Being an acupuncturist has many rewards but none greater than seeing a young boy get his life back.
During wintertime, 12-year-old Johnny (name changed) would slump into full-time lethargy. He was a couch potato so he didn’t like to move much or play outside. It took an hour or two for him to get to sleep at night and he would wake up tired. He ate mostly anything but if left to his own devices his diet would be boxes of crackers or plain pasta with cheese. He was quite smart but he barely got by academically. Emotionally, he was most disturbed and distracted by his brother’s constant bullying which he felt powerless to rise up against.
This was the picture he and his mother painted in my office one day in early March. My acupuncture diagnosis corroborated their description…very low energy, (I could hardly feel the pulse,) and serious internal stagnation which meant lethargy on the physical level and suppressed emotions on the emotional level. A steady diet of cheese compounded the stagnation and this kind of obstruction showed up on Johnny’s pulse, too.
The antidote to stagnation is movement. With acupuncture, we move the body’s energy with the needles in very precise ways and Johnny could also get it moving himself by doing aerobic exercise.
After his first acupuncture treatment designed to get the stagnate energy moving, he blew up at his brother….something that had needed to happen for a very long time. I counseled his mother to see this as a sign of his healing and to reward him for standing up to his brother. After this incident, he reported being able to go to sleep more easily and his mother described him as “beginning to wake up.”
At his next treatment, he reported sleeping a lot better. He felt less lethargic and his energy didn’t dip until 5th period in the afternoon when he was also hungry. He was walking on the treadmill for 13 minutes each day and bouncing on the mini-trampoline for 5. Also, unprompted, he asked to go to the beach. His mother reported that “he had a wonderful time running around and talking about the beach. He said he likes ‘everything – the air, the birds, the water, and the shells.’ He’s a different kid on the beach…. he moves. His cheeks were pink and he was animated.”
Johnny’s transformation was really on display at his 5th treatment. He was present, engaging, impish and a bit giddy. He reported “running all over the place” and feeling refreshed in the morning. It was even easier for him to get to sleep. Thanks to a presentation at school from a police officer, he discovered that he had a detective’s mind. He now joined the family to play Clue; something he was better at than his brother. Additionally, Johnny was easily able to tell his brother to “STOP” if he started to bully him.
In five weeks, Johnny got his life back and we did it all without drugs. As an acupuncturist, the thing that heartens me the most about Johnny’s healing process is the fact that, prompted only by his wise inner voice, he went to the place in nature which brought forth his aliveness. It is indeed a sign of health when one hears and heeds nature’s call to nurture one’s Self.
So parents, THINK acupuncture, herbs or energetic medicine when your child needs support getting through a hard patch. Then sit back and watch true healing happen, from the inside out.
If you are an adult, the same healing process is open to you, too. It may take a little longer since you are older and probably have more accumulated stuff to clear. Nevertheless, it is very doable.
If your BlueCrossBlueShield plan covers acupuncture, your out of pocket expense for acupuncture treatment with me will be $28 per treatment…making it quite affordable.
Act today, and begin the healing process of getting your life back, too.
