Concussions & Alchemy
I've been reading about alchemists recently and their practice of turning lead (or other metals that are considered to be of “lesser” value) into gold. Since I relate everything to Chinese medicine I started to wonder how our perspectives would change if we saw our symptoms as lead and took every opportunity to transform them into gold.
I thought about this a LOT during the late spring and early summer when I was suffering the effects of a concussion. My thoughts about it at that time were not poetic; they were dark and they were desperate. Even after giving myself an acupuncture treatment (which I did almost daily just to stay afloat) I still felt awful. BUT, after a treatment I felt more like myself going through a hard time as opposed to a brain fog of desperation that didn't know which end was up, and that orientation felt like the difference between suffering and recovering.
There are some processes in life in which the tunnel is long enough that we don't actually know in which direction we'll find the light. Hopefully we have some supports down there in the tunnel - perhaps some snacks and a flashlight – that can provide us with moments of faith, trust and belief. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can be this flashlight, giving support and strength until we can find the light again.
In Chinese medicine we have channels that are fairly narrow lines (about one finger width wide) that run up and down the body in a very precise location. There is also the muscular version of the channel that gives more breadth of coverage over the body. In our lives we often fall off the most direct path of life and into this wider breadth. This isn't yet pathology, just life. You are still moving toward your goals, just a little less directly. But, as any hiker knows, the further from the path we wander, the thicker the bramble will be and the less clearly we can see the path. It's difficult to pursue and execute a vision you can't even see.
This ability of acupuncture to bring us back to ourselves and to help us transform into better versions of ourselves is why I study (present tense) this medicine, and though you may not realize it, this is why you receive it. This is why you continue to come for treatments after your back pain long resolves. And for those of you that have drifted away from the medicine, this is what you'll feel when you return – you'll have an immediate understanding of why you've missed these sessions, and you'll wonder why you waited so long to return.
Thankfully you don't need to be suffering a concussion to come for a session. You only need to be willing to get off the hamster wheel for about 45 minutes. Long enough to let the dust settle, see where you are, and get back on your path. After a time of self-transformation on the table things can look and feel different and it allows us to take inventory: what do you have that is lead, and what can you turn into gold?
An extra incentive to come in now is that Chinese medicine considers this time of year to be extra potent in terms of boosting our life force. The heat from the sun boosts what we call yang qi – this is active, moving, motivating energy, and if we boost it now it is said that we'll feel less stagnant in the winter because we'll have that bit of warmth inside us to carry us through the darker, colder time of year. Acupuncture now, when you are feeling well, is the equivalent of packing a flashlight.
As a person that has just emerged from a cold, dark time I can only recommend doing whatever you can to keep your emergency supplies replete. Book a session to put a little light away for when you need it.