Sucker for a Cure

Finally after almost 3 weeks of being back to school, I have a moment...that is right a moment, to write a blog post. Allow me to give you the obligatory update on life at school before diving into the topic I am more keen on writing about.  This year, I am powering through two eleventh grade classes and one freshman class.  For the first time ever, I am feeling "confident" in the classroom.  I know as I write that word, I am nervous.  As though if writing it, it will make that feeling disappear. Perhaps what is better to say is that I am appreciative, genuinely appreciative of the students.  Having 9th graders, I am able to see how vulnerable they are.  So many pressures await them everyday.  From walking the halls, to participating in class, to the most intense pressure of them all the lunch room, they must make decisions that navigate this social jungle. During today's class meeting, this became so evident to me.  The candidates talked about how they would work through student council to help their classmates feel less intimidated by the upperclassmen. I appreciate this honesty and this reminder that while they are students, confident and capable, they are also children seeking approval, support, and kindness. This is something that they don't always get from their peers, but I hope is always demonstrated by their teachers. And, which I feel more confident this year in providing.  Not having to merely keep my head above water, I am looking forward to a year that is full of work but hopefully full of connections too.

Part of why I feel as though I am no longer merely holding my head above water day to day is because I have started working with Healing Roots Acupuncture of Watertown. Usually, by the end of the day, I feel as though a spool inside of me is spooling up so quickly, tightening my left shoulder into stiff, uncomfortable knots. These knots and anxiety were exhausting. Each day the spasms in my neck would get worse and I felt like I was slowly becoming more and more debilitated. I felt I could not thoroughly enjoy my work because I was too worried about doing my work each day. And the reminder in my shoulder blade did not help this situation. Then I met Terry, my acupuncturist/pharmacist. Initially, I sought her out to assist me in my quest to end my cervical dysplasia, but now as we work through my emotional blocks, I see that in order to heal a piece of me, I must work through all of me. While David thinks this is all hocus pocus, Terry practices Nambudripad’s Allergy Elmination Technique (NAET) and Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET).  Pretty much, I go in and lay down.  I raise my arm and she asks me a series of questions to which my arm will have various reactions and will indicate if I need an adjustment to my spine, an organ, or to breathe through and isolate a feeling or emotion.  I feel so much more relaxed and in control of myself than ever before which may be why I feel more confident in my class and which may in some way trickle down to a healthier internal network of organs, too.