Making Inner Connections with Chinese Medicine

I had an amazing session with a client who I’ve been working with for a few months the other day.

She came to work with me because she wanted to dive deeper with herbs and Chinese Medicine. She wanted to learn more about the connections between her lived experience and what Chinese Medicine offers. And, of course, at the root of it all, was she needed help with nagging health issues.

Layer by layer, month after month, we’ve been able to work through one issue after the next. Many subtle, and not so subtle!, shifts have taken place.

Lately, we’ve been working on some pretty gnarly headaches…

In our last session, we re-examined her diet and lifestyle. I made some suggestions to reduce or avoid certain foods/beverages.

BUT, I also said, “let’s add… teas, delicious foods, and luxurious baths and oils to your routine.”

We talked about the herb formula that I sent them a couple of weeks prior, and how they were doing on the formula.

I was happy to hear that her headaches were gone.

And I was pleasantly surprised to hear that some new things were happening…

I asked her questions about the different parts that were coming up.

She allowed me to lead her through a bramble-filled trail to make the connections between what’s coming up. It’s just a matter of taking one step, one question, at a time. Slowly, almost without moving.

What did any of this have to do with her headaches, the herbs, and the formula’s actions???

Then it happened…

I could see the light-bulb of “aha” go off the moment that the connection happened.

She made connections between her physiological state and her inner world.

Connections between her creative and visionary life and energy levels.

Connections about forcing energy to be consistent. Like forcing an apple tree to bear fruit year round.

When you do this, what other effects get created in the body?

Wondering, what if these natural fluctuations are not a “bad” thing?

Or, a way to manage uninspiring work tasks with inspiring nourishing work, or something else?

Like the seasons, life has it’s time for outward movement.

And life has its time for inward stillness.

More “aha’s” happened:

Connections between how she feels in her body when she eats certain foods. And what she feels and thinks about her lived experience. How the different parts (old vs new) were in conflict with each other. Opposing the old-way of being: forcing themselves to be a certain way. Could she bring more awareness, curiosity, love and compassion to her inner and outer life?

Thanks to these “aha’s”, she experienced a visible shift in this session.

It was plain as day.

I could see it in my client’s face…

Less tension. Softer. Lighter. Empowered.

It was amazing and beautiful.

And now, I have the privilege of sharing what my client’s experience of our work together has been, with you right here…

“I feel strongly about our work together [… and] have some reflections … on the holistic or whole systems considerations/approach that we take.

[What] is huge [is how] we take TCM patterns, then relate them across the physical/emotional/psychological/energetic contours. [Then] bringing attention to all parts of self.

[There is an] integration of seemingly unrelated pieces.

Then, finding clarity and healing in seemingly unrelated areas of life.”

My client shared with me that she now sees, and lives with, awareness of the Wood element and Liver.

And how it affects many areas of her life:

The impact that her work has on her.

Her food choices.

Making more intentional choices around the role of alcohol in her life.

Creating space for, and buffering the impacts of, work stress.

The experience, awareness of and improvement with work/life balance. And the development of interests-outside-of-work.

Her exhaustion, energy levels, and sleep struggles (improvements with all).

(Special thanks to my client for being willing to share her experience with you and I!!!)

She’s not made these connections only because of the herbs. The herbs play a role, for sure.

It’s the stillness, the space where you listen, that is key.

The stillness is where you can see, feel, and hear the multitude of facets of yourself.

Where you allow whatever is happening to… happen.

It is this space that allows these opportunities for growth, integration, healing.

This stillness is the place where you, where each of us, can see and hear where we are…

To be quiet. To unfurl and let yourself be honest with where you are, in this moment in time.

This is the scary place for many of us (including me).

This is the place where we hear the song that our souls are singing to us.

Or maybe you hear the noise that your body is raging to.

Because when you can get honest with yourself, to be still and hear what is going on. The path forward becomes much clearer.

In this place, you are not trying to swim upstream exhausting yourself. You are swimming with the current.

You aren’t trying to turn yourself into a rose when you are an orchid. You embrace your uniqueness and give yourself exactly what you need to thrive.

This place is a place of power: the ability to hear and see what’s present, make choices, then take action.

When you listen, and act from the power that pours from and through you, much like the river…

Connections get made.

Knots untangle.

Freedom and awareness are accessible.

You honor what your body and soul are speaking to you.

By being present and aware, and curious.

That’s where the real healing and change starts: when you can get real with where you are.

Can you sit in the stillness of the present, and hear your Heart’s song or your body’s cries? What do you hear?

This work isn’t just about taking an herb to get rid of headaches.

It’s about honoring yourself.

It’s about making the deep connections that ripple throughout your world and beyond.

With Heart and Love,

Pamela