Autumn is my favorite season. There is still warmth in the air, bright colorful leaves on the trees and carpeting the ground. The beginning of turning inward.
The years seem to be going by faster. So what stands out to me is that the phases also go faster. I have a much more acute awareness this year that where I am in life right now, is not going to be like this forever. For better or worse.
In some ways I’m grateful to know that it will change and in others aspects, I’m not ready to let go. So instead, I’m going to remind myself to be fully present in those moments where everything flows. This [photo below] is one of those moments. One of the moments I will cherish forever.
The power of adding 1 small habit.
Have you ever had a goal to add a habit and just had a hard time doing it? I see it a lot. Someone will come in and be really motivated to learn about various lifestyle changes that can help them decrease their pain and stress, increase happiness. And yet, it can be really challenging to make those changes.
We all know that there are things we could do to improve our health. And I would argue that we know WHAT many of the changes are:
Eat healthy
Drink enough water
Be active
Mediate,
Get good sleep
Find ways to manage stress
When we think about doing all of those, it’s too overwhelming. If we choose just one goal, make it REALLY simple, we’re more likely to achieve it and make it a habit. For example, if you want to mediate, start with 1 minute a day instead of 10 or add just 1 particular nutritious food into your diet. “The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.” James Clear
Now, HOW to make this a habit. James Clear author of Atomic Habits, says that habits need 4 things – a cue, a craving, a response and a reward. First you need a cue, something to trigger a reminder of NOW is the time to do this habit. I think that this is where most of us fail. My recommendation is to write a list (yes, either type it out of hand write it) all the different times / cues throughout the day that can act as a cue for your habit. These cues can be times, locations, events, other people or even emotional states.
Some examples include:
- As soon as you wake up, before you get out of bed.
- After you brush your teeth
- While you’re in the shower
- After going to the bathroom
- Each time you wash your hands
- Before / after eating or drinking
- Every time you get into or out of your car
- When you’re waiting (online for something to load on your computer, at a red light, for the meeting to start)
- Before or right after you check your email or social media
- When you clear the table
- After folding laundry
- Before going to bed
Once you have your list, decide which cue you think will be best.
Even though you have a cue, explore WHY you want to do that particular lifestyle change. This is where you can find the motivation, your reason for listening to the cue. Why or what do you want to be healthy for? This is your motivation.
So to over simplify, you want to make your cue obvious, you want to make the drive / motivation for your action to be attractive, the response / action / habit should be easy and the reward satisfying.
Here is my example. I recently learned that as we age, our thirst trigger decreases. This means that our body has to become more dehydrated in order for us to realize that we’re thirsty. As a result, one of my goals is to get into the habit of drinking more water. My cue is to have a full glass of water on my nightstand so that I can start the day off with a glass of water. It is one small simple step to drink more water from which I can build upon.
Acupuncture is one great way that we can keep living our best life. However our life style plays a huge role. So I’m curious, what is healthy habit you are proud of having incorporated into your life? What was the cue that worked for you? And how do you feel as a result? Or on the flip side, what is a life style change you want to start but are having a hard time with?
Quick tips to avoid sore muscles
Your Health. Your Power. Relieve Neck Pain.
The Pandemic Acupuncture Point
It happened yet again. My 8th client today has the same active reflex. That takes me to about 90%, maybe even 95%, of my patients having the exact same active reflex. In normal times, this is not typical. Yet in this pandemic time, it is very typical.
Let me explain what I’m talking about. When deciding which acupuncture points to use during a session, I press on specific areas on someone’s neck, abdomen and feet. If any of those areas are tender, uncomfortable, feel funny or strange in any way, it means that that is an active reflex, showing an imbalance in the body. So what does this one spot that is showing up at a significantly higher rate than before correspond with? Our autonomic nervous system, aka fight or flight.
Since mid-March when the pandemic really hit our state, our sympathetic nervous systems have been going haywire causing stress and anxiety. This plays a role in every aspect of our life yet will show up differently for different people. Where it shows up for you will depend on where is your body’s weakness. Only for some people does stress and anxiety show up as we typically think of stress and anxiety: feeling of nervousness, racing heart or inability to focus. Most of my clients who present with this active reflex are saying, “I’m doing well considering.” She doesn’t realize that her anxiety is showing up in her back pain that happened to flare up and she can’t contribute it to anything. Or her digestion has been really odd lately but there hasn’t been a change to her diet. It can even be the headaches that came on suddenly, seemingly out of the blue.
That is one thing I love about this specific system of acupuncture. You don’t have to verbally tell me or even knowledge to yourself that you’re stressed. Your body will direct me to the points it needs in order to get you back into balance and a little more calm. I don’t need to tell you all the things going on in our world that are adding to our anxiety. But I do want you to know that acupuncture can help. Acupuncture can take the edge off and help to make life a bit more manageable, nourish your soul so that you can fight for what is right and give your body a bit of respite. This happens as a result of acupuncture bringing your body into the rest, digest and restore mode of the parasympathetic system.
Most acupuncturists are back to working in-person appointments to some degree. Reach out to me or another acupuncturist near you and let’s start healing.
With love,
Kathryn
Does Acupuncture Work?
Does acupuncture work?
Yes. Acupuncture works.
Does acupuncture work for pain? Yes.
Does acupuncture work for acute pain from injury? Yes.
Back Pain? Knee pain? Neck pain? Back pain? Hip pain? Shoulder pain? Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.
What about for pain where we don’t know the source? Can acupuncture help that? Yes.
And can acupuncture help for emotional pain like stress and anxiety? Yes.
How does acupuncture work? Ahh, now that’s a good question and I might get to that at another time.
The vast majority of patients who come into my clinic find relief from their pain. Healing happens in bursts. So some people get a huge healing burst from their first treatment while others get incremental relief each session. Every person is different so it is hard to say how you will respond to a treatment. Since acupuncture is not like taking a pain reliever where in 20 minutes your pain is masked, some people slide back to living their normal life without realizing they are now doing things that their pain was inhibiting them from doing before. In situations of acute pain or injury, an acupuncture session with speed up the healing process so that you can get back to living your life faster. In general, the longer you deal with pain the longer it takes to treat. That’s because your brain has solidified pain pathways. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get relief, take the edge off and allow you to have a better quality life.
Pain has a way of getting into every facet of life. When you’re in pain, you cannot focus as well, your emotions can be overwhelming, energy levels are down, motivation too. Similarly, if you’re struggling mentally and emotionally, it finds a way out in your body and typically in your weak spots because they are most vulnerable. All of this to say, if you’re not able to do what you want in life because of pain, physical or emotional, try acupuncture.
And of course, if you have a more questions about if acupuncture works, reach out. I love talking about all things acupuncture.
May you find a moment of peace in your day.
- Kathryn Coppola
