South Florida: Dr. Nick’s Magic Needles
“I’m afraid of needles, except acupuncture needles.” – Catherine O’Hara
I hate needles. When I was a kid, I needed stitches. To keep me from thrashing my body around, the doctors had to wrap me up in towels. That’s how resistant I once was to the anticipation of having a little piece of metal puncturing my skin.
I love meditation and hot yoga. I love how stress melts away and is replaced by an inner peace and tingly sensations. In my quest to obtain more of this drug, I decided to give acupuncture a try. I became hooked.
One Friday night at 3:00 a.m., I was woken by banging on my rooftop door and my roommate, Lori, yelling at someone to stop. I was in a fog, and I thought I was having a bad dream. My heart raced, as I waited and listened. The banging started again, and I heard my roommate’s voice clearly this time. I bolted out of bed to find her standing outside her room looking up our stairwell.
The guy banged on our door, then moved on when Lori told him he had the wrong apartment. However, he came back. He finally stopped when she threatened to call the police.
We went back to bed. Of course, neither of us could sleep. I left my slider open, as well as my bedroom door. I wanted to make sure I could hear if anyone entered our apartment. Secretly, I prayed neither of us nor our friends had accidentally left the rooftop door unlocked. Of course, neither of us were going to climb the stairwell to find out. Lucky for us, the rest of the night was uneventful. However, we were both exhausted on Saturday morning.
Lori ran into our building manager, and he told her he had seen a lot of dirt in the men’s bathroom on the pool deck. He thought a homeless person may have obtained the pass code to our building and slipped in. He said he would check the rooftop at night. We had thought maybe it was someone who had partied a bit too hard and could not find his way home. The knocking was aggressive and frightening.
Lucky for me, I had a massage and acupuncture appointment the following morning at DU20 Holistic Oasis. After a stressful night, I could not have asked for a better way to unwind.
I was super tense and achy as I had been on edge all night. I told my massage therapist, Nancy, where my aches and pains were so she could pay extra attention to those areas. She worked her magic, and an hour later, all the tensions in my body evaporated. No more stiff muscles for me.
Next up, I saw Dr. Nick. He looked at my tongue, took my pulse, and asked me a bunch of questions based on what he saw.
Dr. Nick always amazes me by how spot on he is in his line of questioning and assessment. He hits every emotion and bodily function I am currently experiencing. Sometimes he will ask me a question, and I immediately answer, “no.” However, when I think about what he has said, I know he is right. I am just a little defensive when he is able to read my body and my mind so quickly.
Dr Nick asked, “Are you feeling a sense of frustration?”
I responded, “Yes.”
Dr. Nick explained, “There is stagnation in your liver qi.”
He grabbed his needles, and I closed my eyes. The site of needles still makes me queasy, and closing my eyes allows me to overcome my irrational fear of needles. Dr. Nick pricked me in the right spots, turned off the lights, and turned on the heat lamp before he left me alone to drift off to my happy place.
As I entered into a meditative state, my anxiety from the night before slowly evaporated. About 45 minutes later, Dr. Nick returned. Despite my lack of sleep, I felt energized and happy. Before leaving, I was given a delicious, complimentary tea. Off I went, tea in hand, to face the rest of my day in a peaceful state.
Connect with DU20
