Liberation Acupuncture and Liberation Theology, Part Two
a conversation with Jamila Wilson
Me: I’d like to pick up with something you said in Part One, “Liberation acupuncture prioritizes the human and their experience in their body” — in order to get into how you practice in student clinic. I love that we’re having this conversation right after you completed a shift at POCA Tech’s pop-up clinic at Tukwila Springs (an affordable housing facility for low-income adults who are transitioning off the streets).
Jamila: Yes. It was a busy day today and for a number of folks, it was their first experience having acupuncture. I was struck by how open they were to us sharing this practice with them — and also, observing what happened afterwards. There was a calm and a trust — not so much in us as the acupuncturists, but in themselves.
What I am learning in POCA Tech and have observed in clinic, is through this healing modality we are returning a piece of our humanity to ourselves. That’s what I seek to embody when practicing acupuncture. How can I help you today? What can I do to be supportive? And the patients then reflect on what they’re experiencing. That interaction is about giving people back authority of themselves. It’s about returning a sense of power. The patients are leading and we’re accompanying them.
That’s what I see in liberation acupuncture: a tangible and real experience of empowerment. Going back to something Howard Thurman wrote: for those who live with their backs against the wall, how do they understand their humanity? How do they exist in a space where their humanity is challenged? They stand on the right side of history. They have faith in the power of love and kindness; they cleave to the goodness of themselves and others. Liberation acupuncture provides people space to slow down and connect with their innate good. To tap into the intricate healing properties that exist within human beings. It is a practice of healing that is rooted in empowerment and liberation.
When I'm in clinic I have Howard Thurman's autobiography, With Head and Heart, with me as a sort of talisman.
It reminds me of what’s often said at POCA Tech, that acupuncture should be about your heart, your hands and your head, in that order. I love that piece of guidance that POCA Tech extends to its students, that acupuncture is a heart to hands practice. It’s less about what’s happening in our heads, because that can be very overwhelming; it’s more about dropping down into our bodies and letting the practice come through our hands.
I've learned so much about embodiment through my studies of acupuncture. Being present and intentional with your patient enhances the accompaniment experience. Accompaniment isn’t something that happens in your head, it’s not a matter of “if I do this plus this, then this is the outcome”. When I’m in the moment, listening to a patient, I drop down into my body, take deep breaths, and allow the acupuncture itself to be the guide. It’s really powerful and humbling.
Once I had an experience with a patient where I felt some of their angst and exhaustion. It was overwhelming for me and it reminded me that this is an energetic healing modality. I’ve had to figure out for myself how I can hold space for different energies that comes up while also being protective of my own energy. I imagine a large bowl or cauldron between myself and the patient, and I invite them to pour their hurt, pain, frustration, and exhaustion into the vessel so that they may rest and I can serve as a witness to their journey of healing.
Me: That’s such a beautiful image. This conversation reminds me so much of the one I just had with Dilip about the differences between an embodied practice of acupuncture versus managing abstract biomedical disease entities. So much of being a good clinician is about holding space for people.
Jamila: Yes! I am so grateful to be a student at POCA Teach. My relationship and understanding of acupuncture is rooted and nurtured in a liberation pedagogy because of POCA Tech; it feels so good and so right. I couldn’t have learned acupuncture in any other setting. In that way I defer to my own spiritual practice of being led: there was no other space for me to come into awareness of this healing modality outside of POCA Tech and WCA. I feel so incredibly blessed and privileged.