Let the Needle Go
Dear Patient,
One time when I was a student intern, I was pulling needles from a patient and one of them would not come out of her arm. That thing was stuck. I pulled gently, then a little less gently, then finally not very gently at all. With each pull it felt like the patient’s cells were tightening around this needle, holding on with all their might.
I brought in my supervisor for help. She tried the same tactics—still nothing. We called in another supervisor. He too gently pulled on the needle, then stopped. He put his hand on her arm, then lightly tapped twice, about an inch from the needle. He pulled again, and the needle glided out.
“How did you do that?” I asked him.
“I told her body it was okay to let the needle go,” he said.
We tighten our grip on the things we think we need, the things we hope so desperately will fix us. But it can get in the way of our living. This patient couldn’t very well walk around with a needle dangling out of her arm for the rest of her life. Eventually there comes a time to let the needle go.
Love and gratitude,
Your Acupuncturist