I scheduled a second Acupuncture appointment today for right after I finished teaching. (My first appointment was on Day 4.) I like having my "self-care" appointments on Tuesday afternoons because once I am done teaching my Tuesday classes I don't have to teach any yoga classes until Thursday. So I feel like whatever adjustments I get will have time to settle in before I get all active again.
I woke up with a sore throat this morning. I wonder if it's because I finished the website redesign? You know how you can be doing all these stressful things and be fine, and then as soon as you stop, that is when you get sick? Well, I'm not sick but I don't feel 100%. Jodie, my acupuncturist, said that my skin was really tough today and that that is a sign that the body is fighting something off. She called it the "way" or something like that. She had a hard time getting the needles to go in around my jaw due to tough skin. Weird, huh? Also, I felt very tired and I think I fell asleep during my session, which I never do because I'm afraid I'll move and stab a needle deep in where it doesn't belong. Or I'll move and fall off the high table. But neither of these things happened and I feel better after treatment.
One thing that struck me was that at the beginning of the practice Ms. Carnes recommends letting go of any agendas or goals that you may have entered the practice with - even the goal of being relaxed. It makes sense. If we come at something from a place of lack then we are already saying that we don't have that thing. So if I want to relax I need to just settle in to where I am and tell myself that I am relaxed, or that I embody relaxation. This is the idea behind Sankalpa too. I re-posted a great article called Inspired Intention ~ The Nature of Sankalpa that talks about this in depth. If you are interested in "working on yourself" without starting in lack, please have a look at this article.