My Secret Recipe part 2

As the days continued, I still did not feel like I was recuperating from my stomach bug.  This past weekend, I had an Acupuncture treatment scheduled – I was grateful for this.  I do schedule these along with Amma massages every month just for maintenance.  I told my main practitioner, Theresa, about my wild ride and the fact that I woke up that morning with my nose dripping and a few sneezes.  In addition, I had rashes all over my body that, when itched, would bleed.  


She and her assistant took my pulse – that indicates a lot in Chinese medicine.  I was asked if I had been dreaming a lot and the answer was yes.  I don’t usually remember my dreams but lately they had been vivid.  She said my pulse indicated that I had disturbed dreams and, in addition, my hands were cold. I was diagnosed as having a “Wind Invasion” and she explained that the rashes were the virus fighting to get out of my body.  Since the invasion was attacking my body, it was developing into a common cold.  I knew that all these symptoms were due to the wind having penetrated my defenses (my Wei Qi, in Chinese medicine, the ‘energy field’ that flows just beneath our skin and protects us from this sort of ‘invasion’ of an external pathogen, and also warms the skin). Not all people would be able to accept this explanation, but there was no doubt in my mind that the symptoms I was experiencing had this connection.

They laid me face down for my treatment.  The needles were inserted horizontally instead of vertically at the base of my neck and my hands.  The hand points shot an electrical current to my fingertips.  They also lanced the back of my legs to let them bleed and did some cupping there.  This technique is known as “wet cupping” and, after the bloodletting is done, suction cups are placed on top to purge bad, excessive or stagnant blood.  I was then left alone to rest and immediately felt the sensation of a very cold wind racing down my arms out my fingers and down my legs out my toes.  This went on for what seemed like an eternity but was really about 30 minutes.  When Theresa came back in and I explained my reaction to the treatment, she was delighted.  She said the needles were placed at that angle to expel the wind and that was successful.  She loved that I was such a believer of Chinese medicine (for over 20 years) and that my mind and body were fully connected.

I immediately felt stronger and more energized.  When I got home I had a bout of diarrhea and then it was over.  I was fine.  The treatment had totally worked and it was exactly what I needed in that stage of my illness.  Keeping a positive, open mind allowed my body to accept the treatment willingly and heal itself.  I felt this was a story worth sharing and hope that you, too, will keep an open mind where your body is concerned to accept all that will benefit you.