Kirsty Garland Acupuncture

27/08/2022

I wanted to express my concern regarding news about the England footballer, Ellen White, and her experience following acupuncture treatment, which resulted in a punctured lung.

Whilst we do not know the full details of the case in question, the British Acupuncture Society, of which I am a member, would like to emphasise the importance of seeking treatment from a properly qualified acupuncture practitioner.

Please below the statement from them.

The British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) is the largest UK professional body for Traditional Acupuncture and the only such body which is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). We set the highest standards of professional practice for the acupuncture profession in the UK.

The British Acupuncture Accreditation Board (BAAB) fosters and monitors high quality educational and professional standards, so that the general public can be assured that graduates from BAAB accredited programmes are knowledgeable, reflective, competent and safe acupuncture practitioners. Our BAAB professionally qualified members are all degree-level trained in acupuncture (a minimum of three years and 3,600 hours of training), or equivalent.

Our members have had full anatomy and physiology training with an extensive focus on risk and safety. Our members have also undergone at least 400 hours of in-person clinical training and, following qualification, are expected to carry out regular risk assessments and yearly continuous professional development (CPD).

Our safety standard is incredibly important to us and protecting the general public is a priority.

We are always keen to raise the profile of traditional acupuncture and, in light of today’s story, would welcome the opportunity to highlight the critical importance of upholding standards of practice for acupuncture.

05/06/2022

This is a lovley post…you may ask what it’s relevance to acupuncture is?

Well….we work closely with the emotions and so how someone sits with their own and others emotions is deeply relevant to their treatment. For example we have points that help a person start to process anger, and/or move grief when it is stuck. They aren’t magic bullets but they energetically move a person forward, supporting them through the process of feeling rather than thinking their emotions.

What I love most about this post is the honesty of the process….the layers of our humanness & the honouring of the process of coming round to forgiveness.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO FORGIVE

Do not force yourself to practise this thing called forgiveness. Forgiveness comes in its own way, in its own time, or not, as you do the difficult work of becoming more present to yourself.
This is the real practice of forgiveness: Feeling, meeting, expressing, hearing, validating your own pain, listening to the hurt one inside, the angry one, the betrayed one, the one who was too young or too afraid to speak up or fight back. You cannot do “forgiveness” just like you cannot force the heart to open, there is violence in prising open a closed heart even for “spiritual” reasons. The heart opens when it is ready and not a moment before. Don’t do fake forgiveness or rush to premature “compassion” for your abusers, just to appear nice or good or enlightened or healed or to get spiritual points from a punishing or rewarding God. Scream to the heavens, that is more true. Rage at all that is false, that is more real. Cry a river of tears, that is more healing. Mourn your lost childhood, that is kinder. Set firm loving boundaries and hold to them. Remove people from your life if you have to, and bring others closer. Forgive yourself for what you could not do, could not think, could not speak from where you were. Forgive your own mistakes, or your own inability to see what you could not see from where you were looking.

And maybe one day, when you feel safe enough, and not a moment before, and when you are ready, forgiveness will begin to bloom. And you will see your enemy’s pain, their own trauma and the trauma of their ancestors, and you will understand they had no choice but to act out, to find perhaps a moment of relief from their own inner hell, and perhaps you will work to make sure nobody else has to go through what you did ever again. And perhaps your heart will soften one day, yes, perhaps your heart will soften and perhaps you will begin to utter the words, “I forgive”.

But there is no “should” here, no violent demand for forgiveness, not on the mind’s timeline anyway, and until true forgiveness happens, you do not need to forgive what was done to you. Listen to me. You do not need to manufacture forgiveness right now or force it into being.

But there is this sacred inner work of self-compassion that can create more favourable conditions for the blooming of forgiveness, and that is your work now.

You are forgiven, always, for not being able or ready to forgive, and you are forgiven for prioritising your own healing today.
- Jeff Foster

Archaeology for the Woman's Soul

03/03/2022

There is some great advice in the post from David Hamilton about what practically we can do when we feel helpless and caught up in the pain and suffering of the world.

Like most, I’m finding it hard to believe what’s happening right now and like many, feel a little helpless.

I feel for the terrified people of Ukraine, and for Russian people opposed to war; many who have family and friends in Ukraine or are gentle souls, simply averse to violence or bullying.

It’s in extreme times like these that - outside of the practicals like donating to support the Ukrainian people with clothes, food and medicine - I find myself turning inwards and to prayer.

I once read about HH the Dalai Lama’s response to a question about war. He said something along the lines of:

The mind wants to fight and can justify it. But the heart just loves and wishes peace. So there’s a conflict between the heart and the mind and the wars that we see outside also live inside of us.

So I’ve found myself searching for the conflicts inside myself and wondering if healing myself might contribute more peace to the Whole.

How? I may be wrong, but I believe that there’s a deep connection in the collective human consciousness. And through this connection, we can spread love, peace, kindness like ripples spreading from a pebble dropped in water.

Maybe if we heal our own conflicts, we’ll spread ripples of peace through hearts and minds and perhaps even ‘infect’ aggressors and those around them with a softer spirit.

So perhaps contemplate: where are your conflicts? With whom? Are you making harsh judgements of people while your heart just wants to love them? Do you harbour intense passionate beliefs and fight online with others over them? We don’t all have to agree, but we can try to respect our differences and even search for common ground.

Even when we sometimes feel small and insignificant compared with the scale of world events, every ripple counts. They add up.

This is what I have found myself pondering over the past few days. It’s the spiritual work I’ve been doing.

So outside of our practical efforts that are rooted in compassion, perhaps we can do something spiritually. You don’t have to agree, but if you do then maybe give it a go.

And then, as the outside reflects the inside, perhaps our individual healing will help heal the world.🙏

27/01/2022

Not five elements but my other love mindfulness. 💕

Kirsty Garland qualified as an acupuncturist in 2003 and is a proud member of the British Acupuncture Council. Since qualifying, Kirsty has specialised in Natural Fertility & Women's Health (including, Pregnancy & Menopause), Stress-Related and Mental Health Conditions, Cancer Support as well as Pai...

23/12/2021

This is so interesting. Years ago I treated a woman with IDD & would concur with this.

She had worked hard to integrate all of her personalities except one. She had very painful IBS and your younger more carefree personality didn’t.

Her painful experiences in life had been separated out in some way, and the biology was different. It’s fascinating & was such an amazing experience to work with her.

15/03/2021

I wanted to say something before Mother’s Day passes completely (only a day late!). A huge part of my professional life has been working with women. Women who want children, women who have lost children, women who are struggling in pregnancy or are preparing for birth of which they are terrified of.

I know most of my clients aren’t connected on Facebook but I just wanted to send out a thought to women everywhere for who Mother’s Day is bittersweet. I hope my words find you and offer you the knowledge you are not alone. You are enough as you are. I never fail to be impressed by women’s resilience in the face of grief, frustration & sorrow - the other side of Mother’s Day.

Kirsty x

26/10/2020

I’ve had the privilege to work with many cancer survivors over the years both at Breast Cancer Haven & in my own practice. I’ve witnessed the different ways that people cope. There’s no right or wrong way. As well as providing a balance to physical energy acupuncture can help with the ‘new normal’ whatever that is & however it evolves.

Why do cancer survivors need acupuncture? Find out how you can help them with their next challenge, courtesy of these exciting new study findings: https://www.acupuncturetoday.com/digital/index.php?i=753&Page=60

17/10/2020

The post linked through the share here is written by a girl who has ADHD & anxiety that goes hand in hand with it. It is lovely to see how she has developed her healthy coping strategies rather than avoid who she is. She has effectively created a balance of strengths & weakness, and honoured herself in the process.

5 element acupuncture has this focus of balancing energy. It is a constitutional treatment that creates a harmony through the body, mind & spirit. It's not a magic formula (although it can be very effective) but a natural healing process. It is gentle & effective at embracing who you are, where you are.

I've been treating a lot of cases of burnout in the last few weeks. Although they have manifested differently they amount to the same thing. Are we able to accept who we are and create a balance in our lives accordingly? What do we need to put in place to achieve that balance? Are we prepared for the 'long change' that may be required of us? To accept that our worries give us room to nurture ourselves. To grieve as we let go & make way for the new? To recognise that fear and strength go hand in hand & that anger is often what facilitates change. These balancing forces are our nature, they are what connects us with each other & the world around us.

As a last thought I'd invite you to consider what you can give yourself that will bring healthy balance into your life? Rest, play, creating, nature, cooking, singing?

Hoping you all are able to make space for yourselves this weekend. ###

It's painful to live with supercharged empathy. These three things have helped me reduce the internal wounding of being too empathetic.

15/10/2020

The greatest gift...to allow someone (more importantly yourself) to be who they are, whatever that means.

01/10/2020

A health timeline that relates to stress? It’s in no way a new idea for all of us ‘completely therapists’ but I’m really pleased to see the breakthrough into Western medicine.

It’s worth remembering that stress is different for us all. In these strange & stressful times the response you get from others can make all the difference. You never know what someone else is going through. X

17/09/2020

True.