The Path Ahead for 2017

Typically this time of year is used for reflection and planing of the next year. All divisions of time are arbitrary and one could just as easily decide to "start a new year" at any point. This is not nihilistic semantics. It is not a rejection of cultural norms in order for individuality's sake, either. It is simply a reminder to focus on the present moment, and to not delay desired or needed changes waiting for "the right time." In traditional medicine around the world, winter is regarded as the time of storage and rest. This is because nature recedes and plants shed their leaves, storing their resources deep within the earth and their roots. Several animals hibernate and sleep through this time of year. In human societies this has also taken on the significance of planning for the new year. It is important to plan out the next planting and harvest seasons, and preserve last years seeds, in order to have enough to last the entire year. A relatively modern tradition is that of making resolutions for the coming year. I prefer a more holistic look at the process. Rather than make a list of resolutions or rules to follow, I look at it similar to traditional farming and agriculture. Taking stock and assessing the past year's growing and harvesting season; and planning next year's to do better. Some things can be planed, but others are unpredictable; and most are somewhere in between. Just as a farmer cannot predict the exact weather, but can look at past years and general trends, so to should we look at trends in our life and see which ones to cultivate and nourish and which are weeds that need to be removed from the garden of our lives.

I've decided to pick three things that I want to focus on this year, three habits/actions that I want to cultivate. I'll probably not be perfect at any of them by the end of 2017, but I hope to use this post as a touchstone to rededicate myself to these practices when I slack off. For it to be a map that I can refer to when I get lost.

Meditate for Five Minutes each day

I have tried meditation before, but the daily practice is what I find to be the hardest. My intention is to set an attainable goal that will have a big payoff. I know myself; if I were to set a goal of 30min a day, even skipping weekends, I would give up by the end of February. Five minutes is a good length of time to let go of thinking and return to breathing.

You should sit in meditation for 20min a day. Unless you're too busy, then you should sit for an hour - Old Zen Saying

Twenty minutes is probably a better number, but I would rather stick to five a day than give up on twenty a day. Of course, this goal is a minimum and I hope to grow and expand the five minutes a day to longer times, or more frequent short meditations, throughout the year. There are several reasons to practice meditation[^1], but here are three that are important to me:

1. Improved productivity: I see patients at 2 (going to be three soon, but more on that later) locations around town. In addition, I volunteer for our local professional association and the resident camp that I attended as a child and young adult. I sometimes find there aren't enough hours in the day to do what I'd like to do; anything that can let me do more in less time is a welcome addition to my life.
2. Decreased pain and inflammation: For the past year and a half I have been dealing with chronic pain in my back and left hip. Obviously I am trying acupuncture and other holistic treatments. But often, self care is the best! So if I can reduce the use of anti inflammatory drugs by using my body's own systems to self regulate, that would be very welcome indeed.
3. Reduces stress: I think most people in modern society have a lot of stress, maybe even more than people did 50 or 100 years ago. I know I certainly feel like I have more stress than people in the past. It's probably not a good goal to eliminate stress. For me, that would most likely mean eliminating the things that cause stress, including my family and my job. That is not what I want! But, increasing resilience to stress and decreasing the effects of it on my body is what I want this year.

Weekly Content Updates to this Blog

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I have been remarkably bad about consistent updates to this blog. I could give a myriad of excuses from family illness and hospital stays to a list of my other obligations. None of them change the fact that it didn't happen. A little bit of introspection and I realize the underlying reason is that I didn't know why I wanted to update a blog. I'd heard it's a good idea, and I think of things that I'd like to post somewhere, but it all seemed like a hobby.
Without a clear and precise motivation, there is no way to decide what content belongs and what content should go elsewhere. With that in mind, I'd like to rededicate this blog to the following goals:

1. Promote Wellness: I am lucky in that I now derive my primary income from doing what I went to graduate school for, practicing Asian medicine and acupuncture. The goal of any well rounded medicine is not to treat disease, but to nourish health. I can certainly do that in the clinic; but I would like to do it on a larger scale. Thus, you will see several posts in 2017 with health tips or ideas to nourish your own health.
2. Promote Acupuncture: This is related to the first goal; it is more focused. I live and practice in the United States. Even though acupuncture is becoming more common, the majority of people in the US have not tried acupuncture. I see this as a personal challenge in my practice and a challenge to the profession of acupuncture in this country. I plan to do educational posts on acupuncture, and provide information on specific conditions that evidence supports acupuncture's effectiveness for. If you are interested providing or receiving referrals for acupuncture in New Mexico or wherever you are located: please drop me a line.
3. Personal Branding: 2016 was the first year since I graduated with my MSAOM (Master of Science in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) that I could realistically say: "I am close to full time employment as an acupuncturist." There are several reasons both personal and in the state of the profession of acupuncture for that. I will address the broader professional reasons under goal 2 above. I realized that one of the best things I can do for myself this year is get out there and promote myself as an acupuncturist who is dedicated to helping people feel awesome. It's a way for me to reach out to communities, and for individuals to get a sense of what I am like and if it feels right for their treatment. I don't know what I am doing when it comes to marketing; and at the moment I don't have the capital to hire a coach to teach me. But I do know that not trying is the first step to failure. So here begins an experiment in personal and professional marketing and public education; wish me luck!

Continue Learning and Hone My Acupuncture Craft

I am grateful for several opportunities in 2017 to use what skills and knowledge I have gained to help people. One of the things I have always said about acupuncture is that there is always room for improvement and refining skills and knowledge. This medicine has been continuously improved for thousands of years. To think that a lifetime is enough to master it is hubris; to think that 4 years of school and 4 in practice is enough is foolish. My goal is: To do at least one activity per month that improves my knowledge or skill at practice.
I intend this to be above and beyond simply treating patients every week in the clinic; it will be an intentional dedicated activity that directly improves either my skill or knowledge at acupuncture or Asian medicine. Of course this includes CEU classes, but I seek to go above and beyond the minimum required by my national certification. This may be a detailed reading and note taking of a book on herbal medicine or diagnosis; or it may be a monthly study group for Hari Acupuncture that meets in my city. With dedication and a little luck, I aim to be a much better acupuncturist at the end of 2017 than I am right now.

Conclusion

Can you tell I like threes? The format of these goals is intentional, it gives me a task, a concrete action, to take every day, week, and month to improve myself. The first two are also broken down in to three parts, but that is mainly for specificity. I may fail in these humble quests, but momentary failure will not deter me from trying again!

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.
-Ernest Hemingway