Winter Wellness, & the Mind-Body Connection
TARA AND THE ACU TEAM <3
ft Venetia’s tasty coffee!
Welcoming the Winter - by Tara Rivero Zea
December is here already, can you believe it?! We've already flown through many of the Autumn traditions, and now, as if with the flip of a switch, we find ourselves welcoming winter and gearing up for the next round of festivities.
But alongside all this seasonal sparkle, it’s worth remembering that as the days grow shorter and darker, our bodies and minds naturally lean towards something different. This is a time to slow down a little, and to keep in mind that the pace and pressure of Christmas (or any winter celebrations you may enjoy) needn't knock us off our feet - as a busy mum of 4 myself, I really understand this feeling!
Just recently, I was sitting in our local café, Venetia’s, with some of the wonderful acupuncture team from Healing Space. Over our tasty coffees, we found ourselves chatting about the seasonal shifts we’re all feeling. Winter has a way of bringing us inward, inviting deeper rest, and giving us time to take note of which patterns are supporting us and which ones might be weighing us down. And naturally, we ended up talking about how this all ties into acupuncture….
Acupuncture can be a powerful tool during the winter months. It supports the body as it transitions into a slower rhythm, helping to strengthen immunity, steady your energy levels, and care for the nervous system. It can be especially good if you’re looking to regulate your menstrual cycle, manage stress, improve sleep, or simply feel more balanced and grounded during the darker months.
What Your Jaw is Trying to Tell You - by Claire Sands
I attended a talk recently which discussed anger and how we suppress it in our bodies. It is the same for many feelings, such as grief, shame and guilt. It can be hard to sit in the discomfort of emotions and often feels safer to push them down. But where do they go?
I work with TMJ related issues surrounding the jaw and take a whole-body approach in treating underlying tension. Once referred to as the garbage points of the body, the jaw and hips hold a lot of suppressed emotion and unresolved matters. Sometimes we clench our jaws to prevent us expressing what is on our minds or our bodies may tighten as a natural response to perceived stress.
I recently qualified as an Integrative Psychotherapist which deepened my understanding of the mind-body connection, but it has been my experience in Massage Therapy, specifically treating TMJ disorders where I have felt the relationship between emotions and the physical body.
It is a reason why I have started therapeutic writing workshops. Although they are designed for relaxation and enjoyment, creative writing allows thoughts to flow and can be a way of releasing unprocessed emotions onto paper. Thoughts can feel clearer when they have an outlet.
Feelings have a way of making themselves known, which I experienced at the last workshop. One of the activities featured a poem with the line ‘my skin has betrayed me.’ I had read the poem previously but only now did this line stand out. Intuitively, I began writing about a time when I experienced cystic acne and alopecia. I wrote about how it made me feel and how relieved I felt when we had to wear face masks at work so no one would see my face. Usually, we hide our emotions and hope if we ignore them, they will disappear; but the body speaks out loud.
My skin was not betraying me that time, it was telling me to stop suppressing. How often do we ignore the signs our body sends us? The pain signals are there to say an internal matter needs our attention. Regulating our minds and bodies can help us connect with ourselves and encourage our energy to internally flow.