In the depths of personal anguish and depression, a chance encounter with a Chinese Medicine Acupuncturist saved my life, and altered the course it.
This is the story of my very first experience with Acupuncture many, many years ago, and is my contribution to the #naturalmedicine competition details here
It was my 2nd year at University. I had moved out of home, and was feeling pretty good about life. The previous couple of years had been hellish: the end of a long-term relationship, the ensuing disconnection with friends, starting my degree, and trying to understand a peculiar experience I’d had the previous year (a story for another time).
I had done really well in my 1st year of studies. Throughout school I thought myself rather stupid, only ever achieving fairly average marks. I had scooped it this time, with High Distinction levels in every subject, every semester. So I began my 2nd year incredibly cocky and confident.
By the midpoint of that first semester, I was waaaaay behind in all my work. I was struggling to get any assessments completed, falling behind, and missing lectures. The stress and anxiety began piling up. On top of that, I wasn’t feeling entirely safe in my share-house, with no privacy or space to study. I certainly wasn’t eating well, and smoking way too much weed, and drinking far too much alcohol as a coping mechanism. By the time exams came around, I still hadn’t submitted my essays, and I gave up. I was a mess.
I wish it couldn't be a story
The words all left me
Lifeless
Hoping
Breathing like the drowning man
— The Cure
As it turned out, we needed to move out of our house, and with no other options I moved back to my family home. My mum was deeply concerned at the state of my health, physical as well as mental. A friend of hers recommended she get me to see a Chinese Medicine practitioner that was close by.
At first I was reluctant to go — was this more of my mum’s New Age crap? She booked the session anyhow (and said she’d pay for it), and off I went.
At first it was hard to find at first, as it was upstairs above a lingerie shop (I know, right?!?). Everything seemed a bit dingy and cheap, and there was a funny odour; not unpleasant, but definitely unfamiliar.
The receptionist welcomed me; after filling out a questionnaire, she ushered me to one of four booths that was plain with a single bed. The booths were made of home-made walls that didn’t reach the ceiling, and I could hear the conversations in the other booths. The ‘entrance’ was simply a curtain. I had no idea what to expect, and found this whole situation rather strange.
The practitioner came in. He was an older Chinese man, and very soon I realised he actually couldn’t speak much English. After asking me some odd questions, he checked my pulse, asked to see my tongue, and then inspected my eyes. Asking me to strip down to underwear and lie on the bed, he then left the room.
What on earth was I getting myself in for?
He came back after a few minutes, and began to perform Acupuncture. The only thing he ever said was, “Smiling eyes. Smiling eyes” as he inserted the fine pins into a number of areas on my body. He then told me to close my eyes and rest.
What if I have to leave and open my eyes?
What if I cannot feel myself again?
— RPWL
“Become the other”
I don’t really remember the full extent of what happened next, as I think I may have dropped into a very deep state of meditative rest. At some stage, I remember having an awareness that I was lying on the bed, in this strange place, with pins sticking out of my body… but at the same time, I was not that person.
My mental state in those days was considerably scattered. In this moment however, that ‘noise’ was no longer there. It was quiet — in my head and in the room. There was a sense of peace that permeated the body-that-was-not-mine. A lingering, perpetual sense that all was fine.
And then, strangest of all, was what I remember vividly — a visual ‘hallucination’. The remarkable thing about this is that I’m not generally visual-dominant; when it happens I recall it, as it is so rare. I was outside of my body looking down at it. The picture then morphed, and I saw myself standing next to the body. I was the practitioner however, the body was someone else. I was placing small discs with strange symbols on them in various places on this body.
To this day, I cannot remember what those symbols looked like (I’ve tried to recall them), or where exactly I was placing those discs; but I had the understanding that I was treating this person in some manner. I have an association of deep wonder and beauty attached to this memory in particular.
But what I'd like to know,
Is could a place like this exist so beautiful?
Or do we have to take our wings and fly away,
To the visions in our minds?
— Stevie Wonder
At some stage, this all ended, and next thing I knew “Professor” had returned and was removing the pins. He then mobilised my joints, rubbed some kind of oil in certain areas on my body and then massaged my scalp.
I was given a small bottle of pills with instructions to take them, and to return in two weeks. I felt very strange after this experience, but peaceful, serene… the weirdness was in the difference I felt.
I don’t recall much about what happened after that, except that I continued my treatment with “Professor” for a few months, getting the acupuncture treatment and taking the herbal medicine. Even to this day, I cannot recall which point her used (or on which meridian), and what herbs he gave me. The result ultimately was that my nervous system relaxed, and the sense of dark foreboding and anxiety I had been experiencing slowly disappeared. I’d had two or three sessions by the time the new semester began again, and I returned to studying with no problems; I completed my assessments on time and again was getting amazing grades.
I began learning some Qigong with the Professor, doing a short six week course. I also started looking into meditation classes and began to consider my wellbeing. Had it not been for those sessions however, I’m not certain I would have finished my degree, or gotten my life back together so quickly. I understand now that my body was sending my signals that I needed to make serious changes in my life. I needed to let go of the old life I had left behind, of friendships that were toxic, and expectations that were unrealistic. I also needed to start looking after myself, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
I finished that degree (Anthropology), and many years later began studying Chinese Medicine myself, completing a degree and opening my own practice. I even began to teach Qigong, albeit a different form. But it was that initial experience of acupuncture that was the difference that made a difference.
To the soul's desires,
The body listens;
What the flesh requires,
Keeps the heart imprisoned.
What the spirit seeks,
The mind will follow;
When the body speaks,
All else is hollow.
— Depeche Mode
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You can find the soundtrack to this story on the STEEMIT SOUNDS playlist on Spotify
