Come Back to You in 2020
by Christina Captain, DAOM, MSAOM, MSHN, MA
Do you ever wonder how life gets out of balance? It occurs to me that sometimes we just wake up feeling miserable, like we do not know who we are anymore or how we reached that point. It reminds me of driving home from work and pulling into the driveway with no recollection of any traffic lights, turns or other cars on the way home.
It’s a dangerous business, not being aware or present because it is in that state of distraction where we start to wander off the path of balance and harmony and directly into misery. This is the reason we often feel like we are out of options, but if you find yourself in this particular state, awareness of the fact that you are out of balance is both the key and first step back to the “you” that “you” want to be.
Awareness can come about in a multitude of ways—but hopefully it will not be the universal baseball bat upside the head in a form of a diagnosis. In my 25-plus years of experience in treating patients, first in allied health and now in complementary-integrative medicine, the “diagnosis wakeup call” is the most profound and motivating of them all. My focus in practice is prevention of that distracted “zombie state” and of the subsequent disease or disorder states that lead to these devastating wake-up calls.
So how can you attain the awareness required to create a strategic plan of prevention? First you must be in tune with the body and stop to listen. Your body communicates all you need to know about how it’s doing—you just have to notice. One of the major impediments to being noticing this is the cultural obsession with pseudo-connectivity and the technologies that provide it. Technological advances are destroying human connection with the Earth and nature.
As a society, we are so wrapped up in checking our texts, notifications and emails that we forget to take a walk, kayak, visit the beach or camp. This self-imposed restriction creates a barrier to the force that feeds our essence which is the Earth and nature. An entire field of medicine aptly named Naturopathy focuses on this exact theory. It is a requirement of human life to be outside to be in the grass, sand, water and mountains. We are not part of nature—we are nature. Outside activities allow a recharging of our essence, and they are integral in order to be able to hear our bodies speak.
The second way to become more aware is to quiet the mind. This can be experienced through a meditation practice. A quieted mind is a peaceful body and vice versa. After years of meditation practice, you can walk through chaos and remain at peace. Even starting a mindfulness practice where you spend less than five minutes each day in meditation will create a dramatic effect. Substantial amounts of research have been done on the effect of medication upon the brain and body. My point is you only need to take three main actions in order to start this process of self-awakening and awareness:
Reduce the time you spend with technology driven connection.
Reconnect with nature—head outside and spend time on the ground, in the water or on a mountain.
Begin to practice meditation, even if it’s only a minute of quiet breathing each day.
These three concepts will initiate this process of coming back to the “you” that “you” want to be. What better time to start than right now in the midst of a new year? So begin where you are and see where it is you want to be. Remember, I am right there with you—perhaps we will even run into each other on the beach!
Dr. Christina Captain is nationally board-certified by the National Commission for Certification in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). She is the lead practitioner at Sarasota Center for Acupuncture and Nutrition. Dr. Captain is also an expert Feng Shui practitioner and teacher who studied under Nancilee Wydra of the Feng Shui Institute of America, before originating her own style, Essential Balance Feng Shui. Since this discipline is a branch of Oriental Medicine, she often blends Feng Shui principles into her treatment plans. Her practice is located at 2650 Bahia Vista St., Suite 101, Sarasota. For more information, call 941-951-1119 or email [email protected].
