Quarantine Digital Care Package #24, the final edition…

It has been 1 year and 11 months since I started this little project just a mere weeks after lockdown. It was a way to connect with our community and beyond at a time where many of us were at a loss of what to do. As someone who has always been in service to others, a helper, it was a paralyzing time where I felt helpless, directionless and utterly exhausted. Everyone was in shock and little did we know the grief we would eventually feel on a global level, that the pre-pandemic world we once knew was forever changed.

So, way back in April 2020, what feels like a lifetime ago, I started mindfully and lovingly compiling and curating these monthly care packages. It was a therapeutic and cathartic process for me, knowing that despite not being at my post as a Community Acupuncturist, I was still able to offer tangible resources intended to help regulate our nervous systems, support our immunity and digestion and to have low-cost or free entertainment since many of us were stuck indoors, terrified by this invisible threat that was turning our world upside down.

H&H closed as per public health orders on March 18, 2020 and cautiously reopened May 2020. We are about to embark on our 3rd roller coaster year of the pandemic and continue going strong serving community. With double-masking and trepidation, the world is starting to open up again and we welcome another spring. It feels like an appropriate time to pause the monthly process of compiling these digital care packages so I can better direct my energy towards our busy Community Acupuncture practice, but also that I could always use more rest. I hope these packages have brought you comfort as they have for me.
~Christina Chan, R.Ac.

Have you planted your veggie starts yet…?
We have had a few weeks to recover from daylight savings and perhaps some of you are feeling a little more renewed returning from spring break?

Spring is the ideal time for cleansing and rejuvenation and supporting your liver. According to the philosophy of Chinese medicine, the liver is responsible for the smooth movement of Qi both physically for bodily function, but also for smooth flow of emotions. Sluggish flow of Qi results in live qi stagnation, which may manifest as neck and shoulder tension, chest tightness, digestive symptoms, PMS, migraines, poor sleep, irritability and generally a short fuse. This is especially important also because of the chaotic times we are living in, still with the pandemic accompanied by progressive social divide as well as ongoing tragic events happening both locally and globally. The combination of the seasonal transition, compounded by the stress of current life can really contribute to qi stagnation.

Some simple ways to help maintain smooth qi flow include regular movement and stretching, esp spending time outdoors (forest bathing anyone?), increasing your intake of fresh green, bitter or sour foods (spring veggies!) and of course, a couple acupuncture tune-ups to shed those final layers of your winter coat.

Despite our world being continually turned upside down, we stay steadfast in our support and care for the community. We continue to commend our clients for getting poked and caring for their tender nervous systems, participating in our fundraisers as well as the ongoing compliance with our COVID protocols, which has made all the difference with pandemic practicing. We don’t know what will be in store in the coming weeks and months, but spring is here as it always comes every year.

With the transition from a strange a difficult winter into an easier, more spacious spring, this is an appropriate time for reflection. Much like the duality of the yin-yang, everything in the natural world exists in an ever-evolving state of relative opposites. While we have so much loss to grieve, do not forget what we have to be grateful for.

After the Winter
Some day, when trees have shed their leaves
     And against the morning’s white
The shivering birds beneath the eaves
     Have sheltered for the night,
We’ll turn our faces southward, love,
     Toward the summer isle
Where bamboos spire the shafted grove
     And wide-mouthed orchids smile.

And we will seek the quiet hill
     Where towers the cotton tree,
And leaps the laughing crystal rill,
     And works the droning bee.
And we will build a cottage there
     Beside an open glade,
With black-ribbed blue-bells blowing near,
     And ferns that never fade.
~Claude McKay