WHEN THE BODY SPEAKS (AND YOU FINALLY LISTEN)

When I work with my pain patients, they’re often amazed at how I find the exact spot that hurts — even the ones they didn’t know were tight. I usually joke that I must have magnets in my hands.

But what I’ve realized over time is that it’s not magic — it’s pattern recognition.

Years of reading the body through the channels has taught me where pain shows up when life gets heavy.

As I work, I ask questions connected to the channels involved.

If the tension runs up the side of the leg or sits high in the traps along the Gallbladder channel, I’ll ask about decision-making burdens — the weight of having to be clear, even when clarity feels costly.

If I’m working the Large Intestine channel in the arms or the Stomach channel in the legs, we’ll talk about digestion — not just food, but life itself. What’s been hard to process? What can’t you release?

Acupuncture uses precise points to restore movement and circulation — helping the body release what’s been held too long.

It’s Chinese medicine, not energy medicine — but the more I work, the more I see how emotion and physiology speak the same language.

When I’m treating pain with acupuncture and tui na, the goal is to help the body move what’s stagnated. With acute pain, the root usually isn’t deep, so once circulation is restored, the pain often resolves and doesn’t return. But with chronic pain, it’s different. We can move what’s stuck — and we do — but we also have to look at why Qi keeps getting stuck in the first place. That’s where real, lasting relief begins.

The body always speaks first.

We just learn to tune it out — or worse, to wear our pain tolerance like a badge of honor.

But maybe strength isn’t about how much pain you can hold.

Maybe it’s about being willing to ask, “Why is my body holding this at all?”

So I’ll leave you with a question:

What might your body be trying to tell you through what hurts the most right now?