Acupuncture, Conversations with a Doctor’s Wife

by Monica Steiner

My husband of 29 years is Dr. Greg, and he’s been doing acupuncture for 28 of those years.  We met in martial arts. One hot day in Austin he suffered a terrible martial arts accident in which he tore the tendons and ligaments in his ankle.  At that time Greg was a very serious martial artist- the right hand man to the Korean temple-trained master, and he was under pressure to get back to training and teaching, but his ankle wasn’t getting any better.

Greg’s and my first experience with acupuncture was one afternoon when two Korean doctors and master acupuncturists treated him. Only after their care did the ankle start healing; and within a year Greg decided to go back to school (at the age of 30) to learn this type of healing himself. Today he is a Grandmaster martial artist in his own right, bodybuilder, and avid sprinter who has personally benefited from the healing power of acupuncture.

So, How does acupuncture work?  The Chinese found 2,500 years ago that the energy of life they call Chi or Ki flows through the body in an organized system.  Each organ, each gland, each muscle and bone receive this energy in a daily cycle, with more at special times of the day.  If the energy system is working well, the person is strong, healthy, energetic and happy.  So if something bad happens like catching a rare cold, they quickly get better.  If they cut themselves, they quickly heal. Their appetite is normal, and they don’t crave anything.  They may get sad from time to time, but never depressed.  In other words, they are able to adapt to the changes of life- naturally and completely.

Acupuncture turns on your body’s own inborn healing system.  Weight gain, fatigue, chronic pain and all the other things we spoke of are signs of a healing system that’s either sleeping or on strike!  Actually, they are all symptoms of a healing system that has been overloaded, damaged, or malnourished for so long that it has lost its natural and inborn ability to balance itself.

I love this approach and it has become my first go-to whenever I feel something out of whack. I recognize the stresses and strains I put on my  body and mind on a daily basis; the strenuous workouts, the responsibilities of family life, the daily “shuttle service” to get my children to their activities and oh, of course, the stresses of working!  I use it first and foremost as prevention and unquestionably when I have an injury or am not feeling quite right.