I've been battling with severe headaches for as long as I can remember.

After trying to get rid of them by medicating myself, wearing prescription glasses, getting rid of the unnecessary hormones I used to put in my body, after being wrongfully diagnosed migrainous (although it was a relief to put a name on my pain) and given some serious drugs, I decided to try something else to get to the root of the problem.

I had recently moved to a super nice neighborhood and walked past a wellness center which regroups talented teachers & practitioners, amongst whom is a female acupuncturist. I had never done acupuncture before, but thought I could give it a try.

After meeting her for a long talk about my health situation, we decided to meet twice a week. We started the treatment with cupping, needles, and a herbal prescription to take twice a day (the second time with a shot of white wine!), gua sha and moxibustion (many new terms to learn for me!). I followed the treatment for a few weeks and we then spaced out the appointments as the results were starting to be nothing short of amazing!

I realized that my body is pretty clever, trying to divert the pain somewhere else, migrating it to either my ovaries or my stomach at the beginning of the treatment. I loved the metaphors she used to explain how our body and organs work, it's all a question of politics, who's gonna rule your body?!

Of course, my decision to take care of this problem forms part of a holistic approach I adopted which consists of slowing down and taking care of myself and of my body a little more. Other things have changed in my life, besides the fact that I relocated to Oregon six months ago after one short year in California and that I now work from home, in a dedicated office, with a view on my very own backyard. Moxibustion and meditation are now part of my daily routine, I seasonally follow a 3-week cleanse and I'm about to start reading this book (terrible title and cover, but it was warmly recommended to me) about womanhood.

I was surprised about how tiny and flexible the needles are. What about you? Did you try acupuncture? What for? How was it?