Acupuncture Archives - Acufast®

April is Earth Month – This is the time to engage the 5 Phases of Planetary Healing!

John Stan — Fri, 01 Apr 2022 19:27:32 +0000

April is Earth Month – This is the time to engage the 5 Phases of Planetary Healing!

On April 22, 1970, millions of citizens across America took to the streets to protest the pollution of the natural environment. 52 years later, this one day has continued to be acknowledged around the world with events and protests with estimates of over a 100 million people participating with live in-person and online events.

Gradually this day began to expand from one day, to multiple days, to the point that April just became known as “Earth Month”. Being that April is when the renewal of spring is in full swing, it is the perfect month for all of us to become part of the solution to the crisis now threating our planet.

As both a consumer and clinician, there are ways we can participate both at home and in the clinic. To reduce our eco-footprint, we have the 5 R’s to guide us. They are Recycle, Re-think, Re-use, Refuse and Reduce. Each one of these actions can be mapped into one of the 5 elemental phases of energy* movement which are cycling through us each day.

Our actions are empowered when we move in accordance with natural energy flows. Use the following table and suggestions to reinforce your resolve to be part of the change needed.

Energy State	Elemental Icon	Expression	Eco-Action “R”
Increasing Phase	Wood	Action/Movement	Recycle
What you can do: Recycling programs are continually expanding and being improved. Use the rising Qi of spring to marshal action in your daily recycling choices. Separate your recyclables into their appropriate groups and tap into the weekly pickup programs to whisk away common items. Then schedule a once a month visit to your local zero waste facility where additional items like batteries, plastic bags, Styrofoam, and other such materials are accepted. Your recycling actions benefit our planet immensely!

Energy State

Elemental Icon

Expression

Eco-Action “R”

Increasing Phase

Wood

Action/Movement

Recycle

What you can do:

Recycling programs are continually expanding and being improved. Use the rising Qi of spring to marshal action in your daily recycling choices. Separate your recyclables into their appropriate groups and tap into the weekly pickup programs to whisk away common items. Then schedule a once a month visit to your local zero waste facility where additional items like batteries, plastic bags, Styrofoam, and other such materials are accepted. Your recycling actions benefit our planet immensely!

Energy State	Elemental Icon	Expression	Eco-Action “R”
Energy in its highest phase	Fire	Joy/Creativity	Re-think
What you can do: Tap into the elemental state of fire where the energy is high! In this state, natural joy, creativity and gratitude emerge. Use this creativity to re-think how we do things around the house and in the clinic. It is an ideal state to learn new ways that transform older habits to new ones that help our planet restore itself.

Energy State	Elemental Icon	Expression	Eco-Action “R”
Stable – neither increasing nor decreasing	Earth	Compassion/Caring	Re-use / Repurpose
What you can do: The earth elemental phase is one in which caring, and nurturing are expressed. Use this inherent aspect of our nature to re-use things that we would normally throw away. Take a moment to look at the thing you are tempted to throw away or recycle. Remember that up until recently, our planet has been used as a dumping ground for decades. Then from this state of caring and compassion for the planet, try to figure ways to extend the use of the item by re-using it or re-purposing it.

Energy State	Elemental Icon	Expression	Eco-Action “R”
Decreasing phase	Metal	Boundary setting / Letting go	Refuse
What you can do: When we tap into the metal energy inherent in all of us, we get good at letting go of non-essentials and drawing boundaries around what is good for the planet and what is not. Like fall, when nature is scaling down to only essentials, we too can say “no” to things that do not contribute to a healthy planet.

Energy State	Elemental Icon	Expression	Eco-Action “R”
Energy in its lowest phase	Water	Only the essentials / beingness	Reduce
What you can do: Use this energy phase to marshal your commitment to use less, with the idea of “less is more” in mind. Our fundamental state of beingness, or “IS”ness, does not require all the “extras” we normally surround ourselves with. This phase is reflective of the season of winter, where nature has stripped back to its lowest state. To aid in planetary recovery, we too need to strip back to only that what is needed or is essential for us to live in harmony with the planet.

Please feel free to share the above with your patients during Earth month. Encourage them to think about implementing the above ideas as part of their personal healing and the planet’s.

Now, in the clinic, the little things we do each day may seem insignificant, but over time the smallness builds up. If that small thing we do each day is done by millions around the world, the small thing is now a big issue.

The small thing I am referring to here is the use of individually packaged acupuncture needles or bulk packed needles that take up excessive space and use excess packaging resulting in needle waste.

Here’s how switching to Acufast needles effortlessly helps you be a part of the change. The 5 – phases of Acufast are:

If you have already switched to Acufast, fantastic! You are now not only applying the 5R’s as listed above, but you are planting trees with every two boxes of needles you use! If you haven’t switched yet, this is the month to do so.

Let’s all invest in the 5 phases of energy inherent in nature and do what we need to do in both our homes and in the clinic. April, as Earth Month, has the power of Spring to push for change and improve our ways! Use it! Together we can help restore our planet and ensure a healthy future for the next generations.

*All energy moves through yin yang cycles of low energy to high energy back to low energy. These cycles can be further broken down into phases that are distinct. They are as follows: energy in its lowest state, energy increasing, energy in its maximum state, energy in a stable state (not increasing nor decreasing), and energy decreasing. These distinct, observable phases are not only generative to each other but, in a tensegrity way, control each other such that the movement of energy as it flows through its cycle is harmonious. Health is an expression of the free flow of energy through all aspects of the individual (ie: body/mind/spirit). A TCM/Acupuncturist can use this knowledge to determine where in the cycle of the elemental phases an excess or deficiency is occurring that will contribute to a health imbalance. (Back to main article)

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Say No to Acu-Trash! The Acufast Story

John Stan — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 23:52:46 +0000

As practitioners of TCM, our health model is closely linked to Nature and its myriad systems of inter-relationships. Thus, it is understandable that you may feel a pang of guilt at the end of the day when you look at the waste produced from needling. I know, I did and decided to do something about it.

As a practitioner of TCM for 30 years, I found myself alternating back and forth from using single tubed needles to bulk packed needles. Single tubed needles were easy, it was what we were trained on, but the amount of waste just built up so fast. My ventures into bulk needling resulted then from trying to avoid producing so much Acu-trash. However, I just kept getting frustrated with my bulk packed needles as they bounced around so much in the tray, I would occasionally spill them, or I would ponder what to do with my left over needles at the end of my treatment? Would they be safe for use in the next hour…, two hours…, …overnight…?

This was my pattern over the years, a shao yang sort of situation, back and forth and never really settled with either single or bulk packed needles.

In my discussions with my wife and partner, Kelly, we decided, due to our longstanding connections in the TCM industry to really start researching ecofriendly options for acupuncture needles.

Firstly, our journey began with the need to find a manufacturer that makes a consistently sharp and smooth needle using materials that were low environment impact. It turns out, as much as I love my copper handled needles, copper handles are made with a very toxic process that made us pass on that option. We ended up choosing the Korean style spring handle as both the handle and shaft were made of stainless steel, which when compared to all of the options (plastic, chrome, aluminum etc), had the lowest ecological footprint. The subcontracting facility making the needle uses the latest machine sharpening and polishing process producing a gradually tapered symmetric needle with a very fine finished point. While Korean spring handle needles are known for a consistent quality, the subcontracting partner we found had developed newer machines with multiple patented processes that set them notches above other brands. We are very proud to offer these now in North America. Also, after much research, experimentation in packaging, and design, we are excited to offer practitioners the world’s first Eco-friendly Acupuncture needle called Acufast

We are also excited that Golden Flower, in its commitment to offer practitioners choices to help our planet, has jumped on board to one of our first distributors of the Acufast needle in the USA.

We have done so many things to create our earth friendly product that it would far to much to list in this article, but here are the highlights:

Our packaging is the smallest on the market, we worked extra hard to reduce the amount of packaging from our carton, case and individual box size! One box of 1000 needles looks like a standard box of single tubed 100!
Our boxes are compostable or recyclable because they are made from sugar cane fiber. Sugar cane fibers in this case, have been repurposed into a paper like product. This makes for a double win situation as no trees have been cut down to make our boxes and using a by-product of a natural substance, allows for easy, post use, environmental re-absorption.
We use pouch packs to house our needles, and we’ve worked hard to reduce the size of the pouches to even further than what is currently on the market. Plus, our pouches don’t come with a tube. Just needles. You aren’t forced to throw tubes away due to not needing one, or just plain because you don’t use them.
Also, our tubes are 50% less plastic that what other tubes on the market use and… they are pinchable! You may wonder why pinchable is good, but you will have to check the link below to learn more
We also invented two accessories to make using bulk needles super easy! Now even the most diehard single tube users will be confident in using bulk pack needles with our inventions!

There is more on how all this comes together to change not only the amount of waste we produce, but how by being an Acufast user, you are also participating in a 360 solution that gives back to environmental groups with your purchases.

For full details, click on the following link to see our introductory video to learn more https://youtu.be/IfMupQImWSA

Be a part of the revolution, join us in the effort to reduce acu-trash with Acufast!

John Stan, DrTCM
co-developer of the Acufast needle

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Canadian Company Produces the World’s First Eco-Friendly Acupuncture Needle

John Stan — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 22:00:45 +0000

Vancouver based medical device manufacturer takes on global pollution with their new eco-friendly acupuncture needles. The new needle brand offers a biodegradable package made from sugar cane fiber, reduced and recyclable plastics, and optional tubes that are sold separately.

If only 1000 practitioners switch from individually tubed needles to the new Acufast Eco-Bulk packaged needles, it is estimated that in just one year, over 13,800 Kilos (30,0423 lbs) of acu-trash could be kept out of our landfills.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Doctor, John Stan, and his partner Kelly Kitchen are the owners of Eastern Currents Ltd. and have licensed the products with Health Canada under the brand Acufast – The Earth Friendly Needle. Their relentless effort to reduce acupuncture waste is garnering a lot of attention as one of the biggest innovations for acupuncture in decades.

As the benefits of acupuncture continue to increase in popularity, so too does the number of practitioners that are continually producing vast amounts of acupuncture waste. With more than 10 million acupuncture sessions being offered annually, the amount of acu-waste is piling up at an alarming rate and Acufast is the answer.

Plastics in our oceans and overloaded garbage dumps require practitioners around the world to be part of the solution and take a stand against acu-trash. Acufast stands behind the quality of their products and the Canadian company takes pride in offering a portion of their profits as a donation to various environmental organizations.

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