It's not what you think!

You know that knee I’ve been telling you about? Yea…it’s not getting any better. In fact, it’s been getting a lot worse. And it’s one of those pains that's kind of indescribable or hard to pinpoint the exact cause and therefore the proper treatment. I thought I might be able to combat the problem with some good deep tissue work because all the stuff that connects to my knee was super tight and pulling on it… or so I thought… but thus far it hasn’t helped and seems to be getting worse so I’ve been seeking out some alternative treatments.

I’ve decided to try Chinese. Medicine, that is. Acupuncture can supposedly help a whole host of problems and so I figured I might as well see if they could sort some of mine out. So I go to the guy and not really knowing what to expect or what types of things he could assist me with, I just begin to rattle off all the things that hurt. Well it turns out that the things that are bothering me are all connected in some way. They are on the same meridian lines, or energy wavelengths, or connect the dot puzzle...you know, something ‘easternly’. And I remember something that had to do with my kidneys. And to be honest, I really don’t know what that means but I was optimistic nonetheless. It sounded smart. Unfortunately, my first treatment didn’t cure my knee but I plan on going back once I am back in town for an extended period of time. I suppose it can’t hurt and I really need to figure out this knee problem because it has started to affect my training.

In the meantime, my Chinese medicine guy gives me something called a moxa stick to use on my own to help alleviate the pain in my knee and facilitate healing. It’s some sort of herb rolled up into a large cigar shape and you light it up and hold it about an inch from your skin until it gets unbearably hot, remove, and repeat. He told me that I should probably use it outside because of the strong odor. It totally smells like weed. Like the strongest pot ever.

And so I’ve used it a couple times already sitting in my living room with the door and windows open and now my neighbors are giving me weird looks. And this guy totally walked by and tried to peek his head in. I’m not sure if it was curiosity or if he was hoping for an invite. And it doesn’t really go away either. So now my neighbors think I’ve gone Rasta and if you are anywhere in the vicinity of my apartment you would swear I’m hittin’ the ganja super hard. But I’m not. I just hope they ask questions before they call the DEA on me.