acupuncture

[josh stout]

I recently went to an acupuncturist for the first time, and I had a different experience than that related by most people I have talked to. The experience was more painful and faster acting than either the acupuncturist or I expected. I had gone in for a problem with a tendon in my knee that was too tight, and a single visit fixed it. I went back for two more follow up visits, but the first one did the trick.



The sensations I felt during the experience were quite strange. Normally I think of the points and meridians more or less in the fashion described by Scott.



"...gates refer to specific points on meridians. There are many points along any meridian, but those that are referred to as gates are points that act as valves. Like valves along a system of pipes, if closed nothing can flow along the pipe past that point. ... ...The term gates is also used in this context to mean a certain strip of a meridian, that is, the length of meridian from one gate to the next..."



However the needles made me feel something else. Rather than tubes and valves, I was feeling like the meridians were vibrating strings with the needles going in along tuning spots that caused the vibration to change pitch like a guitarist working along the fret board. I had never thought of the meridians as moving before, but each needle stuck the meridian to a single spot so that it stayed in one place vibrating like a live butterfly pinned to a board. In many cases I was able to predict where the next needle was going to go by feeling the next tuning node or harmonic along the imaginary string.



I have put some time into working on qi circulation, but I have never felt it as clearly (or as painfully) as during acupuncture. Often I would think about it as a metaphoric term relating to its components, such as breath energy and mind intent. I no longer hold that opinion. There is something real there, and you can put a pin in it.



I am posting this to ask if anybody else has had a similar experience. As I mentioned, most of the needles cause quite a bit of pain, equal to when the dentist hits a nerve. This surprised the acupuncturist, as most people seem to feel very little. Also it usually takes several visits for an effect, while I was fixed in one visit. I would like to know if other people who have trained the meridians have similar experiences. What happened to me might just be a product of my particular physiology, the result of my particular system of study, or the result of training to open the meridians in general. I would like to hear what the experience of others has been like. I am particularly interested in the experiences of people with several years of practice in meditation, qigong, or other related practices.

Thanks,

Josh

[ben hanawalt]

I similar experience last friday.. I've had accupuncture before.. but never an experience like this. The first time, I simply got off the table feeling like I was on drugs.. but nothing deeper than that.

This time, was w/ a 5 element practitioner.. and started when he was checking my qi pulse. It felt cold under his fingertips on the left arm.. but nothing on the right.. and when he returned to the left.. there was a bit of cold buzzing farther up my arm on the inside.. I touched it, and asked the dude. it was an accupuncture point for the lower intestine (i believe... and I'll give you 1 guess for the issue I was trying to get over)

well.. long story short... I was able to feel every point along that meridian all the way the side of my neck that was 'blocked'.

Amazing I thought. I've never had any sort of feedback like that before!

I would imagine we'll all feel it differently.. based on a thousand things inside our head. I seems that our practice of taijiquan and the related inner, is helping us all be much more sensitive to those movements of energy.

Thanks for sharing your experience Josh. It is very fascinating to me. =)



b

[josh stout]

So you could also feel the meridian as the needles were put in? Interesting. Did this feel good or bad? For me, it felt like the meridian was being pulled into its most optimum alignment, but that it wanted to be free, and the needles were kind of stretching it out and holding it in place.

Josh