong change.”

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