Needles and Insight
My acupuncturist is a bit of a nut. I used to find her way over the top, with her pseudo-British accent and bizarre commentary on which flavor cupcake she thought I had most in common with (she said red velvet, I suggested strawberry shortcake), while she stuck tiny needles into my flesh or suctioned glass cups along my spine.
But yesterday was different. Yesterday, she actually got me thinking more openly about few things. No surprise this change in my perspective is due to being way more into the "woo woo" stuff than I was before, when she'd chat me up about energy flow, Chinese medicine and the personification of baked goods.
She said she thinks my shoulders have been sore because my body is not yet up to speed on what my heart is going through with all of this change. She suggested that my heart is striving to open - without judgement or fear - to all these crazy unknowns and my body is just not havin' it.
She went on to build a dialogue between the two, and it went something like this:
Body: "Wait just...a....minute here. Nobody cleared any of this with me. I'm shutting this down until I get an explanation. Where are the countless hours of spreadsheet work? What happened to the commute and the desk job? The stress and self judgement. The deadlines?!?!"
Heart (while lighting an incense candle): "Heeeyyy maaan...it's cool. We're in this together. Let's hold hands and sing Kumbaya and support Shannon through all of this. Isn't it wonderful she's taking this leap of faith, following her passions and curiosities like this? She is going to need us now more than ever. Breathe with me, will you?"
Body: "Hmmph, maybe. What's in it for me?"
Heart: "Oh friend, the benefits are many. Aligned with me, you'll feel better, clearer, more well rested, stronger, healthier, more abundant. Alive!"
Body: "That does sound kinda nice. I guess I can give it a try. As long as we're in this together. I can't do this solo."
Heart: "I've got you. I love you. Lezzdothis!"
(Okay, my acupuncturist's rendition wasn't that drawn out, but I was having too much fun imagining the conversation. You're lucky I didn't introduce the Mind! That would have been a three ring circus for sure.)
The crazy thing about all of this is, my acupuncturist is right! I mean, if she had said all of these things six months ago, she would have been wasting her breath on a somewhat curious, but mostly skeptical, creatively stuck non-believer. But here I am today, growing into a new, more awesome version of myself; on a "woowoo" rollercoaster that very much includes pondering the power of mind/body/spirit alignment. Yeehaw!
And I should mention too, that the acupuncture worked. Since my appointment, I've been free and clear of my shoulder pain and am sleeping more soundly.
Maybe it was the needles.
Maybe - just maybe - it was the shared insight from my nutty acupuncturist, that I've taken into heart and practice.
Just sayin'.
