heartbreak

Heartbreak Hotel – Can Five Element Acupuncture Heal a Broken Heart?

By August 20, 2019 No Comments

By AFEA member Katie Woolf

Elvis Presley famously sang:

Well, since my baby left me
Well, I found a new place to dwell
Well, it’s down at the end of Lonely Street
At Heartbreak Hotel
Where I’ll be–where I get so lonely, baby
Well, I’m so lonely
I get so lonely, I could die

It is said that the physical heart changes shape forever once it has experienced heartbreak. And why shouldn’t it? It is one of the most intense and painful feelings we can experience as a human being and most of us will experience it in our lifetime.

Love is possibly the most incredible and powerful emotion of all. It is the emotion weneed most to feel healthy, alive and well. It gives us the ability to feel connected and safe with the people, animals and Nature and it is at the heart (excuse the pun) of most people’s lives and the very thing that gives our lives meaning. Studies have shown that people who are partnered, whether that is with a loving partner, a great friend or with a loved and cherished pet – are more likely to live longer than those who live in isolation. Other studies have shown that having dogs and animals to love and look after decreases blood pressure and stimulates the immune system.

The loss of this love can be devastating.

Heartbreak is the outcome of circumstances beyond our control. It may be through bereavement or divorce or mental health issues that separate us from those we love against our will. The pain and devastation can be so crippling that a person can no longer cope or function in day-to-day life and can affect our physical health too. It can be so painful that all joy is taken from our normal lives and every cell in our body.

The heartbreak caused by the loss of a baby due to stillbirth, the heartbreak caused by the loss of a partner after a lifetime together and the heartbreak of being dumped by your first love. This pain is crippling and unbearable for the sufferer.

I have witnessed how Five-Element acupuncture can help lessen the pain of loss and heartbreak and help give the person the resources to cope with their situation, whatever it is and recover.

In the Five-Element acupuncture system of medicine the ancient Chinese describe 10 physical organs but also add two essential functions. One of these functions is known as the “Heart Protector”. Through an understanding of the precious nature of the heart in both its physical and emotional function – they recognised that the heart must be protected from physical and emotional blows. The ‘Heart Protector’ function acts like a buffer or a protective field around the heart that will take the blows and insults so that only the individual will only experience an appropriate amount of pain.

In all spiritual traditions ‘suffering’ is seen as an essential part of spiritual growth and this is also true of the Five-Element system. The job of the ‘Heart Protector’ is to allow for all experiences both good and bad but also limit the suffering so that experiences serve as life lessons and not devastations. When I treat a patient to support the ‘Heart Protector’ the pain will not be deadened as it might be with prescription drugs but give the fortitude to have the rich and full experience of heartbreak but with a better ability to cope with it and return to full health.

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Gerad Kite

Gerad Kite

Gerad Kite is an Acupuncture Master (Ac.M) with 30 years clinical experience. He is a recognized leader in the field of infertility, an author of two (health related) books and is an internationally respected practitioner and teacher of Five-Element Acupuncture. In 1993 he started the first ever NHS acupuncture service in the UK based at Kings College Hospital (London) predominantly working with patients with AIDS and terminal illnesses. He also ran a successful private practice on London’s Harley Street where he gained his reputation as the “Daddy of all Fertility Experts”. In 2006 he opened Kite Clinic where he led a team of 12 practitioners performing over 10,000 treatments a year and in 2007 he founded the London Institute of Five-Element Acupuncture (LIFEA) where he personally trains his current team of practitioners and new apprentices. 2011 saw the opening of his Wimpole Street practice where he currently practices and teaches. In 2016 his first two books (‘Everything You Need You Have’ and ‘The Art of Baby-Making’ were published by Short Books and his third is to be published in 2020.

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