We’ve all been there. Waking up first thing in the morning with aching pains throughout your body. Not to mention a headache that not even the largest cup of coffee can cure. As a 28 year old business consultant, I too have succumbed to the daunting thoughts of “What if I’m finally getting too old?”. A once active life of playing sports and going on spontaneous adventures with friends simply went away. Instead I lived my life with fatigue and pain, dragged down by a lifestyle of sitting in an office chair. As you will see later, I ended up managing my growing levels of stress through the help of cupping.
Initially, I found my current life style to be exciting. Having a competitive career and the idea of climbing the corporate ladder motivated me to work long hours. Fueled by my aspirations of financial growth, I began to neglect my mental and physical growth. The transition into the aches and negative mindset was an ever so creeping and a slow process. My life began to change from happy and pain free to the stressfully painful one without me ever noticing.
This bitter lifestyle began with plans of going out with friends being rescheduled to a time that never happened. Or, time allotted for the gym interjected with tedious hours of screen time. My soul and mindset was slowly pulled beneath my fingertips with every click on my keyboard. Eventually I grew tired all the time. I found that when I had energy, I would decide it would be best to just catch up on sleep. Until one night I laid down in bed and checked my alarm that displayed a blinking neon red light of 7:36 PM. That was the last straw for me. I realized that I wake up and go to sleep with only the same mundane ritual that has been slowly dismantling my entire life. It was time for a change.
In the beginning I combated the issue at hand with the general recommendations I found by talking to my colleagues. I found these changes to be somewhat helpful, but it didn’t provide the actual care I needed. Initially I began by double downing on my caffeine intake while popping over the counter medications. Because I couldn’t resist my computer screen, I transitioned to blue-light blocking lenses and got a better office chair. I did this for months to no avail. I was simply cushioning or masking the root cause. The aches were bearable, the headaches were less frequent, however my mood was still dreadfully negative.
Until one day, I stumbled across an interesting conversation in our Zoom meeting session a few minutes before everyone else logged in. A consultant that travels from California was speaking about his experience with cupping. Cupping is a holistic approach that requires placing suctioning cups throughout the body to help provide relief with an array of issues, including stress. I didn’t even bother chiming in as I was far too engaged in the talks of relief of the very symptoms I was having! Frankly, I was completely comfortable with the idea of having my skin vacuumed through negative pressure by cups. I had developed the understanding that this was a very sanitized procedure with only small circles of bruising on the skin.
Before the meeting could end, I told my boss I needed to take the rest of the day off. I quickly jumped on the latest search engine and found a whole list of various clinics that practiced cupping. I was able to make an appointment the very same day and even snagged a nice little discount code. Since cupping is an old ancient Chinese practice, I was envisioning an oriental store with red and yellow ornaments. I imagined the smell of foreign incense burning and perhaps a language barrier being present. Boy, was I wrong. Located a few miles within downtown, I entered a legitimate medical practice with white walls and informative posters regarding healthcare. A licensed practitioner ran the place. She was also certified in holistic treatments, such as acupuncture, massage therapy, and of course, cupping.
I signed my name in and headed into one of the many examination rooms. The physician introduced herself and asked me what my symptoms were. I informed her of all the pains I developed and the nagging headaches. Being a little bit more truthful, I also mentioned that I didn’t feel like myself anymore either. The physician nodded and began explaining how the entire body is connected and that the human body does a tremendous job in maintaining balance; homeostasis is the scientific terminology for this. She explained that the body is constantly struggling with balancing out the harmful effects of society’s current lifestyle and dieting. She mentioned that with cupping, she could assist with channeling energy throughout the body and also relieve stress. More importantly, she also was confident I’d have a better outlook on life afterwards.
With every seamless cup placement on my neck, back, and shoulders I felt my skin suctioned up by the pressure. I felt that each cup placed on the areas where I carried stress literally pulled that stress out of my skin. No pain, no sensation at all really, but definitely a more soothing feeling. By the time the session finished, I felt better, but not completely restored. I began incorporating cupping as a regimen and after a month of weekly sessions I began to take notice of the full effects. I became lighter, looser and like my old self again.
There was one key thing that my physician told me and she mentioned that cupping isn’t going to solve the root cause of my issues, but my daily habits will. With the teachings of eastern medicine at hand and the help of cupping, I also began to eat better, exercise more, work less, and reconnect with friends. You see, there isn’t one magical treatment, but many tiny ones that play a large role in your health. Cupping is one of those positive shifts in your daily life that can help obtain that sense of balance, especially in times of high stress.
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