This guide for bodyworkers and their patients clearly explains the energetic systems of the body, and serves as an excellent teaching tool, enabling patients to better understand their own treatment.

Community Acupuncture began as one woman's idea and is now a growing social justice health care movement. In just a decade it has grown from one clinic in Portland, Oregon, to a nationwide network of clinics organized as a multi-stakeholder cooperative: the People's Organization of Community Acupuncture. This book tells the story of how Lisa Rohleder's vision of what acupuncture could be - a high-volume, low-cost, community-based business model - became an international movement. This book is for a must-read for anyone who is considering receiving acupuncture or becoming an acupuncturist. It proposes an accessible vision of affordable acupuncture in the West.

“Comprehensive, encyclopedic, and lucid, this book is a must for all practitioners of the healing arts who want to broaden their understanding. Readers interested in the role of herbs and foods in healing will also find much to learn here, as I have. . . . A fine work.”—Annemarie Colbin, author of Food and Healing The promise and mystery of Chinese medicine has intrigued and fascinated Westerners ever since the “Bamboo Curtain” was lifted in the early 1970s. Now, in Between Heaven and Earth, two of the foremost American educators and healers in the Chinese medical profession demystify this centuries-old approach to health. Harriet Beinfeld and Efrem Korngold, pioneers in the practice of acupuncture and herbal medicine in the United States for over eighteen years, explain the philosophy behind Chinese medicine, how it works and what it can do. Combining Eastern traditions with Western sensibilities in a unique blend that is relevant today, Between Heaven and Earth addresses three vital areas of Chinese medicine—theory, therapy, and types—to present a comprehensive, yet understandable guide to this ancient system. Whether you are a patient with an aggravating complaint or a curious intellectual seeker, Between Heaven and Earth opens the door to a vast storehouse of knowledge that bridges the gap between mind and body, theory and practice, professional and self-care, East and West. “Groundbreaking . . . Here at last is a complete and readable guide to Chinese medicine.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Many in the global West have heard something about acupuncture as a treatment for pain relief; they may even have learned of its use in treating opioid addiction. But few know that, in the early 1970s, acupuncture was employed as a means of social and political revolution by Black, Latinx, and radical left-wing activists, inspired by the barefoot doctors of Mao Zedong's Communist revolution. Led by Mutulu Shakur, a charismatic member of the Republic of New Afrika, these young and idealistic people learned to apply acupuncture in the gritty confines of Lincoln Hospital, in the South Bronx of New York. The derelict public hospital, long known as "the Butcher Shop," became an unlikely source of energy and hope as the activists successfully helped people from the community recover from heroin addiction. The acupuncturists - some of them recovering from heroin addiction themselves - employed a combination of needling points in the ear with counseling and "political education"; for instance, taking clients to witness the trials of political prisoners (people imprisoned for their political beliefs or activities). By the late 1970s, the activists' radical approach led to their forced removal from Lincoln. But Shakur and others formed the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America (BAAANA) and founded a college to train a new generation of acupuncturists in the fine art of traditional Chinese medicine. The fundamental principal was healthcare as a human right. The goal was liberation of people oppressed by racism. The college had a short life; it was closed after an FBI raid in connection with the lethal armed robbery of a Brink's truck. Yet over three decades, the spirit of revolutionary acupuncture did not die, and neither did the issues that forced its rise, including drug addiction, racism, and social and health care inequities. Inspired by the radical acupuncturists of the 1970s, another group - the People's Organization of Community Acupuncture - founded the community acupuncture movement and took up the mantle of revolution. They, too, proclaim health care as a human right for people marginalized by society - and seek to give back that right through the art of inserting fine needles. Acupuncture as Revolution highlights a little-known intersection of acupuncture, leftist movements of the 1970s, and the global influence on healthcare of Mao's Communist revolution - and shows how the legacy of that explosive meeting lives on today.

Medical acupuncture stands out among the alternative health modalities for ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and applicability to a wide range of conditions. In Getting to Know You, Dr. Joe Helms uses down-to-earth language to help readers make the best use of this treatment. He clearly identifies what sorts of problems respond best to medical acupuncture and distinguishes between constitutional characteristics and early indicators of health conditions. Getting to Know You features real-world patient cases in medical acupuncture and promotes applied learning throughout, inviting readers to identify traits and symptoms they see in themselves. To this end, Dr. Helms provides a list of questions to clarify the reader’s dominant type. For each type, guidelines are presented with common-sense changes to promote optimal health. The book conveys a wealth of complex medical information in simple terms, including elusive classical acupuncture models such as the circulation of energy and the five phases of treatment. A useful appendix further highlights acupuncture’s benefits, while a reference list makes it easy to find practitioners in the U.S.