New Beginnings
ACUPUNCTURE & TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
Re-visit
Re-flect
Re-view
Re-new
Re-invent
THE 5 KEY tenets to adopt - but the urge to just keep on going as you were before, because it seemed to work, is undeniable, easy and the path of least resistance.
Or is that no resistance?
DOES this mean it’s a better path? More than likely we still come up against obstacles, difficulties and set backs even if we choose the no resistance option. Do we also view our health this way, do we too often negate our responsibility to ‘looking after ourselves’? Yes, we probably do, but it’s hard to know where to start and what to do
Change is Challenging but what’s the old saying? Change is as good as a rest. Change can be invigorating, re-energising, so embrace it. New things in our lives can be good, they can offer new ways to for us to live, which brings me to my story time …
THIS is the story of how I became an Acupuncturist
OVER 20 years ago I was happily working in the Broadcast Media Industry, I had the familiar routine of commuting, working, some more commuting, socialising trying to find time to sleep and recover. Not surprisingly, I started to feel a little empty and unsatisfied with life. Working in a corporate environment felt very emotionally sterile and self absorbed. I embarked on a crystal healing course, mainly because I liked the colours of the crystals, a good enough reason as any I suppose. However, the course awakened my brain and switched me on to the idea of vibrational frequencies and that everything in the universe resonates at a specific frequency, or wavelength. Which then lead me to the even more bonkers theories of Quantum Physics - have a read of the epically baffling The Dancing Wu Li Masters - Gary Zukov.
SOME time later ….
ROUGHLY 2 years later in fact, I had been made redundant from my media job and had embarked on Re-Invention V 1.0 and was now working as a freelance massage therapist at a spa in London. Don’t worry, I did the training and was a fully qualified therapist by this time. I was at the company Christmas party, wearing some ridiculous high heels, (I always wear flats) thinking I looked great, when I fell down some stairs and sprained both ankles, one of them quite badly. Apart from the embarrassment, I was in a lot of pain and by the next morning one ankle was a swollen black, purple hot mess that couldn’t take any weight. I was unable to work for 3 weeks and my ankle was still not getting any better. A friend suggested I get some acupuncture. Of course, I’d heard of acupuncture but knew nothing about it but I was eager to get better and back to work, so I decided to give it a try.
LUCKY for me, I found a local Acupuncturist, who promptly chastised me for waiting so long to seek treatment, quite rightly, and then proceeded to insert tiny needles above my still swollen, black green, yellow ankle as it was propped up on the couch in front of me. He left the room for 20 mins and while he was gone I lay there thinking this was ridiculous, I couldn’t feel anything, and I was convinced it was a complete waste of time.
But then …
The acupuncturist returned, removed the needles, and immediately I was aware of a lightness or slight weightlessness of my right foot, it felt vaguely different and looked a little less swollen, which I put it down to having my feet raised - something I had been doing for the last 3 weeks.
NEXT morning I wake up and walk to the bathroom … WALK not hop!
CORRECT! It wasn’t a miracle, but it felt like one. The acupuncture had triggered a significant healing response in my ankle, reducing the inflammation and swelling enough to allow my body to start the healing process. I had a further 4 sessions and was able to get back to work after the 2nd session.
Moral of the story ….
THIS experience is what triggered my initial interest in acupuncture, I needed to know how it worked, how did tiny little needles do that to my body? Which brought me back to the ideas of Quantum Physics and led me to ponder if there was a link … read the Tao of Physics - Fritjof Capra (a theoretical physicist).
SO I did the only rational thing and signed up for a 4 year, full time degree course in Acupuncture & Traditional Chinese Medicine, to find out if there is a link …. and you know what? there might just be …..
