It’s been said that you can’t climb a smooth mountain. In other words, if a rock mountain
is completely smooth and shiny, there are no handholds or footholds for you to grab and
make upward progress.
This is a great metaphor for life. You see, all those rough spots in your life and the craggy
times that you had to work through were actually opportunities for growth and upward
advancement. If life is too smooth you might still move forward, but you won’t make any
upward progress. It’s like continually going around the base of the mountain, but never
being able to move up it.
Well, this metaphor also applies to your acupuncture care.
Most people who begin acupuncture care have been living with imbalances for quite
some time. They may not have been dealing with symptoms for very long, but meridian
imbalances and energy blockages can fester under the surface long before any
symptoms finally arise.
In the early phases of care most of the work is dedicated to restoring the normal and free
flow of the body’s energies, in order to establish balance and stability.
As we work through a comprehensive program of acupuncture care, it is extremely
common to initially experience an exacerbation of your current aches and pains, or to
even temporarily develop symptoms that are completely new to you.
Your first inclination might be to think that something is wrong and that your problem is
actually getting worse. But in most cases, these early flareups are like the handholds
that propel you upward to a healthier life.
Before we can instill positive change, we first have to undo the initial damage and then
move forward from there. It’s like building new muscle at the gym. In order for a muscle
to grow you must break it down and then feed it what it needs to grow bigger and
stronger. Just like your treatments, that familiar soreness you feel after starting an
exercise program is evidence that you are making effective progress.
If you are afraid of change or are satisfied with the unhealthy status quo, then by all
means stay on the smooth path, but understand that you eventually risk the entire
mountain coming down on top of you.
If, however, you are ready to move upward, know that the path will not always be easy.
But every rut you encounter serves a purpose and is an integral part of the road back to
health. Climb on!
