It’s January.

ByLisa Baird
A black and white pencil drawing of an ear, with five different acupuncture points labeled on it, and text off to the side numbered 1 through 5 with names of the points: 1. Sympathetic 2: Shen Men 3. Kidney 4. Liver 5. Lung

Each year at this time we see an uptick in cultural pressure to start a diet or “fix” our bodies in some way. As Virginia Sole-Smith writes, “Resolution Culture is about optimizing, it’s about perfection, it’s about buying things, and it’s almost always about setting ourselves up to fail according to a set of arbitrary standards rooted in ranking the value of human bodies.”

So here’s a reminder why we won’t comment on your weight or monitor your size, and here’s an honest answer to the question of acupuncture and weight loss.

All that being said, it can be supportive to set intentions or goals or decide on some kind of reset at the same time as a lot of other people. Many people address some aspect of addictive behaviour in early January. Smoking cessation is one of the big reasons people start acupuncture in January, but it’s not the only addiction we treat. Humans can get addicted to anything! One thing we love about acupuncture for addictions is that yes, it works to curb cravings, but acupuncture is also supportive and nourishing. So it offers comfort even as we let go of the comfort of our addiction.One of our favourite methods of treating addiction is 5NP, aka the Five Needle Protocol or the Acu Detox Protocol. (More later on the history of this protocol, including the legacy of the Black Panthers and the Young Lords.) We use this point combination every time our clinic opens its doors, and so does probably every other community acupuncture clinic on the continent. It’s also widely used in recovery or addiction treatment settings. These five points reduce cravings for substances (including but not limited to alcohol, nicotine and other drugs), reduce withdrawal symptoms, offer relief from stress, anxiety, symptoms of post-traumatic stress, and often lead to increased calm and better sleep.

They’re my go-to in cases of addiction of any kind, and/or when it seems like someone desperately needs to just relax and feel some safety in their body.

Thanks to Melissa Waddell for the pencil drawing of 5NP on our clinic wall.

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