We asked Chelsea Horenstein license acupuncturist, to name her favorite acupuncture point.
“With over 365 acupuncture points along channels on the body, picking a favorite one is a tall order. There are those points that we gravitate to, usually from seeing their clinical results, but also to witness how their synergistic role in a point prescription functions to remedy disharmony in the body and spirit, and elevates the treatment to a different level of healing.
Kidney (KD) 9, Zhu Bin/Guest House is one such point for me – its hallmark characteristic is in dealing with mental-emotional issues. In my practice, it is used often in the context of the channel system Yin Wei Mai, which helps treat anxiety and deal with past traumas. KD 9 is said to calm the spirit and the system, good for anxiety, panic attacks, performance demands, and helps to work through various addictions and obsessions. We often are faced with obstacles in life that have the potential to stagnate our energy, sometimes from long-term emotional upsets. This point is a wonderful aide to help clear some of that heat and stagnation and help us find new openings and opportunities. Points on the Kidney channel can be very grounding. Found on the inner side of the lower leg, it stems from a wealth of Kidney energy starting at the base of our feet, likened to tree roots that form our solid foundation, and nourishing our core self.
We go by a channel and number system for ease of notation, but there is significance to the Chinese PinYin name of the points. Kidney 9, Zhu Bin, translates to “Guest House” and speaks to the function of this acupuncture point. Tapping into the energy of this point sets up an invitation for one to step outside of the self and the trappings of the mind and observe, as a guest in their own “house” or body, without judgment. It allows for awareness of our reactions. It’s very useful when one is working on self-worth, self-esteem, and self-doubt issues, and trying to find a path free from the obsessions of past and future. There is choice, and illumination of the path enables us to know who we are in our truest sense. Kidney energy is water energy, and water in nature is strong and always finds a way to flow, regardless of the obstacles in its path. Acupuncture so often acts as a guide to bring this intuitive knowledge to conscious recognition.
The Kidney channel governs reproductive energy, which means Kidney 9 has a strong role when needed, in the maintenance of a pregnancy. In combination with Du 20, this point is effectively used in early pregnancy to nourish the womb and the fetus and, in cases of threatened or habitual miscarriage, to hold and sustain a healthy pregnancy to term.
My other favorite use of this point is to “detoxify fetal toxins” at specific weeks of a pregnancy. Coined the “Beautiful Baby Point,” classically a gold needle was used to disperse the collection of toxins that build over time. Moxibustion, a form of herbal heat therapy, is also used over that point to encourage the rapid resolution of toxins, which, in Chinese Medicine, is thought to later surface as chicken pox, measles, or other such manifestations that the system tries to expel.
Each acupuncture point has strength in its singular actions so that when working together, the points enhance and enrich each other, calibrating and regulating the system toward its greater good and purpose.”
Chelsea is a licensed acupuncturist and Reiki therapist.