“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”~ John Lennon

The plan

I had plans to become a director. Or an actress. Or a screenwriter. Or all together.
I worked at this wonderful dynamic production company called P.O.V productions, I started as the administrative it-girl, and went on to be a production coordinator and thought to myself that this is the place I want to be.
I decided to study cinematography and television in Tel-Aviv University, and I was very excited about it.
I started my first semester and I couldn’t think of anything better. There were good teachers, I had to watch movies, create movies….
But there was something missing and I didn’t know what.

Pretty soon I looked around and saw that I wasn’t into movies as I thought I was.
I was surrounded by movie-junkies: they ate, drank, dreamt and breathed movies. As for myself, I admit I had more than movies in my mind. In fact, I had less movies in my mind.

Soon after that I realized that I’m not going to be a director.
A director has a vision in his mind. A director can close his/her eyes and see exactly what’s going to be in the final movie.
I couldn’t even see one take.
Then I found out that I’m not going to be an actress.
You can only be something that burns inside you. If acting isn’t flowing your in veins, you’re better off looking for something else.
Then I realized I’m not going to be a screenwriter.
I couldn’t write a script if my life depended on it.

After realizing all that, I had to choose to study about the production of movies- behind the scenes or something else altogether.
Wait a moment- wasn’t I already doing that in P.O.V productions? Why do I need to study it when the best way to learn the stuff is to just do it?

Life happens- just like the song says

I was very confused.
It took me less than 2 weeks to realize that I am at the wrong place and that the time will never be right for me to study cinematography and television.
It all felt wrong and I was not as happy as I was on the first day.
I couldn’t remember what attracted me to enroll to those classes.

I could remember my shiatsu classes.
1996-1997 was my year in shiatsu, which was my introduction to Chinese Medicine.
That year opened up a whole new world for me, and I can’t even remember why I went to study shiatsu.
But I remember thinking at the end of the year “this isn’t over”.

I dropped out of university and enrolled to the spring semester of Chinese Medicine studies.
The minute I sat in the chair in school, for the very first time in the very first class, I felt I came back home.
Chinese Medicine has been my home ever since.

How do you say ‘Yael Spielberg’ in Chinese Medicine?

Chinese Medicine is not just a form of medicine. It is also a form of art.
Here the practitioner gets to be the director- I can see what is the imbalance that the patient presents, I can see what is needed to help the patient. In this case I am the who director has a vision in her mind, the director can close her eyes and see exactly what’s going to be in the final movie- in this case, see where I want the patient to be at the end of the treatment.

The choice of points is, to me, a delicate matter that should involve theory and intuition.
You know how it is, you see a person and you can’t stop thinking of a certain point…
That happened to me with my friend who came to classes to be my very first “needle cushion”- all I could see was GB-24, from the moment she started talking about herself. The interesting thing was to actually see a little niche where GB-24 is!
This was the first time I thought Chinese Medicine is like magic.
Naturally, I chose just that one point, GB-24 Ri Yue- Sun Moon, the front Mu point of the GB which will bring clarity, clear thought and the ability to be decisive, the GB energy that my friend so desperately needs.
The needle was practically sucked in and my friend couldn’t stand the sensation and we had to take it out after 5 minutes or so.

I believe that once you dive into Chinese Medicine, it forces you to take action for your own healing.
I went through extensive psychology sessions, acupuncture sessions and lately I even started to eat healthier, less junk food (which I love), no Coca Cola (which I love) and yes- I even go to the gym 3 times a week and get this- I even enjoy it.
My Wood element is probably in the state of shock as I just started the gym, and it still tries to find it’s new balance with all these changes- and believe me, both my husband and son feel it!- but it’s getting there.
I hope my Fire element will get the message and start flowing more smoothly as a result of the new balance.

I feel that the deal I made with Chinese Medicine is a deal for life.
It became such a big part of my life and my being, not giving that part of my life the attention it deserves makes me angry and frustrated.
Someone asked me lately if I’m happy with the choice I made in back in 1999, dropping out of university and going to study Chinese Medicine.
My answer was very simple- yes.

I think that was one of those special times where the stars were aligned just right, and I had my GB energy in full bloom, I was clear and had the ability to decide one of the most important decisions of my life. And yes, I believe there was also a bit of luck and magic in the whole process.
I will never regret studying Chinese Medicine and staying with it even when things are rough.
I will never regret the help I was able to give people by the education I gained.
I will never regret the benefits this beautiful art of the soul offers me.
I love it.

What about you? What’s your story with Chinese Medicine? I would love to read about it, write it here in the comments.