Feeling Stuck?

Feeling stuck? Aggressive Energy might be the problem!

Do you ever feel like moving through your daily activities is hard? Like you’re wading through sludge to get your chores done? Or if Steve from accounting chews his breakfast with his mouth open again, you might lose it? You might have stuck energy!

Stuck energy, aka Stagnation in Chinese medicine, can feel different to everyone but the most common sensations are: a feeling of being pent up, sluggishness, tiredness, anxiety, frustration, or even heaviness. 

What is Aggressive Energy?

In Chinese medicine, the concept of Aggressive Energy, or AE,  comes from the idea that we need a balanced flow of energy between each organ to feel well. When we have AE, the organs are out of balance and our energy flow becomes stagnated. 

AE is energy that is pathological (meaning it’s causing trouble) and can range from something like a common cold, an injury, or from an emotional upset caused either internally (negative self talk or beliefs) or externally (a situation, past or present, causing emotional stress). AE is something distracting or bubbling under the surface that prevents the body from healing or balancing efficiently.

Some other emotional experiences that can be the cause of/considered AE are:

• Relationship difficulties

• Family challenges

• Dietary struggles

• Substance abuse

• Chronic stress

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Hyperfixation

None of these experiences sound enjoyable, do they? 

It’s important to make sure our bodies are cleared from these more ‘surface level’ energies so that we can influence the deeper and more constitutional difficulty that allowed us to be so affected in the first place. 

What does this have to do with me?

An AE treatment is often utilized as an initial acupuncture treatment. This helps us assess the individual organs and clear any “blockages” that could prevent future treatments from working as well. 

If you broke your leg, you wouldn’t expect to hike a 14er without getting the cast off and doing a little PT first, would you? This treatment is like removing the cast and strengthening the leg a little bit before doing more intensive rehab. 

What is the treatment? Does it hurt?

The points of this treatment are chosen from a group of points we refer to as Back Shu points.The word “shu” literally means “to transport” which suggests that these points transport energy directly to or from their corresponding organ. We needle these points shallowly so the needle is just barely within the skin. This technique is very gentle and causes minimal discomfort as the goal is to activate the Qi gently.

Signs you have AE

Needling the specific points of this treatment can give us tons of information about what’s going on internally. The most telling sign is when we see something called “sha”. Sha is a change in the skin around the acupuncture needle, often seen as a red, histamine response. It’s really the body giving us a resounding “YES, this way! That’s where the problem is! ”.

An important note about after treatment

This treatment can be like opening the door to a room full of things we forgot we had… 

Basically, it can cause our body systems to stir a bit. This can look like many things but commonly: a little bit of stomach gurgling or change in digestion, going to the bathroom more than before, changes around your menstrual cycle, or an increase in emotions and potentially emotional release. Sometimes this happens as the treatment is happening, sometimes after the fact. 

However uncomfortable this may seem, it’s actually a good thing! It means your body is letting go of things preventing you from feeling better which means we’re on our way to balance!

If you think you or a loved one has stuck energy, maybe an AE treatment is for you!