Better than a massage?

I went to acupuncture for the first time today and I have to say it was amazing.

I have a good friend who goes regularly and she has been trying to convince me that it is just what I need for my stress and also for the circulation issues that cause me to have the coldest hands known to man.

I sat down to fill out the paperwork and one of the questions was a what issues brought you here kind of question. I put down stress while thinking about the not so fun e mails I've been exchanging with my husband all day over trying to actually get into our house to get my things out for my move.

The next question was "what makes this worse?"  talking to my husband...

Followed by "what makes this better?"  not talking to my husband?

I did tell the acupuncturist about my stress, some pain I've been having in my back and shoulders, some repetitive motion pain I have in my wrists and arms as well as my daily headaches and a little bit of dizziness I have every now and then.  Boy I sound like a party huh? Or maybe more like the surprise you find on your couch the morning after the party.

As I was speaking I kept thinking there is no way a few needles can actually make a difference about this stuff...I'm crazy to even be mentioning it...but you know, once you're in it you might as well get it all out there.

I layed down on the table, she put a bunch of needles all over me, my head, my neck, my shoulders, down my arms, down my back and one on the inside of each ankle. She explained that it sounds like I've got a lot of things pent up inside me. Lots of negative energy (if you will) that ideally would be circulating itself right out of me. But in my case it is not. So the goal was to get all of that moving.

The crazy part is that once she left and I was laying there alone with myself for twenty minutes I could actually feel it moving. I could feel things shifting around in my belly and chest. Even my head felt like there was congestion up there (which there has not been for weeks) that was freeing itself and moving around. And my legs felt a little excited and twitchy...it was weird.

As my twenty minutes started I lay there thinking I can't remember the last time I had to spend twenty minutes alone with myself, I don't think I've done that since....well, since I was a Quaker. All of a sudden I thought, I should probably spend these minutes alone with God. And then the hymn Be still and know that I am God came into my mind. It felt really great to be in that place letting eastern medicine do it's thing and also thinking about my western God. I always like knowing those kind of combinations can peacefully coexist.

A little later my brain pulled out a song from high school church camp and I found myself singing create in me a clean heart...which goes on to say and renew a right spirit within me. It felt like such the right song and I couldn't believe that my brain had dredged it up.

For the most part I didn't feel the needles at all, would not have even known they were there if I hadn't felt the tiny sting as they went in. but every now and then I would all of a sudden become aware of one particular needle or other, then I would feel something shift in my heart or stomach and the needle would disappear again.

One of those was toward the end. I could feel the time was ending and I started thinking a little bit about what awaited me when I left. That was the first time I thought about my husband. All of a sudden I became very aware of the two needles in my lower back, there was a shift in my stomach and I thought...well, I guess I shouldn't think about him right now. The shift moved again, the needles went away, hmmm....guess that's where I store my husband stress.

All in all I have to say that I was super impressed with acupuncture. It felt great to feel things shifting and moving around inside me and I feel more hopeful after spending some time with God and some time taking care of myself.

So...what do you all do to take care of yourselves?

(PS I've heard from a few of you that when you try to post comments you are having a hard time. If you've been wanting to comment but blogger is making it hard can you drop me an e mail?)