The way that I use San Jiao 2, I learned from Sarah Liners LAc., when she worked at the Grand clinic back in 2012. When she explained to me how to use it as a detox point, she said it is like clearing out the clogged gutters of your house. She showed me how to needle it slowly, attentively, vigilantly, and directly up the channel, between the bones of the pinky and ring finger. Needling it in that direction and method was, indeed, physically like cleaning out the leaves and other decaying debris.
The word detox gets thrown around a lot these days. Amongst friends, I joke that I’m better at retox than detox and this gets laughs because of my history of loving things that aren’t good for you. While I keep it pretty clean for the most part these days (I gave up alcohol in 2017 and tobacco in 2020), I still have a real weakness for coffee and sweets, in particular baked goods, specifically chocolate chip cookies. Most of the time, I keep my desires in check, but sometimes, especially if the cookies are fresh, I lose control and eat a really ridiculous amount of cookies. 7 or 8. Usually late at night, after the kids have gone to sleep, while mindlessly watching television. When this happens, and I feel gross from too many cookies, SJ 2 is one of my go to points.
I also use the point in the clinic for other feelings of grossness and various other forms of detoxing. For sure, it’s great for a hangover: that gross, shaky, sweaty feeling, when you get the next day after doing something silly like drinking Belgian Ale followed by Tequila. Chemotherapy can also have a hangover effect and overall feelings of toxicity and this point comes up frequently for that. Sometimes there is a gross feeling that comes up from the hormone fluctuations involved in the process of a Fertility treatment. Or, living in an urban environment can offer many toxic experiences both emotional and environmental. Sometimes, it’s the city that is the toxiCITY.
In all those cases, I’m thankful to Sarah Liners for showing me how to clean the gutter and prepare us for the next metaphorical cleansing rain.