There is no shortage of healing practitioners in Buffalo. When you find one who is steeped in both mainstream medicine as well as alternative medicine, you’ve got your bases covered. That’s the complementary approach; bridging the gap so you can get the best of both worlds. Acupuncturist Barbara Simpson has over thirty years of hospital nursing experience as well as a Masters’ degree and experience in Five Element Acupuncture. She provides a professional and relaxed environment for clients to experience this healing art in her home on the west-side of Buffalo.
What is traditional acupuncture and why would someone seek treatment? There is a 5,000 year old tradition of Chinese medicine with a comprehensive philosophy that serves as the foundation for Five Element Acupuncture. The five elements occur in nature; they are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. They animate all living things including human beings. People seek treatment to address imbalances and to experience increased physical, emotional and spiritual health.
Each individual has a predominant element that provides the blueprint for building an authentic life. Within that blueprint is everything the individual needs to achieve his or her purpose. Although one element is primary, the rest play a supportive role. When all five elements are in balance, the individual experiences harmony and health. When one or more of the elements is out of balance, symptoms develop, compromising well-being.
In a Five Element Acupuncture treatment, the session begins with a conversation in which Barbara listens carefully for information about a client’s constitution, current circumstances, and symptoms. Then you get on the treatment table, where she listens to your pulses to further define what you need in that session’s treatment plan. Needles are carefully inserted and taken out without leaving marks or pain. The treatment is geared toward correcting imbalances and treating the individual’s constitution. In this way, authenticity is encouraged and maintained on all levels of the body, mind and spirit.
Just as individuals have one element that is most pronounced, so do the seasons. It is easy to imagine that the fire element corresponds with summer. The energy is upward and expansive as demonstrated by plants put in the earth in the spring that grow upward in the warmth of the summer sun. The sunflower for example, is an expression of summer and its fire element.
Besides addressing the individual constitution in a treatment, Barbara shapes her treatments to address the seasons as well. Given the fire-y element of summer, she will not only address the fire element in the acupuncture treatment but also share information about the quality of the season. Barbara has a wealth of information and a friendly approach. When asked about the qualities of summer, Barbara shared that summer’s gifts are warmth, joy, laughter, partnership, equal sharing, love, relationship and compassion, to name a few. No wonder so many people love summer!
In order to fully embrace the quality of summer, adults are encouraged to take in the longer hours of sunlight by getting up early and staying up a little later. Although we may not need encouragement to do so, it is validating to hear summer is the time to be playful, to have fun and live passionately. We need to spend time outdoors engaged in activities like bicycling, boating and hiking often in the company of family and friends. Wearing protective lotion while enjoying the sun, the water and the ease in outdoor movement call to us in summer, and it’s important to answer the call of the season. It is the time of year for gathering outdoors sharing stories, connecting with others, and catching up with the neighbors while we are able to linger comfortably outdoors.
I learned about Barbara’s practice one day when I was walking my dog and ran into a friend on the street. She looked truly radiant, balanced and healthy. When I commented on this, she said that she just came from an acupuncture treatment and she pointed to the house she was coming from. That encounter piqued my interest and so I made an appointment to experience it for myself. For more information, you can contact Barbara at: b.simpson.acu@gmail.com or by phone at 443-827-0158.