On Pins and Needles: An Exploration of Acupuncture in Gainesville, Florida (Part Three)
By: Bernadette Carter
It’s official.
Joseph Williams, owner of Sunshine Integrative Health, Inc., is the rock star of acupuncture.
As I wrote about in On Pins and Needles: An exploration of Acupuncture in Gainesville, Florida (part one) and (part two), Joseph wears the best men’s shoes in ten counties.
And I haven’t even gotten started on his shirts and bad ass jeans!
But what really makes Joseph the rock star of acupuncture, is how passionate he is when he speaks of his craft.
He instantaneously transforms from Doogie Howser to Steven Tyler and all I wanna’ do is grab a lighter and sway in time to the power ballad of healing he’s wailing from the stage…uh…his office.
Ironically, I still feel this way even after my last trip to Sunshine Integrative Health, Inc.
As I’ve stated before, I’m a Scorpio.
Not only do we not care to share our feelings, we become positively infuriated when we can’t control them.
So, the session began as usual. Joseph asked me really probing questions like, “How are you?” and I side stepped them with jokes.
Funny Scorpio’s are the most annoying people ever. Not only do we hide our true feelings but then we really make sure to throw others off our emotional scent by making a joke out of everything.
However, I have no choice but to give full disclosure in this article else it would not be fair to Joseph or to the reader.
The only things I told Joseph when he asked me how I was doing, was that I broke up with my boyfriend and my business partner, Erica, and I had almost gotten killed in a horrific accident and that both incidents happened within two weeks of each other.
Whereupon I immediately followed the quick statement up with, “But I’m fine…neither is a big deal.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
As is his way, Joseph just smiled and said “OK. If you ever want to tell me more I’m here to listen. Let’s get started.”
“Wphew!”, I thought. “This “sharing” thing ain’t so bad. I can do this!”
Just so you know, in retrospect (and especially as I write this) I completely acknowledge my dork-ness reigns supreme.
So, Joseph put his amazing music mix on and I lay on the table.
A few needles here, a few needles there then…whammo!
He slipped a needle in the area between my left thumb and index finger.
I almost came off the table it hurt so badly. But…the weird thing was…the actual physical pain was only a small fraction of the totality of the pain I was feeling.
I can only describe the experience as a hurt that billows up from the inside, detonates through the entire body and explodes outward.
However, that pain only lasted a split second.
And, in the next split second…I erupted in tears.
The harder I tried to get a grip (Scorpio) and stop crying, the more I bawled.
I was mortified (Scorpio).
Joseph just made it worse by being…nice…and…understanding…ugh (Scorpio)!
“This is a safe space for this”, he said in the most compassionate voice I’ve ever heard. “It happens all the time…it’s part of the process.”.
I wanted to tell him it wasn’t part of my process (say it with me now… “Scorpio!”) but I was crying too hard to speak.
A total pro, he went on, did his thing and gave me some privacy.
When the time came for Joseph to retrieve the needles, I asked him what the hell had happened.
The boo-hoo-ing wasn’t from the pain of the needle being stuck in me. As I stated, that pain wasn’t so much physical as this bizarre feeling that welled up in my body at the moment he inserted the needle and…hey…wait a minute…
“Jooossseeeeppphhhhh…what meridian did that particular needle stimulate”, I asked.
Remember…acupuncture is all about the stimulation of energy meridians in our bodies so as to bring about balance in our energy flow.
Joseph just looked at me and smiled. A true gentleman, he wasn’t going to answer the question because he knew it would embarrass me further.
“Seriously, Joseph…what meridian did you stimulate?!”, I demanded to know as I bore holes in his eyes with mine (in authentic Scorpio style).
After a long second he quietly said, “Your heart”.
In On Pins and Needles: An exploration of Acupuncture in Gainesville, Florida (part four), I’ll tell you how…no…I’ll “share” with you more of the emotional healing work Joseph has orchestrated in this jaded ex-Hollywood Scorpio.
I, also, have to let know you about that groove of mine and if I got it back… 
