#17 Acupuncture

Not as painful as it looks...

I've spent the last few weeks planning out the rest of the 30x30 list. The tasks ahead are daunting, or maybe it's just the completion of them that is. And, moment of truth here, I had my first tremblings of an "almost 30" freak out. I hear they say you can have a quarter life crisis at twenty-five, so is thirty a third life crisis? And if so, where do these third, fifth, eighth...whatever crises end??? If I run into a fifteen year old complaining of a 1/6th life crisis, I will have no choice but to slap him or her.

With that said, I felt the need for some balance in my life. I'm still working on my yoga practice and #18 on the list will also be an effort to center my life. However this Thursday I decided to try yet another Eastern approach, acupuncture.

A clinic co-located with my gym offers "Group Acupuncture" several times a week. I know. Acupuncture sounds scary enough, why does it have to be a group thing. And no, there's no needle sharing going on.  It's just a circle of six lazy boy recliners in a room. I was the only patient for most of the time but was later joined by several other characters.

Baby needle in my hand.
Those are NOT my feet in the background!

So here's the scoop. After an assessment of your needs and issues, the therapist applies the hair-thin needles into the nerve points that coincide with your needs. I ended up with 7-8 needles from the base of my big toe to the top of my head. At insertion it feels like being poked with a pine needle but afterward its just a feeling of pressure.

The result. I felt enlightened and definitely more focused. Am I a newfound acupuncture junkie? Well, that's yet to be seen.