One New Thing #7 Acupuncture Meditation

One New Thing #: 7

What:  Acupuncture Meditation 

Where: True North Yoga and Wellness with Dr. Sean Orr of Praxis

Cost: $15 drop in (also takes ClassPass)

Fave thing: Experiencing acupuncture as a relaxation technique 

Needles aren’t necessarily my thing, but I’m not deathly afraid of them either. I’ve gotten acupuncture before to treat a tight calf / sprained ankle situation and it helped tremendously - I could feel the needle loosening up that stiff muscle. 

This class, on the other hand, was a little different for me mentally. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect and was tense throughout the whole class, anticipating more needles. My stress - ironically enough! - was unfounded. I’ve actually gone to this class twice now and the second experience was way more comfortable for me as I knew what to expect and could feel the needles releasing the muscles and was able to relax much more quickly. 

Back to the first experience - there were 6 of us in the class. Dr. Sean led us through a brief intro in Chinese Medicine, the chis and energetic pathways. We lay on yoga blankets with bolsters and focused on deep breathing. He came around and needled each person - I received one in my forehead, and two in my feet - one on top of the right and one on the left ankle. We were focusing on our heart and kidneys. The initial feeling was one of a finger prick - but if I tried to wiggle my forehead I could feel that and wasn’t a fan - ha. Eventually I came back to my body and breath and tried to relax my feet and legs. I had an overwhelming feeling that if i moved an inch or relaxed, I would feel each needle. Dr. Sean continued to lead us through our breathing and after about 50 minutes came around, pulled all of the needles, and placed two seed acupuncture pressure points on our wrists - at the base of the pinky on our right hand for kidney, and the base of the thumb on the left for heart.

Obviously I loved the class since I went back a second time, and I plan on making it a regular part of my wellness practice. From the second class, he said both my hands, pecs and lats were tighter than the two men who were also in the class. Yikes. Looks like I need to  keep getting needles stuck in me ASAP (and body work, and breath work, and meditation and therapy. ;)).