Many of you are aware of the amazing health and wellness benefits of acupuncture.\u00a0 I have a close friend who is a master acupuncturist and she has traveled all over the world to master her craft. \u00a0She has treated me for various things over the years, and I am a big fan.\u00a0 Auriculotherapy is similar to acupuncture, but is only treated on the surface of the ear and there are no needles used in this type of treatment.\u00a0 Much like acupuncture, there are only a couple of contraindications.\u00a0 For safety reasons, auriculotherapy should not be performed on those who are pregnant or anyone who has a pacemaker.\u00a0 Auriculotherapy is completely safe on all others.<\/p>\n
I am bringing you this article today because not very many people have heard about auriculotherapy. \u00a0One of the most beneficial aspects of the treatment is the sedation effect.\u00a0 When we become stressed with our day to day living, our mind tends to go into what is called fight-or-flight syndrome.\u00a0 The symptoms of fight-or-flight syndrome are shallow breathing, increased heart rate, and our awareness is heightened. \u00a0Our adrenal glands go into high gear and adrenalin is pumped into the blood stream to prepare us for battle. \u00a0During this state of heightened awareness, we live our lives through the lens of fear.\u00a0 We are constantly on the defensive and looking for our enemies.\u00a0 Our ability to be creative is diminished, and rational, cognitive thinking is impaired.<\/p>\n
After long periods of fight-or-flight syndrome, our body begins to break down.\u00a0 The negative thinking becomes firmly entrenched behavior, creating a vicious circle of stress-inducing thought.\u00a0 Chronic illness such as irritable bowel syndrome, indigestion, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, and addiction are common companions of fight or flight.\u00a0 Many seek treatment for the visible symptoms and are then prescribed drugs that simply mask the body\u2019s attempts to show us there is something that needs our attention.\u00a0 By treating the apparent symptoms and not addressing the chronic state of being we have developed, the other symptoms begin to get worse.\u00a0 This is the never-ending cycle that so many people are now caught up in.\u00a0 We have become a society that has medicine cabinets full of drugs to \u201cfix\u201d things that can be easily corrected with a lifestyle change.<\/p>\n
Many people fear that reducing their stress means less productivity. Our culture has us believing that our health and well-being is secondary to our financial security.\u00a0 Yet with the rising cost of health care, soon, if not already, it will be far more costly to neglect our health than continue a lifestyle that requires us to overwork and overproduce. Having a healthy stress management ritual helps us to be more productive in our work, emotionally available for our friends and family, and open to hearing our higher self and the soft hints of our intuitive nature.<\/p>\n
Holistic wellness methods such as acupuncture, auriculotherapy, chiropractic, naturopathy, yoga, and meditation, to name just a few, are surefire ways to stop the fight-or-flight syndrome in its tracks.\u00a0 Stress can never be eliminated; in fact, we need stress in our lives to provide a contextual field and propel us to our natural state, which is self-improvement. \u00a0Our society has all but given up on the natural path to wellness in favor of the quick fix in the forms of pills and surgeries.\u00a0 While I do understand that there are situations that call for the medical community to step in and help, I am of the belief that if we practice healthier, holistic lifestyles, the need for traditional medicine would be minimal.\u00a0 Stopping chronic illness starts at arresting our fight-or-flight response and finding a state of relaxation.<\/p>\n
The first point treated in auriculotherapy is called the Shen Men.\u00a0 The Chinese have had awareness of this point for over 5,000 years. When the Shen Men is stimulated using the micro-current tool used in auriculotherapy, the mind becomes sedated, allowing for a greater connection to our soul voice. When the mind is \u201cout of the way,\u201d the body\u2019s ability to heal is unlimited. Furthermore, the panic mode brought on by our fight-or-flight mechanism is virtually eliminated, easing us into a normalized state of being. Sometimes simply being reminded of what it feels like to not be worried or anxious is all it takes for a person to understand just how stressed out they really are.<\/p>\n
There are over 350 reflex points in the ear referring to every system, organ, and limb of the body. The procedure is quick and painless, although some would describe it as mildly uncomfortable. The results are immediate and undeniable.\u00a0 For a quick and relatively painless session, relaxation is induced and fight or flight is arrested for the time being.\u00a0 If the person receiving treatment has any mild aches or pains, the therapist can locate and stimulate corresponding points and ease the discomfort.<\/p>\n
Used in many treatment facilities, auriculotherapy has shown remarkable results in patient retention.\u00a0 On average, patients attending 28-day treatment facilities typically only stay around 10 days.\u00a0 Studies show that facilities who offer advanced relaxation therapies like yoga and auriculotherapy have almost 100 percent retention.<\/p>\n
For those wishing to quit smoking, auriculotherapy offers an easy way out. The hardest part of quitting smoking is the discomfort of withdrawal. By stimulating the correct points we can trick the brain into releasing endorphins, the exact same feeling we get when we are smoking, without the nicotine to produce it. \u00a0After just a few treatments, the body normalizes its production of endorphins and the withdrawal stage has passed.<\/p>\n
If you are looking for a stress management protocol, try looking into auriculotherapy and see for yourself.\u00a0 Typically, you will find this treatment being offered in chiropractic offices and holistic wellness centers.\u00a0 The average treatment takes about 20 minutes to \u00bd hour.<\/p>\n
I am bringing you this article today for two reasons: \u00a0The first is as an informational piece.\u00a0 I feel this is a valuable tool to have in your holistic health toolbox.\u00a0 The second reason is to tell you that at our Path to Peace recovery retreats, we offer this service for no additional charge daily. For someone wishing to quit smoking, who plans on attending the retreat, this could be a great way to kick it off.<\/p>\n
Our next P2P retreat is coming up quickly.\u00a0 This one will be held in San Jose, California, from September 19 \u2013 22nd<\/sup>.\u00a0 After that, we will be taking to the east coast in Orlando, Florida, from October 24 \u2013 27th<\/sup>. Click here<\/span><\/a><\/span> for more information and registration for these retreats.<\/p>\n (Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional. He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, life coach, and interventionist specializing in individual and family recovery and also co-facilitates spiritual recovery retreats for the CWG foundation with JR Westen. You can visit his website\u00a0here<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0for more information.<\/i>\u00a0To connect with Kevin, please email him at\u00a0Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com<\/span><\/a><\/span>)<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many of you are aware of the amazing health and wellness benefits of acupuncture.\u00a0 I have a close friend who is a master acupuncturist and she has traveled all over the world to master her craft. \u00a0She has treated me for various things over the years, and I am a big fan.\u00a0 Auriculotherapy is similar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[1382,197,1338,1281,1381,1027,580,1737,198,1303,186,1380],"class_list":["post-6526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-addiction-and-recovery","tag-acupuncture","tag-alcoholics-anonymous","tag-alcoholism","tag-auriculotherapy","tag-drug-addiction","tag-drugs-and-alcohol","tag-health-and-wellness-2","tag-holistic-living","tag-narcotics-anonymous","tag-path-to-peace","tag-recovery","tag-serenity"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6526"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6530,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6526\/revisions\/6530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}