Community Acupuncture – How, What, Why Now? #6 Author: Jordan Ramsay
This time of year is interesting stuff. Spring equinox is one of two times in the year where our nights are as long as our days. It is the first day of spring but it still can feel like the depths of winter. We may feel pulled in two opposite directions, like half of us is still in hibernation mode, cold and solitary. The other half of us is yearning for spring, excited for all the newness the warmth brings. This pull of opposites can be really taxing on our energy and we may end up feeling depressed, stressed out, anxious and / or exhausted.
Working with the shifting energies from winter into spring, acupuncture can help harmonize the body’s systems that are feeling in two places at once. We may also feel like we are in limbo and ungrounded.
Working to nourish the kidney system which can be depleted during the winter months can help relieve depression, help with lower back and knee problems, and work through emotions of fear.
The liver system is the main player in the spring time, and can bring up feelings of frustration, irritability and anger as well as playfulness and growth. Early spring is an excellent time to work on the liver system as we need extra support to help clear our bodies of the toxins that can build up during the winter of eating more preserved food and less fresh foods. The liver energy can be understood well as a sprout emerging from the ground. It is a time of growth and beauty but also of one of struggle and frustration in passing through the tough earth and rocks in order to emerge from the ground and flourish. This can be exhausting work.
So, as it might feel like we want to jump outside and do everything we can to celebrate the spring, it is important to take it easy, and go to bed early and just go slower and gentler than we think.
It is easy to burn out quickly in the spring energy of newness.
Acupuncture is a great way to nourish your kidneys and liver systems and help regulate these changing energies. Whether its exhaustion or emotional fluctuations, or depression that shows up for you in the early spring, coming in to community acupuncture every week as a practice of steady self care can be profound. At a time where we are quite literally rejoining the outside world after being more internal and solitary, what better way to rest and work on our personal stuff than within a community setting, collectively holding space for each other? We are all in this together.
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