As an acupuncturist I get this question almost everyday. What is Qi? How do the needles work?

It's a lofty question to answer, considering it took me 4 years and several thousands of hours studying the concept of Qi.

In simple terms: it's you, your life force, everything that gets you out of bed in the morning. Qi is what keeps our body working, our digestion flowing, our moods even and minds clear. When things get muddled due to our super busy and over stretched lives our Qi gets congested. We congest our Qi when we worry, overeat, drink too much, argue, live too far from the present, and when we sit for too long.

Congestion has many faces and we see that manifest in things like: pain, headaches, emotional upsets, digestive issues, sleep problems and so on. Acupuncture is one of the tools used to get the congestion flowing again. Think opening another lane in a congested freeway (Interstate-680 construction anyone?).

When we talk in terms of alternative medicine and what it can do for you and your life, I like to think of it in terms of complimentary medicine. Integrated healthcare is an essential component to getting the most out of these bodies that we were given. We only get one shot to live the life that we want and most of us just want our bodies to keep up.

Paying attention to the Qi in our tank, listening to our bodies and fine-tuning here and there can make all the difference in how we age and ultimately live out our lives. Burn your Qi today and pay for it later. We can't continue to put our health on credit. The bill comes due sooner than any of us ever expect.

How is your Qi today? How are you contributing to that congestion? What small change can you make today to keep things free flowing? In my case today I am going to skip that second piece of birthday cake that keeps looking my way.