Piercings

Went to a sinseh today for an ache in my shoulder. The sinseh started with acupuncture. It's supposed to be painless but today, one of the points really hurt. Don't know if it's cos she didn't insert that one properly, or because that's where the worst pain was. The feeling of numbness when the needle hit the meridian point was so strong, it's painful. Let's just say it's no fun when she turned on the device to send electrical impulses down the needles - to stimulate the meridian points and speed up recovery.

Post-treatment, as I lay waiting for the senior sinseh for a final check, the sinseh saw my belly ring and exclaimed, "Wow, you even need to have a diamond at your belly! Does it hurt?" (Of course, it's only crystal. I would have to be extremely loaded to own a diamond that size. I'ld never pay for one anyway.) I said no. Not much more than the ear though it takes longer to heal, even longer than the fifth piercing on my ear. The sinseh then said that I shouldn't pierce my ears anymore because there are over a hundred meridian points in your ears. Wonder what damage have I done to my health already? (She also said it's too late, even if you let the piercings close now. Damage done.)

Referring to my belly ring, she added that I should refrain from exposing my belly, particularly when the weather is cool, since the navel is linked to some part (I couldn't understand the Chinese term) which governs your chi. This corresponds to one of the seven chakras in yogic terms - the manipura chakra near the navel - which is the main storage centre for prana. So mum was right when she said exposing your belly is not good for health. I'm guessing, this probably also explains why the Egyptian bellydancers wear jewels over their navels: to protect their life force, and not so much because it's obsene to expose your navel.