Dates for the Summer 2008 Beginning The Journey Seminars have been announced!

December 2007: Professor Gumenick was recently honored by the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) as a Pioneer and Leader in the field of Oriental Medicine.

Testimonials from recent 2007 Seminars:

"Neil is a wonderful lecturer - engaging, knowledgeable, and always very interesting"
- Denise D'Fantis, L.Ac.

"Once you begin the journey, you will find it difficult to stop."
- Todd Howard, L.Ac., President, Pacific Rim College (BC)

"Amazing! Neil is very knowledgeable and fascinating to listen to. Five Element acupuncture has great potential in my practice! I can't wait to learn more!" - Julie Dalbec, L.Ac.

"Thank you for so generously sharing of your knowledge. Fascinating and very useful information."
- Khara Lucius, N.D.

"A great beginning to the Journey, presented with humor, patience, and mastery." - Linda Davis, L.Ac.

In September 2006, the eighth Classical Five-Element Acupuncture Program began with 19 students. Licensed acupuncturists, physicians, and students of Oriental Medicine came from California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Missouri to learn the profound Body/Mind/Spirit medicine known as Classical Five-Element Acupuncture.

The Basics
In the first of 9 sessions, students learned the Basic Operating Principles, which transform practitioners into healers. Getting out of one's head and into one's senses is the fundamental step in determining the Causitive Factor of disease. Students learned that symptoms are only the distress signals, not the cause of disease. The moment an imbalance is present, often long before symptoms appear, a person's odor, color, sound, and emotions will point to the element that is the source of the trouble. Thus, we can both treat existing illnesses, and prevent future ones.

The Pulses
Students began the study of pulse diagnosis, precisely sensing the exact state of each organ and function. The pulses provide clear and accurate guidance on treatment strategy and instant feedback on the effect of each needle. Students learned how to detect and remove energetic blocks, some of which, if unresolved, result in certain death. Others, until resolved, act as total barriers to successful treatment by any therapy.

The Irreplaceable Skills of Rapport
In Rapport Exercises, students learned, both with each other in "role playing" and with actual class patients, to be present with another person, to "be oneself". Students learned how to recognize and awaken the real and authentic Self - the Self we all had as children below the age of one, before our minds had become conditioned and polluted. Students learned to access, beyond thinking, that childlike and innocent spontaneity: beyond categorizations, characterizations, and labels. From that state of rapport - oneness with the patient - the senses come alive. Then, the true diagnostic information is revealed.

The Three Levels
Students learned to perceive, not only the elemental cause, but the level (physical, mental, spiritual) most in need of help and how to use the "spirits of the points" to give the exact help needed. In so doing, students began learning how to understand and treat patients at the very core, healing from within - not simply palliating, but truly curing.

Truly, these four days were about more than learning a system of medicine. They were about personal transformation. Next year's class will begin in September 2007. Now is the time to inquire about this experience for you.

Previous participants share their experiences:

"The experience of studying Classical Five-Element Acupuncture with Neil Gumenick has transformed my life. I feel more connected to my patients and better able to assess their individual needs. There is such beauty and simplicity to this medicine. Thank you Neil for helping me begin this amazing journey!" Kathleen Keneally, L.Ac.

"As a graduate, I was a Teaching Assistant with this year's class. It was truly miraculous to watch students" barriers drop, fears and insecurities disappear, old and ingrained ways of being simply melt before my eyes - to be replaced with keen awareness, the spontaneous joy of accomplishment, and the excitement of having this magnificent system of healing embodied within." Pam Francis, PhD, L.Ac.

"If you ever really wanted to practice medicine in a way that touches the very essence of each patient in the way that each needs most - and expands and enriches you with every treatment you give - this is the place to learn how. Neil Gumenick teaches with clarity, compassion, precision, wisdom, and patience. He is the finest instructor I have had in my career." Kim Smith, M.D

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