Obey My Blog

I recently got another acupuncture treatment to celebrate my birthday. Perhaps getting poked with tiny needles is not everyone’s ideal birthday gift, but it sure is mine! I love acupuncture and I tell all my friends about how wonderful it is. All the time. It’s kind of a running joke now. If any of my friends or family start complaining about an ache or a pain I’ll get all serious and tell them, well, I think I know what would help…and they say, yes? And I reply, acupuncture! Then they roll their eyes, laugh or try to punch me. Not really, but it would be funny.

This acupuncture treatment was a little different than the rest, in that, it didn’t affect me as much as it usually does. I go to acupuncture treatments to relieve stress. I have a tendency to get completely wound up, so acupuncture helps me to relax. I mean really relax. It’s awesome. Usually after acupuncture, nothing bothers me. Somebody could come up to me with a knife and I’d probably try to shake his hand. Or talk to him about acupuncture. But this time around, I didn’t get that feeling of extreme relaxation. I took this as a good sign. Since I’ve been practicing my Qigong more (in part due to the comments on this blog – thank you!), I feel pretty relaxed most of the time. It’s really weird. I don’t feel quite so overwhelmed and I’m able to get through stressful moments with more humor and grace. It’s kind of nice!

I will never be free of stress. That’s just a given. But it’s nice to know that I can deal with it now instead of getting totally wrapped up in it all the time. I expect I will get overwhelmed in the future. I will get stressed out of course. And if that happens I will definitely go back and get another acupuncture treatment. And practice my Qigong, which, I know I will probably slack on at some point. But that’s okay. As long as I keep practicing. I love it too much to completely give it up.

Perhaps I should start practicing with David Carradine? Or get one of these outfits…

This is Sheng Zhen Healing Qigong. I am in my third week of classes and I love it. I have to admit that I still have my heart set on returning to a Tai Chi class, but this class has given me such wonderful insight into myself, as well as, the movements I practiced in Tai Chi. Sheng Zhen means unconditional love. It has the same underlying principles as Tai Chi, in that there is no judgement, criticism or competition. It just is. And that is so refreshing to me.

I walked up to my teacher after class last Monday and thanked her, because when I go to this class, I feel like a kid again. I feel like I did before all the craziness of the world came flooding into my mind – before all the doubts, the heartache, the frustration and the struggle. In this class, all of it is gone and I am reminded of who I used to be – of who I really am. So few of us have the opportunity to even remember what that feels like, we are so busy. I feel extremely lucky and blessed.

I have had a few skeptical looks. Qigong? What the…? But instead of trying to explain, I like to tell the story of my teacher. She has been practicing Qigong for six years now. When she first started, she could barely lift her arms. Her fingers curled inward and her joints caused her tremendous pain. After practicing Qigong, she started gaining strength in her arms, her joints became less rigid and she became more flexible. Now she can move about freely and has no pain whatsoever. She also says she is a much happier person all around. It shows in class, as she has a very calm, light and pleasant demeanor.  I think it also helps that she smiles when doing the movements. It makes everyone else smile too.