Community Acupuncture – How, What, Why Now? #4
Author: Lamia Gibson
Preparing for Winter might feel like too much to think about when we are only just saying goodbye to summer, but Fall is asking us to do just this. Not to worry, we have a solid 3 months to attend to the preparation for hibernation!
This article will give you info about Acupuncture, the points we use & why we use them. See below to our featured practice section for more info on how to use food as medicine to align and prepare for the months ahead. It also explains how you can prepare for winter using a fall food program (1 week or more) aligning your unique and current constitution to the needs of the season.
Why use Traditional Medicine to support us this Fall?
The time between Fall and Winter equinox in the northern hemisphere is naturally designed for us to prepare for the colder months ahead. It is the season associated with Lung and Large Intestine Qi and the elemental season of Metal. Metal energy wants us to get things organized much like a filing cabinet. It is time to put things in place, sort and make space for the work and joys of the season we are in and life ahead.
5 Tips for Building Self-Discipline (take it or leave it) 1. Allocate your time according to what you value and think is important rather than the dictates of family, employer, society, etc. 2. Stop associating what you do with your value as a person. 3. Put self-mastery first. Focus on your growth and development rather than material goal/rewards. Work on your skills; develop your gifts. Achievement is an intrinsic reward and will always be the result. 4. Remember that self-discipline cultivates self-esteem. 5. Minimize distractions. Colonial society conditions us for comfort, distraction, satisfaction that draw us away from productivity. But focus is the key to achieving anything. 6. Play and fun are essential and part of the wellness and self-discipline balance. (from the literature)”
Check out this upcoming workshop Zainab is connected to! Thanks for letting us include your words and wisdom, Zainab!
How do we use Community Acupuncture to support us right now?
One way we can use Acupuncture in a Community setting is to support the Yin of the whole body. When Spleen Qi and the whole body Yin is supported then less Qi and Yin are taken from the Lung System. We use points such as San Yin Jiao (Three Yin Intersection, aka Spleen 6) to support the Yin of the whole body, thus helping our foundational Yin adjust to the change of seasons. When the Lung system is supported this way it can then be more effective at defending us against invasions of Wind, Cold, Heat or Damp. These patterns are what you may know to be the common cold, flu or that general sense of weak immunity that creeps in at this time of year.
We can also kick the Wind right out by using Kong Zui (Collection Hole, aka Lung 6). Sometimes, if not treated completely, these Fall time invasions can turn into the ongoing lingering cold that keeps on coming back throughout winter. If you catch a cold you can kick it out using Acupuncture in the early days of symptoms, and if it has settled in and you can’t seem to get rid of that cough we can add points to expel the Heat, nourish the dryness and get that wind-cold out before the true outer cold of winter settles in.
Along with Supporting the Lung System we also need to support it’s paired system, that of the Large Intestine. Our bodies ability to eliminate waste is integral to our immunity and overall health. We use Tianshu (Celestial Pivot, aka Stomach 25) to strengthen the function of the Large Intestine, thus enhancing the bodies ability to eliminate waste. We also use Shang Ju Xu (great Upper Hollow, aka Stomach 37) to clear the Large Intestine when Dampness has accumulated.
Using Community Acupuncture also lands us all in a room together, healing and dealing and witnessing the places where we overlap in our individual efforts to care and be cared for. This reduction in isolation contributes to our overall health. Knowing we are not alone, experiencing collective healing, enhances our very existence.
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