FAQ

Chinese Medicine focuses on the body and mind as a whole system. It includes acupuncture, herbal medicines, massage, lifestyle changes, exercise and diet. It has been used for more than two millennia to effectively treat many types of illnesses. These include headache, stroke, low back pain, gynecological, auto-immune, digestive, dermatological, neurological, urological and musculoskeletal disorders, asthma, anxiety, depression, addictions, PTSD and arthritis.

Most important, no two individuals with the same illness will be treated the same. Illnesses are a process and to treat its pathology we need to understand the client as a whole. This bigger picture aspect of Chinese Medicine is what gives it a distinction over materially based medical systems.

In Chinese Medicine, the medical and personal cultivation aspects are intertwined. In a spiritual sense, its deepest level of practice is to help keep us flowing along the pathway of our lives with clarity in purpose and creativity. There is a beauty and elegance in the ability to shed light on the human experience.

Acupuncture involves using needles, leading people to believe it will be painful. The truth is the needles are about as thick as a human hair, and while you may feel them entering the skin/muscles tissue, they do not hurt. They are not as thick as hollow hypodermic needles and therefore there is little or no pain.  In our experience, some patients cannot even feel when the needles are entering and are surprised about how Acupuncture doesn’t hurt at all.

Chinese Medicine sessions are tailored to the individual’s constitution and presentation.  Acute conditions may require only one or two sessions, while a chronic condition could take considerably longer.  The general rule is a session for each year the condition has been presenting.  The greatest strength of Chinese Medicine is not just treating pathology, but supporting and enhancing health.  Aligning with seasonal cycles, and cycles of life can be deeply supported with Chinese Medicine.

Western Medicine and Chinese Medicine do not work at cross purposes, they are complementary.  Advancements in modern technology within Western Medicine have been life-saving, life prolonging and incomparable for acute emergencies.  Diagnosis for objectifiable and measurement-based dysfunctions are highly sophisticated.

When treatment is applied, it is in the instances of chronic and multi-layered conditions that Chinese Medicine not just complements Western Medicine, but excels.  Western Medicine can have a tendency to take an “isolate and erase” approach to go against the symptom with less focus on the root of the symptom.  In Chinese Medicine with its focus on root causes, symptoms are treated with a unifying approach through an integration of the body’s systems.  Both medicines have their strengths and appropriate applications with the shared goal of maintaining health and well-being.

The purpose of herbs in Chinese Medicine, is to work synergistically with our body’s capacity to heal.  Based on centuries of observable changes in health with the interaction of herbs as medicine, herbs are prescribed as formulas that match an intricate multi-layered pattern. Patterns where herbs will enhance, clear and regulate organ function that brings the body and mind back towards its balanced, natural functions.  Just as with pharmaceutical medicines, herbs are regulated and put through rigorous safety and quality guidelines.  The ultimate goal of herbs is to support the body’s ability to resume normal function through balanced eating and lifestyle, thereby no longer requiring herbal supplementation.

Copper Mountain is a symbolic representation of a realm or dimension of being.  In Buddhist practice this realm is the residence of the Buddha Padmasambhava and is a place where beings are not afflicted by suffering.  Even though the origins of the name can be found in esoteric Buddhist practices, the name aligns with the guiding principles of Chinese Medicine.

This idealized place or state is not in some far-away place, but is always available and only needs to be recognized and consulted with as the present moment awareness of our Heart mind (Xin or Shen).