My garden doesn't seem to know what season it is at the moment!
My Japanese Maple has been in its full autumn glory for a couple of weeks now, but its not-so-distant cousin gave up the ghost about a month back and is absolutely starkers! Big brother, on the other hand, has hardly shed a leaf and is as green and lush as it was in the Springtime.
I have winter-flowering cyclamen happily nodding their heads alongside pelargoniums and fuchsias, still going strong after having flowered all summer long. There are even primroses in full bloom, with daffodils and grape hyacinths promising a splash of colour this side of Christmas.
Mother Nature is sending us mixed messages too. The lack of daylight is telling our bodies that it's time to hurry indoors, to close the curtains and snuggle down in preparation for the cold nights ahead. But we've barely had a frost as yet, and the midday sunshine is enticing us outdoors without a coat.
If our bodies haven't worked out what season it is then it's no wonder that so many of my patients tell me that they are really struggling with seasonal change at the moment. Having been buoyed for so long by the glorious summer, it seems that the number of daylight hours has decreased far faster than the temperature has outside, and as a result many people's energies have plummeted.
If any of this is resonating with you, then this is the ideal time for a Five Element Acupuncture seasonal treatment - to address any imbalance in energy, and to fortify you for whatever time ahead may bring.
Treatments for general well being offer an opportunity for reflection, replenishment and relaxation, and some well-deserved 'Me Time'.
I always recommend that patients adopt a proactive approach to their well being rather than a reactive one - if we only seek treatment for illness and pain then we've already left it too long.
It is vitally important that we take responsibility for looking after ourselves and our health - because if we don't do it, then nobody will do it for us.
