Listening to the Body’s Oldest Stories

5/19/2026

In clinical practice, my patients are often my greatest teachers. They open my eyes in ways textbooks never can.

One patient, currently on a four‑month medical leave for severe psychosomatic distress, came for her fifth treatment today. Her emotions—once chaotic with sadness, anger, and tension—have begun to settle. Her nightly awakenings have decreased, and the persistent tight, aching pain throughout her body has eased. Today, for the first time, she was able to fall asleep during needle retention.

When I inserted a point on the Lung channel, she suddenly said, “I felt the sadness and helplessness of my infant self—crying with no one responding. It all came up at once.” In Chinese medicine, grief belongs to the Lung, and moments like this reaffirm what the classics teach. Yet I was still struck by how deeply the roots of psychosomatic illness can reach—sometimes all the way back to before birth.

She shared that her earliest memory was being inside her mother’s womb. Her mother’s pregnancy was filled with sorrow and negativity, and she remembers feeling deeply uncomfortable in that environment. Passing through the birth canal felt overwhelming, but the moment she was born, she felt relief and joy, as if she had finally escaped. She even felt more connected to the nurse who held her than to her own mother. Lying alone in the nursery was, for her, a moment of peace and happiness.

I have always understood that a mother’s emotions during pregnancy affect the baby physiologically. But I had not realized that some infants may carry emotional memories as well.

When people think of psychosomatic illness, they often turn to psychotherapy, neurology, or alternative therapies. But acupuncture can also be a powerful option. This patient is not taking any herbal medicine—only acupuncture—and the results so far have been significant. I hope she continues to improve quickly.