A month ago, I was at the Abbott Kinney Street fair with my boyfriend. We had come upon a booth for an acupuncture school. He had tried it before and as for myself, having read some Chinese philosophy, I had been intrigued in the past about this type of medicine but had yet to experience it. This school was offering free assessments and herb acupressure on the ears, which by the way, say a lot about you. As does your tongue. So we both decided to give it a try.

My boyfriend’s assessment went very quick. Extremely quick, actually. He was finished before my intern even got through asking me preliminary questions as she felt my ear lobes. After some time later, I had learned I had a slow pulse and needed more protein in my diet, big time. My intern acupuncturist had me captivated with information about our mind, our blood and our health. She knew and learned so much about me by simply touching my earlobes and looking at my tongue. I could have sat there for hours but I saw my boyfriend’s patience in the bright sun wearing a little thin so I tried to wrap things up. Before I left though, she gave me her card and an offer to try acupuncture for free at her school’s clinic.

I met back up with my boyfriend, who I had to find by calling his cell since he drifted away, which I don’t blame him, and together we talked about what happened to the other during all the earlobe touching. I then learned why things took so long for me. I need to be healthier. His intern told him, and I quote, “Your ears are very healthy. You are a very healthy person.” Needless to say, my intern did not tell me that.

Fast forward to last week when I brought the coupons my boyfriend and I received at the booth to his house and made an appointment for acupuncture for both of us. We were fortunate to get the same time and day and while he saw a randomly assigned intern, I requested the girl I had met at the fair.

And now for today. After quickly jogging her memory about who I was, the intern acupuncturist remembered meeting me and told me she was glad I came in to give this a try. She did a much more thorough analysis of my health this time. Her questions were those many doctors don’t ask, which I found intriguing because of my sudden awareness of how important they really are. Questions such as, “How’s your libido?” “Do you eat a lot of protein? “How thirsty are you throughout the day?” “Do your fingernails show good blood circulation? Let’s see… They do!” (You can press down on your nail beds and once you release the pressure, if they return to regular color quickly, your blood has good circulation.)

After a great and LONG conversation, the intern checked my vitals (all good!) and then had me put on a gown. I laid down on my chest, with my arms on my side, and she did a procedure called CUPPING. It was fascinating to experience. In certain places, after heating a cup with flame and moving it over my back with the help of oil, she would leave it there and it would create a suction of sorts. Once it was removed, it felt great. I have two red circles on my back right now, which she said will happen if I have toxin-stuff to be removed. So, yeah, I have toxin stuff. This was then followed by four acupuncture needles being placed in various parts of my body. It was a jolt when a couple of them went in but the other two I barely felt. An energy aromatherapy of sorts was used during some of this process as well.

Before I left, I was feeling better just thinking about the information I learned today and how I wanted to implement it into my daily life. I told my intern so and knowing I’m on a budget, she advised me to spend my time and resources on herbs and vitamins right now, to help clean my system and get my pulse and blood moving along better. She also advised some herb treatment that could help with my OCD, which makes me ecstatic because not one doctor I’ve seen for OCD has offered a natural medical solution to this problem. I thanked this intern several times as she slipped me her card and email address, advising me to see her whenever I wanted to discuss my process or do some more cupping or acupuncture.

I learned more in this hour-and-a-half long visit than I have in years at other doctor’s office visits. And I’ve never had a doctor’s office visit that lasted this long!

With the healthcare situation being what it is in the US right now, with primarily government, pharmaceutical companies and health care insurance firms deciding what’s best for us, I can’t think of any better time than now to begin to learn about alternative medicine.

But I have to walk the talk.

From now on, I’ll be writing one blog post a month detailing my experiences with Chinese medicine, alternative medicine and my adventures in the world of yoga, which is something I’ve added to my life recently but have yet to get serious about. It’s time now though. I want to do it.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
– Lao Tzu