First off, let me start by saying, I have a needle phobia and I mean a bona-fide sweaty palms, heart racing out of my chest, kind of phobia. As a child, I used to cling to the undersides of chairs before I let a nurse or doctor pry me off and stick a needle in me. As an adult, I find myself still fighting the fear of needles, often fainting at blood draws, etc. Believe me when I say that acupuncture, a therapy using needles, was the LAST treatment on my radar.
So, how did I get in the treatment chair (and not hide under it)? About up six years ago, I found myself in a doctoral program, stressed and exhausted with migraines, insomnia, and some serious anxiety (not to mention many other symptoms that I didn’t even realize were related until I began to get treatments). I visited doctors. I tried medication. I worked out. Nothing gave me relief, and no one had the answers because “nothing was wrong” with me. So, I decided to take my studies of meditation and embodiment into my own hands and become my own research experiment. I found a wonderful acupuncturist who was extra caring.After a lot of talking, calming, and deep breaths, the needles went in (about 12 in total). To be clear: the needles are needles…don’t let anyone tell you different, but they are not hollow like the ones used to draw blood.
They are as thin as a whisker and don’t suck anything (e.g. blood) out of you! If you’ve never had an acupuncture treatment this might sound strange, but after a few moments with the needles, I could actually feel a heavy energy traveling along lines (what I now understand to be meridians) from my head to my toes. It was a divine experience feeling cocooned in a warm blanket of qi (or energy), and, best of all, my anxiety (the anxiety I walked in with prior to thinking about needles and the anxiety I had about the needles) disappeared. I was able to breathe, my headache stopped, I relaxed…in short it was incredible. If that’s not enough to at least get you to try a treatment or two, then I don’t know what is!
The “magic” behind acupuncture is that the needles tap into your body’s own healing capacities. The needles simply remind the body to “wake up” and “reboot” what needs attention (i.e., what’s become stuck, or tired, or overworked). That’s why when you go in for a treatment to address anxiety (e.g.), you might also get a better night’s sleep, your digestion might improve, and your overall energy might increase. Repeat: This all happens naturally! (I’ll discuss the Western scientific understanding of how this works in my next post.)
I didn’t decide to start pursuing a career as an acupuncturist for another couple of years after this initial experience, but did continue to receive treatments. The truth is, I still don’t love the needles per-say, but I fell in love with the philosophy of this medicine and what the needles could do. I knew I had to learn more! I left my graduate program, enrolled in school for Oriental Medicine, and now I want to share all of the knowledge I’ve gathered up in the nine years I’ve been a graduate student (yes nine, phew!) as a philosopher and as a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner. If you’re curious about acupuncture or looking to try something natural to get back into balance, I’d love to work with you! Schedule your appointment with me today!
Royal Road Clinic: mind body care 