Relax Your Way to Better Health

Gathered in a circle, sitting in comfortable chairs and recliners, a group of women were eager to participate in a meditation class that was recently offered free of charge by

Licensed acupuncturist, Master of Acupuncture and Diplomate of Acupuncture B.J. Rau Putnam practices in Lansdale and is also trained in the art of meditation. 

Her philosophy states that while pain and suffering are just part of being human and alive, she offers alternatives so that people need not suffer if they don’t have to. 

On this particular day, Rau Putnam was conducting a complimentary meditation session to introduce interested newcomers to the healing, relaxing technique. 

“We’re here to sit and to be quiet. I think of it as defragging the brain,” she said. “Meditation is the art of letting go of your thoughts.  Thoughts come up, and you let them go."

The group was asked to close their eyes and to use their breathing as a focal point. 

“Try to visualize feeling a part of your body as you breathe, and focus on it and then feel your breath,” Rau Putnam said. “Don’t try and control your rate of breathing; just focus on it.”

Rau Putnam told the group that thinking during meditation isn’t necessarily bad; it is bad just when you continue to get caught up in the thoughts over and over again and can’t let them go. 

“Thoughts wear on our bodies and cause them to break down early.  Meditation gives you that important breathing space,” she told the women. 

It was recommended that those beginning meditation start with five minutes of the technique in the morning after waking, and then again before bedtime to promote a better quality of sleep. The duration of time can be increased gradually, since longer meditation periods produce increased benefits.  

“Meditation undoes the physiological damage of stress and pain,” Rau Putnam explained to the participants. “It lowers the heart rate, blood pressure, improves digestion, helps you to think more clearly, and relieves stress and pain."

At the end of the session, the seated women expressed their feelings of calmness, and some felt sleepy. 

“It takes everything down a notch,” said Rau Putnam. "You do need to sit with your back straight to help prevent falling asleep. Sleeping is not meditating, but you do sleep better after meditating."

Rau Putnam is also licensed to practice acupuncture in Pennsylvania, and offers that service as well at her location on Green Street in Lansdale, across from Century Plaza. 

She had been a massage therapist for 10 years when she decided to extend her education at the Won Institute for Graduate Studies in Glenside with their three-year accredited Master of Acupuncture program. 

While acupuncture many conjure up images of painful needles being stuck into their skin, Rau Putnam explained that the needles that she uses are very fine and flexible, and when inserted, give the sensation likened to a mosquito bite—although some people do not even know when the needles have been inserted. 

Once in place, there is no discomfort; the patient relaxes comfortably with soft music in the background for about 20 minutes. 

Acupuncture consists mainly of the insertion of very fine needles into specific areas of the body that coincide with specific health problems and maladies. This ancient form of medicine was perfected by the Chinese, and they have identified over 1,000 acupoints that are used to effectively treat many ailments.  

Treatments vary in length and frequency depending on what each patient requires. 

“People come in for various reasons, but some include back pain, knee pain, IBS pain, anxiety, depression, regulating menses and PMS,” Putnam said. 

“I place the needles mostly in the arms and legs, but sometimes in the head or belly,” she said. “After the needles are inserted, the body goes through a cycle—like a nap. You drop off, and then wake. Some patients sleep, while others choose not to."

Because she feels that acupuncture should be available to and a benefit for a wide range of people, Rau Putnam has instituted a sliding scale form of payment—you decide what you can afford. She said that acupuncture cannot work unless the treatment is received, and thus, the reason for her unique form of payment. 

More people are embracing alternative forms of medicine in combination with traditional Western medicine to treat illness.  Although it has not yet been explained as to how acupuncture truly works, the World Health Organization has recognized its effectiveness in more than 40 disorders.  

To receive an acupuncture treatment by Putnam, or to learn about her meditation sessions, call 267-645-9322 or stop in at 200 W. Main St., Suite 104.