The study of Classical Acupuncture has and continues to transform my practice into an experience of unbelievable joy where I am regularly surprised beyond my wildest dreams. Day in and day out I have the privilege of witnessing the immense power and unyielding benevolence of these channels and each day I am humbled and grateful to be in their presence. Recently, I encountered something that truly astonished me more than anything I had ever seen before…
I had the good fortune of treating a one-year-old girl who had great difficulty moving her body. She was unable to hold her head up reliably, her parents described that her body just seemed too heavy for her, and that her legs and arms were often quite flaccid and limp. Her mother said she would just lay down with her legs splayed open as she changed her diaper, never really moving or engaging her muscles. Her parents had taken her to innumerable appointments with specialists, neurologists, PTs, OTs, chiropractors; the list was endless. After ruling out other causes, they were handed the diagnosis of hypotonia– decreased muscle tone, a condition where muscles are floppy, and lack resistance. Her father shared with me that the diagnosis never sat well with him. It felt to him like a last ditch effort where the doctors tried to give them an answer. They didn’t fully understand what it meant, only that they had been told their daughter would likely need mobility aids for the rest of her life. Up to that point, she could not crawl. They were told she was small for her size. There was also decreased tone around her right eye. In her attempts to move, or often when she was picked up, she would arch her back dramatically, as if trying to propel herself forward.
What a blessing it is to study a medicine so complete that the very first cycle of seven and eight years is so clearly described. And how soothing it was for her parents to hear that we could make sense of what they had been experiencing, and share that understanding with them. To have access to channels that allow us, when hearing such a case, to say with full sincerity: This makes sense to us. Yes, even that she arches her back. This is what we would expect through the lens of Classical Chinese Medicine.
About a week before this little baby was referred to me, I found myself speaking with Ann during the Eight Extraordinary Vessels class I hosted in Portland. I said to her, without thinking, “This time, I’m here for Chong.” As always, Ann’s teaching is profoundly moving and leaves each of us with a sense that something in our practice is about to shift.
Working with adults is easy and joyful, but I had no idea what to expect from the intake of a one-year-old. How might we communicate? It turns out, with great ease and clarity as children are so beautifully unencumbered. From the moment she entered the clinic, I could feel that she was comfortable, at ease— she knew she was meant to be there that day.
I mentioned to her mother that her daughter’s face and skin complexion was noticeably lighter than that of her sibling. She nodded and told me they affectionately call her “ghosty.” Many others, she said, had created nicknames for her because of her pallor.
The channel needing activation was third trajectory Chong Mai: insufficient yang financing to the city of muscles with visible blood stagnation and significant facial pallor. All points were stimulated with a toothpick and a tiny amount of Patchouli oil. SP-4 was needled in and out with a 36-gauge needle and vibrated using the Eight Extraordinary technique.
It was truly extraordinary to follow her lead (as we are always meant to do with our patients). If she shifted in a way that opened a point, I went there. Often she allowed me to remain on a point with the toothpick for 20–60 seconds. When I inserted the needle into SP4 she watched with curiosity. Then she looked up and gave me a giant smile. To this day, she has never cried with a needle insertion.
Within 5–10 minutes of the first treatment, her mother and I both noticed a clear change in her face – the shape of her eye changed and lifted immediately. After the second treatment, she was able to crawl, pulling herself up, and beginning to “cruise,” just as children that age do. Her Mom and Dad cried in relief during follow up visits because they no longer need to worry about their little girl anymore – they see her being able to truly blossom.
Just a week before her first treatment, her parents had begun making plans to move because they believed she would never be able to climb stairs and their current house has a large staircase. Now, she’s climbing up the stairs so quickly that her mother has to block off the staircase. One evening, she harnessed her new-found strength and coordination to push aside kitchen chair barriers and made it halfway up the staircase before the family dog alerted her mother that she had escaped! I am beginning to truly understand what Ann means when she says that everything is limitless.
If you are considering studying in this way, please do. The gift of the study of Classical Chinese Medicine is one of the greatest gifts of my life— second only to my children, Javier and Lucia, and my loving husband, Mark (though I know without a doubt if it weren’t for this study I wouldn’t have them either). I feel deeply blessed to know and love these channels in this way. They are our birthright. And if you feel called to know them, they will welcome you too!