Needles. A lot of them. All going into places I had never had needles. My head. My ears. My legs, my hands, my feet. What was I doing?
I was getting down and dirty with feeling better, that’s what I was doing, and I had turned my attention to acupuncture, the ancient Chinese art of influencing the body’s energy by inserting needles into specific points along the body called acupoints.
It is believed that acupuncture balances the flow of energy (or chi/qi) through the meridians or pathways in your body. By strategically inserting these needles along your acupoints, your energy flow can be rebalanced, helping to alleviate many aliments and symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue, anxiety, stomach issues, nerve pain, joint point, cramps, and more.
I might have teared up as I got ready for the first needle, which I was told might feel like a slight pinch. My anticipation was much worse than the actual insertion. Some needles ended up hurting more than others and some I didn’t feel at all. But the pain of the initial pinch did diminish as my body got used to the foreign objects. Within a matter of time, I was in a type of zone.
A zen zone? Some kind of cloud or meditation. Drowsy.
I have always stayed awake during my appointments, though I’ve seen many others doze off. (Ok, there was that one time I think I fell asleep while I was having acupuncture and cupping done at the same time.) The first several sessions, I would feel sudden shifts of my energy and something within me would open up, tears welling up at the corner of my eyes. Not in pain, but in the shifting of energy. This often happens to me during body and energy work like Reiki and Cranial Sacral Therapy, as I am very receptive to energy and feel it deeply.
I have used acupuncture to deal with pain, depression, brain fog, insomnia, anxiety, poor circulation in my hands and feet, increasing detox in my liver, addressing digestion issues, and more. The beauty of acupuncture is that these little needles can help you out in more than one way. I don’t focus on all of these things during a session, but rather, zone in a few things and let my practitioner decide how he wants to focus the needles.
I generally feel the haze of my moving energy lift about forty minutes into a session, and then I know I’m likely good to have the needles removed. During the time the needles are in, I feel a bit more at peace, quiet, and like stagnant energy is shifting in ways that will ease my body.
There is something very peaceful about acupuncture, and I now consider it a part of my healing toolbox. I have had profound moments of meditation during my sessions, even seeing purple shifting blobs while my eyes are closed, which I have had healers tell me is awakened kundalini energy or the re-opening of the “Third Eye” or the Sixth Chakra. The Third Eye is actually the pineal gland — an endocrine gland in the brain located between our eyes. It is thought that this gland is wide open when we are children, but as we grow older, it calcifies, and our ability to connect to intuition and the spiritual world diminishes. Trippy, right?
I always feel better after acupuncture, and it’s usually once I have gone back for a session, that I remember I should be going more regularly. Especially with a chronic illness. When I first started going, I went multiple times a week to try to manage my pain and Herxheimer reactions. Now I go a few times a month or once a month or even once every few months if things are going well. I am on more of a maintenance schedule at this point, but everyone will find the schedule that works best for their lifestyle and health needs. Here’s to your discovery of acupuncture and incorporating it into your life.
