Connect with yourself

Joy 

“Everything is fine” is B.S. You know it. I know it. 

So here are a few things I’ve been doing lately to help keep my own nervous system present when things are “not fine” or business as usual in the world. 

Breathing before grabbing my phone in the morning. 

Being intentional about how much news I consume instead of marinating in panic for six straight hours. 

Treating rest as replenishment instead of something I have to “earn.” 

Letting myself have fun even while life is heavy.
Summer is not supposed to be optimized within an inch of its life.
Sometimes healing looks like swimming, laughing, music, popsicles, dancing badly in your kitchen, or group texts with people you love. 

This is all a way of me remaining connected to my own heart underneath all the noise. 

What do I actually want?
What feels nourishing?
What makes me feel more alive instead of more depleted? 

Chinese medicine has taught me over and over that joy is not frivolous. 

Connection is not frivolous. Rest is not frivolous. Pleasure is not frivolous. 

These things regulate us. 

And when people come in for acupuncture, this is part of the work too:
helping the body remember that it is allowed to soften, feel good, recover, and reconnect to itself again. 

If your nervous system has been running on fumes lately, you do not have to keep carrying it alone.