- Why did I choose to become an Acupuncturist?
- Why did I develop the Acupuncturist's Essential Gut Program?
- Why do Love Healing the Chakras with Tuning Forks?
Why did I choose to become a doctor of Acupuncture Medicine?
Why did I decide to become a doctor of Acupuncture?
When I was studying Biology in college there were many different paths that I could have taken. Little did I know that acupuncture was to become my life’s calling. The long story short is that I became interested in nutrition, herbal remedies, and essential oils because of a course in medical botany. I was searching for courses to further my study of medical herbology.
My library search brought me to Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM). It looked like they had an herbology program. However, upon checking into the school herbology was part of the acupuncture program, and could not be taken by itself.
So, I thought, “what the heck is acupuncture?” I remembered watching a movie in high school about acupuncture used during surgery. That was probably the only time that I was introduced to it. Hmmm. I was intrigued. Therefore, the next best step was to experience acupuncture. I scheduled an appointment. At my first appointment the acupuncturist explained that she needed to begin with an exam and assessment to diagnose my patterns of disharmony between my meridian-organ systems.
The doctor began by asking me, “what do you need help with?”
Me: Well, I have this tension, and stiffness in my right shoulder from working as a clerk. But, it is always like that.
Her: OK, she says. Anything else?
Me: I have back pain once in a while. It seized up on me when I was in high school after a 10 mile run, and lifting weights. That hasn’t happened again, but sometimes it just feels sore.
Her: Do you have any stress?
Me: Well yes. Who doesn’t hahaha I chuckled.
There were a lot of questions in fact, from head to toe.
She looked at my tongue, felt my pulse on my wrists, and examined my back and shoulder.
My official pattern diagnosis was explained to me as liver Qi stagnation, and Spleen-Pancreas Qi deficiency. I would need to take an herbal formula called Xiao Yao Wan/Free and Easy Wanderer.
During the acupuncture treatment one needle was placed on the top of my foot somewhere in between my big and second toe. I felt this immediate jolt of energy rush to my eye, and I blinked my eye saying, “Wow, what was that? I felt something go all the way to my eye.” The doctor explained that the energy of the liver travels into and benefits the eyes. “I definitely believe you”, I said.
After the treatment my body felt heavy, and my muscles felt like Jell-O. There was a sense of peace, and calm in my mind. I knew after leaving that acupuncture appointment that I was going to become an acupuncturist. That was in 1996. I finished school in 1999, took some time to travel and study advanced acupuncture techniques in China, and I have been in private practice since October of 2000.
Today, I consider myself very lucky that I am healthy. I contribute my good health, and weight to following an acupuncturist’s lifestyle. This means having regular acupuncture treatments, eating a balanced diet based on Acupuncture Medicine food rules, using herbal remedies or essential oils, exercising, and practicing meditation with either yoga, or listening to and feeling the vibration of tuning forks on my body. I explain a bit more about tuning forks when I tell my story about why I use them in another post. There are many types of tuning forks that have different frequencies like the sound of Ohm, or a low hum of a lower octave C musical note.
There have been times here and there where I have experienced low back pain, neck pain, a common cold, or stress that comes with the ups and downs of life. In every case, acupuncture is my go to medicine. It helps me bounce back quickly.
I cannot imagine my life without it. Not without having acupuncture, nor without providing acupuncture care.
Ultimately, I became an acupuncturist because it is a way for me to help people relieve pain, feel better within themselves, have more energy, and live a higher quality of life without drugs or side-effects. It is deeply satisfying to know that I have made a difference in someone’s life. When you can live a more active, healthier, and happier life it improves your personal life, family life, and professional life. The impact is far-reaching influencing a great number of things.
Your health is important. Start your journey back to health today. Set your appointment now!
In health and healing,
Dr. Michele Arnold
Clinic Director and Owner: Michele M. Arnold, D.A.C.M., L.Ac., Dipl. Ac. & C.H.
Michele Arnold completed her doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (D.A.C.M.) from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) in August, 2016. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, in 1999, with a Masters degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine (M.T.O.M.). Michele’s Bachelor of Science degree is in Biology, received in 1993 from San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. She holds both a California State Acupuncture license (L.Ac.), and she is currently a Diplomat (Dipl. Ac. & C.H.) of the National Board of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology (NCCAOM).
Michele maintains a private practice in Poway, serving the North County Inland area of San Diego. This includes Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Mountain Ranch, Scripps Ranch, 4S Ranch, and Escondido. Her practice specialties include: Women’s Health, such as infertility, PMS, endometriosis, menopausal symptoms, and other menstrual issues, energy medicine using essential oils and tuning forks for Stress Reduction, anxiety, depression, and insomnia, natural skin-care with facial rejuvenation and micro-needling, Pain management for many chronic or acute musculoskeletal disorders, neck and shoulder pain.
Dr. Michele provides online lifestyle and body-mind workshops, training, and classes for gut health, eating right, and mind-body-spiritual practices with essential oils and tuning forks. For more information go to living well drmichele.com
In addition to her private practice, Michele has been a clinic supervisor for acupuncture student interns at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. Outside of work, Michele enjoys hiking, yoga, reading, cooking, and spending time with her two teen-aged boys.
Why I love sharing the balanced Acupuncture Medicine approach to eating and staying healthy!
It is my reason why I created the online program, “It’s All About Your Gut: A Healthy Gut is a Healthy Body System”.
Early on in my acupuncture practice I was helping people with many different types of health concerns as a general practitioner. Pain relief for low back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, arthritis, as well as infertility were the most common reasons people were seeking my care.
Something I noticed was that the main complaint seemed to co-exist with digestive issues as well as one or more other symptoms of anxiety, stress, or insomnia.
Guess what? Acupuncture works great for these conditions. This is whether or not there is a definitive diagnosis of the problem from their doctor. When the focus of treatment included improving and regulating bowel movements, and relieving stomach discomfort the results were quicker and more effective!
It is also necessary to make dietary changes to help heal the digestive system. There is a lot more that involves teaching about healthier food choices, what to eat, what not to eat, and how to eat per Acupuncture Medicine Food rules. It is something that cannot be learned while having an acupuncture treatment at the same time.
My program is based on years of working with patients with YOUR PROBLEM! In truth, I have learned what works by trial and error, lots of research, and the feedback from my patients. My patients have taught me that everyone is an individual, and that is why the foundational diet of Traditional Chinese Medicine works so well.
I have done my best to help you use easy to follow healing recipes with simple ingredients you can find in your own pantry, or at your local grocery store. Food, herbs, and spices can be used as medicine depending upon the needs of the person, how it is cooked, how much is eaten, how often, and how you eat. In other words it is dose dependent like how two cups of coffee, or two glasses of wine can be healthy, but over this amount can become detrimental to your health.
Healing the gut became a personal mission when someone close to me in my family had emergency surgery to repair a ruptured colon from diverticulitis. She could have lost her life! The recovery was painful, and also emotional.
Because this was an emergency surgery, and part of her colon needed to be removed it was necessary for her to have a colostomy bag. The second surgery to connect the two ends of the colon didn’t happen until nine months later. It was another difficult surgery. It felt worse than the first one she said. It was totally worth it though because she didn’t want to have to deal with the colostomy bag, and skin irritation around the stoma (the open end of her colon on her abdomen).
After witnessing this I want to help as many people as I can avoid complications that can happen with gastrointestinal diseases. I know that I have a powerful medicine that is natural, and effective. More people should know about this, and use it.
My goal is to help you find ways to use food as medicine to improve digestive health, stop pain, avoid complications, or worse dying from it. I also do not want to forget to mention the emotional aspects. Essential oils are exceptional when used for easing the emotional toll, anxiety, and stress that both exacerbates problems, and may be the source in many cases.
There is a connection between the gut and the brain, and the gut is the center that impacts every other body system. Thus, a healthy gut means having a healthy body, and a healthy mind. My goal is to help as many people as I can improve their digestive health through natural remedies and eating right without drugs or side-effects.
Therefore, if this resonates with you, and if my Healthy Gut Healthy Body System helps you please share with somebody you care about that needs help.
Your health is important.
Start your journey back to health today.
The Acupuncturist’s Essential Gut Program:
“It’s All About Your Gut because a healthy gut is a healthy body!”
In health and healing,
Dr. Michele Arnold-Pirtle
Why do I love Energy Medicine and Balancing Chakras with Tuning Forks?
I want to share my story with you about how I was introduced to tuning forks, and why I love using them so much.
A few years ago, a friend and colleague of mine, Dr. Sherry Shoemaker, invited me to attend an upcoming class with her to earn some needed educational credits for our acupuncture license. It was about using vibrational tuning forks on acupuncture points and above the body for other sound healing techniques. At the time I had zero interest. I had no idea why I would want to incorporate tuning forks into my practice, so I said, “No”. Even with cajoling, I wouldn’t change my mind.
My friend took the course, and purchased several tuning forks. She asked if she could practice using them on me. “Yes, of course”, I said. She began with a few acupuncture needles, which I am familiar with. Then she placed two Ohm tuning forks near by ears for me to listen to. There was this relaxing low hum that I could feel resonating throughout my head, and my whole body. I began to feel deeply relaxed while the tension from the day just melted away.
Next, she placed them on the bottom of my feet on the acupuncture point Kidney 1 Bubbling Spring. I loved the feeling of the vibration as I not only could feel it on my feet, but I felt it travel up my legs.
She continued to tap the forks, and place them on several different acupuncture points over my chest, arms, and legs. Dr. Sherry explained that the sound naturally dies down between taps, and it is considered a musical rest. This rest is silence that is an important part of the treatment. She tapped some forks with higher sound frequencies above my body, which I could swear even though they didn’t touch me, that the sound was being absorbed through to my bones, and I loved the humming, or wind chime sounds.
After the tuning fork acupuncture I felt amazing, relaxed, and a little sad that it was over! I slept so well that night. I didn’t know what to expect as far as results or anything, but I do contribute it to helping me find some mental clarity and peace. I would like to think that it was this amazing treatment that helped me move forward with finishing a project I was working on.
A few weeks later my friend and I attended a local acupuncture convention. It so happens that one of the vendors that was there was selling tuning forks. Upon passing by I was given the sales pitch, and also a demonstration of how to use them. The sales person demonstrated on me by placing one fork on my chest, and one on my back. The vibration was strong, and I thought it was awesome. She explained how her patients loved the tuning forks, and that it is a great way to practice needless acupuncture.
“They are exceptional for helping people with insomnia, stress, anxiety, depression, and self-discovery finding your purpose and passion”, I was told.
She said, “I’ll even throw in our book for free!” “OK, fine. I’ll take the set of tuning forks”. And out I walked with a bag full of new healing tools.
That is how I began my affection for tuning forks. In order to use what I just purchased I needed to learn everything I could about them.
Thus, I purchased several books, read online articles, blogs, and watched videos. I made my notes, and began using them in my practice. Over and over again I learned about how tuning forks balance the Chakra-Meridian systems. This idea of a tangible way to really feel the energy and connect it with each chakra resonated with me.
If you are wondering about terms you may not of heard of like Chakras, think of Chakras as areas on the midline of your body that when stimulated connect with your nervous system, glands, endocrine system, organs, and brain. That is why using tuning forks to balance the Chakra-Meridian systems help with the gut-brain connection. It is why it can help people suffering with chronic pain, fibromyalgia, insomnia, stress, anxiety, and depression.
My goal was to become an expert in this energy healing medicine. Now, I wanted to take some classes! There was one book that I read that struck me as the most useful, and the author had explained everything so clearly. She is an author, an acupuncturist, a musician, and composer. She also happened to have classes in my area.
I signed up to take her course along with my office colleague, Dr. Tracey Whitney. I forgot to mention that I sucked her into this gig as well. It wasn’t that difficult after using them on her. She fell in love with them too. And that was it.
I created my signature AromaTune treatment by incorporating essential oils along with tuning forks. What is unique about this is that a recipe of different essential oils, and different tuning forks can be used depending upon the needs of the client or chief complaint. I now offer a similar treatment that is half as long without the use of essential oils, called Body Tune. Both can be called tuning fork acupuncture. It is essentially vibrational medicine because everything in the universe all the way down to every one of your cells oscillates or moves. Each different tissue resonates with certain frequencies. So by placing a tuning fork with the correct frequency over an area of your body that needs tuning, your body will want to tune-up to the correct pitch. Amazing right?
It makes me feel satisfied to know that I can help people feel better without using drugs or other harsh procedures. If this resonates with you, and you would like to experience AromaTune or Body Tune Click here to set your appointment today!
You can also learn how to use tuning forks on yourself, and follow along during an online group class I offer as a monthly membership. Click here to Sign-up Now!
For other health practitioners, I am excited to teach you how to incorporate them into your practice. Click here to Enroll in your class now!
In health and healing,
Dr. Michele Arnold-Pirtle
