Allergies and Acupuncture

(Gonna try to write a short'em'up blog this time...somehow it never seems to work out for me.)

Last Friday was another Acupuncturist appointment for me, meaning another two months at Zaadz!  Crazy, huh?

My acupuncturist was Completely stoked to hear about all the changes that are being realized in my life!  After bitching about my job to her for a year and a half, the combination of her and you awesome zaadz-folk finally did the trick ;-)  Also?  Turns out she saw one of the Zaadz ads, and was going to recommend the site to me!  But first thing out of my mouth was "So I found this amazing place..!"  and she loved it.

Anyway, I went into the treatment feeling good, and came out feeling Great, like always. Five-element acupuncture is such an interesting thing that way.  She opened up some blockages I had in the sinus-kinda-head-area (I hadn't even brought up my allergies yet when she took my pulses and found the block) which was another one of those fascinating things she does... And the rest were some support-type points for the changes that are coming.

So, something Shelly said on the blog I wrote about allergies has stuck in my head, and I've been thinking it over a lot, lately.  She brought up how many allergies have emotional roots and ties. I've had horrible allergies since I was a kid, so I keep wondering...is there anything emotional that could be there?

On the ride home from my appointment, I felt so aware, open, the world was so vibrant; I was so alert that I decided to clear my mind, put some attention at the points she had hit, and see what came up in my mind.

I thought back to childhood, and all these memories came to surface. Interestingly enough, these memories were all of the pets I had as I grew up; my dogs Leica (a medium-sized white mutt), Fluffer (toy poodle and shitzu - we used to call him a shitzoodle), and O'Malley, my cat.   All these friends of mine are long gone passed away now, but apparently anything but forgotten.

The rest of this gets a little corny, but it was a touching moment. Y'see, it wasn't exactly the memories of my times with these souls that were coming up, but rather the extreme feeling of love that I had for them as a child.

Ever had those feelings when giving pets some lovin' where there's just so much energy and emotion welled up inside that you don't know what to do with it?  Teeth grit, grip tightens, just feel like shakin' it all out?  I had a lot of those moments as a kid. It's actually only the past couple of years through martial arts and meditation that I've learned what to Do with it!  Anyway, back to the memories.

While paying attention to driving (naturally!) these memories kept coming up.  The memories of excited little puppies coming home for the first time sliding around on linoleum, not understanding that we were going outside for a very specific purpose and not just for play... Sometimes I would just capture them in a close hug. The memories of Leica who would take this very well as she stood there, worried eyes darting around not really knowing just what to do.  These were some of my best friends.

So, I'm thinking back to all this, and...well, and my eyes start wellin' and the nose starts stuffin'.  All very familiar emotiony beginnings for me. This is the point in a movie where I start counter-measures for saving face.  The time that I'd sniff a little and hold it back, thinking it silly to act such a way over a dumb dog or cat. And then I caught my self, in the act of catching my self.  I pondered, and felt and experienced.

Shelly...allergies...emotions... Is this what they mean?  These feelings of stuffied sinus, puffied eyes; isn't this about what it feels like when my allergies start coming on?  So I relax, I open myself to the experience.  I didn't ever break into a full cry or nothin', but I felt.  The rain was falling on my windshield, (the trees were so vibrant out my open window! they love a  good rain) and the additional filter of excess optical fluid gave the world a bit of a glow.  I pondered.

I thought back to all the times where I haven't let my self get to appreciate this feeling.  Actually, at it's onset, the battle of inhibition begins as I pull back, away from the afflicted areas.  I thought about attention, pain, and tickling.  It always hurts less when I feel the pain.  My feet are un-tickleable since now there's a part of me that lives in them and doesn't run away.  Emotional components to allergies, huh?  Is this an example of like curing like?  Do I ignore these areas in such a way that when tickled by a tree's "making love to my face" (thanks for that one, Tsuya!) the tickled resistence of experience coaxes on the sneeze of expelling? 

Anyway, so much for the short blog this time.  I have some stuff to focus on, though.  I need to make some meditation with the goal of exploring. Do I need to rent a sappy movie?  Interestingly enough, lately I've noticed something about my breathing in general.  What does it mean when you feel like you're "missing half of my breath?"  The front half, actually.  I'm now trying to breath in deeply, expanding the "frong half" of my breath and letting go.  I'm getting the most fascinating clicks and pops out of my chest as it gives the impression of opening.  Hopefully I won't hurt my self ;-)

And my allergies?  Two sneezing attacks since Friday.  Two too many, but far less than before.  Or is it all in my head?  Or Is It All In My Head.