Another Acupuncturist's Perspective

"I was at a stage in my life where several new initiatives were about to take place. I had moved to a new city, was starting a new business, and was planning on having my first child. In preparation for conceiving a baby, I was doing all the usual things, cleaning up my diet, exercising, lowering my stress levels, etc. I also felt I needed to prepare myself on a deeper level. Do some internal cleaning, so to speak. I knew I was carrying around something, but I wasn't sure what. As an acupuncturist, I knew people could hold emotions in parts of their body, or how the body can hold memory of traumas, experiences, or emotions. In addition, I was physically feeling some sort of block in my chest and ribs. When people feel this way, they often see a therapist - to talk thru what is bothering them, get things off their chest so to speak. But this felt different. I could feel my emotions in my body. I wasn't depressed, or anxious and I didn't feel processing these feelings through my mind was the right way to move on.

After seeing Lisa for an acupuncture session, she suggested an energy work session. I was curious and intrigued, so I readily agreed. At the start of the session, I laid down on the massage table and took a few deep breaths. She gently held her hands on the back of my neck and I stayed open and started slipping into a deep calm place. After a few minutes, the area I was feeling blockage began to ache. I kept breathing and relaxing and the aches became more intense. Lisa began to focus on these areas and I could feel my ache areas pulsing. Suddenly I started coughing and crying at the same time -- I felt as if there was something or someone very important to me about to leave. My gut reaction was to hold on - but then in a split second I realized this was my source of blockage - I was holding on to something or someone that needed to leave. I can't explain who or what it was, but I like to think of it as an experience that had served its purpose out long ago, but to which I was still clinging. With Lisa’s guidance, I was able to thank this 'feeling' for the lessons it taught me and allow it to move on. I can't say how long it took, maybe minutes perhaps seconds, but I felt this heaviness in my body leaving and being lifted out. A rush of intense emotion came with it - literally the intensity of loosing a loved one or child. Then it lifted out and was gone. I felt relieved and lighter. After lying there a few minutes more, Lisa began filling the area of my former heaviness with light energy. The areas of my body that were once heavy and blocked were now open and light.

It took several days to process what happened in the session. I felt as if I had a major break through - the kind that a few years of therapy may provide -- it was that intense. I felt lighter, and resolved - as if some large burden I had been carrying for a long time had been lifted. While I can't pinpoint a specific incident or episode from my past that I felt was finally resolved, I can say I was ready to move forward in my life and into the new roles that were in store for me. I felt complete again. As weeks passed, I noticed changes in my thinking. I reacted differently to situations - things that would make me hesitate to confront or that I feared to handle suddenly became sooth interactions. I felt I had a new perspective on my self and my dealings with others. I had a new confidence and perspective. Months later this perspective and confidence remains. What I had experienced wasn't the relaxing or healing of a massage or other body therapy, I had a full-on life changing event.

The healing experience with Lisa has shown me that with the right guidance, we as individuals have so much potential for healing, resolving, and evolving ourselves. What Lisa does is an almost lost healing art. As our society became more "modern" and externally gratifying, we forgot how to go inside ourselves. We abandoned the paths of self discovery. Fortunately, healers like Lisa are being called back to the path of the Shaman. Hopefully, with their guidance we can be shown the way back to our true selves, and as a result be able to heal ourselves, our communities and our world."