"So let us pick up the stones over which we stumble, friends, and build altars. Let us listen to the sound of breath in our bodies. Let us listen to the sounds of our own voices, of our own names, of our own fears. Let’s claw ourselves out from the graves we’ve dug. Let’s lick the earth from our fingers. Let us look up and out and around. The world is big and wide and wild and wonderful and wicked, and our lives are murky, magnificent, malleable, and full of meaning. Oremus. Let us pray.” -Pádraig Ó Tuama
Often as we go through a healing process we find ourselves drawing closer to our spiritual resources. In fact, this work - Five Element Acupuncture - is known for treating the spirit. That does not mean it is a spiritual program or that is has anything to do with what you believe. It has worked well for people of all religions and no religion.
By spirit in this case, we mean the part of you that engages in life, the level of enthusiasm you have for the day when you wake in the morning - the animating force. In modern times, the way we live, and the world we live in, can wear down our spirits. Amazingly, acupuncture points were discovered thousands of years ago that support and uplift our spirits.
One of those points is part of the reason that I became an acupuncturist. It is called Spirit Burial Ground and it helps when you have come to a time when you feel buried under the weight of judgement, or internalization of negative messages.
When treated it helps you reconnect to the Light within, the love, the gratitude. It helps us “claw our way our of the graves we’ve dug,” as it says in the poem above. We don’t often use this point, but when it is needed it can be a lifesaver.
Although it's not the only way, one method to support your spirit, is by finding, or reconnecting to, your own spiritual resources. For some, this might include prayer.
Prayer. It can mean simply yearning for something larger than ourselves, larger than our own minds. Or it can be as wordless and profound as gratitude for the simple unsung gifts that make up our days. As Annie Lamott has said, “Here are the two best prayers I know: ‘Help me, help me, help me’ and ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Lately I have been using prayer more often as a way of getting out of my own head.
Whatever methods you find, or beliefs you hold or don't, we can each hold fast to what takes us closer to peacefulness. Maybe for me it’s prayer. For someone else, it’s taking a shower and remembering to wash away not only the day’s dirt, but also the grime of their judgements and smallness and fears. What is it for you?
Wishing you wholehearted peace,
Doren
p.s. Please feel free to share this with others, or to invite them to sign up for my mailing list.