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Five Element Acupuncture

Simply stated, acupuncture increases circulation in the body. By activating the nervous system in very specific ways, it helps to relieve pain, move out toxins on a cellular level, and relax & nourish the body, mind, and spirit.

Many things on a daily basis can interrupt the free flow of energy through the body, whether it’s a high stress deadline, an injury, accumulated toxins, or emotional challenges. In opening circulation, we are able to restore balance to the body.

Our bodies know inherently how to heal themselves. When we are in balance, we are able to exist in health.

Any aspect of the

physical, physiological, mental, emotional, or spirit levels,

in or out of balance,

can be understood by watching the dynamics of the natural world around us.

The acupuncture needle is like a light switch - this tiny filament of metal connects electrical pathways (the nerves - the meridians) to send current to a light bulb across the room - or to muscle pain on the other side of the body.

How Does it Work?

Is this You?

Chinese Herbal Medicine

Chinese Herbal Formulas are carefully chosen blends of herbs to support specific patterns of disharmony in the body.

With careful assessment, including any medications you may be taking, a customized formula is blended to specifically support your health and well-being.

Herbs can help treatments last longer between sessions and help build on the actions of the treatment to gain equilibrium more quickly.

We work only with herbal companies that carefully screen and test all ingredients for heavy metals, pesticides and other contaminants.

How Does it Work?

Meet Lucy

Course of Treatment

Acupressure, Shiatsu, & Energy Work

Lucy's study of Chinese Medicine started in 2003 with Shiatsu, a bodywork therapy from Japan that follows the same meridians as acupuncture. As she deepened her studies as an acupuncturist, the intersection between touch and theory with and without the needles began to blend.

When needles aren't an option, for a variety of reasons, we switch over to the energy healing through touch with acupressure, shiatsu, and energy work. This can be rhythmic pressure along the meridians, or it can be gently holding pairs of points along the meridians allowing equilibrium and shifting the blocks that would be addressed through acupuncture if the needles were in use.

Lucy no longer offers full shiatsu sessions. However, shiatsu will often be brought into a treatment in small ways, especially when there is physical pain or emotional imbalance.

What do others say?

Schedule your Free Consult

Course of Treatment

Phases of Treatment

Phase 1

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Clear out the gunk that is getting in your body's way of returning to equilibrium

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Often 3 treatments

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Phase 2

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Open circulation pathways throughout the body & further clear out places of stagnation

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Often 3-10 treatments

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Phase 3

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Nourish your system to strengthen your body's ability to maintain balance on its own

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Ongoing weekly, monthly, or seasonally

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Cleanse & Restart

Let's clear the slate to build fresh from a clean foundation.

You haven’t felt like yourself in a long time. You feel sluggish or foggy and more moody than you are used to. Or you’re coming out of a challenging time in your life, and want to get your feet under you so you can move forward as more of your whole self.

Or perhaps it’s time to take the next step in clearing out old history of trauma or illness that you still carry with you.

You manage to accumulate stuff in your body that you don’t need on a pretty regular basis, whether from processed foods you eat, polluted air you breathe, emotional stress you carry, or medications you’ve taken.

This can impact you on a cellular level in your body, as well as your mental emotional well-being.

This series of three to five treatments can have deep profound impact for you in your healing journey. This is a way to help your cells let go of unneeded toxins, to let your heart return to its center, to quiet your mind, and to cleanse your energetic being.

We will activate the nervous system to increase circulation through the body, improving cellular function and helping the organs in your body to be more effective in cleansing and eliminating what is not needed.

Open Circulation & Flow

Circulation and flow in your life and health, helps support your body in building up your energy reserves and internal resources for maintaining health.

Many health problems start with little imbalances – lack of sleep leads to exhaustion which leads to stress which leads to shoulder tension which leads to a rotator cuff injury in the shoulder. You can see how things can be connected and have impact on other parts of your life.

My first priority in working with you is opening the free flow of circulation in the body, through the nervous system, the circulatory system, the muscle tissues, lymphatic system, the interstitium, and the fascia.

Where there is injury or tension, circulation is limited.

Let's open circulation so that the body is able to find equilibrium.

This helps the body’s metabolism to function more smoothly so that you can receive more from the food you are eating, the water you are drinking, the air you are breathing.

Open up and fill. Balance and nourish.

Pain & Rehab

This is for folks who overall, feel healthy, but there’s just this one injury that’s getting in the way.

You are used to being active and fit in the way you live your life, to whatever degree time and ability allows you, whether it’s going for that bike ride, working in the garden, throwing hay bales, swimming laps, or even just walking the dog. You find that part of your day or week to be satisfying and it feels great to be active and fit.

But there’s this injury, perhaps acute, perhaps chronic, that is getting in the way of your normal routine. Pain becomes a part of your day and influences what you are able to do and how much.

You find that your mood is affected by the discomfort, as well as the lack of exercise. It seems sometimes like the rest of your body is starting to break down as well – it may have started with an ankle, now your knee hurts, and the shoulders are starting to complain as well.

You’ve rested, you may have had physical therapy, you’ve applied ice or heat, you’ve taken the pain killers, but it’s still, stubbornly, not getting better.

When there is a deep block in circulation through an area, healing is slowed. While everything you’ve done is important and can be helpful, sometimes there’s something deeper that needs to move out of the way in order for the tissues to heal in full.

Increased circulation throughout the body is needed to heal aches & pains from injuries or other chronic issues. This includes reducing inflammation, increasing energy levels, and improving metabolism so that cells and tissues can better receive nutrients and repair themselves.

Maintenance & Seasonal Tune Ups

Overall, you feel like you are doing well. There are times when things slip a little, but it’s not hard to come back to center.

There’s plenty going on in our day to day lives that can challenge us, that can start to add up and have an impact on our health.

Coming in for maintenance care can be weekly, monthly, or during a seasonal transition time. This can be an excellent way to support your health and wellness overall.

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What about Community Acupuncture?

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it hurt? I'm scared of needles!

An acupuncture needle is smaller than a cat's whisker. You can fit 40 in the tip of a hypodermic needle - the kind they use for shots or drawing blood. It's a very different experience than you may imagine.

Sensation can vary hugely from person to person and point to point. Sometimes you don't feel anything, sometimes there can be a slight pinch or biting sensation. Other times there might be a deeper ache - this usually means we're moving some stuck energy which is really good.

If a needle ever feels super painful - we pull it right away.

And for those that the needles get in the way of being able to relax, here's the secret - you don't actually need the needles to get energy moving in the body to restore balance. Check out options for acupressure, shiatsu, and energy work.

What does treatment look like?

Your first treatment includes a 45 minute health history and intake before getting you on the table. This gives a chance to gather more information to understand the big picture in order to treat from a holistic perspective.

An initial series of 3-5 weekly treatments is recommended in order to build a foundation and assist your body in shifting long standing patterns.

Depending on how you are feeling as we continue building with treatments, we will begin to space them out to every 2 weeks or once a month to move into a more maintenance level of care.

For a whole bunch more info, check out How Does It Work?

How many times and how often do I come in?

Everyone responds differently to treatment. You are your own unique case and we won’t know what treatment looks like until we get started. How long have things been off? It takes time to unravel and rebuild when the body has been overcompensating for places of weaknesses. Sometimes treatments can have a deeply profound effect right away, sometimes results can be more subtle.

In the early stages of treatment, I often recommend coming in 1-2 times a week for the first three to five treatments. This allows us to build quickly on the previous treatment.

Most often, I see people respond the best with a series of treatments until symptoms stabilize, usually within 5-10 treatments. As you start feeling better, we may schedule every other week or move to a more spaced out maintenance schedule of monthly or seasonal treatments.

What should I wear for a treatment?

Loose comfortable clothing is recommended for a treatment so that we can easily move layers to the side to reach points on the legs, elbows, or abdomen. If we need to get to points that are harder to get to around clothing, we'll pull out a drape and have you remove layers that are in the way.

How should I prepare for a treatment?

It is good to be hydrated and not hungry before a treatment. This can help reduce with spaciness as you get up off the table following your treatment.

The main things I notice that interfere with treatments are:

Coffee

Alcohol and other substances

Heavy Greasy Meals

Please refrain from these before your appointment.

Otherwise, wear loose comfortable clothing and come as you are.

What should I expect following a treatment?

Treatments are often deeply relaxing.

And it can vary hugely from person to person and treatment to treatment.

Sometimes you get off the table and you are super spacy or lightheaded, kind of like what can happen following a massage. Drinking water and moving around is usually helpful for arriving back in this time plane afterwards.

You may need rest, especially if you have been pushing hard for a while.

Sometimes your body wants movement after a treatment, it may have been hard to stay still while on the table. This means we are moving some big stuff and physical movement is needed to help continue the treatment afterwards. Honor this. Listen to what your body is asking for, and take care to not overdo it.

Occasionally, old aches and pains, or discomfort can flare up after a treatment. This is a normal response that is a sign of old gunk clearing out. This usually clears on its own following sleep. Sleep is a wonderful reset button.

If discomfort persists, we encourage you to reach out for more follow up if needed.

Can you help me with...?

Acupuncture is a very old medicine that predates modern medicine. It is a health care system of its own and through understanding patterns from a different perspective, many health conditions can be addressed. In the 20+ years that I have been practicing and studying this medicine, I have worked with:

general well-being: general health, insomnia, fatigue, asthma, allergies, hypertension, immune system, weight management, edema, atrial fibrilation, congestive heart failure, prolapse, headaches

emotional well-being: depression, anxiety, grief, stress, addiction, eating disorders, trauma recovery, post-traumatic stress disorder

women’s health: PMS, menstrual health, fertility, prenatal and postnatal care, labor induction, morning sickness, menopausal symptoms, hot flashes, night sweats

physical pain: general aches and pains, back pain, sciatica, migraines, arthritis, hip, shoulder, knee, elbows, ankles, wrists, sports injuries, surgery and anesthesia prep and recovery, muscle tension, trigger finger, numbness, fractures

digestive health: indigestion, heartburn, IBS, crohn’s, constipation, diarrhea

mental well-being: mental clarity, memory loss, head injury, foggy-brain

chronic illness: Lyme Disease, diabetes, fibromyalgia, migraines, chronic fatigue, Eppstein-Barr, effects of chemotherapy, stroke rehabilitation

and more…

What is Community Acupuncture?

Community Acupuncture aims to increase the accessibility of care for members of the community through a sustainable model that

~ increases treatment availability in the schedule;

~ is affordable for more individuals in the community; and

~ is supportive and sustainable for the practice and practitioner

Community Acupuncture Life Cycle: Regular, frequent treatment works best, pay what you can afford, get here often enough, get better and stay better, tell your friends and family, support your local acupuncturist and the wider community.

~ POCA; People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture

In order to increase accessibility, Community Acupuncture at Deep Roots Acupuncture is sliding scale, $25-$60 (additional donations welcome) with the general guideline that if you are earning more than $100,000 annually you opt for the full amount and if you earn less than $25,000 in annually, to please opt for the $25 option. And, the reality is, only you know the full picture of your finances and so regardless of your situation, you get to choose the number that works best for you in order to receive the care level that will benefit you best.

Community Acupuncture Hours

Tuesdays 11:30-1:00

2nd Saturdays (occ 1st) 10:00-noon

4th Thursdays 4:30 - 7:00

And check out more information about the community acupuncture set up and vibes here!