Maintaining health is like nurturing a garden

Spring is here and many of us are eagerly awaiting the time when we can get back into our gardens and restart the process of nurturing our shrubs, trees, flowering plants, vegetables and fruit. Working in a garden and getting our hands into the soil can be a meditative, healing and calming experience and seeing the results of our work in a lush, green and beautiful outdoor space is very rewarding.
 
It occurred to me that just as a garden needs nurturing and care to be green and abundant, so does our health require our loving attention and careful cultivation.

To support a healthy garden, you provide necessities such as water and fertilizer, make sure plants receive the right amount of sun, and keep weeds at bay. To maintain your physical health, you make sure you eat well, have good sleep habits, exercise regularly, have meaningful work, happy relationships, a fulfilling spiritual practice, and regular body work, such as acupuncture, which is a great way to maintain your health, support your immune system and protect you from the negative effects of stress.
 
And when problems arise – either in a garden or with your health – you need more specific support to return the system to health. I’ve always liked Matthew Bauer’s analogy in an article published in Acupuncture Today, in which he said that getting acupuncture is like increasing watering time on a spot of lawn that has gone brown.
 
When a lawn develops a brown spot, adding a few extra minutes of watering time in that area will give the lawn what it needs to gradually turn green again. Likewise, when a new health issue develops or an injury occurs, acupuncture treatments provide the extra support your body needs to repair itself. The body has an amazing ability to heal, but sometimes it doesn’t have the necessary resources to overcome the health challenge on its own. Adding a series of acupuncture treatments will stimulate the body’s healing ability to be able to overcome the health challenge and return to wellness and balance.
 
As we enter into this warmer time of year, think of your body as a garden, and you and your acupuncturist as the gardeners. What support does your body need? Maybe a wellness tune-up to ensure flourishing and abundant health? Or focused support to overcoming a specific issue? Whichever it is, I look forward to working with you to create abundant health and well-being.