Over the past few weeks, my husband and I have been soaking up the all of the last little bits of China that we can before we head back to Canada. One of the greatest luxuries that I've gotten comfortably accustomed to is frequent massage and reflexology treatment. So, to make the best use of my dwindling time here in China, I've taken up, uh, a sort of personal "clinical" study, so to speak... in other words, I've become extremely hedonistic and have gone for a massage every day that I can... :)
I've done a bit of reading about Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, and endometriosis, but hadn't had the opportunity to try it out for myself. This past month, I had a number of reflexology treatments leading up to my period, and aside from the total bliss that I experienced during the massages, I also (if you can believe this) found my period to be somewhat, uh, blissful as well. Well, I guess blissful is a bit extreme, but... on both days 1 and 2 of my period, I only needed to take 2 painkillers per day. I was shocked and awed! Yay for pampering!
I could chalk this all up to coincidence, but I'm not ready to throw in the towel on this experiment (hehe, who can pass up the opportunity to get their feet rubbed and be pampered like a princess?)... on the contrary, it's produced awesome results. It's been a great stress and PMS-reliever, not to mention cramp-reliever. From what I've read, there is correlation between endometriosis and reflexology, pointing towards pain relief and alleviated endo-related difficulties, which is good news for me. When we get back to Canada, both my husband and I have decided to look further into TCM treatments, such as reflexology and acupuncture. We've read that acupuncture is a good starting point for natural treatments, and I'd really like to do my best to get my body in tip top baby-making-shape...
On a more personal and less endo-related note, we're going back to Canada in 7 days after a year of studying and traveling in China. I'm not 100% sure yet how this really makes me feel... my experiences here have exceeded my expectations. I've had an amazing opportunity to explore - my culture, my goals, my limitations, my expectations, my hopes, and my fears. I am happy to be going home for some obvious reasons: my sister is expecting a baby in 4 months and I haven't seen her in over a year, I miss BBQ, I'm sick of squatting over yucky toilets, and I miss my dog. But I'm going to miss so much about my new life in China, like my friends (whom I don't know when I will get to see again), and Chinese noodles. I feel so ready, yet so unprepared to go home. I'm hopeful, yet hesitant. It's all a big mouthful to swallow, to say the least... from dodging bicycles and spit on the sidewalk in China, to obeying traffic rules and eating with a fork in Canada, I'm sure the journey back home will be an adventure with both benefits and challenges.
In the meantime, to keep my mind off the potential bumps and bruises of the re-entry process, I think I'll continue to stick to my routine of daily foot massage... so far so good, and hey, why must all good things come to an end? I'm going to do my best to get this routine to stick... ;)
Listening to: Bob Marley and the Wailers - Mix Up Mix Up, foxytunes.com
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