Stressed out and exhausted London blogger MyBlondeReality tries acupuncture.
Read her fantastic blog piece below!
"Having led a somewhat stressful life to date, a culmination of a previous crazy career, I was in desperate need of some magic.
Headaches, bad sleep, anxiety, exhaustion, you name it. A self perpetuating vicious circle. I was in a funk and it was way more than just the product of a busy life, I was beyond ‘meh,’ and something really needed to be done.
I wanted to get back to my old self and I had put it off for far too long.
I didn’t need a rest, I needed to reset.
Having undergone a successful course of acupuncture a decade ago for a sporting injury that nothing had been able to touch, I decided to give it another go.
I really wasn’t keen on suggestions made by my GP. I didn’t want to mask the symptoms with painkillers or other long term meds, at least not at first, I wanted a cure.
I was mindful that I didn’t want to visit just anyone, the stakes were too high.
I wanted the very best. There was no way I was going to let just anyone stick needles in me (!) and so with the help of The British Acupuncture Council www.acupuncture.org.uk, I set about researching the very best acupuncturist in London.
I wanted the best and I found the best. Her name is Kate Winstanley.
I visited Kate at the Lomax Centre on the Fulham Road www.lomaxpt.com. Lomax is the home to bespoke fitness, nutrition and wellbeing and quite frankly, is an oasis. An absolute retreat, a darling of a place, but more of that in a later post.
I believe Kate also has a clinic on Harley Street.
My first appointment (first of a course of six treatments) was 45 minutes long.
Kate put me at my ease immediately. A calm, yet authoritative woman, I knew I had picked well.
A really, really through consultation was followed by my first treatment.
Half a dozen needles were put in, (but don’t worry, they are the size of a human hair).
So thin, that they are really nothing to worry about.
It does hurt a bit though when they go in, I won’t lie to you, and you do feel a strange (but not bad) sensation, an almost magnetic pull to the site of the needle, but it is fine. Certainly less traumatic than giving blood.
Some in my ear, some in my toes, some in my wrists (those hurt the most) and always one in my ‘third eye.’ Some stayed in, some went in and came straight out.
Pulses were taken, (apparently you have several in each arm) and adjustments made. I was then left to relax in a warm candlelit room whilst the needles did their magic.
After the treatment I was sent home, told to expect to be a little tired, and off I went.
For the first time in years, yes YEARS, I slept like a baby, it was awesome, so refreshing and so desperately needed. After a full 9 hours boy was I bouncy. Hyperactive was an understatement and it was so nice to finally feel good and see a glimmer of my old self.
Now, to be fair, I didn’t have this reaction after every session, after the second I was emotional, after the third I was drained, but after that, I started to better and better.
Headaches were fewer and far between, energy levels were excellent and my enthusiasm for life, work, love, literally everything was out of bounds.
It really was magic.
I’m told top up treatments will be needed every now and again, but currently I’m still sleeping like a baby and that is a couple of months after my last session.
If I do need to hit the pause button again though it’s no biggie, I have my secret weapon still on speed dial…