How Acupuncture and Intuitive Eating Work Together for Whole-Body Wellness
In a world filled with diet culture, body shame, and weight-focused healthcare, intuitive eating offers a refreshing alternative—one that prioritizes listening to your body rather than controlling it. Acupuncture treatment aligns beautifully with this approach, helping to restore balance, improve digestion, and cultivate a deeper mind-body connection.
Together, acupuncture and intuitive eating create a powerful synergy, supporting overall well-being without rigid rules or external pressure. Here’s how these two practices complement each other.
Intersections Between Body Image And The Senses
I thought about all that I have learned about myself through my recovery. What I remember most is that none of these feelings about my body have anything to do with my actual body. We are sensory beings. When we are tired, hungry, hot, cold, challenging ourselves to adapt to new environments—it is more challenging to feel good in our bodies. When we do not feel good in our bodies, we are more vulnerable to turning in on ourselves. I was able to keep talking myself through these discomforts. This helped me to be kinder to myself. This helped me share with my partner what was going on. In the past, I would just begin restricting food as a way to fix my broken body. After all these years in recovery, I am truly able to see that nothing is broken. When I am challenged on a sensory level, I am more likely to have body image issues.
Are all of us welcome at Body Positive Acupuncture?
A body-positive lens aims to heal the wounds that may have come from diet culture, weight discrimination/stigma, ageism, heterosexism, racism, classism, gender bias, a consumerist-driven society, personal and/or medical trauma, and various other factors.
The Mission, the Intent, the Result
Body Positive Acupuncture empowers patients to foster a positive relationship with their bodies and food. This is achieved primarily through acupuncture treatment and enhanced by Intuitive Eating classes and one-on-one Intuitive Eating Counseling. A body-positive lens aims to heal the wounds that may have come from diet culture, weight discrimination/stigma, ageism, heterosexism, racism, classism, gender bias, a consumerist-driven society, personal and/or medical trauma, and various other factors.
Size-Inclusive Acupuncture Treatment
If you have ever experienced weight stigma in a healthcare setting, it is enough to keep you from seeing a healthcare provider until symptoms are dire. Body Positive Acupuncture will not only accept your body the way it is, the treatment room has been designed to fit larger bodies. You will feel comfortable in our waiting room, the furniture will accommodate you. Our building and restroom are ADA-accessible. My treatment room offers an adjustable table with a weight capacity of 550 lbs. I have plenty of support cushions to get you comfortable. The sheet drapes are large enough to cover your body.
“Prettiness is not the rent you pay to occupy the space marked female” - Erin McKean
“You don’t owe prettiness to anyone. Not to your boyfriend/spouse/partner, not to your co-workers, especially not to random men on the street. You don’t owe it to your mother, you don’t owe it to your children, you don’t owe it to civilization in general. Prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked ‘female’.” —Erin McKean
Food Cravings Vs. Desire
So how do we know the difference between a craving and a desire? I think of them as the same and I think of them as body and brain messages. Don’t forget, our brain is part of our body. Why does it matter unless we are demonizing and/or elevating a particular food or food group?
Will Acupuncture Help Me Lose Weight?
Diet culture wants us to believe that staying small makes us more attractive. Diet culture also wants us to believe that attractiveness is all that matters. Let’s connect those dots. Smaller is more attractive…do you want to be powerful or do you want to be attractive to a society that values thinness over everything else?
Summer: Observe nature in real-time
Sometimes it isn’t easy to know if we are moving forward. Find that tree, and follow it. I will be circling back on this each season.
The Principles of Intuitive Eating
For many of us, our intuition was blocked off years ago. We must get in touch with the internal cues first. Nutrition is important, AND, the only way through is gently. And the only way gently, is slow and steady work on the principles. Eventually "Gentle Nutrition" can also come from an internal cue, and for many folks starting the program--it MUST come last.
My body is an instrument, not an ornament.
Longing for a different body for your whole life will only lead to grief and regret. It is possible to learn how to have gratitude for the body you have now. Unconditional acceptance of your body allows you to live in the body you are in NOW. You may not like how it looks, and it is still possible to have gratitude for your body.
This body is worthy of taking up space
Consider widening your lens when it comes to inclusivity. Folks look at Instagram many times a day. The images we see affect our ability to know who can take up space. We are consumers on this platform, we have power. Consider following social media accounts showcasing various bodies, especially in motion.
What else do you want to focus on besides your body?
I did not know how much room my thoughts about my body and "lifestyling"--ahem dieting--were taking up. This is a reflection of what went missing when I made the shift into Intuitive Eating. The chatter is missing and now there is room for more actual thought, creativity, stillness, and connection.
Press on this point for reflux & nausea
This point is called Storehouse. Whenever we see upward move in qi, such as burping, nausea, reflux, heartburn, we refer to this as "rebellious qi." This point is helpful in settling that upward movement and helping with reflux and nausea.
Body Grief
Longing for a different body for your whole life will only lead to grief and regret. Learn how to have gratitude for the body you have now. Unconditional acceptance of your body allows you to live in the body you are in NOW.
A Note on Self-Compassion
Compassion for others tends to come easier than compassion for ourselves. Sometimes I have to work at treating myself like my best friend. As many relationships as I have with others, the one with myself matters most.
What Is Acupuncture?
The most important thing is to know that the body is governed by “qi”. One translation of “qi” is breath, air, or gas. I like this translation for those of you who are new to this system of medicine. If you are more familiar with Western medicine, imagine that you are having a hard time catching your breath and you can’t breathe deeply.
Does Acupuncture Hurt?
Does acupuncture hurt? This is the most common question when telling folks that I am an acupuncturist. The answer is, “Sometimes acupuncture hurts.” The thin needles are inserted just beneath the skin’s surface. Sensations vary by person from a dull ache to a tingling sensation. Any pain felt during treatment is momentary and quickly dissipates.
Your Body Is Your Home
Body positivity is most essentially about respecting our bodies and the work they do to carry us through our lives. This takes work in a world that encourages us to hate our bodies, to wish our bodies were otherwise, and to spend a lot of time and money trying to change the bodies we are in, especially if they don’t meet narrow westernized beauty standards.