by Cynthia Zanti Jabs, L.Ac.
This new virus has changed so much this Spring. It’s radically altered routines and relationships for all of us. We’re learning new technologies to connect with loved ones, colleagues and clients. Reclaiming old practices like cooking from a pantry. Bowing to each other instead of shaking hands. Re-discovering the importance of the simple, sacred act of hand washing. Remembering the value of time outdoors.
We at Ruscombe are following emerging guidelines to maximize everyone’s health and safety. And, as always, we are committed to tending each other on levels of body, mind and spirit.
We count on everyone in our community to join us in following our well-publicized guidelines for limiting exposure to illness. We’re exploring new ways to be a healing presence in our community and in the world. We’re creating opportunities for meaningful input and discussion online instead of in person meetings and forums- stay tuned!
For now, we have to practice physical distancing from each other – I prefer this phrase to ‘social’ distancing. Clearly, we need our social connections more than ever! We’re only limiting our physical proximity. And physical distance need not limit our connections on other levels, right? I have friends and family members miles away who are intimate and essential members of my circle. Clear audio transmission bring us the comfort of familiar voices and music. I and some other Ruscombe practitioners work via phone or video phone now. Email, Zoom and other platforms also offer some social connection. All of these help us know we’re not alone even when we’re physically by ourselves. This is so essential for our health, on every level.
Times like these remind us how our connections with others and with the natural world support us spiritually. We find our spirits literally sink when we disconnect. We may find our usual spiritual practices curtailed or needing enhancement. We can create/expand prayerful circles to help us hold our uncertainties and insecurities. From our various traditions we can join in seeking divine guidance to learn all we can with these – as with any! – challenges. We are already learning a lot about our interdependency from this equal opportunity virus!
On a mental level we can make choices about how to engage with whatever shows up in our lives. Our first reaction to startling situations is often shaped by old injuries and defensive coping mechanisms created to survive them. In tough times like this we all get a good look at our toughest stuff. With so much up in the air, the potential for both suffering and healing is incredibly high. Any practice we’ve learned that helps us catch our breath is worth its weight in gold right about now! Even a little breathing room can help us shift us from a tense and painful reaction to healing possibilities like a gentler response or larger view.
My healing framework comes from the cycles of nature and the seasons. These invariably offer us a bigger picture and context, even for major rearrangements like we’re experiencing right now. Whatever else is changing, Spring bulbs are blooming. Trees are budding. Spring breezes blow a breath of fresh air our way the minute we step outdoors.
We can learn a lot from watching how tree branches move with the wind right now. Rigid tension in their branches gives way as their sap rises so they can flex, bend and dance with the wind. Like trees, rigidity makes us more likely to snap in the face of oncoming forces. With so much changing so quickly, we are having to flex like Spring tree branches. No doubt we’ll get lots of exercise with this in the coming weeks! Cultivating our flexibility makes us stronger and better able to meet whatever comes. We can let incoming forces ruffle our branches rather than slam our trunk. Our own ‘sap’ rises when we ease up, stretch and bend. Our joints get more nimble and so can our mind.
Our initial reactions rarely take in the whole picture. Like trees we need to stay rooted as we sway and turn and expand our perspective to see more of what we’re dealing with – and reach toward the heavens! Then we have a better shot at seeing the bigger picture. And operating from our highest and best self.
Being able to envision ourselves as healthy and whole is always a key factor in our prognosis. So how do we cultivate a vision of wellness in the current climate? When imagery of death, disease and conflict shows up every time we look at a screen, we can start to feel poisoned by it. And like many toxins this can be addictive.
Fortunately, the forces of nature have powerful medicine to help us kick harmful habits. Spring invigorates our Liver, which helps us detox. Spring cleaning, inside and out! In Asian Healing Arts we say Springtime energy wakes up our Liver and empowers our vision.
Spring is eye opening – this year more than ever! With extra light and daytime we see things we couldn’t before, both in and around us.
If we keep a constant eye on the news, we may not notice when our mind’s eye glimpses the bigger picture. Then we miss the benefits of picturing ourselves emerging from this emergency – and all the little steps we might take to get there.
Our vision is not just about where we are, it’s about where we’re going. Some of this we can’t control. And some we can. This distinction gets clearer – and more crucial –at times like this.
Back to trees for a minute: Look up into the branches of a tree this time of year, and you clearly see the trajectory of where they’re going and growing. They keep extending up toward the sun, even when that means winding around obstacles: Other trees, shade, even solid objects like a fence. Trees shift their shape as needed to keep growing toward the sun, no matter what shows along the way. We call the gift of tree/wood/Spring energy: Hope.
In the presence of a tree I find it’s easier to connect with the big picture and, yes, hope. A teacher once said if we could really just see a tree we’d know all we need to know about life. But don’t take my word for it. Step outside and look for a tree. Catch a breath of fresh air – great for your immune system! If you can’t get out, close your eyes and picture a tree you love. Or call one up in your imagination.
We can feel real small in the presence of the large forces we’re seeing in motion around us. It can feel OK to be small in the presence of a big tree. Even when the wind blows like crazy.
Tree medicine. Good for what ails. Check it out! Please take good gentle care of yourselves. And stay tuned to the Ruscombe website for additional input to support your passage through this extraordinary time.