Six things I learned from trying out acupuncture
I used to think of acupuncture as something so exotic, so strange. I was always filled with a sense of wonder whenever someone would talk about this form of alternative healing where a stranger would stick needles in your skin.
I finally tried it out for the first time a few months ago and it wasn’t what I thought it would be.
Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese healing mechanism. According to Complete idiots guide to Acupuncture , by David Sollars, it is a complete system of diagnosis and treatment in oriental medicine. Health is maintained by the flow of Qi – Chinese name for life energy – through pathways in our body channels called meridians. No one knows how these meridians were discovered, but research dates back to The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic (second century B.C.E.). Each meridian is assigned to a channel with a number of points (with new ones still being discovered today). There are twelve meridians and at least 361 main channel points identified. The most interesting thing that was discovered when scientists learned to measure the bioelectrical flow was that if a corresponding organ was removed or the tissue crossed by the channel destroyed, the electrical potential decreased or disappeared. The electrical current works with the nervous system, but doesn’t follow its rules. Due to these discoveries acupuncture was legitimized.
Basically, Qi energy must have a balance of yin and yang. A body can be too hot or too cold, which corresponds to an imbalance of yin or yang. There are subcategories of this of course, and the system is incredibly complex.
I was diagnosed with having too much heat. While overall I am very healthy, the flow of heat went up, my acupuncturist explained, and just got stuck there. This manifested in my upper shoulder tension and the tendency to clench my jaw. For others it may be headaches or any number of malfunctions in the upper body.
Acupuncture is not supposed to hurt and it didn’t for me. There was a day however, when I definitely felt every pinch, my healer told me it was because I was tense. And I really, really was.
The first time I went I got the idea to try and derive a lesson from each session. It seemed, although the lessons were very simple, they really stuck with me and guided me to a deeper understanding of what was lacking.
Confidence – My first lesson was that I was lacking confidence. The way I have always approached the world was to do an incredible amount of research from all sorts of sources think about the problem for days, weeks, months, years (depending on the complexity), and only then speak to it with anyone or make claims to know something about it. I’ve realized that most people do not analyze things to such a level.
It was a revelation that allowed me to see that I wasn’t lacking any skills or knowledge, or experience as I previously thought. All I needed was a bit of confidence in myself, as well as the acceptance to allow myself to make a mistake. These two go hand in hand.
Keeping a high opinion of yourself while still learning, growing, and brightening this beautiful world everyday with your positive presence is all that any of us can do. It is also crucial to stay away from negativity and ney-sayers, some people want to bring us down a peg just so they feel more comfortable in their own skin. It’s not their fault; they are also struggling with their own demons.
We just have to remember to nurture our confidence and keep it protected like a precious gift. Having confidence is also a skill that we need to work on everyday.
Just remember not to let it cloud your judgment or ever think that you are above others, humble confidence is the most attractive of all.
Simplicity – I do think that it is a disease of the mind to over complicate things.
This is something I didn’t realize I was doing at all, until it was pointed out to me. I was carrying around a huge backpack with a trillions unnecessary things inside to go to hot yoga, then to acupuncture. There is something to be said about travelling light.
Our subconscious fears often manifest in creating complications in our own path to improvement.
We should watch out for these traps we create for ourselves. For example I wanted to start taking photos of my meals for Instagram and decided that I really needed to get a set of beautiful plates that would go with my kitchen decour. That seems reasonable enough.
But no, having the haut couture taste that I do, I decided I needed the most expensive porcelain plates on the market from a fancy French designer, which were completely not practical and way out of my budget.
Following my acupuncture session I suddenly realized how ridiculous I was being and how I was creating obstacles for myself to ultimately sabotage my own success.
I had a habit of doing things like this.
Turns out, living simply is SIMPLY blissful.
I am not saying throw out your belongings, but get rid of the unbearable weight of a mortgage you can’t afford or an emotionally draining partner, an overly demanding job; quit, leave, simplify.
You are not meant to suffer in this world, you are meant to create, so follow your heart’s desire and have enough love for yourself to recognize when you are living out of fear.
I ended up purchasing a cute little set of white plates ‘unbreakables’ for about $30 and they are just perfect. Perhaps when resources allow and I have the need for it, I can also get the fancy set, but right now this $600 plates set would be much more of a burden than a blessing.
Digestion – This one goes back to my confidence issue. I have a million ideas, but I don’t put them into action, they just continue to swirl in my head tiring me out for no good reason. As a child I have always had an incredible amount of energy, Qi. Over the years because I stopped living out my dreams and putting thoughts into action, I am guessing those channels got blocked and the more blockage, the more I felt tired. I was still full of ideas, but everything felt scattered, useless and I had trouble performing the simplest tasks.
My healer is originally from Hong Kong and his English isn’t strong. He couldn’t quite explain this idea to me, but when I put into my own words, he replied “Exactly!”
Never the less I wanted to use the word ‘digestion’ as a tribute to him. Digestion to me means taking one of those million ideas swirling in my head, adding context to it, deciding how to put it into action and the form in which it should manifest. Just as different organs of your body take a nutritious food – like an apple – and draw vitamins and nutrients to different parts to nurture your body, you take the idea and create the metaphorical apple. It is the action in reverse.
Support – I am fiercely independent. It’s easy for me to entertain myself. When others complain about boring jobs I am baffled as to why they won’t pursue their own independent projects or find new interests to keep them busy. I am also baffled as to why people get into relationships of convenience and comfort. I can easily keep myself occupied with my ‘stuff’ for a week without speaking to another soul. I also have no need for a partner whom I am not in love with.
My friends find that surprising, and recently I realized why. My healer always asks me about my dreams and says they relate to the real world in a sense that they are manifestations of things you are ‘digesting’ during your sleep. I mentioned something about dreaming of someone I admire very much, recently and his explanation really opened my eyes. I need support I realized. While I consider myself a combination of an introvert and extrovert, I sometimes lean to my introvert nature to protect my highly sensitive nature.
Having someone to talk to and having teachers for everything you do (whether it is work related, a hobby, something social) is extremely important. Since I’ve come to the realization, I have started reaching out to people whenever I am stuck and saw how quickly things got moving. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of seeking support, having teachers, and simply having a conversation with a friend on a daily basis.
Let it pass – I have the tendency to get angry. I get angry a lot. You won’t be able to tell by just looking at me or meeting me for the first time.
I would actually say that I come off as a pretty ZEN individual. But, that’s only because I’ve struggled for years and found coping mechanists to deal with my anger.
A big part of why I chose to be a journalist for example, was due to the fact that I want to right all the wrongs in the world. It upsets me to no end to see animals suffer, to see people in poverty, stuck in one form of systematic ‘slavery’ or another. I cringe when I see marginalized individuals suffer at the hand of abusers who feel perfectly within their right to shame them for having the wrong colour of skin, religious beliefs, or sexual leanings. Double standards and lack of self-reflection seems to be a continued issue.
Writing about your feelings helps, exercise helps (hot yoga yasss), creating beautiful things like photos or outfits helps me deal with those feelings.
During my fifth session of acupuncture I was looking for a lesson, which normally comes to me during the session (while needles puncture my meridian pressure points I meditate and think, feel, and come to that ZEN lesson).
That day I just couldn’t arrive at anything concrete.
It was only after I was saying good-bye to my healer and he said something that made me angry. I mixed up the number of sessions we have had, my absence of proper income made me extra sensitive to feelings of ‘lacking,’ losing a session.
But thankfully, I let the moment pass, feeling my feelings but not acting on them. It turned out, I was actually wrong and I was so thankful that I didn’t express my anger to this kind individual. Nothing is worse than feeling that guilt of wronging someone who is only trying to help. I’ve been on the other side of that too many times, not to know how horrible that feels.
It was then I realized that there truly is no point in acting out of anger. It always leads to bad karma. No matter the perceived wrongs you may have about your surrounding and the world, control your anger.
Doing something with the intent to hurt or destroy should never be part of your agenda. Certainly let the anger drive you to do good, create something beautiful and the angry feelings will be easier and easier to deal with everyday.
Routine – Having a routine is extremely important. In my younger years I didn’t appreciate the importance of having a solid routine. I never made my bed because I just didn’t see the point and no one was able to explain why I should. I mean I would be getting back under the sheets in about 14 hours anyway. So what’s was the point?
I’ve certainly learned since then, that having a solid routine truly grounds you. Although I love the freedom of creating whenever I want and do what I want for as long as I want; without some sort of a routine, I may stay up for 24 hours and then sleep for twelve.
As human beings our bodies adjust and come to expect to see the sunlight every morning, for example. Biologically we have been programmed to need an X number of hours of sleep, three nutritious meals, and a healthy amount of liquids.
Cleanliness is next to godliness they say, so basic hygiene should also fall into that routine. My acupuncturist always asks, “Well why are you staying up? Go to bed there is nothing important on the Internet…”
I have come to realize the wisdom of his words. There truly isn’t. Watching that extra episode on T.V. or reading an article (even if it is wonderfully written and truly insightful), or creeping Social Media isn’t as important than getting enough sleep, having a proper meal, or taking that refreshing showers early in the AM, bursting to get the day started.
Photos: www.pixabay.com, Rocks - stockvault.com
By:
✘
𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮,
𝓐𝓙☙
