Ki Acupuncture

01/02/2026

“When stress, pain, or fatigue start to feel normal…”

Modern life places constant demands on the body and mind. Over time, tension, poor sleep, or emotional strain can build, until it becomes hard to remember what good health feels like.

At Ki Acupuncture, we offer calm, personal care in a friendly, supportive space. Each session is unhurried, with time to listen carefully, understand what’s going on, and respond thoughtfully.

Treatment often combines acupuncture and therapeutic massage, working together to help the body settle, release tension, and recover its natural balance. Many people describe sessions as a chance to pause, reset, and feel more at ease in themselves again.

This is care that makes space for rest, clarity, and repair. A place to slow down and feel restored. 😌

How acupuncture and massage can help…

Acupuncture and traditional massage have been used for more than 2,000 years to support recovery, health, and wellbeing. At Ki Acupuncture, these approaches are applied through individual, hands-on care, informed by modern clinical understanding of anatomy, physiology, and the nervous system.

Treatment aims to ease physical tension, support circulation, calm stress responses, and encourage the body’s natural processes of recovery and regulation.

People often seek support for:

Pain and tension
Chronic or acute pain, headaches and migraines, arthritis, sports injury recovery

Stress and emotional wellbeing
Anxiety, low mood, burnout, poor sleep, feeling overwhelmed or constantly “on edge”

Women’s health and hormones
Menstrual regulation, fertility support, pregnancy care, menopause symptoms

Digestive and immune support
Slow bowel motility, bloating, IBS, skin comfort, immune resilience

Recovery and general wellness
Fatigue, nerve health, feeling run down… wanting support, rest, and time to be listened to

Some people come with a specific concern. Others attend to manage stress, support long-term balance, or maintain their wellbeing over time. Each treatment is tailored to the individual, with continuity of care and attention to the whole person – both body and mind.

📍 Leeds & Bradford
🔗 ki-acupuncture.co.uk

01/02/2026

“When stress, pain, or fatigue start to feel normal…”

Modern life places constant demands on the body and mind. Over time, tension, poor sleep, or emotional strain can build, until it becomes hard to remember what good health feels like. 🤔

At Ki Acupuncture, we offer calm, personal care in a friendly, supportive space. Each session is unhurried, with time to listen carefully, understand what’s going on, and respond thoughtfully.

Treatment often combines acupuncture and therapeutic massage, working together to help the body settle, release tension, and recover its natural balance. Many people describe sessions as a chance to pause, reset, and feel more at ease in themselves again.

This is care that makes space for rest, clarity, and repair. A place to slow down and feel restored. 😌

How acupuncture and massage can help…

Acupuncture and traditional massage have been used for more than 2,000 years to support recovery, health, and wellbeing. At Ki Acupuncture, these approaches are applied through individual, hands-on care, informed by modern clinical understanding of anatomy, physiology, and the nervous system.

Treatment aims to ease physical tension, support circulation, calm stress responses, and encourage the body’s natural processes of recovery and regulation. 🌿

People often seek support for:

✅ Pain and tension
Chronic or acute pain, headaches and migraines, arthritis, sports injury recovery

✅ Stress and emotional wellbeing
Anxiety, low mood, burnout, poor sleep, feeling overwhelmed or constantly “on edge”

✅ Women’s health and hormones
Menstrual regulation, fertility support, pregnancy care, menopause symptoms

✅ Digestive and immune support
Slow bowel motility, bloating, IBS, skin comfort, immune resilience

✅ Recovery and general wellness
Fatigue, nerve health, feeling run down… wanting support, rest, and time to be listened to

Some people come with a specific concern. Others attend to manage stress, support long-term balance, or maintain their wellbeing over time. Each treatment is tailored to the individual, with continuity of care and attention to the whole person – both body and mind.

Your practitioner, Richard, is a fully qualified acupuncturist and massage therapist with specialist training in Traditional East Asian Medicine.

Clinics in Shipley, Calverley, and Cookridge

😊 Get in touch
Visit: ki-acupuncture.co.uk
Or call / WhatsApp: 01274 003 008

“Richard is extremely professional, kind and welcoming, and has helped me massively with my issues. He goes above and beyond to help his patients - would recommend to anyone!” Lucy S.

🔗 See more client testimonials at:
https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk/testimonials/

01/02/2026

“When stress, pain, or fatigue start to feel normal…”

Modern life places constant demands on the body and mind. Over time, tension, poor sleep, or emotional strain can build, until it becomes hard to remember what good health feels like. 🤔

At Ki Acupuncture, we offer calm, personal care in a friendly, supportive space. Each session is unhurried, with time to listen carefully, understand what’s going on, and respond thoughtfully.

Treatment often combines acupuncture and therapeutic massage, working together to help the body settle, release tension, and recover its natural balance. Many people describe sessions as a chance to pause, reset, and feel more at ease in themselves again.

This is care that makes space for rest, clarity, and repair. A place to slow down and feel restored. 😌

How acupuncture and massage can help…

Acupuncture and traditional massage have been used for more than 2,000 years to support recovery, health, and wellbeing. At Ki Acupuncture, these approaches are applied through individual, hands-on care, informed by modern clinical understanding of anatomy, physiology, and the nervous system.

Treatment aims to ease physical tension, support circulation, calm stress responses, and encourage the body’s natural processes of recovery and regulation. 🌿

People often seek support for:

✅ Pain and tension
Chronic or acute pain, headaches and migraines, arthritis, sports injury recovery

✅ Stress and emotional wellbeing
Anxiety, low mood, burnout, poor sleep, feeling overwhelmed or constantly “on edge”

✅ Women’s health and hormones
Menstrual regulation, fertility support, pregnancy care, menopause symptoms

✅ Digestive and immune support
Slow bowel motility, bloating, IBS, skin comfort, immune resilience

✅ Recovery and general wellness
Fatigue, nerve health, feeling run down… wanting support, rest, and time to be listened to

Some people come with a specific concern. Others attend to manage stress, support long-term balance, or maintain their wellbeing over time. Each treatment is tailored to the individual, with continuity of care and attention to the whole person – both body and mind.

Your practitioner, Richard, is a fully qualified acupuncturist and massage therapist with specialist training in Traditional East Asian Medicine.

Clinics in Shipley, Calverley, and Cookridge

😊 Get in touch
Visit: ki-acupuncture.co.uk
Or call / WhatsApp: 01274 003 008

“Richard is extremely professional, kind and welcoming, and has helped me massively with my issues. He goes above and beyond to help his patients - would recommend to anyone!” Lucy S.

🔗 See more client testimonials at:
https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk/testimonials/

01/02/2026

🔥 Emerging Fire…

🐎 We’re close to the Fire Horse year, and in the Chinese calendar this marks a shift in how growth shows itself.

🐉 Over the last two years, something has been unfolding in stages. The Wood Dragon year set things in motion, planting a seed of vision and direction.

🐍 The Wood Snake year that followed allowed roots and fine shoots to take shape beneath the surface, often in ways that were hard to see but nevertheless essential and foundational.

🐴 The Fire Horse of 2026 now brings warmth, visibility and momentum, the conditions that allow what has been unobtrusively forming to begin showing and expressing itself.

🧐 In Chinese thought, the zodiac is not about fixed personalities or predictions. It grew out of ancient observation of seasons, animals, weather and human life, long before Daoism became a formal philosophy.

☯️ The Five Phases and the animal signs describe how change tends to move through time, much like Chinese medicine uses them to understand how the body and emotions shift through cycles. They reflect recognisable, natural patterns of growth and movement.

🫂 The Horse is not only about speed and power. It carries endurance, loyalty, and a sensitive, gentle, responsive nature. Fire adds expression, warmth and connection.

❤️ In Chinese medicine, Fire is linked to the Heart, the Pericardium, the Small Intestine and the Sanjiao, the systems that govern emotional presence, communication, clarity and the circulation of warmth through the body.

📖 There is also an older word for the Heart spirit – Ling – which speaks to brightness, responsiveness and a sense of meaningful connection. The Ling Shu, the Spiritual Pivot of Chinese medicine, takes its name from this same idea.

💡 A full article exploring the Fire Horse year more deeply, through Chinese medicine, Daoist cosmology, and practical ways of working with this energy, is now on the blog.

🔗 https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk/fire-horse-year-chinese-medicine/

📞 01274 003 008 (call or WhatsApp)
📧 richard@ki-acupuncture.co.uk
🔗 https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk

27/01/2026

🧘🏼‍♀️ What’s wrong with yoga? Something’s amiss…

There is real value in predictability. It can help the nervous system feel safe, give us a sense of routine, and support the building of healthy habits and even rituals. But in practices like yoga, there can also be a tendency towards obedience and dull-minded repetition.

Yoga literally means to yoke, to know and be in possession of ourselves. Yet you only have to look at the number of yoga cults and gurus out there to see that for many people this has come to mean surrendering to someone else’s will, rather than realising themselves.

I’m a yoga teacher, and I’m not suggesting the practice is flawed, or that there isn’t strength to be found in repetition, so long as it’s mindful. But I do agree with what Chip proposes in this video on his excellent YouTube channel, Bodytribe: look for a guide, not a guru. Free your mind from formal transitions and prescribed poses. Take charge of your own practice.

Above all, approach movement with exploration, experimentation, curiosity, and creativity. Aim for quality of movement rather than depth or extremity of a pose. Dip into movement frequently as part of everyday life, rather than always demarcating it as a long ritual session.

Treat it with less reverence.

Feel what your body intuitively wants to do. Connect with yourself, not some idea of “doing yoga”. Drop the label. Just move mindfully, with the freedom to express, explore, and enjoy. 🤸🏼‍♀️✨

26/01/2026

🧘🏼‍♀️ What’s wrong with yoga? Something’s amiss…

There is real value in predictability. It can help the nervous system feel safe, give us a sense of routine, and support the building of healthy habits and even rituals. But in practices like yoga, there can also be a tendency towards obedience and dull-minded repetition.

Yoga literally means to yoke, to know and be in possession of ourselves. Yet you only have to look at the number of yoga cults and gurus out there to see that for many people this has come to mean surrendering to someone else’s will, rather than realising themselves.

I’m a yoga teacher, and I’m not suggesting the practice is flawed, or that there isn’t strength to be found in repetition, so long as it’s mindful. But I do agree with what Chip proposes in this video: look for a guide, not a guru. Free your mind from formal transitions and prescribed poses. Take charge of your own practice.

Above all, approach movement with exploration, experimentation, curiosity, and creativity. Aim for quality of movement rather than depth or extremity of a pose. Dip into movement frequently as part of everyday life, rather than always demarcating it as a long ritual session.

Treat it with less reverence.

Feel what your body intuitively wants to do. Connect with yourself, not some idea of “doing yoga”. Drop the label. Just move mindfully, with the freedom to express, explore, and enjoy. 🤸🏼‍♀️✨

Is Yoga an ancient path or a modern product?Ready to stop following routines and start understanding movement? Get free access to Initiate, our foundational ...

25/01/2026

Is acupuncture “alternative”? 🧐

Many healing practices get grouped together in the modern wellness world, yet not all come from the same roots.

This article explores the difference between lineage-based medicine and contemporary energy practices, and why clarity helps us understand what real healing traditions offer. ✨

🔗 https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk/traditional-healing-and-modern-energy-practices/

📞 01274 003 008 (call or WhatsApp)
📧 richard@ki-acupuncture.co.uk
🔗 https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk
💬 Ki Acupuncture () on Facebook/Instagram
🦋&🧵

📍Clinics located at:
• The Tower Clinic, Cookridge (Leeds)
• Rooms@1900, Calverley (Pudsey)
• Holding Space, Shipley (Bradford)

⏰ Opening hours:
• Monday–Friday 9am–8pm
• Saturday 9am–5pm

Richard Ashton LicAc MBAcC BSc(Hons) Acupuncture

British Acupuncture Council member: https://acupuncture.org.uk

18/01/2026

🪞 Recognise yourself? 😣🫩

🕵️‍♀️ Explore two of the most commonly presented clinical patterns in Chinese medicine in these sister blog articles. 🧐

1. 😩 Tension, bloating, irritability, and sleep that will not settle often share the same underlying strain. This article explains Liver Qi stagnation in plain English, with physiology and practical support. 😤

🔗 https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk/liver-qi-stagnation-explained/

2. 🥱 Many people live with fatigue, digestive issues, and a sense of being worn down, even when tests come back normal. This piece explains how Chinese medicine understands Spleen Qi deficiency, and how it relates to modern stress and physiology. 🤔

🔗 https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk/spleen-qi-deficiency-explained/

To discuss how acupuncture & medical massage might support your health & wellbeing journey, get in touch with Richard at Ki Acupuncture:

📞 01274 003 008 (call or WhatsApp)
📧 richard@ki-acupuncture.co.uk
🔗 https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk
💬 Ki Acupuncture () on Facebook/Instagram
🦋&🧵

📍Clinics located at:
• The Tower Clinic, Cookridge (Leeds)
• Rooms@1900, Calverley (Pudsey)
• Holding Space, Shipley (Bradford)

⏰ Opening hours:
• Monday–Friday 9am–8pm
• Saturday 9am–5pm

Richard Ashton LicAc MBAcC BSc(Hons) Acupuncture

British Acupuncture Council member: https://acupuncture.org.uk

14/01/2026

⛓️‍💥 Constant stimulation has become the background noise of modern life. Even when nothing feels actively wrong, the body can remain braced, absorbing deadlines, screens, news, and expectations. Over time that low level tension becomes the normal state, which is why exhaustion and restlessness often arrive together.

😮‍💨 Long before people reach burnout, the nervous system has usually been working overtime to keep things held together. Subtle recalibration at this stage can make a meaningful difference, because small physiological shifts change how the whole system responds.

😌 Calm is not just a mindset, but a biological state that the body has to be able to access. When that state is restored, sleep, mood, and resilience tend to follow.

😊 This is where acupuncture and therapeutic massage come in, alongside being given time, privacy, and someone who actually listens. Bespoke, one to one care offers something very different from a brief appointment and a standard prescription.

😴 Struggling to switch off? 😴

If your mind feels busy, your sleep is broken, or your body feels constantly “on edge,” your nervous system may be under strain.

Acupuncture works by encouraging the body to move out of fight-or-flight and into rest-and-repair supporting:
🌙 Deeper, more restful sleep
🧘 Reduced stress and overwhelm
⚖️ Better emotional regulation
🌿 Overall wellbeing

January is the perfect time to prioritise rest, recovery, and nervous system balance.
✨ When the nervous system settles, everything else can follow.

Contact Richard Ashton
📞 01274 003 008 (Mon–Sat, 9am–5pm)
📧 richard@ki-acupuncture.co.uk
🔗 ki-acupuncture.co.uk

✨ Tower Clinic
📍 8 Tinshill Lane, Cookridge, Leeds, LS16 7AP
📞 0113 267 2067

11/01/2026

🧐 Some of the recent issues people have been seeking acupuncture for in clinic:

✅ Blood sugar balance
✅ Anxiety & low mood
✅ Headache & migraine
✅ Chronic pain
✅ Sleep issues
✅ Stress & burnout
✅ ADHD regulation
✅ Skin comfort
✅ Slow bowel motility
✅ Menstrual regulation
✅ Arthritis & sports injuries
✅ Pregnancy care
✅ Menopause symptoms
✅ Nerve health & immunity
✅ Fertility support
✅ Digestive problems

☯️ Acupuncture isn’t just for MSK issues. It’s been used alongside tuina medical massage and herbal remedies for millennia to treat a whole range of conditions.

💊 If you’re stuck on medications, and know they’re just managing the problem rather than curing it, it’s well worth looking at alternatives. Chinese medicine is often a game changer for people let down by conventional care.

🌿 A multi-pronged approach to healthcare - whether that be through complementary medicine, physio, counselling, lifestyle changes, or a combination of these - is the surest road to real recovery. You should always consult with your doctor before making changes to prescribed medication.

😊 To discuss how acupuncture & medical massage might support your health & wellbeing journey, get in touch with Richard at Ki Acupuncture:

📞 01274 003 008 (call or WhatsApp)
📧 richard@ki-acupuncture.co.uk
🔗 https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk
💬 Ki Acupuncture () on Facebook/Instagram
🦋&🧵

📍Clinics located at:
• The Tower Clinic, Cookridge (Leeds)
• Rooms@1900, Calverley (Pudsey)
• Holding Space, Shipley (Bradford)

⏰ Opening hours:
• Monday–Friday 9am–8pm
• Saturday 9am–5pm

Richard Ashton LicAc MBAcC BSc(Hons) Acupuncture

British Acupuncture Council member: https://acupuncture.org.uk

11/01/2026

❄️ Even in deep snow, Japanese macaques know how to stay warm — soaking in hot springs, conserving energy, and thriving in freezing conditions.

🔥 It’s a reminder that warmth isn’t just a comfort — it’s a survival strategy. And in Chinese medicine, it’s also a healing strategy.

☯️ In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), cold is seen as one of the main causes of stagnation in the body. It can impair circulation, slow recovery, and weaken digestion. We’re not just talking about the weather — internal cold can come from things like medications, surgical procedures, cold environments, or dietary habits like iced drinks and raw salads. Over time, this can deplete the Spleen and Stomach, leading to fatigue, bloating, loose stools, and poor appetite.

🧊 Cold can also be a factor in chronic pain or slow-healing injuries. While ice may reduce inflammation in the very short term, more recent thinking — even within sports medicine — has started to favour warmth and movement for long-term recovery. This aligns closely with TCM principles.

🌿 Treatments like acupuncture, moxibustion (the use of gently burning herbs to warm the body), tuina massage, and heat lamp therapy all help to restore warmth and flow. We often use specific acupuncture points to support Yang energy and boost internal warmth — especially if someone feels the cold easily, has low energy, or struggles with digestion.

🐵 Just like the macaques in the mountains, we thrive when warmth and flow are restored. Whether it’s sluggish digestion, low energy, or stubborn tension, the answer isn’t to numb or suppress — it’s to support circulation, spark vitality, and get things moving again.

✨ If your body’s feeling stuck, there are ways to help it shift. Acupuncture, moxibustion, tuina, and qigong all work to restore movement and warmth — not by forcing the body, but by reminding it how to flow, heal, and flourish. 🐒

📞 01274 003 008 (call or WhatsApp)
📧 richard@ki-acupuncture.co.uk
🔗 https://ki-acupuncture.co.uk
💬 FB/Insta/🦋&🧵

08/01/2026

🥶 Cold has a way of creeping into joints and old injuries at this time of year.

😌 Acupuncture can help ease stiffness, improve circulation, and get things moving again when winter tension starts to build.

❄️ Winter aches slowing you down? ❄️

Cold weather often makes muscle stiffness, joint pain, and old injuries feel worse especially in January when movement can drop and tension builds up.

Acupuncture can help by:
✔️ Reducing pain and inflammation
✔️ Improving circulation
✔️ Releasing tight muscles
✔️ Supporting recovery and mobility

Whether you’re dealing with back pain, neck and shoulder tension, or long-standing discomfort, acupuncture offers a drug-free approach to pain relief.

Contact Richard Ashton
📞 01274 003 008 (Mon–Sat, 9am–5pm)
📧 richard@ki-acupuncture.co.uk
🔗 ki-acupuncture.co.uk

✨ Tower Clinic
📍 8 Tinshill Lane, Cookridge, Leeds, LS16 7AP
📞 0113 267 2067