Jeff Beck MD

02/16/2026

The founder of Esoteric Acupuncture, Dr Mikio Sankey, also writes and performs music that connects to the teaching and philosophy of esoteric acupuncture.

One song that has been on my mind the past couple of weeks is Reach for the Sky. Here is a link to the song on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/6RukotnfrSE?si=Ia6NHIT04FxTyRer

The song begins:
There will be obstacles coming your way, don't let them knock you back.

You're here to find your own niche in life, just follow what's in your Heart.

Go forward slowly, day by day,
Stay true to your inner path.

Your being guided, try to be still,
the Light is right within.

Chorus:

Reach for the Sky, keep your feet on the ground, leave all those negative thoughts behind.

Reach for the Sky, keep your feet on the ground, grab all the positives that can be found.

Reach for the Sky,, keep your head in the air, look for the Beauty that is everywhere.

----

There are so many things grabbing our attention. Some is the sadness, chaos, and suffering in the world. Some is the constant offering of distraction and escape.

This first verse is a call to ask yourself: what is in my Heart? The Heart is your unique Way of connecting to Life. This is beyond feeling and thinking. It is Knowing.

As I often say, there is only 'what is' and 'what you are called to do about it'. This connects to the teaching from the east of 'chop wood, carry water'. Can we direct our focus to what is needed and essential?

In any given moment, what is our highest passion? Where are we called to be? This is not an ideal place or role (that is the mind coming in as a narrator). This question - what is needed, cuts down to this moment and our role in that moment.

For me, if I am with my family, this means how do I show up in my most authentic way (as a father or spouse) and be open to do what is needed. If I am at work, this is how do I show up in the most authentic way for the individuals stepping in for support.

After we connect to what is needed, we have the opportunity to bring in the most connected, clear and curious vibration into that moment.

In the song's chorus, we are encouraged to connect to that which is beyond (Sky) and stay present with what is (ground) and what is needed (leaving negativity behind). Grabbing positivity and connecting to beauty is the opportunity to bring our Highest Heart into the moment.

Take some time to listen to the song. Take some time to cut through thoughts and feelings and ask, 'what is needed'. We may not like what is occurring. That is okay. Acknowledge the hurt, the sadness, the stress. Then ask, what is needed? What is my Heart work?

Short version of Reach For The Sky. The longer version will be in the upcoming CD Pillow In The Sky ...

12/16/2025

Esoteric Acupuncture is fundamentally about wellness. When we are focused on a disease state, we give energy (power) to that level of our being. Symptom management, prevention and even cure all have a focus on the disease state of consciousness.

Given our modern times and imbalanced external and internal environments, symptoms, challenges and diseases exist, but we can shift our question from how do I quiet you (symptom management), prevent you (preventative medicine) or get rid of you (cure) to how can I be well.

Wellness, therefore, is not predicated on the presence or absence of disease. It is a different (higher) state of consciousness altogether. From the state of expanded wellness, we can work with the symptoms. This is working with a challenge just like we might work with a challenged child, partner, friend, or family member. At our best we do not show up and say I am going to fix you ( though we often feel that way) . We show up, listen and work with that individual in a process of discovery. That is the way that we can work with imbalance in our body from the standpoint of wellness.

The deeper we go and the more expansion and connection we experience, the more space there is to allow and be with whatever arises with grace, patience and trust.

This is the pathway of expanded healing. This is True Wellness.

04/27/2025

Deep Inner Alignment is like a sail that can catch the inner stirring of Spirit within. This is our goal in esoteric acupuncture treatments. When we can listen and trust, amazing things can happen!

04/18/2025

Interconnection Part 1: The Old Ways

Sitting in silence, I wondered about wholeness. A voice said “study the Ancient Ways”. I agreed, not knowing exactly what that meant. A few years later I was asked by a colleague if I would be interested in training in acupuncture to take over her role as a physician acupuncturist in the hospital. I jumped at the opportunity. Little did I know that this was the beginning of a deep re-membering.

My acupuncture training opened me up to one way of seeing how everything is connected. Eastern medicine like acupuncture generally follows eastern philosophy that sees the world and the individual as an interconnected whole. This is generally a philosophy woven across ancient cultures. The inside is like the outside surroundings. The outside world is an example of how the inside works. The same patterns of creation exist in both. There is deep intelligence at work inside and out.

The first acupuncture textbook is 4000 years old. In it the student asks the teacher, “Who is the best person to receive acupuncture”. The teacher says, “the one who has yet to shows physical symptoms. Once symptoms arise on the physical level that disease is quite progressed” (adapted from the Yellow Emperor’s Treatise on Internal Medicine). Older systems of medicine have diagnostic approaches that evaluate the system on a more subtle level. They look at the tongue, feel the mind’s influence through the pulse, and generally approach a physical exam with a more subtle magnification. To the untrained eye this seems primitive. Yet, I was surprised to see how these subtle exam findings were reproducible and verifiable once you learned a more universal language in the body.

Generally in the West we see physical symptoms as problems to be solved. We are fixers. We do not recognize the inherent intelligence of our system communicating with us. When I meet with individuals in my office I will share this different (ancient ) way of seeing. Your body is communicating something. This is more like a child who is asking for something by throwing a tantrum. Can we meet it with curiosity and compassion and develop a relationship to better understand the Why underneath? The answer is an invitation into a healing relationship.

Healing is about Wholeness. Wholeness requires re-membering - bringing back lost parts of our self into the interconnected whole. There are many ways to do this. Unfortunately, most pharmaceuticals are not working with but shutting up the problem. , There is a time and a place for pharmaceuticals, but they are not providing deeper healing because they are not actually addressing the root problem.

As my teacher Dr Mikio Sankey says “the journey of healing is a journey of nurturing”. Imagine a child who is afraid of the dark. This child needs to be met in his fear, but how do we do that? It is a process of connection and curiosity. It may be the child needs a night light, he may need reassurance that there is nothing in the closet or under the bed, or he may need the connected presence of falling asleep next to a parent. The symptoms within us also are asking for something.

The first step is opening to the possibility that there is purpose even in our suffering. This is the message of Easter. There is deep Intelligence at work. And the way out for each of us is through - finding our own way to re-member the

04/11/2025

Esoteric Acupuncture is about deep inner alignment. When we are centered, the sails of our heart can more easily catch the deep wind of Spirit that moves through us, giving us direction to stay on that straight and narrow course.

02/27/2025

Willing something to happen focuses on time rather than timing. Time is human, timing Divine.

When we begin to dance with Life more consciously, we are left with an ever-present choice to do business as usual or to walk in clearer alignment with the deepest Rudder of our being.