Interesting pulse experience!

[Armin]

Hi Ann & everyone,

So I had a bit of a scary pulse experience couple of days ago. I was taking the pulse of a young man with a lot of health issues. It was his first acupuncture experience. I was feeling the right cun position and noticed that it was pretty empty; the pulse was no where to be found. It eventually showed itself a bit. I inquired about any past lung or intestinal issues but nothing came up. Then sensitively and at the right time, or so I thought, asked about any unresolved grief to which he responded with a confirmation. Before I had a chance to say that well we don’t need to talk about it if he is not ready for it, I felt this strong wave of vertigo with a bit of nausea. It shook me for a few seconds and I had to take couple of deep breaths and lift my finger from that position before composing myself.

I guess that was one way for him to say don’t even go there. Would there be any other explanation aside from me going somewhere I shouldn’t have gone with my conversation?

Thank you,
Armin

[Ann Cecil-Sterman]

Hi Armin,

Yes, he sent a gatekeeper unknowingly. How to avoid it? The first thing to remember is to leave the patient’s energy over there, with them. It’s energy and it need not be experienced in your body at all. The thing to cultivate is the experiencing of the patient’s energy in their body, not yours. So you probably received instruction to work on that, Armin, which is a gift in itself. I see this skill as a deciding factor in how much a patient will show you. They know what you can tolerate and what you can’t. And if you feel it in their body, not yours, they know they can reveal an unlimited amount of themselves.

Thanks for writing.
xoAnn

[Armin]

Thank you Ann! Makes perfect sense. Less in my own head and more with the patient.

[Elizabeth Ross]

Thank you both for this post and response. I needed to learn from this as well.

[Amy Matthews]

Oh man, I want to star this post and come back to it over and over again! This is a skill I definitely need to cultivate! Thank you Armin for the question and Ann for the response!

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