I am not scared of needles, but I have never had acupuncture before I walked into this office, so I didn’t know what to expect. I work with my arms and hands a lot, and get regular massages, but my massage therapist suggested something deeper.
When I made an appointment with Jennifer, she was warm and answered all my questions about how acupuncture worked. When I met her at her office, she was similarly warm and explained that she would be doing a thorough intake including asking questions about physical and emotional things that might not seem connected. She asked about the foods I eat, the stress of my job, the hours I work, the things I do for fun, and the things I do to take care of myself. I really liked that she took her time with me. Her presence was very calming and I felt totally comfortable sharing personal details with her.
After my intake, she took my pulses and looked at my tongue, and asked me a few more questions to clarify what we had talked about. Basically, I work a lot and am always challenged to spend the time to take care of myself. Since she is a working mom like me, I totally felt like she could relate to my 24-hour a day mom and work schedule, which was really nice.
She had me lie on the table on my back, and put these super fine needles in. I don’t know how many – not a lot, but more than several. Before putting a few of them in, she asked me if a spot was tender before choosing it, sometimes giving me the option of one spot vs. another. The needles were much thinner than I expected, almost hair thin! They weren’t painful going in, just a little zingy feeling on a couple of them. What followed was so interesting!
Jennifer dimmed the lights, directed a soothing heat lamp on my feet, handed me a bell to ring if I needed her, and then left me to relax. Within minutes of her shutting the door, I experienced a deep zonking out and these super vivid dreams! I think I was out for at least a half hour. All I remember is her coming back in the room and asking me how I was doing, and gently taking the needles out.
After fully waking up, I felt calm. I felt quiet. I felt like I had been on vacation somehow. I wasn’t making the lists in my head that I usually make whenever I have a quiet moment, even, which I what I had originally planned to do when she told me that she would be leaving me to relax!
Jennifer did a little massage on my shoulder area, which felt great and also helped me wake up fully. I walked out of there feeling light and happy and like a few layers of stress had been peeled away!
Now I know why my massage therapist swears by Jennifer and and acupuncture; that was truly awesome, and I will so be back!
-Janell C.
