I’m in the San Francisco airport, soon to board for Korea after a particularly intense weekend on divergent channels across the bay in Berkeley. It was beautifully hosted by Ozben Felek in a relaxed herbal center in the middle of a park, as she breast fed little Oakyanus, while her husband and brother took care of big sister Hazel, aged 2, right outside on the grass. It was a gargantuan effort which she handled masterfully. And it was a treat to meet so many new people and to reconnect with many more, as the community grows fast with real warmth, in every city.
On the first night, we went out for dinner at Chez Panisse, the pioneering farm-to-table restaurant opened by Alice Waters in 1971. Although I was familiar with this wonderful restaurant, the ingredients were again a revelation. Afterwards, however, on the way out I missed a step and fell spectacularly; my ankle bent as though hinged. A lovely man, standing close-by, bend down and took my hand, but try as might, standing was elusive. All I could think was, “No way! I WILL go to Korea after this class to teach in the mountains.” Canceling is never an option, especially when students are already in transit.
I slipped off my shoe, and for a few minutes dug my fingernail very hard into the cuticle points ST-45, GB-44, and BL-67 in that order. Immediately the qi started moving and then I could begin to move my toes a little. A few minutes later, when I was sure nothing was broken, I made it to the sidewalk. The next morning, just as I realized that the poor foot wouldn’t be able to walk to the Berkeley teaching venue, my student, Melinda Wheeler, unaware of my predicament, texted to ask if I needed anything. I texted back, “Yes, actually, I need a sinew treatment when I arrive to class please.” Soon after, I was on the demonstration table. “What’s the most difficult movement to make?’ she asked. I could rotate it a bit and stand on it fairly well, but walking was very difficult and terribly painful. That told her that the wei qi was stuck in the Tai Yang sinew which runs from the pinky toe to the top of the head. Melinda prepared for a sinew treatment which in this case according to pulses required dispersing LU-7, then she needled the Jing-well point, BL-67, and then went back to my head and began the palpation journey from up there. When she found the location of compensation—a small area above the shoulder blade—she released the tightness very quickly with lighting fast needling, and my shoulder immediately let go. I thought she would keep going, but in her assessment, that was such a release that the entire channel could possibly be free, including the ankle. I got off the table and walked with absolutely no obstruction and didn’t need to sit down all day. The whole thing took less than five minutes. Over the next two days, my foot turned deep blue on both sides and at KI-1 on the sole of the foot, but all the while I’ve had full mobility, and will board the plane any minute. It is a poignant joy to be treated by one of my own advanced students, experiencing her certainty and skill. She knew exactly what to do.
People who have neither experienced nor heard of a medicine this powerful might think, “Well, it couldn’t possibly have been a bad injury!”
We wait for them to catch up, hoping it won’t require a bad tumble in the process. Meanwhile, I’m off to those mountains.
Ann Cecil-Sterman
7 October 2026
San Francisco
