Acupuncture at the end of life • EAP034
July 29, 2015 by Michael Max
We are all are touched by death. Many of us know something about it. Few of us understand the process. And while the tools of modern medicine often accompany the dying, death is not a medical condition.
Our guest in this episode is a country doctor and long-time practicing acupuncturist. He did not set out to use acupuncture to aid the dying; it evolved out of his care, compassion and willingness to sit with his own not-knowing as he accompanied his patients.
Listen in for stories of transformation and how acupuncture can ease the transition between worlds.
https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/950e473a-7b4c-4c8f-b8c8-33a7e174b39f/acupuncture-at-the-end-of-life-ron-puhky-eap034.mp3
4:10 Defining some terms- Constitution and its importance.
7:21 Staying with the truth of the moment.
9:42 A gentle treatment to shift perspective can dramatically reduce physical pain.
12:05 Allowing an encounter of dying from a place of not-knowing.
13:45 Acupuncture can lift people out of the opioid fog.
24:05 Squaring up for a look at death that heals into life and does not grasp at the past.
28:36 Two phases of dying.
34:18 The shift from struggle to surrender.
Ron Puhky MD studied with J.R. Worsley from 1975 to 2002, and is a certified teacher of his Five Element School. In 1976, he co-founded Canada's first holistic health centre in Victoria, BC. He also studied extensively in China and is a Diplomate of the Academy of TCM in Beijing (1982). He was a long time advisor in acupuncture to the Province of British Columbia and co-wrote the acupuncture legislation for the province. In 1984 he co-founded the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Victoria, BC. He has been a visiting lecturer at the Medical Acupuncture Program at UCLA and is a Founding Member of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture and of the American Holistic Medical Association. Ron and his partner Dr Charles Moss, continue to teach their Five Element Acupuncture for Physicians Training Program, now in its 30th year.
More recently from 2007 to 2011, he worked at Canada's largest integrative cancer center in Vancouver BC. From 2011-2013 he led its expansion into Victoria as the medical director. Ron currently practices integrative medicine, acupuncture and organic farming on Salt Spring Island BC, where he has lived with his family for 40 years.
Website: www.fiveelementtraining.com
Ron's article the Journal of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture on Five Element Acupuncture for Terminal Patients: A Powerful Intervention for Dying Well.
Book: Graceful Exits
Other resources from Raymond Moody at www.lifeafterlife.com
Practical questions about Chinese herbs • EAP050
Ice is for dead things, treating trauma kung fu style • EAP 003
Unraveling environmental illness • EAP010