I am proactive

         Having worked as an acupuncturist the past 12 years, I've seen my fair share of chronic injuries.  Some of these injuries were out of the control of the patients, but many, the patient had control over.  It is seeing these injuries and the discomfort it brings, which is why I want to be more proactive with my health.  I put it into the context of external injuries, just because I think many of us can relate to joint aches and pains, but I am proactive in all areas: my internal health (think organs); emotional health; psychological health (I see my psychologist regularly); and spiritual health.  The best part about being proactive in all these areas, is that they are all interrelated, so working on one area is helping me work on the others.

        The beauty of my work with  acupuncture, and its interconnectedness with the body, is that when I insert a needle it is doing more than just the obvious.  Acupuncture is an externally and internally related medicine, which is why the 12 main meridians are based off of the 12 major organs of the body, even though the points themselves are externally found.  This is why I can insert a needle for knee pain, but it's benefiting the Liver, which in turn is benefiting the blood, because in Chinese Medicine, Liver stores and moves blood; which in turn is benefiting the emotions, because Liver is in charge of the free flow of Qi in the body, which includes our emotions.  This is what I mean by treating all aspects of self, even if it looks like you're only taking care of one particular area.  

        One of the biggest changes I made in my life which has helped me physically (internally and externally) and has also helped with my mood, has been my diet.  Now it wasn't easy, and it took me some time to figure out the right foods and timing of my meals.  Funny how a basic need of ours has become so complicated with all the different diets out there and science on which foods you should eat.  It has become really convoluted, so kudos to anyone who is taking the step to change their diet for the better.  Diet for me has been the best proactive medicine for me.  Changing my diet helped me clear up my skin, and reduced the amount of inflammation in my body.  Sugar was probably the big one for me, reducing the amount of processed sugar I used to eat.   

        Once that was taken care of, I could focus on other areas like my flexibility and mobility.  This is something I constantly have to work at, and one I need to be more consistent with.  I have to remind myself that I have years of built in muscle memory that I need to reprogram.  Although I'm working on my joint health now, which will help mitigate some soreness later, it is one of those things that I wish I took more seriously when I was younger.

        Finally, to tie the rest of this together, my emotional/psychological and spiritual health.  Being in alignment, and working on being in alignment with my spiritual self helps me emotionally and psychologically, and it also makes my physical body feel good.  You ever feel so emotionally and spiritually in sync that you feel light, and that your body itself feels the same?  I've had that feeling a few times and is something I strive towards.  Naturally there will be times where I fall out of alignment and things feel heavy in my life.  These periods are usually periods of spiritual growth where I have some lesson to learn.  Sometimes I have to learn the same lesson a few times before it really sinks in.  I am proactive in this too, because I have a great psychologist I can see when I need to get heavy emotions off my chest, and I have spiritual leaders that can help guide me and shed some clarity on blockages that come up energetically.  Point I'm trying to make is that there are many parts to what makes us us, and by working on any one part is essentially working on the whole.