Great Nature Oriental Medicine will be offering Kototama Sound Meditation classes twice in July--the 9th and 23rd. This event will be held at Johnstown Healing Arts, which is located at 9 N. Parish Ave. Johnstown, Colorado, from 11 a.m. - noon. The cost to attend is only $5.
Kototama means, "the souls of words." This is the study of the universal sounds that create words and language, and their effects on all of Life, including the functioning of the human body and mind. Sound mediation practice can stimulate the various functions of body and mind, rejuvenate one's self-healing mechanisms, and reveal any dysfunctional tendencies of the body and mind. As one of my teachers, William Gleason Sensei, writes, "Kototama is the function of life and creation... It is the root of thought itself, and therefore of all spoken language. It's a tool for understanding our common origins and our ultimate unity." Class will start promptly at 11 a.m., so please be on time. For more information, please contact Clint at 618-694-5189.
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There are a lot of healthcare practitioners using acupuncture needles in their clinics that have very little, if any, training in traditional, authentic acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Many chiropractors, medical doctors, and physical therapists may be using these tools, and on the surface of things the vast majority of the population sees no difference between what they are doing and what someone trained in traditional Oriental Medicine is doing in the clinic. That's why I chose to write this blog and outline a comparison among the training that each medical professional goes through, if they so choose, in order to become licensed to practice acupuncture. I mean no disrespect to any healthcare providers regarding their skills or qualifications. Ultimately, all that matters is that patients get the help that they need.
I graduated with a Master's Degree in the Science of Oriental Medicine, or MSOM for short. This means that during my graduate education I fulfilled at least 1,490 hours of clinical and classroom training in acupuncture and Western medicine, and at least 2,050 hours of clinical and classroom training in Chinese herbal medicine. After graduating, I then had to pass four national exams, which covered the fundamentals of Oriental Medicine, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and Western Medicine. Then, I was allowed to apply for my state license so that I could legally practice. The American Board of Chiropractic Acupuncture provides national testing for chiropractic acupuncture. Licensed chiropractors are allowed to sit for the exam after completing only 300 hours of training in acupuncture, of which only 90% has to be onsite learning, while the other 10% may be completed via recorded lecture and at-home study. Their knowledge and skill regarding acupuncture only applies to treating conditions of pain, unlike an L.Ac (Licensed Acupuncturist) or LOM (Licensed Oriental Medicine Practitioner). who is able to treat a wide variety of conditions using acupuncture, bodywork, and herbal medicine. Similar training requirements apply to MDs--300 hours of training with only 100 hours of practice time needed within 2.5 years. MDs are only required to apply for recertification of their acupuncture training every 10 years, whereas an L.Ac. or LOM must apply for recertification every 4 years. Physical therapists learn "acupuncture" via online courses quite often. They can be certified to practice "practical acupuncture," a style of "dry needling" that is used solely for musculoskeletal disorders. Its focus is on finding and needling, often very aggressively, trigger points, neuromuscular points, etc. The Ohio Physical Therapy Practice Act does not require any additional training for PTs to practice this modality other than the very short 27 or 37 hour courses that are available. There have been multiple documented cases of PTs injuring patients during a "dry needling" session, most often causing pneumothorax (collapsed lung) or nerve damage. I should point out that neither a lot nor a little training in any skill, acupuncture or otherwise, directly reflects the overall competency of an individual practitioner. Use your best judgment when choosing a healthcare provider for yourself and your family. If you'd like to learn more about how traditional Japanese acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can help you, please contact me at 618-694-5189. The next Acupuncture Happy Hour will be held on Saturday May 21st, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. until noon. Stop by 9 N. Parish Ave. in Johnstown, Colorado anytime during these hours for a $20 mini treatment and discover the many benefits of Traditional Japanese Acupuncture. These treatments are first-come, first-served, and available to walk-ins only.
Below is an abbreviated list of disorders that acupuncture has proven useful for treating time and time again. This list is definitely not all-inclusive. For more information, please contact Clint at 618-694-5189. See you there!
Cain Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine is now known as Great Nature Oriental Medicine. This new name has great significance regarding the application of Chinese Medicine, which includes acupuncture, herbal prescriptions, massage, and mind-body exercises such as Taiji (Tai chi), to our daily lives, both in times of sickness, and more importantly, in times of health maintenance and sickness prevention. I will write more on the meaning behind the name change and the accompanying logo soon. For now, I'd really like to take the time to thank my wife for putting up with my seemingly never-ending mission to find a suitable name to represent my particular approach to this medicine. She was also part of the original logo design, an area where I truly needed her valuable input. I'd also like to thank my good friend and teacher Johnathan Lewis for converting the final logo into a suitable file type that I can use in many different aspects of my business, both online and offline.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine are effective at treating a very broad range of conditions, from allergies to heart conditions, and so much more in between. The link below will take you to an article written by a very highly-esteemed Western medical doctor who specializes in cardiology (the heart and its related systems). He mentions a particular patient with an irregular heartbeat, and how, even after a year of trying different medications, this condition was not brought under control until she started getting acupuncture treatments on a regular basis.
The Dr. also highlights the usefulness of acupuncture in treating a number of other cardiovascular conditions, namely chest pain and congestive heart failure, as well as the importance of smoking cessation via acupuncture and how this can to lead improved cardiovascular health. You can find the article here. Here is an even more detailed, but not all-inclusive, list of conditions that the World Health Organization recognizes that acupuncture can treat. If you have any questions about how acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can help you, then please do not hesitate to contact me at 618-694-5189.
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This page is intended to serve as a source for links to blogs and articles about acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine that both new and returning patients may find informative and/or entertaining. It is also where I will share information about the history, principles, and benefits of this awesome medicine. Archives
May 2023
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