Mother's Day, Mental Health, and More

May is home to both Mother’s Day AND Mental Health Awareness month, which feels appropriate to me because being a mother has reintroduced a lot of my mental health struggles. Those struggles are actually what originally brought me to acupuncture.

When I was in my early 20s I was depressed and anxious and in so much physical pain.

I was going to physical therapy 3x a week, I was freezing cold all the time (despite living in sunny California), and my arms had become so weak I could barely lift my cat. I was not really functioning. I was suicidal but didn’t tell anyone. Every morning I woke up and prayed that I would die and that my pain would finally end.

After going to lots of doctors with no real success, I remembered that acupuncture was supposed to be good for pain, so I found a local school in Los Angeles and booked a session.

I was a terrible patient. TERRIBLE.

I was so angry. I withheld whatever information I didn’t think was relevant. By the end of the questioning portion of the session, I was crawling out of my skin.

I all but screamed at the practitioner. She asked why I had (unsuccessfully) tried anti-depressants, and I said, “because my boyfriend died!” Her response cut right through my attitude to the core of me.

Her: “Oh.”
Me: “What do you mean, ‘Oh’?”
Her: “You have a broken heart.”



BOOM. And that is where my acupuncture journey began.

Chinese Medicine is based on the theory that all of our physical parts and the space within us has consciousness and is of a spiritual nature. Our organ functions and relationships are modeled after ancient Chinese nobility and social structure – the Heart is the Emperor, the Lungs are the Spiritual Advisor, the Liver is the General, etc.

So, according to acupuncture theory, our Heart is the most important part of us. When our hearts suffer, everything suffers. When the emperor (or empress!) is taken off the throne, there is no guidance, no communication, and the rest of the body falls apart.

When my Acupuncturist acknowledged that I had a broken heart, (which is why I had given up, which is why my spirit had retreated from my hands and arms, which is why my life felt completely impossible,) it was as if a light inside of me was reignited. Someone seeing me for who I was and that I was more than the pain I was experiencing helped my heart -- my inner Emperor -- to heal.



That's why I love being an Acupuncturist.

I am happy to help people with pain, but my most favorite thing to do is talk about you and why you’re here. How is your spirit suffering and what does your inner emperor need to regain its sovereignty as a benevolent ruler of your body?

So in honor of Mother’s Day, let’s tend to our own inner kingdoms. Nothing makes mothers happier than the happiness of their children. Can you take some of the burden off of a mom by tending to the needs of your own heart? Or does a mom in your life need a little extra support for their heart?