Happy Spring Season!
We’ve entered the year of the Yang Wood Dragon…
Can you say big movement, and big change?
I write the following in the spirit of making good use of the huge opportunities for meaningful change and transformation that are surely in store for all those aligned, willing, and open for it. You’ll find what I believe to be a most amazing quote below from Florence Nightengale, an early Western Medical luminary that highlights just how far we’ve wandered in the way we relate to our body’s innate-wisdom. But before that, a bit of perennial wisdom from Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM):
“The Qi follows the Yi”
~Acupuncture – Chinese Medicine Theory
I take this quote to mean that we each hold great power to condition the quality of our relationships (our Qi) most essentially through whatever intention(s) (our Yi) we’re currently holding for our lives and our world.
Many moons ago, I had this not so brilliant idea of composing a rap song about how Symptoms, while they may be problematic, are not actually the problem. In reality they are the body’s innate-wisdom trying to get our conscious attention that some kind of change is needed in the way we are doing our Life. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that I’m twisted enough to think that rapping my Symptom Song at my first ever Chamber of Commerce luncheon would be a good idea!
There we were, it was your run-of-the-mill Chamber luncheon scene at Denny’s, each of us giving our little mini-speeches about our respective businesses, I stand up and start rapping and beat-boxing about how all symptoms come from the innate-wisdom built into our bodies. I finished, sat down, and… crickets; needless to say it was my last ever Chamber luncheon!
We’re all socialized with a lens, or set of beliefs around how our body functions; which basically asserts that all symptoms and diseases are bad, and therefore must be powerfully attacked and gotten rid of. This lens couldn’t be further from reality, and I believe is in need of some serious conscious evolution. I was gladdened to discover the following quote from one of the earliest Western Medical thinkers, and saddened at how muddied the original lens has gotten:
“There are no specific diseases, only specific disease conditions. All disease at some period or other in its course is more or less a repairative process, not necessarily accompanied with suffering; an effort of Nature to remedy a process of poisoning or decay which has taken place weeks, months, sometimes years beforehand unnoticed”
~Florence Nightengale (The Mother of the Nursing profession)
Please don’t take my, Florence’s, or anyone’s word about how our body’s innate-wisdom manifests. I believe there is great power in taking this idea on as an axiom: That all symptoms and disease states are your body’s attempt to restore well-being and wholeness; without exception. That is to say, act as if this idea is absolute truth, then align your behavior with the innate-wisdom of your body, monitor key metrics of your experience as you support the innate-wisdom of your body, and see if you’re better off in the short and long term because of this foundational shift in the way you perceive how Life is moving through you.
I would have loved to have had the opportunity to sit and have tea with Florence Nightengale. I imagine it would have been a highly interesting, and inspired discussion to compare her lens around Health and Healing, with that of how Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine views it. I’m not holding my breath for that to happen anytime soon, but I would love to chat more about this with you.
SO…
Let’s connect!
Enjoy Yourself,
Bill Wright, L.Ac.