Workshop - Day One

I am in awe. Today flowed so well. Everyone arrived after long journeys traveling. Some took overnight buses, others took multiple buses and taxis to arrive from their pueblos. Most of the participants have not experienced acupuncture before so after breakfast and introductions Julia and I gave everyone a treatment.

Overall, we kept the day at a relaxed pace. Some of the participants were obviously tired. Many of them were going to stay at the office of Ceciproc. There is one long couch and one bed and some thin mats for the floor. When Lauro had told me that some of them would stay there I had assumed that it meant that there would be space for them. We want them to be well rested in order to learn well. Two blocks away is a youth hostel so we booked rooms for them. This way they can have comfortable beds, showers, and be ready to go each day. In the hotels I had stayed at in Mexico City I had been collecting shampoo, soap and body lotions (thanks Lucy for helping with this!). I hd asked Rico to also bring some samples from the states. Sundance, a Eugene natural food store, donated a bag of samples of all of the above. It turned out great to have these "goodie bags" to give to them while they stay at the hostel. They are in this workshop to do servicework and were willing to travel long distances and sleep on a floor in order to be here. I am humbled.

They learned the locations of the 5 points today. They are learning a protocol of 5 points used to balance the body, thereby treating physical and emotional issues. These 5 points used together are profound - they were originally combined to use for addiction treatments and in the last 10+ years they have been used for post traumatic stress. There are many benefits to this style of treatment - many people can be treated at the same time, it is very economical, treatments can be done anywhere, it is very effective and it is simple to learn. Today I explained that plus the basics of chinese medicine and acupuncture...in spanish. It inspires me to continue to study spanish to do it better.

Once we got into the hands-on of point location the enthuhsiasm and energy picked up. People used golf tees to locate the points. Julia is an excellent teacher, she explains things in a simple, understandable way. I loved watching how she recognizes the needs of the group and is able to flow with it. Last night we had a plan for the day and that plan evolved during the day. The most important thing is the final outcome - that everyone leaves this workshop confident in practicing in their home pueblos. I feel that life is about adapting the process to what is needed and we'll reach the goal. I went to Antioch College where the attitude was that life is an open book test.

By the end of the day everyone could find all of the points. Since most of them are staying together I think that it is likely that there will be more practice tonight. I feel that today was very successful.