I am back from vacation and getting ready to teach the I Ching. I had hoped to post a few more entries over vacation, but the water was oh so nice and my nephew was oh so talented at picking up the magic tricks I was teaching him. Now that I am back, though, let us get into the one-handed needle turn. As I said on July 6th, I will be posting videos of the turn for those that have not learned it. For those who have learned it, but who have not been practicing it, I will count down the Nine Not-So Ancient Virtues of the One-Handed Needle Turn. Every time I have taught this, someone asks me why they should bother learning the movements. So in no particular order, I will begin ticking off the benefits of making the turn a daily part of your acupuncture practice.
Benefit #1: It brings Qi to the whole of the hand.
The mind leads the Qi, and the Qi leads the body. One of the virtues of practicing the one-handed needle turn is that repetition of the movements brings Qi to all parts of the hands. When you begin practicing the different turns, you will find that some of your fingers will not respond the way you intend, and will feel “empty,” “heavy,” or “hollow.” This is the feeling of deficiency and stasis in the body – something that is not desirable in the hands of an acupuncturist. As the one-handed turn becomes a part of your daily life, you will notice this empty feeling begin to recede, and it will be replaced by warmth in your hands.
There are two main variations of the one handed turn. One ends with the needle held in a parallel grip (the handle being almost parallel with the thumb) and one ends with the needle held in a side grip (the handle being at 90 degrees with the orientation of the thumb). Each of these variations has its place, and I recommend practicing both of them. While it is certainly possible to simply switch your grip on the needle, from the standpoint of increasing Qi flow, you will notice that the parallel variation increases the flow to the index finger and thumb, while the side variation increases the flow to the middle, 4th, and 5th fingers.
