Many people come to Chinese Medicine with stress and pain and want to get away from their problems. “I just want to check out,” they say. This is understandable! However, the connection that we have with our mind and body have everything to do with the state of our health.

You probably know that stress affects your body. The stomachache that comes on when experiencing stress; the digestive upset or insomnia after a fight with a loved one. If we are paying attention, these symptoms let us know that something is amiss. Similarly, when we are in love or excited about something, we feel light and happy; we glow. Our immune systems function better, pains go away. We have more energy.

According to Deepak Chopra, in his book, “Ageless Body, Timeless Mind,” we are actually creating a whole new body every moment,

ALL THE TIME. We tell our bodies with every thought how it should behave and what energetic state we are creating. Our bodies then communicate to us through our thoughts, feelings, and symptoms. The more that we pay attention to thoughts, feelings and symptoms in our physical bodies, the more we can listen to our deeper needs When we check in and pay attention to these expressions, the more control we can have over our health.

During sessions, I listen to the pulse to assess imbalance in the body and Acupuncture techniques to restore harmony. This improves Qi (energy) and blood flow and is effective in assisting the body’s healing processes. What is even more effective in my experience, is in helping people to check in. Checking in allows us to adopt a mind, body, and spirit perspective on healing. Since you and nature are the true healers, taking the time to listen to what the body is really communicating allows us to hear more clearly what it needs. Consciously releasing negative thought patterns and emotions in the body, while inviting more supportive new ones changes the overall state of our health.

Breath and awareness are the key to becoming more present with our bodies. When working on an area of pain that feels particularly stuck, I might encourage a client to take a few breaths into the area and notice ”Does it have a shape? Color? Feeling?” From here, we might then ask, “Does it need to move, does it need support, is there anything that you feel that it might want to say?”

Chinese Medicine has at its root the faith in the power of nature to heal. There is no right or wrong answer, and most often the answers to these queries are not communicated to me. Since we are always influencing our vibration and our state of health, the importance lies in the relationship that we have with our body. As a practitioner, my job is only to help people to tune in and listen while facilitating proper Qi and blood flow.