Combatting the cold, wet & windy weather with Acupuncture self-care

If you are anything like me you’ve been hovering over any radiator within reach, covering yourself in layers of wool and fleece and sleeping under multiple duvets and blankets. I don’t want to leave my house, I don’t feel like doing anything. I’m feeling every cold, wet, windy moment of this long dark winter. And quite frankly, I’m a bit oppressed by it. So I turn to my medicine and ask what can curtail this powerful urge to recede further into my warm cave? What can I do to want to venture out there again? Where is my mojo?

The answer:

Support the Water channel specifically points Kd 3 and Bl 60!

In Chinese medicine there are 5 Elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal) which act as totems for various functions in our minds and bodies. We use these associations and their relationships to diagnose disease and form treatment plans.

The Water Element houses our Jing aka the constitution we inherit from our ancestors aka our mojo. It contains our Potential like an apple seed contains all the plans for the tree and fruit. Our will to live and urge to create come from our Water. Yin and Yang originate in Water. Yin is dark, wet, receding, resting, restorative and Yang is bright, warm, active, expansive. Winter is the most Yin time of year, but it is the spark within Water, the Yang that kicks off the expression of the Potential. The growth, expansion and activity of that phase is associated with Wood and Spring. And it goes on… cycling through the Elements.

So now it’s Winter and that is Water time. My desire to hibernate is not necessarily out of place during this time. It’s meant to be a time of little activity so that the resources used up throughout out the year can replenish and quiet preparations are made for the next burst of activity. It’s a time of not doing much but mulling over what is next, trying this idea on or that one… but I’m not. I did not even make any resolutions this year. Where is my mojo? My Yang? My urge to create something? I’m feeling the cold and it

has penetrated my system to freeze me just a bit. I need a thaw and that’s where Kid 3 and Bl 60 come in. If you grab the area between your ankle bone and achilles tendon you’ll have one finger on each point.

BL 60 on the outside of your foot is call, Kunlun Mountain. It’s on the yang channel of Water. This is what John Kirkwood has to say about it, “When you feel inundated by life’s water too exhausted to move, BL 60 can raise you to the mountain where a free wider perspective is available and the power of regeneration is possible” (The Way of the 5 Elements)

Kd 3 on the inside of your foot is called Taixi which means Supreme Stream. It’s on the Yin channel of Water. This is what John Kirkwood has to say about Kd 3. “This is a source point which connects us to our Original Qi, (Yuan Qi) the deep energy that we are born with and which serves as our fuel tank for life. TaiXi is particularly significant in supporting our connection to the power source. It supports us in realising our potential in the world by aligning us with the positive Water qualities of will, determination, courage, persistence and perseverance.” (also in The Way of the 5 Elements.)

My interpretation of this is that with a little rest and a bit of perspective, the spark of my mojo will kick back in. When the thaw sets in and my tank is full, I will go. In the meantime, I can practice a little self care by holding those points which connects the yin and yang aspect of Water, supporting the Jing. A birth is activated when the baby is ready to come… not before. The gestation period is over when its over not by convenience or command. Allow this Yin time of rest, restoration knowing the spark of Yang will come. As I warm myself by the fire, I’ll go easy on my self for not wanting to go out, its not time yet. When the next “spring” into activity happens, I will be ready. (By the way, the Spring/Wood phase doesn’t only happen during the months of Spring. It’s a metaphor for the expansion and push that happens after a Water/Winter phase of rest.)

So if you are anything like me feeling slightly frozen and reluctant to do… well anything!… then deeply and gently massage the area between your Achilles and ankle, put another log on the fire, and let the spark of inspiration arrive when it does.