Yoga and Qi Gong with Uma!

My classmate, Uma, has put together a free yoga class for everyone on campus. We'll also be doing Qi Gong at the beginning of the sessions.

From Uma:
Monday - yoga/movement/qigong from 11:30 to 12:50 in room 3
Wednesday - 2:40-4  in room 3
Friday - 10am to 11:20 in the Annex

Starts Wednesday the 29th but we won't be meeting the 31st (this Friday). Also, we decided to try to do Qigong for the first 20 minutes of each class (fulfilling the 60 minutes a week outside of class). Hope to see you all and please pass along the word.

Big thanks to Uma for putting this together.

This flu thing was really knocking it out of me. I made an appointment at the clinic yesterday. When the needles went in, it really hurt in some spots. The qi was definitely blocked. But then, my chest and sinuses opened up and I took a deep breath. I hadn't realized how much I hadn't been breathing. No wonder I was exhausted.

They also gave me some granules (ground herbs) to drink 4 to 5 times a day. I am feeling much, much better. It's so good to be so well taken care of.

I'm looking forward to points class today. Reading the text has left me really confused. I have to stop reading at certain points, take a deep breath, and remind myself that it will all make sense eventually. I learn best through doing. Today we'll actually find the points on one another. Hopefully, something will click in my head.

That click moment happened yesterday in Qi Gong. I know that doing a Qi Gong practice really benefits you but I didn't understand on a body level how it applied to medicine. I was able to stay in class for a half hour yesterday before my clinic appointment. Just that little time in class helped me to feel better than I'd felt all day.

I felt an aha! moment in my body. If I do this practice, I'll stay healthier, more focused, and grounded. Nice.

Semantics

I've had a wicked cold for the past few days. I forgot to take my Tan Ma Gou Teng Yin Wan, or Jade Screen. I've been sick a lot this year, kind of unusual for me. My acupuncturist at the school clinic gave me Jade Screen to prevent that from happening.

Lesson #1 in Chinese medicine: Herbs don't work if you don't take them.

I've been thinking a lot about how well all of our classes dovetail into one another. In Living Anatomy, we're learning how to palpate the clavicle, shoulder, and upper arm while in Points class we're learning the lung points, which are mostly on the arm and shoulder.

In our Research class, we've spent some time learning techniques on how to be mindful; present with our studies, with our day-to-day lives, and eventually present with our patients, giving them our full attention and focus.

That attention is expounded upon in the Respectful Touch class where we learn to be sensitive to our patients' comfort and boundaries. What I like about Respectful Touch is that it asks us to be aware of our own issues as well. For the next three to four years we, as students, are going to be practicing on one another. It'll be good to get it right with each other so that we can be the amazing practitioners I know we're all going to be.

I really enjoyed this week's lecture in A&P. Our professor, Regina Dehen, talked about physics and energy and basically how we don't really know why atoms stay together or do the weird things that they do.

Energy is weird, even within the laws of Thermodynamics--order and entropy, yin and yang. So it's pretty cool to see how physics dovetails into our TCM Theory class and the focus on yin and yang energy. Sometimes the differences between Western and Eastern medicine seem nothing more than an issue in semantics...

And all that comes full circle back to Research where we will learn the skills to analyze, and for some of us, create the studies to prove the efficacy of acupuncture in a Western paradigm.

One of the papers we had to read for the next lecture was titled, "Understanding unexpected courses of multiple sclerosis among patients using complementary and alternative medicine: A travel from recipient to explorer"

It was a study done in Sweden looking at people who use Complimentary Alternative Medicine (CAM) to treat their multiple sclerosis. I felt as if I were reading my life story.

For those patients who had frustrating experiences with Western medicine, CAM empowered them to take control of the disease and their lives. It was pretty awesome to have such a personal connection to a scientific paper. Validating...

After a long day of bed rest and bad sci-fi shows yesterday, I'm going to try to catch up on studies today. I'm blessed to be living in a household with other OCOM students. We've all agreed to meet up and palpate each other. There will be a quiz this week...now where did I put that coracoid process?

Introducing, Pointella!

The past two days have been hard for me. I've had to get up early, yesterday for my Hep B vaccine and TB test, and today for a dental appointment. It's been difficult to stay alert in class. I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and regaining my optimism.

I have multiple sclerosis. The worst symptoms for me are fatigue and chronic muscle spasms/pain. When I don't get enough sleep and when I have a lot of new information to process, my symptoms flare up.

Tonight, I'm curling up with my "Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion" book for a couple of hours, then treating myself with the season premier of "Big Bang Theory." A little Sheldon and Leonard will cheer me up.

Yesterday, I had my first points class. In this class we learn where all those points are on the body that access qi. In other words, it's where the needles go!

On break yesterday, I went to the bookstore and picked up my point location figure. I've named her Pointella. What do you think?

Pointella is living outside for now. She smells of cheap plastic and mothballs. So my dotted doll is off-gassing before she can come into the house.

I spent some time today with other first year students, Uma and Celia. They're organizing a "Movement Club" for all the students.  On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we're going to get together to do yoga, Qi Gong, and any other movement meditation that inspires you. Everyone is invited!

We're still waiting to hear what campus locations will be available for the club. Stay tuned here or look on the campus bulletin boards for more information about the Movement Club.

Yesterday, when I was at the doctor's office and then at the nurse's clinic getting my shots, everyone wanted to talk about acupuncture. It was nice to talk to people in Western medicine about Chinese medicine.

Today, my dentist had some comments to make about the anatomy flashcards sitting on my lap. I've learned to not talk to him about acupuncture. He's not interested. As he was giving me a shot to numb my gums, I desperately wished for acupuncture instead.

As he inserted the needle and shook my cheek around a bit, he told me a gruesome story about having to saw off a leg while in his anatomy class. I'm not usually squeamish, but the combination of the shot and the story made me feel faint.

I thought about our Respectful Touch class and how we'd talked about the kinds of casual conversations you might have with your patients. The older I get, the more I believe in the simple adage, "Discretion is the better part of valour."

I don't know that I'll be going back to that dentist. I'll take it as a lesson learned for my future patients...

First Week!

Welcome to the Quest for Quan Yin

I wanted to come up with something clever for the title of this blog. Being a student of acupuncture, I've heard plenty of jokes already about needling, pricking, etc. Everything that immediately came to mind seemed a bit lewd.

For inspiration, I looked around my study area. There is a picture of Dr. Usui, the founder of Reiki, a large painting of Sarasvati, a statue of The Virgin of Guadalupe, a candle representing Erzuli, a statue of Arch Angel Michael, and a picture of Quan Yin. Am I a sancreatic/eclectic witch? Yep.

As a wiccan, I dedicated myself to the Goddess of Compassion, Quan Yin, about 15 years ago. I had no idea at that time that I would eventually become a student of Chinese medicine. So in honor of full circles, beautiful leaps of irony, and the medicine itself, I launch this blog. Welcome!

I intend to record my personal journey of discovery, share my excitement about the medicine, and document the goings-on of my new community at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM). 

Statue of Quan Yin from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art

For today's adventure in my studies, I went to visit my general practitioner, Dr. Chang. She's an allopathic (Western) doctor but is very supportive of my studies. I had to get a tuberculosis test and my first shot for the Hepatitis B vaccination.

I stay away from flu shots because vaccines tend to make my MS symptoms flare up. But I figure that catching Hep B would really compromise my immune system so maybe a few days of discomfort from the vaccine won't be such a bad thing.

The shot hurt! But I was brave, y'all!

I rushed home from the doctor's office just in time to walk down to the campus clinic for my acupuncture appointment. Sometimes when I have acupuncture, the needle hits a sensitive spot and I yelp or jump. After getting the Hep B shot, the acupuncture needles barely registered.

I have two more Hep B shots to go--one in a month and another five months after. It feels good to have that marked off my list.

Today, I have my first points class. I'm excited and nervous. I have this underlying fear that I'll be so overwhelmed by all this new information that my brain will just lock down and not retain any of it.

So, I breathe, play with my dog and cat, and I laugh loudly with my friends and boyfriend. It helps.