I have a steel rod in my spine and about 40 tattoos. I’m not exactly skittish around needles. Two weeks ago, while visiting a good friend in Florida, I asked her to take me to her Acupuncturist. She told me all sorts of great things about her and I wanted to see what it was all about. Tara Reed is her name and she is absolutely excellent at what she does. The problem is, she’s in Florida, and I live in LA.
So once I returned home, feeling relaxed, sleeping like a baby, I knew I had to find a local fixer. Today I had my first treatment at Poke Acupuncture in West Hollywood. Russell Brown is exactly who I hoped he would be. The world of acupuncture can be full of wacky new age type hippies talking about chi and yoga. Russell is my kind of person; more punk rock, less hocus pocus.
For those of you who think its a little weird to get needles stuck in you to help you mend, or balance or heal….well it is. But the Chinese have been doing if for centuries and with good reason. It’s not some voodoo magic, its a science like all medicine. And so much better for you than those medicines that abuse your liver in the service of masking the issues at hand. The actual needles don’t really hurt at all going in. Once there, you don’t even notice them. Although if you are in serious pain this may be a different experience. Russell said to me that he believes that the needles cause “tiny traumas in the body and really just promote circulation to the impacted areas, allowing them to get more blood, which helps you heal.”
Let me stop right here with a hefty disclaimer…I’m not sick. I’m not even particularly achy. I just know that every morning I wake up an I feel the same. My piriformis muscle in my butt always hurts. My shoulders are always tight. I never sleep well, I toss and turn. I’m cold all the time. I bruise super easy. Did you know that’s not normal? But it has been my normal for so long its just the way it is. So I decided that maybe there was something I could do to bring a little more healing and balance to my life.
After the first treatment, I stopped feeling cold all the time, my butt stopped with the constant, persistent ache. My shoulders felt like the knots finally took a break already. And I was reminded that sleep is actually supposed to be restorative. And it IS!
So, yea, its a little weird. But its also kind of amazing. If you are interested, do some research on Acupuncture. You may be surprised what you learn. And if you live in LA I strongly recommend visiting Russell at Poke.
