Ways to take care
part 18
Something that I talk about with patients is that consistency is key. Usually my patients hear this first when I am talking about the frequency that they should get acupuncture. In acupuncture school our supervisors would tell us that our patients at first should be getting acupuncture treatments 2x a week. This is not usually do-able for any of my patients both financially and time wise. I do like to explain how acupuncture is a practice that builds on itself with each session. Not that one session is useless, but the practice is cumulative and that is how we actually get to the root of issues as well as treat all the other things that come up every week/ monthly in peoples lives. This is how acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can be so helpful when it’s given a fair shot. The “I got acupuncture once and it didn’t do anything” is kinda like saying I went to the gym once and didn’t get stronger. Its just not how it works. Things take time.
I have had patients sometimes tell me over the years that they just ‘have to get through this week’ month after month. Sometimes patients tell me they have fallen off all their routines and I tell them that is part of life, and that I have faith they will get back to the things that help them whether that be movement, herbal formulas etc. Our lives tend to be chaotic especially these days; I try and urge patients especially when things get overwhelming in life to not give up their routines. This isn’t just acupuncture: this is their weekly hike, this might be therapy, this might their 5 minute daily meditation practice, this might be a phone call with a friend each week. Things like acupuncture, meditation, yoga, humming, laughing, etc stimulate our vagus nerve which is what we think of as ‘rest and digest’. This helps every organ, hormone and system in our bodies to function better and keep us healthier.
I have a bumper sticker on my wall in front of my desk that was made by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh that says “GET OUT of your own way!” I feel this way about myself often.
I used the example recently with some of my patients how as a healthcare practitioner or anyone really- it is sort of like being in a little boat out to sea. We have to find what keeps us steady amidst all the chaos of our lives. Shit happens, we get in fights with our family, work gets stressful, things are always going on so when we don’t let go of the things that can help us like our routines and our habits- they are what can help to steady us.
A few years ago I listened to the podcast Call Your Girlfriend, they had on the guest Sabrina Hirsi Issa where she talked about her monthly Personal Inventory Day. In the book Make Your Art No Matter What on page 28, Beth Pickens discusses it in detail:
She sets aside the day on her birthday each month ( in her case, the 16th). Every month, she dedicates this day to her life maintenance. These days are devoted to things like checking her personal finances, making medical appointments, reviewing long-term goals, sending gratitude notes, considering her obligations, and reflecting on her life. She urges us to remember that “we run our lives, we set our priorities, and we get to thrive.” Go to her website and then listen the episode now; I’ll be her when you get back.
I adopted Sabrina’s brilliant idea the moment I heard her. Because I am self-employed, I was able to immediately block off the 15th ( my birthdate) of every month in perpetuity for what I call my Personal Maintenance Day. I keep a small journal for the year dedicated to my Personal Maintenance Days. On the 15th of each moth, I focus on things that I tend to put off: bodywork, medical and dental appointments, spiritual work, studying languages, writing letters to friends, and annoying but important tasks like filing insurance claims. I do no paid work on these days; instead, I focus on the other parts of my life and my non-work related goals. I am currently closing out year two of using Sabrina’s possibility model. Each month, my Personal Maintenance Day is the time I keep my life moving, my goals focused, my body tended to, and my connection to myself intact. Every birthday, I make a list of goals for the year, things I want to try with whom and where I want to be, and more of what is important to me. Its helped me—a self-employed person who can easily slip into relentless working—focus on the totality of my life: body, intellect, relationships, living space and spiritual interior.
I share this as far from being the most put together organized person- I work for myself caring for many people. Sometimes that means I put off getting my own bloodwork done or ignoring things I have to do, but some months when I use this model it has helped me to not be where did half the year go? I have shared this with various patients who might feel similarly with time moving too quickly. I think this can be a very helpful tool to remember we may work jobs that take up too much of our time or have too much on our plate, but when we can pause and access all on our plate and also what we wish to do, I think that can be so helpful.
Today is the first day of August. This week marks 300 days of the genocide taking place in Gaza. 65 days shy of an entire year. My friend Rachel Howe last week shared how she can’t believe we are going about our lives while this just continues on.
Polio is now an epidemic in Gaza, something that was totally preventable but of course is being used as an agent to harm and kill more Palestinians in Gaza.
Since 2020, I have thought about community care with the realm of public health a lot. Covid has been surging hard here in LA and lots of other places since the end of June. Sadly many of my patients have had it recently; many coming back from travel etc. I feel blessed to see patients and treat their partners and then sometimes other family members, so when one person gets it it’s sort of a domino effect. This is hard when you are a small practice. I wish for people to truly care more about others; this is not only about public health but about literally everything. I am praying everyday for a ceasefire and for an end to the occupation. I hope this covid surge mellows out. I wish that people would care for others more, this can look like testing after traveling, after big events and masking in places like grocery stores. We have to take care of each other.
“If we extend the metaphor of the garden to our social body, we might imagine ourselves as a garden within a garden. The outer garden is no Eden, and no rose garden either. It is as strange and various as the inner garden of our bodies, where we host fungi and viruses and bacteria of both “good” and ‘bad” dispositions. This garden is unbounded and unkempt, bearing both fruit and thorns. Perhaps we should call it a wilderness. Or perhaps community is sufficient. However we choose to think of the social body, we are each other’s environment. Immunity is a shared space— a garden we tend together” - Eula Biss, On Immunity
I found Encounters with Qi in a small bookshop in up in Mendocino in April. I finally started reading it last week.
I am also re-reading Revolutionary Letters by Diana Di Prima.
I recently read Hole Studies by Hilary Plum, which was recommended by Jason Evans who runs This Long Century. On Criterion Channel they have a feature of 12 short films presented by This Long Century called Artists on Artists.
I heard Zach Bryan for the first time recently and have been playing some songs on repeat especially, The Way Back.
Justin was playing blue forty-six by Dane Law earlier and now I have been listening to it on repeat.
I forgot about this remix I heard back in June: Waxahatchee - Right Back To It (SoFTT Edit)
Last week on Le Cinema Club I saw Sling Shot Hip Hop. I sadly no not know where to stream it online at the moment, but keep on the look out for it.
I shared about Solar Recovery in a newsletter last summer (ways to take care: part six). Solar Recovery is this incredible topical spray that I have been using since around 2008. It was created by tennis players in the desert who were getting roasted while playing in the intense desert sun and needed a remedy to combat sun exposure. It is very cooling to the skin after a long day out in the sun, and helps so much if you burn!
This is an old bottle from Wildcare, but I love this hydrosol spray so much! The Rosemary Bay Hydrosol has been calming my skin for at least 9 (?) years. I use this spray after I shave my legs to subdue any irritation. Recently I switched deodorants and my skin in the heat wasn’t liking it and this spray helped to calm some irritation I had. I highly recommend them!
I bought a new pillow recommend by Russell.
In June I treated myself to a handmade ‘squatty potty’ that I found on Etsy after seeing a beautiful one in person. I have been a fan of the stool for over a decade and highly recommend!
All my sunscreen recommendations come from my friend, Andrea. She has so many great newsletters about suncare that I recommend reading.
E-Sims for Gaza : Purchasing eSims allows people within Gaza to connect to the outside to communicate with their families and also to show what’s happening within Gaza.
Chinese Medicine clinic in Amsterdam, sent to me from Grace
Ways To Take Care Longsleeve <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
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Excited about the consistency and care required for Personal Maintenance Days. Looking to start that for myself next month. Thank you for sharing <3
Thanks for your thoughtful insights and advice, I love it all.