My Experience with Acupuncture - Meredith Viguers

Stillpoint is my second experience with acupuncture, the first being at the Tai Sophia Institute in Maryland. As a nursing student living on school loans, I am often looking for cost-conscious modes of accessing alternative healthcare for my chronic health issues, and the Stillpoint Open Door Clinic has provided me with a manner of getting the treatment I need without sacrifice of other necessities. In the clinic, I feel that I get the same individual attention and caring from Heather that I would receive in any other environment. Despite the presence of other people receiving treatment, the room is calm and quiet. I am at peace there, and often find myself drifting into a blissful meditative retreat from my hectic days.

It is interesting to me to compare our medical model of health with the traditional model that includes acupuncture, herbs, and energy healing. In the current American approach to healthcare we have an unfortunate focus on the treatment of the symptoms of illness with pharmaceuticals, whereas the traditional medicines focus on prevention by fostering balance within the body that includes the energetic, physical, and emotional realms. I always feel completely at ease with Heather, and have often shared that in the vast ocean of doctors, nurses, and specialists that have tried to treat me in the past, I feel like she is an island of refuge who is truly interested in listening to me and trying to help. She does not purport to have any immediate answers, but when chronic illness is so interlaced with emotion, I feel like Heather is a calming influence, and that she is striving to treat me as a whole person rather than a mere illness. Through working with her, I have found some relief from my complex symptoms, as well as solace in the idea that I have a partner in my healing.

I only wish that more people knew about this wonderful method of healing and will continue to experience its beneficial effects with open minds and open hearts. Something that the traditional medicines have known for millennia, yet that I am only beginning to learn is that people have the power to heal themselves. This change, though, can only be accomplished if we make a conscious effort to take breaks from the millions of little things thrust upon us by our outer environments that we feel are so important, and make time and space for the holistic healing that comes from within.