NADA Protocol in Action: A Nurse’s Story of Community Care
Meet Anne Sikora, a nurse who started a local café for NADA Protocol in Aarhus, Denmark
Anne is a dedicated nurse who works with NADA acupuncture. It’s a simple type of ear acupuncture, called the NADA Protocol, where people get five small needles in each ear. This helps balance the nervous system, fight stress and support recovery. But as Anne points out, it also just helps you calm down during a busy day.
(Read our full guide to NADA acupuncture, the history and how it works.)
How NADA Acupuncture Is Used at the Café
Anne is the co-founder of NADA Café Aarhus, where she also works as a volunteer. The NADA café is a local initiative at the Marselisborg Centre, and it’s open twice a week. Anyone can come and receive the treatment.
Although the café is for free, most guests contribute a small amount of money so the team can buy new needles. But if you have no money, you’re still welcome. The café never turns anyone away.
The space is open from 4 PM to 5:30 PM. From 4:00 to 4:30 PM, the volunteers insert the needles in the guest’s ears and after that, people have 45 minutes to just sit or lie down. The café uses a big room with yoga mats, soft blankets, and total peace. Guests can relax, feel their body, and let the needles do their work. After 45 minutes, the volunteers gently remove the needles.
Most people feel a change immediately after the first treatment. Even so, Anne always tells people to begin their NADA journey with 10 to 20 visits in a row, because multiple treatments give the best long-term effect. After that, guests can come less often.
NADA is a non-verbal method, so you don’t have to share anything personal about yourself when you show up. The treatment is the same for everyone, following the guidelines from NADA Danmark.
The Benefits of NADA Acupuncture
Working in the café gives Anne a lot of joy. “When people come out of the NADA session, I can literally feel their peace”, she says. “As humans, our nervous systems constantly interconnect. We sense each others energy.”
Connecting with another person in a calm and gentle way is one of Anne’s favorite things about the café. She believes we miss that in our world today. The café is a perfect place if you need some peace and quiet, but don’t want to be alone.
People usually come because their nervous system is overwhelmed. They may have too much stress at work which turns into anxiety and bad sleep. Many of the guests feel that the treatment really helps with their symptoms, so they keep coming back.
Anne feels the difference in her own life, too. She receives NADA treatment regularly to stay balanced and connected to herself. “I’m a better mom, a better nurse, and a better friend when I’m balanced,” she shares. “And I’m also kinder to myself.”
NADA Protocol in the Job as a Social Nurse
Anne tried NADA for the first time about three years ago. Her workplace offered her a course so she could use NADA treatment on the job. She works as a social nurse with Aarhus Municipality, visiting highly vulnerable people in their homes.
The people Anne visits have a lot to deal with. They cope with drugs or alcohol, mental illness, anxiety, depression, anger, and poor sleep. Anne helps them with many different things in their often chaotic lives. The NADA Protocol is great a way to ease some of their symptoms, and help them cut down on medicine or alcohol.
When Anne works, she drives out to people and inserts the acupuncture needles. Some clients feel comfortable removing the needles themselves. For them, Anne just drops by, chats a bit, puts the needles in, and drives off. When the time is up, they take them out.
For people who don’t want to pull the needles out themselves, Anne returns to do it for them. While the needles work for 45 minutes, she sits in her car and does paperwork. After that, she returns to take out the needles.
Anne is really happy that Aarhus Municipality has chosen to fund social nurses and NADA treatments for vulnerable people. It’s a truly great way to give them an extra helping hand.
NADA Protocol: A Small Intervention with a Huge Impact
What Anne loves about NADA is that it’s a small thing that makes a big difference. It doesn’t take much to give or receive NADA, but it really helps people. Our world today is full of sickness, diagnoses, and overmedication. Because of that, Anne believs it’s vital to share these natural methods, and make them available to everyone.
Anne became a nurse because she loves working with people who have had a hard life. For her, it’s about challenging what is considered ‘normal’ and spending time with people who are a bit different. “I never think: ‘them versus me’,” she says. “I just think: “‘We’re in this life together’.”
Normally, nursing focuses a lot on sickness and things that need to be fixed. Anne prefers to look at what is healthy. She tries to see the person behind the diagnosis and that approach can change a lot. When she uses the NADA Protocol, she wants to bring out people’s inner strength and resilience to help them on their healing journey.
The NADA café in Aarhus is run by a group of volunteer practitioners who take turns running the space. The team is always looking for more helping hands. So, if you have a certificate from NADA Danmark and want to help out, please reach out! You can contact Anne directly via email at annesikorahansen@gmail.com or join the community in the Facebook group NADA Café – Århus.
🌿Advice to the Reader
Anne, if you could give one simple, holistic piece of advice to a reader who feels stuck in a busy life and needs to find peace in mind and body, what would it be?
“Talk and move just a little bit slower than you usually do. When we slow down our pace just a tiny bit, we can change our arousal level. This gives our nervous system a chance to calm down”
Anne Sikora, Social Nurse and NADA Practitioner