It has been an absolutely magic day. Though Spring has been revealing itself quietly, in verdant leaf shoots and insects we haven’t seen since this time last year, it feels like something has truly clicked over. As I harvest the first crown of broccoli that I’ve ever grown, watch the kids scramble around on the relocated trampoline and dig over a new garden bed – soon to be lush with chlorophyllic goodness – I feel a hint of positive confirmation: We’ve made the right decision to slow life down and use our limited time for the things we love…
When spring rolls around I often think of my TCM teacher Adejola Olatunji. He was a great oak cask of a man, brimful of inspiring tales, koan-provoking insight and yet, never so full that he had an instant answer for the question at hand. Though some students could find frustration in his elliptic answers to basic questions, I felt he invited us into a world with fewer “absolutes”. A world that required deeper investigation, constant reconsideration; applying the incremental science of heuristic. Back in 2002, the small class of aspiring healers that we were, would hope to understand how acupuncture would be practiced “in the ideal” fashion. The seasons of spring and autumn, he would explain, served as a fulcrum point for energy; rising up in spring and diving down in autumn. The blaze of summer and the chill of winter serve more as lateral-moving plateaux, the unfolding of the scene set by the spring/autumn transition. The key times for holistic intervention are when we can “catch” the energy in descent or, ideally, ascent. To use the rising Wood energy of spring as a leg-up for boosting immune function, alertness and adaptability to the challenges of the season ahead.
Wood energy pertains to the liver, the organ or regeneration. Take some time this new season to concentrate your focus and take advantage of the rising Wood energy to reinvigorate your system. Remember that the smallest gesture toward the betterment of ourselves and our universe can have immeasurable impact. Climb a tree, build a boat or spend just 30 seconds breathing right to the core of your body and wishing wellness upon all those you interact with. A seed once set to growth will never stop bearing fruit.
Climbing gently out of winter’s Water energy, the time of slow germination; ideation, the noticeably longer days are already beckoning more time in the garden, more time with the people I adore and more time to help patients muster the energy they need to heal.
I hope this new seasonal phase brings you to a place of peace, growth and health.
Osaka
