I removed tiny pieces of Moxa from a brown paper bag, and I held them to the flame until they had a steady burn.
I then stuck that Moxa to my skin, on points Teeny had thoughtfully plotted out for me last night at my appointment.
(sadly, it is with this picture that I am forced
to come to terms with the fact that I have kankles)
I sat back and looked at my legs and wondered:
“When the heck did I become such a hippy?!?”
This is the first time Teeny has ever sent me home with one of her treatments. Obviously she’s given me herbs before, and plenty of instruction about diet, but she’s never actually set me up with a do-it-yourself Chinese medicine cure before.
Yet here I am, burning Moxa on my own skin.
Like a pro I tell ya.
A friend asked me recently if I really buy into all the hocus pocus that Teeny fills my head up with.
I think it was the squirrel poop that made her ask.
But the answer is yes… and no.
If you had told me about any of the crazy things I would be buying into two years ago, I would have laughed at you. I was not a girl with flighty beliefs or hippy ideals. I was a skeptic.
And in many ways I still am.
Some of it definitely makes me scrunch my nose up and wonder what good it could possibly do. There are absolutely sessions where Teeny will suggest something and I burst out laughing before telling her how weird she is.
But you know what? It’s not like Western medicine has been doing me a ton of favors here either.
The drug my doctors had me on initially tore me apart. My hair was falling out, my skin in shambles, my stomach a mess, and my mood in the pits. I was exhausted all the time, and a bundle of tears most days.
Which all would have been well and good had the drug actually worked, but it didn’t. Not really. Not completely. It helped with my pain levels a great deal, but the endo was still spreading.
So if it’s completely reasonable for me to still have at least some faith in Western medicine, I don’t think it’s totally crazy to put some of it into the Eastern practices as well.
And the truth is, while I may not believe in everything Teeny talks me into, I do believe in Teeny. I believe that when she gets passionate and worked up about the ways in which she can help me, she trusts fully in what she’s telling me.
And it’s hard to resist that kind of faith.
Plus, I know what I’ve seen in the last year of working with her. I know that sometimes she sticks needles in my legs and I feel them in my sides. I know that the spots that hurt the most, are always the ones directly related to my ovaries. I know that it wasn’t until I started seeing her that my energy levels began going back up and my ability to handle the pain increased.
Teeny has never promised me a cure for endometriosis. She has never claimed she could make it go away or that she could resolve all the issues attached.
But the promises she has made, she has always been able to keep.
So when Teeny tells me that my kidney and bladder pulses are low, and I need to spend a little extra time supporting my system this week – I believe her.
When she explains that sticking needles in my eyelids will help to regulate my completely out of whack hormones – I trust that she knows what she’s talking about.
And when she suggests I start drinking some squirrel poop tea to help slow the progression of my disease – I want to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Which leads me to right here. Right now.
Sitting in my room with some Moxa burning on my feet.
Believing 100% that I’m doing my part to support my kidney and bladder while those baby making estrogen patches have my endo on the attack.
Submitting to the reality that maybe (just maybe);
I kind of believe in some of this hocus pocus.
