Acupuncture school teaches you a lot about Qi, organs, and point location. What it doesn’t warn you about is the quiet personality restructuring that happens along the way. Somewhere between memorizing meridians and folding clinic linens, you learn that some things aren’t fixed with needles or herbs. Some things are fixed by reframing expectations, sighing deeply, and letting your Liver Qi calm down about it.
Some migraines don’t come out of nowhere. They build quietly in the neck, jaw, and nervous system long before the pain reaches the head. This post explores a lesser-talked-about Small Intestine pattern in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where migraines are linked to discernment, unresolved emotional information, and a body that never quite stood down. If your migraines feel foggy, full, and connected to tension that never fully lets go, this might be the missing piece.
I’m completing a three-year acupuncture program compressed into two, with the same curriculum and clinical hours in far less time. It’s demanding, exhausting, and deeply meaningful all at once. This is a reflection on choosing a faster path, missing home, and learning to practice care that’s steady, grounded, and real.
A personal journal-style update from my TCM student life. I went home to New Brunswick, remembered what real balance feels like, and realized how my body has been reacting to a diet that does not match my constitution. School is full, my nervous system is loud, and my Spleen is waving both arms in the air. This is the honest, messy side of becoming a practitioner.