Growing up, I watched Sleeping Beauty and went to the doctor, so I was terrified of needles. The 80's was big on safety (who uses a spinning wheel anymore?), so everywhere I went, there were warnings about sharp objects, and especially needles. Sharp. Painful. Warning. It usually is painful, too, when someone uses a needle to get something out of us.
I understand when we say that acupuncture is an unexpected and unlikely solution to our physical problems. Ten years ago, I felt that way, driving by acupuncture clinics and imagining God knows what is going on in there. I was also experiencing severe allergies, digestive upset, and I was piling on cumulative stress. My face was so swollen it needed ice some mornings, and I went to the bathroom once a week. A friend of mine convinced me to try acupuncture, and after about 3 years of exposure from a distance, I tried it. Within two months of treatment, my allergies cleared up. I haven't needed to return for that intense weekly treatment of allergies in seven years.
I waited so long to get acupuncture because I had a few misconceptions about it, and about health care in general. For one, I didn't understand that I had power over my own health care. Sometime during the first year of treatment, I realized I had power. I still sit forever in the waiting room like anyone else, but when I receive examination and treatment, I understand that it is always with my permission.
I also didn't see how easy and comfortable an acupuncture treatment could be. An acupuncture needle isn't trying to get anything out of you, or put anything into you. It recognizes that within your body, you have all the tools to right yourself both physically and emotionally. It is an open communication with the subtler aspects of the nervous system. An acupuncturist has been taught to put needles in the most instructive and helpful spots for you.
After this experience, I became inspired to listen to your story and help you change it for the better.
