Shouldn’t it still be Winter?!

I’m tempted to say Spring is here, but technically it’s still Winter.  However, there is no denying that Spring-like things are happening.  The daffodils are flowering and yesterday the highest temperature in the UK was recorded at 20 degrees Celsius. 

Research in fact shows that Spring is arriving earlier every year.  It was on average 11 days earlier in the middle of the last decade than it was in the 70s.  And as flowers and foliage emerges earlier, so does the wildlife that feeds on it, which could be a problem.  The Guardian explains it better than I can https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/jan/23/spring-early-plant-animal-behaviour

Don’t be too hasty

It may not seem like it sometimes, but we are all part of nature.  Humans, animals and plants alike, we all follow the timetable of the seasons. But just like everything else we can also be tricked into acting as if Spring is here.  Yesterday I saw a man walking his dog in his shorts and a t-shirt at 9am when it was still freezing!  He literally cannot wait for the summer to arrive.

Spring and the Wood Element

Wood is the element associated with the Spring in Chinese Medicine theory.  It is a time of new birth, rebirth, flexibility and expansion.  Wind is the climate associated with this time of year and Anger is the emotion.  In nature we can see a healthy Wood element in how the trees yield and spring back on a windy day.  If they cannot yield then they simply snap or they are uprooted.

The Wind and Anger

Human beings are the same.  If we can’t yield to pressure we will eventually snap.  In America they call this going postal, named after the first workplace shootings at a post office https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_postal The perpetrator of this horrendous crime suppressed his anger and frustration to the point where it emerged like an exploding pressure cooker!  So, it’s important to have ways to express our emotions.  This might be exercise, or art, or just being able to talk to someone.  Simply bottling up emotions can have devastating consequences to your health, and possibly everyone else.

Wind carries disease into the body according to Chinese Medicine, particularly when our Qi is low.  To our modern minds, however, we know it is germs that carry disease.  But the ancient Masters believed it was ghosts and spirits that invaded the body when it was weak, bringing with them disease.  Obviously they didn’t have the benefit of microscopes and scientific techniques that we have today, so most of their knowledge was based on observation.   It was after all less than 200 years ago that it was believed cholera was spread by ‘bad air’, until John Snow (not JS of Channel 4 news or GoT :)) was able to show it was in fact to do with contaminated water.  

Acupuncture can help!

So this is my point…. it may feel warm but it’s still pretty cold, so dress appropriately.  Our Qi is probably still low from the Winter months so beware of a Wind Invasion.  Wear a scarf!

And of course, come for some Acupuncture for all your aches and pains and Wind invasions.

Please do contact me if you have any questions about Acupuncture.  Or you can find out more about any of the topics in my blogs here, about me, or my treatments