About
About Michael
My journey into Five Element acupuncture began 26 years ago. My best friend James had just died. In fact he committed suicide. At first I pushed down all the grief. It was something I'd learned over a lifetime - to push away difficult emotions and put on a happy face.
But eventually it had to come out. I’d signed up to study Neuroscience at UCL and when I started to to make new friends the loneliness of losing my best friend hit me. That’s when the insomnia started. I was just exhausted all the time and I felt totally overwhelmed.
I talked to my mum, and she immediately said “You’ve got to go and see a Five Element Acupuncturist.” She was having Five Element Acupuncture herself and had actually started studying it because it was so powerful.
I always had an interest in Buddhism and Eastern philosophy. James and I would talk about it for hours. But I didn't know anything about acupuncture and I just thought “right now I would try anything”.
I remember going for my first acupuncture session. I was really nervous. But as soon as I met my acupuncturist, he was just so kind and relatable, that instantly I felt at ease. I talked about James and what had happened. Just from having having that conversation, I felt some of the pressure of having to keep it all in, start to lift. But it wasn’t until after the acupuncture treatment that I felt something major shift. I walked out of the session and said to myself, “What the hell just happened there? Is it just placebo?”.
The next day in lectures I still felt very different. I felt a sense of warmth and connection with my fellow students that wasn’t there before. I realised that the acupuncture had done something very profound. It had reconnected me with myself.
That's why I was able to connect with the people around me in a whole new way.
When I went back to to my acupuncturist he told me that the treatment he did was about reconnecting with a deep part of yourself. “You were totally cut off because of the shock of what happened.” he said.
Over the next six weeks my sleep returned to normal. But that was actually the least impressive thing. I woke up one morning shortly after this. I’d just had the first poor night’s sleep in a month. Normally I would be tired and stressed about not getting enough sleep. But I felt totally at peace and alive.
“How strange” I thought. “Ok, but I bet if I start thinking about all the things I have to do, I’ll get stressed.”
But the usually stressful thoughts failed to diminish my bliss and feeling of profound peace.
I remember thinking “Wow, this is how I should feel. This is how everyone should feel!”
At that point I made a decision that I wanted to help people in the same way acupuncture had helped me. I was fascinated by Neuroscience but I realised I didn’t want to work in a laboratory. I wanted to work directly with people and to help them to heal and to grow.
I finished my Neuroscience degree and undertook a research project in my final year. I examined at all the research that’s been done into acupuncture. I read some amazing research papers involving brain scans of people having acupuncture. I learned that different areas of the brain become activated depending on where the needles are placed, and that if the needles are just placed randomly these brain regions are not activated. I also found clinical trials involving people having acupuncture who were seeing significant improvements in their depression, back pain, insomnia and many other conditions.
I finished my degree and straight away enrolled in a three year training programme to become an acupuncturist.
I graduated in 2003 and set up a successful practice in North London treating people for a variety of ailments including, stress, anxiety, migraines, fertility, insomnia and depression.
I’ve since treated thousands of people and seen a lot of amazing transformations. In many cases I’ve been able to help people who had tried everything else and were at their
wits end.
Five Element acupuncture originated in Japan and is different to other traditions of acupuncture. For a start, the practitioner spends a lot of time really getting to know each person and what is going on in their life that may have a bearing on how they’re feeling. Secondly, we treat what is called the “Causative Factor” of disease. This is different for each person, regardless of how similar their situation may appear. Treatment is tailored to the individual and no two people ever receive the same treatment.
In 2016 I realised it was time to start passing on my knowledge to other people. With a colleague I set up my own acupuncture school - FEAT (feat.uk.com). We've had five intakes of students now and we've created an amazing training that teaches people with no prior experience to become skilled and professional acupuncturists with busy practices.
I still have regular acupuncture myself. I couldn’t imagine life without it. Whatever life throws at you (and it will!) the acupuncture helps you to roll with the challenges and to stay sane and balanced in the process. It always helps me to come back to myself to find peace.
I’ve treated a lot of people in the busy and demanding corporate world. What I’ve found is that it can make a huge difference to people’s ability to cope with stress and to stay calm and focused. Obviously there will always be challenges at work and in the rest of life but I find that people who have regular acupuncture learn to “ride” the ups and downs with greater ease. They experience more peace, even if everything around them is not necessarily peaceful. And they have more energy to enjoy their life.