Accuncture: Safe? Effective? Effective sometimes? 'New Age
garbage'?
Andrew Fergusson is the General Secretary of Christian Medical Fellowship UK. (CMF). He has spoken, written and broadcasted extensively about alternative medicine throughout the 1990s. These views are his own.
Most Nucleus readers will have come across acupuncture. Perhaps a consultant anaesthetist was using it occasionally in a pain clinic you sat in on, and there did not appear to be any obvious ‘spiritual’ activity going on. Perhaps you’ve seen the charts of meridians in a local ‘health’ shop, alongside all sorts of weird and wonderful New Age alternative therapies and there did not appear to be any helpful ‘medical’ aspect then. Perhaps you’ve already had acupuncture treatment yourself, and some of your Christian friends have said you thereby came under occult influence, while other Christian friends wanted the details of your therapist and wondered ‘Would acupuncture do anything for me?’
This article assesses acupuncture from both Christian and scientific medical perspectives. Whilst working as a GP in the 1980s I sat on CMF’s Medical Study Group as it investigated the whole phenomenon of alternative medicine, considering the key concepts in general and then certain therapies in particular. Acupuncture was one of those we studied in detail and my views were largely formed then.
What is acupuncture? It is a traditional form of Chinese medicine which involves stimulating the skin at strategic places, called acupuncture points, to produce therapeutic benefits. Usually this stimulation is done using fine needles which ought to be sterile and used once only, but variations on a theme include:
a. acupressure – the use of blunt pressure, without puncture, over the same points
b.laser acupuncture – use of lasers on the same points
c. electroacupuncture – using electric current
d. moxibustion – various substances are burnt on the skin at the acupuncture points.
Where did acupuncture originate? The treatment has probably been used in China since around 1600 BC but the term ‘acupuncture’ is European, the idea having been brought to Europe from Nagasaki by Willem ten Rhyne in 1683.1 During the Ching dynasty (AD 1644-1911) acupuncture fell out of favour in China but has become more widely used there since the Communist revolution and it is of course very popular now in the West.
What explanations are there for how acupuncture might work? Because of this Chinese origin the first explanation for acupuncture came out of Chinese culture and belief. They held (and many in China and elsewhere still do) that there are two opposing life forces (Yin and Yang) which circulate in special channels (meridians) throughout the body. Disease is caused by an imbalance of these forces and can be rectified by regulating the flow of energy in these meridians. This can be achieved by stimulating acupuncture points located along these meridians.
This general philosophy lives on in today’s ‘traditional Chinese medicine’ and acupuncture is a major part of this concept. Professor Edzard Ernst, head of the Department of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, and a man who has gained widespread respect in both the orthodox and alternative communities for applying to alternative medicine the same rigorous criteria demanded in orthodox medicine, comments: ‘Neither the meridians nor the acupuncture points have ever been shown to exist in an anatomical sense, nor has the existence of Yin and Yang been demonstrated convincingly. For these and other reasons, critics tend to reject traditional acupuncture.’
However, given that there is some objective evidence of limited benefit (see below), conventional Western medical thinking has some suggestions of ‘scientific’ mechanisms that might be involved:
1. Counter-irritant action. This is an obvious if over-simplistic suggestion. Mothers worldwide know that ‘rubbing it better’ helps their child’s bruised knee, and the many rubefacients on the market work by ‘taking your mind off’ the pain underneath the area being stimulated. (It may be of course that the touch alone has some therapeutic benefit.) However, this concept would not explain how needling the knee can relieve period pains, if indeed it can. Two more recent concepts are:
2. ‘Gate theory’. In 1965 Melzack and Wall proposed a new theory for pain mechanisms, whereby only certain nerve signals could get in and out of the ‘gate’ into consciousness at any one time. On this electrophysiological model, acupuncture may exert its analgesic effect partly through the selective excitation of efferent pain inhibitory pathways. This poorly understood but probably respectable concept might allow a scientific explanation of how a needle in one area of the body could affect another part of the body.
3. Endorphins. These central nervous system chemical transmitters might provide another explanation for the analgesic effect of acupuncture as there is experimental evidence that endorphins (in the cerebrospinal fluid) and enkephalins (in the serum) are released in response to acupuncture. Naloxone, a drug which reverses the effect of exogenous opiates (which themselves work on endorphin receptors) can in most instances reverse the analgesic effects of acupuncture. This perhaps adds further weight to the suggestion that acupuncture may work through endorphins.
Whatever the explanation, today, the two schools of ‘traditional Chinese’ acupuncture and ‘Western’ acupuncture exist in our culture side by side. The former is typically practised by non-medically trained practitioners, the latter by qualified physicians. In the private sector a typical session would cost between 20 and 50 pounds, but one session is rarely enough. Most therapists would recommend six to twelve sessions, and to repeat treatments at regular intervals.
What evidence is there that acupuncture works? In the helpful general review quoted earlier, Professor Ernst summarised the results of the 200 or so controlled clinical trials of acupuncture which had sought to determine whether or not it was more effective than other treatments, including ‘sham’ acupuncture (which has usually meant sticking needles into non-acupuncture points). After a ‘systematic review’ evaluation of all the available data he has concluded that acupuncture is of proven benefit for:
a.. nausea and vomiting b.. dental pain c.. low back pain when not caused by a specific disease.
The same review approach suggests strongly that acupuncture is no more effective than sham acupuncture for:
a.. losing weight b.. stopping smoking
He lists many conditions ‘for which trial data are available, and where the evidence is neither convincingly positive nor negative. This can be because results are conflicting, or the trials are of poor quality’. These conditions are:
a.. osteoarthrosis b.. inflammatory rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis c.. stroke d.. drug addictions e.. asthma f.. neck pain g.. tinnitus
Claims are made about many other conditions but Professor Ernst refuses to rule on these in the absence of evidence. He concludes ‘the bottom line is that acupuncture seems to be more than “just a placebo” for some conditions, but it is clearly not a “cure-all” '.
Has acupuncture got harmful physical side-effects? The answer is ‘yes’. The most frequently reported adverse effects are bruising and pain felt during the needling, and (interestingly) fainting and drowsiness directly after an acupuncture session. [2]
The use of non-sterile needles may cause infections. One overview documents 126 cases of hepatitis[3] and three cases of HIV infection have been suggested though causality has not been established beyond reasonable doubt[4,5]. A British Medical Journal leading article [6] details one case of subacute bacterial endocarditis due to infection with Propionibacterium acnes apparently via ear acupuncture, similar infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, three cases (one fatal) of staphylococcal septicaemia, and one of bilateral psoas abscesses due to Staphylococcus aureus.
The inevitable tissue trauma can also cause complications. At least 65 cases of pneumothorax have been reported [3] as have several cases of cardiac tamponade, one fatal. Other serious complications range from retained needles to injury of the spinal cord and peripheral nerves. [2] Probably many complications go unreported, but difficulties with quantification also mean that we do not know accurately the incidence of problems, as nobody knows how many acupuncture treatments are performed.
With sterile needles and some understanding of the underlying anatomy (!), acupuncture could and should be a relatively safe treatment, in terms of physical harms.
What about spiritual harm? All the above constitutes a pretty mainstream, orthodox, textbook outline of acupuncture, but as Christians we are also concerned about possible spiritual harm. By associating in whatever way, however remote, with a therapy perhaps permeated by non-Christian or even anti-Christian ideology, are patients not at risk of spiritual harm?
To help us think through the spiritual aspects of acupuncture I refer to a checklist I have set out elsewhere. [9] It can be applied to the assessment of any alternative therapy, and seeks overall to answer, in both Christian and medical terms, the question: ‘What is the truth here?’ I venture to suggest this is the most important question we can ask about any subject! There are six specific questions in the checklist and I will apply each in turn.
A Christian checklist
1. Do the claims made for it fit the facts? The ‘traditional Chinese medicine’ approach has seen acupuncture as a ‘cure-all’. Within that context, claims about longevity and positive enhancement of health are made, for which there is no supportive evidence. Within the ‘Western medical’ context there is limited evidence of some objective benefit so that acupuncture may have a genuinely useful role to play, for example in the nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy or with chemotherapy, or in non-specific low back pain.
Conclusion: acupuncture sometimes has objective benefit.
2. Is there a rational scientific basis to the therapy? Some suggestions have been outlined above. We must acknowledge that our understanding is currently limited, but there do seem to be some possible rational scientific explanations for the occasional benefits of acupuncture.
Conclusion: acupuncture can be understood within a worldview we hold to be true. It is not necessary to seek ‘occult’ explanations.
3. Is it the methodology or is it the principle which is the effective element? When CMF’s Medical Study Group investigated acupuncture in the mid-1980s, we quizzed Dr Felix Mann, then Britain’s best known practitioner and the person chiefly responsible for introducing acupuncture into clinical practice in the UK. He denied holding a religious faith himself, and he put no weight on the claims of Yin-Yang theories. Dr Mann believes the ancients stumbled upon something that worked empirically, needed (as human beings always do) an explanation for this, and therefore expressed their understanding in the terms of their own cultural beliefs. He sees the methodology as having limited but definite benefit (and he was refreshingly sceptical about how close you have to get the needle to the ‘acupuncture points’) and sees no need to invoke any mystical or spiritual explanations. I found his healthy common sense convincing.
Conclusion: the methodology works, sometimes. We do not need to invoke spiritual principles.
4. What are the assumptions of the world view behind the therapy? The response to these checklist questions gets a bit monotonous when applied to acupuncture! The questions are merely diagnostic tools seeking to explore from slightly different angles the truth claims for a particular therapy. As has been emphasised above, we can accept acupuncture within a scientific Western world view which we hold to be truthful as far as it goes.
Conclusion: acupuncture can be understood without invoking non-Christian world views.
5. Does the therapy involve the occult? I should by now have made clear that the therapy itself need not involve the occult, but let me now emphasise the most important warning in this article: while the therapy might not involve the occult, the therapist might! As with most if not all alternative practices the question is not so much about the nature of the therapy, but about the nature of the therapist. Who is this person I am about to place myself under?
In all therapeutic relationships, there is a power imbalance and the patient, the client, the counsellee, is potentially submitting to a lot when they place themselves ‘under’ the therapist. I am therefore in general more concerned about the acupuncturist in question than about the acupuncture. Let me give you an example.
As General Secretary of CMF, I spoke once on the phone to a lay Christian, an ordinary person without any training or expertise in health matters. He told me how he had visited an acupuncturist in his village, and after half a dozen treatments he had indeed achieved relief of the chronic painful condition he’d first gone with. He put this down to the therapy (though I must say I wondered if the condition had got better anyway over the two month period in question!). But what he went on to say was concerning. He told me that while the acupuncturist was twiddling the needles he was always muttering something inaudible under his breath, in what sounded like an incantation. He noticed too that progressively over that two month period his own spiritual life had begun to dry up. He found it hard to pray, he lost interest in going to church, he lost some of his love for the Lord. Eventually he came to realise that perhaps he’d come under some harmful spiritual influence from the acupuncturist. Simple repentance and prayer was immediately completely effective in restoring his spiritual life.
I have heard a few other anecdotes like that. I don’t necessarily believe every element, but I take them seriously.
Conclusion: acupuncture need not involve the occult, but the acupuncturist might!
6. Has the therapy stood the test of time? This question is generally weaker in its diagnostic power, but applied to acupuncture, three and a half thousand years may suggest acupuncture has got some point!
Conclusion: probably!
Summary. There is evidence that acupuncture works for a few painful conditions and there are suggestions for a rational scientific basis such that no belief need be placed in Eastern religion. I do not believe acupuncture necessarily involves the occult at all, though as in all alternative treatments I advise great caution about the therapist. I believe that performed for a proper indication by a reliable practitioner (preferably medically qualified) acupuncture can be acceptable. I suggest traditionalists using it in other situations and for other indications should be avoided as of course should anything that might be occult.
I know from much experience of discussing acupuncture that this conclusion will be controversial for some. Finally, and as a token contribution to that bigger debate, I would add that I never advise anyone to go against their conscience. Paul’s discussion of conscience and meat offered to idols in 1 Corinthians 10: 14-33 may be relevant here. If you have any doubts or qualms at all, don’t go for acupuncture. You probably won’t miss much.
Andrew Fergusson
~~
Further reading
Alternative Medicine – Helpful or Harmful? (Robina Coker, Monarch/CMF, 1995) is a useful general book giving a Christian and medical critique of alternative medicine. Available from the CMF Office, price 4.99 pounds plus p&p.
References
1.. Lewith G. Acupuncture. The Practitioner 1986; 230: 1057-1063 (December)
2.. Ernst E. 'Acupuncture – what’s the point?' The Independent 1998; 12 (20 October)
3.. Rampes H, James R. 'Complications of acupuncture'. Acupunct Med 1995; 13:26-33
4.. Vittecoq D, Mettetal JF, Rouzioux C, Bach JF, Bouchon JP. 'Acute HIV infection after acupuncture treatments'. NEJM 1989;320:
5.. Castro KG, Lifson AR, White CR. 'Investigation of AIDS patients with no previous identified risk factors'. JAMA 1988;259:1338-
6.. Ernst E, White A. 'Acupuncture: safety first'. BMJ 1997;314:1362 (10 May)
7.. Halvorsen TB, Anda SS, Levang OW. 'Fatal cardiac tamponade after acupuncture through congenital sternal foramen'. Lancet 1995;345:1175
8.. Ernst E. 'The risks of acupuncture'. Int J Risk Safety Med 1995;6:179-186
9.. Fergusson A. 'Alternative Medicine – A Review'. JCMF 1988; April:26-29http://www.cmf.org.uk/index.
~~
Comments
Received by email:
[From a 'born again' Christian. Name withheld]:
With reference to Acupuncture Christian assessment article.
I am a born again Christian, and prior to finding Christ the major part of my testimony was occult and new age and holistic practices. I was initiated from a very young age into occultism through ritual abuse, although thankful I did not become a rituak abuser in my own occult path, thank God. But I did go deep into it. I was initiated into many paths such as reiki and seichem master level, violet flame, order of melchizadec, yod. I was a practising psychic and medium, natural and psychic healer and a practising witch, both white and black magic.
In the last days of my occult involvement before turning to Christ through seeing how deceived I had been by ALL that path (and my dad got me on acupuncture while at school), and how it all very satanic at its core (Jesus said HE is the way, the truth and the life), but in my last days practising new age and occult I even devised a new psychic healing method that had not been used before plus was channelling new undiscovered reiki symbols that had apparently never been known.
From what I understand of these practices from extensive and professional involvement is that these therapies are usually discovered by channeling the techniques from the so called spirit realms. I believe firmly that these meridians and accupuncture points when they were originally discovered would have been divined psychically and seen through the third eye, why else would the belief in them be so rigorous to stand for all these many centuries. They would not have simply plucked the idea from no where, no way.
There are highly occultic spiritual beings in this world. I visited Mother Meera for Darshan and Pranham, where she untangles apparently karmic knots in fine energetic lines going from top to bottom. Remember, meridians and acupuncture points are claimed to be energetic blockages and lines and channels. The energies involved are most definitely occultic.
The reason people get away with it so much is that they embrace the new age and holistic world. The devil omly attacks those who are not his so why would he give devotees of alternative paths problems? Also I know people who use yoga and acupuncture and moxibustion and swear by it, yet their conditions are only temporarily eased and are progressively getting worse, which they blame on the conditions rather than seeing maybe these medicines are false. Even yoga, derived from eastern mysticism and the very hand postures or mudras are used in its original form to invoke entities and deities.
This new age garbage nearly claimed my life. Once I saw it for what it was and decided to turn to Chrisg it all revealed itself to be deceiving and completely satanic. He is a deceiver and will make things that are false to appear true or even helpful or good for us. All the years I used these therapies myself my addictions and my mental health and every issue I had spiralled out of control, yet I swore it was helping me. Nothing could have been further from the truth. It is only since turning to Christ and leaving all that stuff in the past that my problems and life have been resolved.
I hope this helps your research and articles. I am not a raving 'born againer'. I have a level head now because I needed to be born again. And I cringe at the thought of how many people I deceived with my practices knowing what I know now.
Oh: Further point on acupuncture and its likely being revealed to its originator spiritually. The Chinese spiritually are generally - if spiritual -Animists and worshippers of ancestral spirits. This opens them up indeed to unclean spiritual realms which will feed false spirituality. If as you said the therapist needs to be scrutinized, much more the creator of a therapy.
Received 5 May 2014
~~
Watch here for some Facebook friends' comments:
Rough stuff - raw material for a chapter in my new book:
http://www.jmm.org.au/articles/14661.htm
- Jilly Daines, Stuart
Cardell and Leah Sophia like this.
- Johnathan
Geoffrey Hughes I believe that there is some evidence that
Acupuncture is effective. Unlike Chiropractic, there is at least some
logic to its action (i.e. if you put a needle into a nerve, it makes sense
that it may affect what is happening further down the nerve line).
- Duncan
Anker · Friends with John
Smith and 2 others
Why is that different
from chiropractic? If the body is out of alignment, it makes sense that pinched
nerves may affect what is happening further down the line
- Paul
Davies Depends whether your goal is pain relief or obeying
scripture to avoid sorcery... New age practice is disguised witchcraft -
what occurs cannot be explained by Science. It ALWAYS puts people under
bondage that must later be dealt with through repentance and deliverance.
We see this a lot at the Healing rooms. The number of Christians who have
opened a window for the Enemy out of ignorance is staggering. A better way is to ask the Holy Spirit what the blockage to Healing is and deal with it.
- Jan
Syme Paul, I am not sure if I am reading your post correctly.
Are you saying that things that cannot explained by science are
witchcraft? Where does that place miracles, the virgin birth, dead raising
to new life etc?
- Johnathan
Geoffrey Hughes Duncan, the problem isn't so much with that
idea[1], but with the more damaging and long debunked concept that many
diseases, from arthritis to cancer, can be traced back to (often
ill-defined) "misalignments" of the spine.
[1]Which is accepted in mainstream medicine; after all, if a nerve is pinched mostly a person will very quickly become aware of it!
- Dorothy
Wilson both Acupuncture and Chiropractic and also herbal
medicine work, but a lot of fundamentalist churches are still in the dark
ages where unless the Roman church approved of it then it was of the
devil. superstition and fear of what you don't understand is alive and
well.
- Malcolm
McPherson How can you have a 'Christian' assessment of
acupuncture? Is there a Christian assessment of vitamins? or appendectomy?
- Bradley
Gouldson "..acupuncture need not involve the occult, but
the acupuncturist might".
- Dorothy
Wilson you are so right Malcolm it is ridicules
- Dorothy
Wilson I have had Acupuncture many times not by a Dr who does
a few weekends of learning a few things, but by someone who had studied it
for 6 years. one time i had conjunctivitis and it fixed it up straight
away. I have also seen operations done with it in a documentary
- Leigh
Gardiner Back to the chiropractic debate - chiropractic
degrees are usually Science faculty degrees and the first year or more are
the same training as for doctors.
- Peter
Robert Green I think that, among the issues, there are two
not often raised.
First alternative medicine is very likely to lead people to avoid our neglect conventional treatments, leading to failure to diagnose, or worsening, of conditions.
Second, people afraid of disapproval from their doctor, or labouring under the misconception that alternative medicine, being "natural", can therefore do no harm, tend not to report alternative treatments they undergo, leading to a risk of adverse interactions.
My wife and I knew a woman who was being treated by a doctor of limited competence for a particularly unlikely condition (he had run out of options, but this was a crazy decision) but she refused to tell him that, among the concoctions she was adding to her prescriptions, were some which could be expected to compound the effects of her prescriptions and produce the symptoms she complained of.
- Dorothy
Wilson patients a few years ago where afraid to tell their dr
that they where seeing a Naturopath or Chiropractor because of what the Dr
would say to them. but now most Dr's especially young modern dr's will
work with both. Doctors will want to see a list of drugs AND herbal meds,
there is a place for both. There will always be people who put complete
faith in one or the other be it conventional or alternative but more and
more are seeing the benefit of both. Medicine like anything else is
constantly changing and finding out more each day as it always has
- Leigh
Gardiner Peter I totally agree with your second statement.
People should absolutely tell GP's and specialists etc whatever they are
taking. Often they can work together. For instance I know a naturopath who
had recommended magnesium to support cardiovascular system and the
cardiologist absolutely supported it. But there are also times when
alternative medicines will work against conventional medicines (not
always). So yes, tell your practitioner. Equally, tell your alternative
practitioner what conventional meds you are on.
However I don't agree 100% with the first statement. I do agree it is true for some but my personal experience is that more people turn to alternative practitioners because they have not found answers or help from conventional meds or practitioners,
- Elizabeth Mcalpine Acupuncture works!!
It's ancient medicine and in china medical doctors and acupuncturists work
together!! I've had it many times - I had a painful leg for a while but
after treatment the pain went!
- Ravynwolfe Moondancer Found it odd that
someone talked about Acupuncture from a" Christian " point of
view...what does his religion have to do with it?
- Dorothy
Wilson depends Leigh yes many turn to alternative medicine
because getting no answers from conventional medicine, but many also go to
alternative medicine from day one. I started going to naturopaths and
having Acupuncture when I was 16 plus Chiropractors
- Dorothy
Wilson but getting back to the article, Christianity has no
bearing on Alternative Medicine unless you are still living in the dark
ages
- Alan
Harvey I once had a puncture on busy freeway and a good
samaritan stoped and helped me change it so God must not have a problem
with a puncture!
- Andrew
Park My physiotherapist used it on my shoulder yesterday and
it was hardly noticeable in terms of any pain and quite effective in
releasing a tight and sore deltoid muscle.
- Wayne
Botting A couple of thoughts. Regarding a degree in
Chiropractic. Just because I have a degree in a particular field does not
in any way imply that what I do is effective. Regarding 'Traditional
Chinese Medicine' something which did not exist until after the Communist
Revolution. Chairman Mao promoted this heavily because it meant that the
government dod not need to invest heavily in modern. Medicine for the
masses. He himself used only the best trained Medical practioners. He
would not use traditional chinese medicine because to use his words it was
quackery.
Just saying.
- Wayne
Botting A thought on accupunture. A physiotherapist used it
on my leg to cause a muscle to relax. However he did not use meridian
points but inserted the needles into the muscle sheath he was trying to
get to relax. Worked fine.
- Elizabeth Mcalpine Acupuncture is about
3000 years old!!
- Wayne
Botting Yes it is however it was considered alternative
medicine even in China where it was not and is still not widely accepted.
There are more acupuncture practitioners in Australia than in China.
- Rose
Kelada I back Acupuncture 100% in the right hands, like
anything else , if u have a calling for it, it will work wonders ,but if u
just do it as a job , it can b hit n miss, I had it done both way, n the
difference was like night n day!!
- Wayne
Botting I guess thats the thing about this new
"Traditional Chinese Medicine", 'In the right hands'. However
when it comes modern scientific medicine it does not matter who is holding
the bottle of penicillin. (Penicillin chosen as an example.)
- Peter
Robert Green On the question of a "Christian" view
of acupuncture and similar alternative medicine issues, Ravynwolfe, first,
I am suspicious of what someone might mean in suggesting a Christian view,
which is likely to turn into a search for demons under the beds,...See More
- Jilly
Daines Chinese medicine looks to have worked well. I saw on
my ward, a chinese male visitor, frequently squeeze the front muscle of
his armpit. I asked if he was ok and he said he was reducing his enlarged
thyroid gland and that it was working. Not a knife in site.
~~6 STEPS TO SERENITY
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Find a better life
balance with these daily essentials for health and happiness. By traditional
Chinese medicine expert Karina Stewart
1 MAKE TIME FOR
DAILY EXERCISE
This is key, even
if it’s only a 15-minute walk. The circulation of blood and oxygen, as well as
of “qi” or “vital force” in Oriental medicine, are essential to vitality,
vibrant health and longevity. Studies show that a short, 15-minute burst of
moderate-intensity exercise a day can lengthen your life span by three years.
It will also help to fire up your metabolism, improve sleep patterns, increase
endorphin production and reduce stress levels.
2 BOOST YOUR GREENS
AND OMEGA-3S
Add supplements
such as powdered greens, which have the ability to provide concentrations of
minerals, vitamins, enzymes and micronutrients, and omega-3 oils, which nourish
the brain and cardiovascular system and reduce inflammation. These nutrients
have multifaceted benefits for our health.
3 SLOW DOWN
No matter where you
are or what you’re doing, slowing down allows your nervous system to reset
itself, and to shift out of high-stress mode into restoration mode, which makes
a positive difference to your physical, mental and emotional health throughout
the day. One great way to do this is to pause what you’re doing and take 10
long, deep abdominal breaths (full, deep, expanding inhalations and slow, long,
relaxed exhalations). Try to do this for two to three minutes every hour throughout
the day and you’ll see a phenomenal difference in your vitality and wellbeing.
4 ELIMINATE ADDED
SUGAR FROM YOUR DAILY DIET
This is one of the
biggest and most beneficial changes we can make to positively impact our
overall health and mental and emotional balance. Once your body adjusts to this
cleaner diet, you’ll notice huge improvements such as: heightened
concentration; less irritability, headaches and anxiety; better mood and
memory; a stronger immune system; clearer skin; less bloating. It will also
reduce your risk of diabetes and certain cancers.
5 FOCUS ON THE
POSITIVE
In every moment of
every day, we have a choice to determine how we’ll perceive any given
situation. The negative coexists with the positive in all aspects of life, so
it takes practice to actively choose to focus on the positive. However, the
experience and impact this positive thought process has on your wellbeing,
mentally, emotionally and physically is enormous.
6 JUST “BE” AT
LEAST ONCE A DAY
Just “being” is one
of my favourite things – with myself, resting in silence, peace and serenity,
even if it’s only for 10 minutes. I find myself naturally reconnecting to
myself deeply in these moments of stillness and gratitude and joy.
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