Acupuncture is how I have managed to maintain my good health without seeing an internist for the last many years. My early childhood experiences with Western medicine were enough to terrify any kid, so as soon as I could make my own choices about who I was willing to let look at me/touch me/prescribe for me and help facilitate my healing process, acupuncture was my choice. If I have an emergency, take me to the Western ER (we have our strengths here), but give me an ear infection and I will choose acupuncture over any Western trained M.D. any day of the week.
When I found my first acupuncturist I was desperate. Morning sickness had taken over my morning, noon and nights. I threw up every single day of my first pregnancy and worked full time until three days before my son was born. This was not a super happy time. Someone suggested that acupuncture might help, so I found the closest person to my work and tried it for the first time. It took the edge off, and that made me less grumpy. I ended up trying another practitioner with my second pregnancy as well and it helped.
Some years later acupuncture was recommended to me again, by a colleague, who had a pretty convincing story about her allergies disappearing. I was not afflicted by allergies at the time, but trusted my friend’s report about her acupuncturist and wanted to try it out for my immune system, that since having children was totally shot. Jake helped me with my immune system, and a shoulder problem, as well as giving me a thorough evaluation for food allergies. I was learning about the tools that acupuncturists had to treat things I thought didn’t have a holistic solution.
In my search for an acupuncturist closer to home, so that my husband could get some help with his sinus issues, I found a healer who would transform the way I experienced and knew about healing. Over a course of a couple years (yes, years…I didn’t expect a lifetime of problems to be fixed in one session) Robin helped me build up my immune system to the point of not needing antibiotics, and touched a deeper healing wisdom in my body, that with her guidance, runs the show now. I have seen my current acupuncturist on and off for the last 8 or 9 years now, for everything from the common cold, to a knee ligament injury, to improving my self esteem.
I have learned that there are two kinds of acupuncturists, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners, and 5 elements acupuncturists. All must be trained and licensed in the state where they practice. My newest healer colleague, Nicola Richman practices 5 element acupuncture and has helped me understand the differences. “A traditional Chinese medicine practitioner looks more at signs and symptoms and is looking for clusters of symptoms which form a pattern of disharmony, for example someone with no appetite, tiredness, loose stools, weak limbs and a certain tongue & pulse may be diagnosed with Spleen-Qi deficiency and then specific points will be chosen to treat spleen Qi deficiency,” explains Nicola Richman of Metsuyan Wellness in Bethesda, Maryland. She goes on to describe the 5 element practitioner. “The 5 elements practitioner uses the color, sound, odor and emotion of a person to place them in a predominant element, in which the person is likely to thrive when they are in balance and have a wobble when they are out of balance. A 5 element practitioner works on a physical, emotional & spiritual level. They may work with people whose symptoms come from a more emotional or trauma basis. The treatments can be very transformative.” While both types have given me results, the 5 element way has given me the most shift and healing overall.
The placement of needles in acupuncture is based on a map of points throughout the body. The points link up and form meridians, or pathways, through which energy travels. When there is a block in one of these pathways, the energy can’t flow, and that can cause pain or disease. A needle, strategically placed at these points, can open up a block, allowing the flow of energy, which enhances the body’s ability to heal itself.
During acupuncture I have felt many a thing. I have felt pain leaving my body, and fear surface and release. I have felt significant pressure and pain build up at one needle and then disappear. I have also felt myself drift into a state of consciousness called the hypnagogic state, described as the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep. It is like I am awake and dreaming at the same time…hard to describe and I highly suggest you try it, as it is deeply relaxing. Sessions of acupuncture leave me lighter, and clearer about my life’s purpose.
I am one of those people who has experienced profound change with this particular healing art. And it beats having to go to the doctor, who during our 3 1/2 minutes together never touches me, prescribes me a pill, and then charges me $250. Is it just me, or has Western health”care” become scarily impersonal and non-caring, covering up symptoms with drugs that cause other symptoms, and never getting to the cause of our problems? No, not all doctors are like this, but I hear this story so many times that if things are changing, it is at a snail’s pace.
I have learned a lot about my body mind and spirit through acupuncture. I have met individuals who give me hope, and confidence in my own body’s healing power. I am in love with this Eastern philosophy of care that makes me feel like a whole person, and relates my chest tightness to my relationship issues. I am interested in the connections and acupuncture helps me feel them, makes some sense out of them, and teaches me what to do about them.
Acupuncture has empowered me, and guided me through the healing journey. Traditional medicine has too, by helping me decide what I don’t want on that journey, and by teaching me how to be my own advocate. And the yin yang of that makes me smile.
COMMENTS
I, of course, am the culprit which led you to Western medicine as a baby, so of course, it makes me cringe to read this. At the same time, though, you tell a story of self-discovery, of courage and the ability to try new things (ancient, but new), and for that I’m so glad. Better yet, now you are giving back — and hopefully helping others to see that there are many ways to seek healing, and not be afraid to try them all.
Well, we did live in California, about as West as you could get. I remember you seeing the chiropractor, so you accessed other types of healers and weren’t afraid to get help from someone else besides an M.D. And, you know by now, that I am grateful for the self-discovery, and courage I have found, which you helped me with every time you loved me with every bit of your mom-soul. I am still so grateful, this mother’s day, and every single day, for the kind of love you have managed to give to me, no matter what I ever did, said, wrote or thought. That can’t be easy. That is warrior love.
