While watching the blizzard last Tuesday night I was reminded of a wonderful blog post shared by a great yoga teacher, Francine Kelly. Below is a short excerpt but please feel free to click on the link above to read the whole blog.
"I was watching the snow falling last week and was struck by its silence and gentleness. I remembered having the same impression watching a snow storm in New York in 1996 that practically shut the city down. Last week I was struck again by how this gently falling snow, so silent and light, could have such huge effects and how force is often not necessary to make a big change. In face, as humans we often use much more force than is necessary, since we’ve come to believe that strenuous effort, even struggle, is necessary to get results."
What is so striking to me about this post is how often we take subtly for granted. We've become such a quick fix, lightening speed society that often times it is hard to recognize little changes, especially when it comes to our health. More often than not I find myself telling patients to be gentle with themselves, rather than saying you are not doing enough. Healing is a process, it is gentle and sometimes quiet. One snow flake might not leave a very lasting mark but 18 inches of snow surely can!
While the thunder snow poured down I was reminded that this is our season to hibernate and recuperate. We should be bundled up inside resting right now and mother nature gave us all that reminder and gift for 1 or 2 precious snow days. The snow drifts did something else: it created community. For those few precious days we all recognized we were in the same boat. We all had to dig out our drive ways, our cars, our streets. I spent more time seeing and talking with my neighbors in those 2 days than I did all summer. Together as a neighborhood we marveled at the piles of snow, we helped each other with shoveling and snow blowing, and we smiled.
Sarah Zender LAc
Neighborhood Acupuncture Place (NAP)
230 Florence St
Crystal Lake IL 60014
815.893.9825
www.CLNAP.com
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