We love this piece on the power of five element acupuncture by editor Alison McEvoy, which featured in the Short and Sweet section of our Spring 2023 issue. Keep reading to learn more…
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Lake Shore Calling: An Inspired Healing Centre
One of the amazing holistic luminaries we interviewed for our Autumn 2021 issue was Yvonne Skelly. Yvonne is a healer and visionary entrepreneur who runs three wellness businesses – the newest of which is the beautiful Lake Shore Wellness Centre, located in Blessington.
We loved chatting to Caroline McHugh, a skilled acupuncture practitioner and founder of BodyLogic Acupuncture & Sports Injury Clinic, in our Summer 2021 issue. She told us all about what acupuncture is, how clients typically experience this modality, and why it can be beneficial. Read our feature below to learn more.
In the Short and Sweet section of our magazine, we love to speak with both emerging and established voices in the holistic world. In our Summer 2020 issue, we had the opportunity to learn more about the stellar work being done by Dundrum-based acupuncturist and herbalist Amanda Nordell. Read on to find out, in Amanda’s words, how acupuncture can make a world of difference to your skin!
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All Things Acupuncture: We Talk to Shane McMunn
Shane McMunn is the founder of Sligo Acupuncture and Tuina (a massage therapy which assists people in releasing physical blockages). He is also chairperson of the Acupuncture Foundation Professional Association (AFPA), the longest established independent professional register of acupuncturists and practitioners of TCM in Ireland. We interviewed him in our Spring 2020 issue to learn more!
All Things Acupuncture
We talk to acupuncturist Shane McMunn
by Aisling Cronin
Shane McMunn is the founder of Sligo Acupuncture and Tuina. He specialises in the ancient Chinese healing practices of acupuncture – a therapy that aims to brings about balance and healing by stimulating certain points on the body with the use of needles – and Tuina – a massage therapy which assists people in releasing physical blockages. His clinic is located in the heart of Sligo town. He also teaches Tai Chi Chuan and Hung Kuen Kung Fu: both traditional Chinese martial arts.
He is also the chairperson of the Acupuncture Foundation Professional Association (AFPA). The AFPA is the longest established independent professional register of acupuncturists and practitioners of TCM in Ireland. Since it was established in 1987, it has been responsible for the regulation and maintenance of a register of acupuncturists who work within the guidelines set out in 2006 by the Department of Health and Children. Their members are all bound by a Code of Ethics and Practice which is strictly enforced by the AFPA.
I had the opportunity to learn more about Shane’s work and what Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) means to him during a recent conversation we had.
‘I became interested in acupuncture quite young, and quite unexpectedly,’ he explains. ‘I was 23 years old, I was doing Tai Chi – which I was very interested in – and I opened up the phone book one day and saw a listing for an acupuncture school in Dublin. It was strange, because I had never known anything about that practice before, but I just had a strong feeling that I needed to do it. I lived in Sligo, so I started commuting to Dublin to learn all about acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine!’
From there, his experience and comfort level with acupuncture and other TCM practices grew ever stronger. He traveled to China, where he spent a month working in a hospital to learn more about the Chinese approach to medicine. He then went to the effort of learning Chinese, and spent some time in London learning about Tuina and Chinese herbal medicine.
Shane has now been a qualified acupuncturist for eleven years. During that time, he has noticed a great increase in public awareness and understanding about the benefits of complementary therapies. ‘When I first qualified, there was very little decent medical literature on the benefits of acupuncture,’ he explains, ‘whereas nowadays, I have seen, in my own practice, that more and more doctors will send people on to me to receive an acupuncture treatment. Many clients come to me because they want to offset the side effects of necessary medication that they may be taking. Acupuncture can also be helpful with pain relief, stress, insomnia or fertility issues.’
Shane is very keen to stress that when people seek out an acupuncture treatment, they do so via a reputable organisation. ‘Acupuncture is not regulated in this country,’ he explains, ‘but it is self-regulated by the organisation. I would recommend that people go to a registered acupuncturist. In our association, the AFPA, we insist on at least three years’ training and we insist that the practitioner is insured.’
To learn about the AFPA, go to afpa.ie. For more information on Shane’s work and clinic, go to sligoacupunctureandtuina.com.
Our friends at the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM) Ireland have a series of exciting new events to announce during the month of September! Three open evenings will be offered in Dublin, Cork, and Galway, where you can learn all about CNM’s range of courses. Dr. Udo Erasmus will also be appearing at CNM in Dublin for a talk entitled ‘Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill’. Read on to learn more!
CNM’s Open Evenings
CNM offers an incredibly wide range of courses in the field of naturopathic medicine. These include: diploma courses in Naturopathic Nutrition, Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture and Homeopathy; short courses in Nutrition for Everyday Living and Herbs for Everyday Living; and a post-graduate course in Iridology. If you are curious and want to learn more, what better way to do this than by attending one of CNM’s upcoming open evenings?
- CNM will host their Dublin open evening on Wednesday the 12th of September from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. at 25 Wolfe Tone Street, North City, Dublin 1.
- The Cork open evening will also take place on Wednesday the 12th of September from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. at Rochestown Park Hotel, Rochestown Road, Douglas, Co. Cork.
- The Galway open evening is scheduled for Tuesday the 18th of September from 6.30 to 8.30 p.m. in the Galway Business School, Salthill, Co. Galway.
Trained Course Consultants will be present at each open evening to answer any questions you may have about the courses and about CNM in general. Each open evening is free to attend – you are simply advised to register your interest using the links above – so why not give one of them a try?
Visit of Dr. Udo Erasmus
Health-promoting fats have been shown to help prevent and reverse so-called incurable degenerative diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and type II diabetes. These fats also enhance athletic performance, skin beauty, longevity, and energy levels.
Dr. Udo Erasmus is an internationally recognised nutritionist, lecturer, and writer who specialises in the study of fats, oils, cholesterol, and essential fatty acids.
In collaboration with Savant Health, Dr. Erasmus will visit CNM Dublin on the 6th of September, exposing the manufacturing processes that can turn healthy fats into ‘killing’ fats. He will explain the impact of both good and bad fats on human health and disease.
During his talk, you will learn:
- The role of fats in the diet – the good, bad and the ugly.
- How to improve your diet with digestive enzymes and probiotics.
- Current research on common and less well-known oils with therapeutic potential.
Dr. Erasmus’ talk will take place from 6.30 to 8.30 p.m. on Thursday 6th September in CNM Dublin, Griffith College, South Circular Road, Merchants’ Quay, Dublin 8. Tickets cost €15. To book your place, just click here.
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Healing With Dheai: A Meeting With the Acupuncturist and Author
Dheai Ilsaaid is a general Oriental practitioner and author who has trained extensively in acupuncture, Reiki, massage, iridology, cranial sacral manipulation and many more healing methodologies. He treats children under the age of fifteen for free. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. The best way to contact him is to call him on 086 077 7700. I met with Dheai to discuss the differences between Eastern and Western forms of medical treatment, how he approaches his healing sessions, and his new book, ‘Oriental Medicine & Eastern Philosophy’.
by Aisling Cronin
If you are looking for a comprehensive guide to the fundamental concepts that inform Oriental healing practices, Dheai Ilsaaid’s book Oriental Medicine & Eastern Philosophy is one to read. Two of the most important concepts – Qi and Yin/Yang – are explained succinctly in the book. Dheai says, “Qi (Chi) is the life force of every living thing in the universe. Just as different cells have different functions in the body, so also are there different types of Qi, relating to the different organs and their functions. There is Yin Qi and Yang Qi.”
Of Yin and Yang, Dheai says, “Yin is the fluid aspect of everything. Its function in the human body is to cool and moisturise and nourish the cells and organs. Yang represents the warming and the pushing upwards activities, such as circulation. Hence, Yin needs Yang. Yin is fluid in nature, Yang is movement or energy.”
Dheai treats a wide range of both mental and physical ailments such as insomnia, depression, respiratory problems, epilepsy, arthritis, infertility, high blood pressure and diabetes. Dheai uses many techniques to assess his clients’ ailments, based on the philosophies of yin and yang and the five elements. These techniques include facial diagnosis, tongue diagnosis and pulse diagnosis. He may also recommend treatments for the subconscious mind, including neurolinguistic programming techniques, positive affirmations, mindfulness, meditation, dream interpretation and hypnosis.
Dheai believes in treating each client as an individual, rather than assuming that every person who comes to his clinic with a similar complaint must have an identical cause behind that complaint. During our conversation, he offered a simple example of three people coming to him with a headache. One client may have developed a headache because of suppressed anger, another could be dealing with suppressed jealousy, while the third client’s headache might be caused by a poor sleeping pattern.
Bearing this in mind, when Dheai diagnoses a client, he uses a range of indicators to determine their health issues, then selects the best treatment for that specific individual. These treatments can include nutritional advice, a course of acupuncture treatments, exercises to improve postural alignment, or specific types of physical movements that retrain the subconscious mind.
Dheai is enthusiastic and passionate about spreading his knowledge about health to as many people as possible. He treats children under the age of fifteen for free. Children must be accompanied by an adult guardian when they visit his clinic.
Dheai practices in Waterford, Templemore and Dublin. He also runs his own Private College of Acupuncture and Oriental Complementary Medicine. The best way to contact Dheai is to call him on 086 077 7700. His website is generalorientalpractitioner.
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