Spring is here and with Spring typically comes an energetic surge of movement. After going inside and "hibernating" during Winter, Spring is all about moving outward, back into the world. That being said, we are not always tuned into the season; our schedules don't really change when the season changes, the change just happens around us. When you move against the natural flow of the season, you get Qi Stagnation, with an increase of symptoms like: PMS, migraines/headaches, depression, irritability, short-temper, muscle tightness, and higher feelings of stress. When it comes to being productive at work and in general, these types of symptoms can often get in the way. Other symptoms that can impede productivity are fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep and anxiety. Here's how acupuncture can remedy how you feel.
Acupuncture can improve productivity by:
1. Reducing stress and anxiety. While acupuncture can't control how many deadlines you have, it can help you respond better to those deadlines. When you feel stressed, it is often difficult to concentrate on your assignment. When feeling anxious and overwhelmed, many people procrastinate, which only increases the feelings of stress exponentially. Acupuncture calms the nervous system, getting us away from stress and overwhelm and back to feeling more centered, grounded and in control. Calming the body's experience of stress allows you to better see the task at hand and handle it more effectively.
2. Sharpening focus. Reducing stress will allow you to think more clearly, but there are also many acupuncture points that directly affect the brain and allow it to function more efficiently. Will acupuncture make you smarter? Probably not, but it can clear away the fog that is getting in the way of lucid, focused thinking.
3. Improving immunity. One powerful negative result of acute or chronic stress is the suppression of the immune system. Immunity, like fertility and digestion, is a "non-essential" function when it comes to survival; your body is not worrying about germs when you are in a life or death situation, like trying to avoid being trampled by a woolly mammoth (from an evolutionary perspective). When it is a matter of immediate survival, the body's resources get channeled away from non-essential functions and toward processes that will encourage survival, like muscle strength and blood pressure/heart rate. When stress is chronic instead of acute those non-essential functions are chronically suppressed. This is why it is so common to get sick after long periods of stress, and why it is so hard to recover. A simple cold may last weeks with a suppressed immune system. This is not good for productivity at work. In addition to reducing stress, acupuncture can help strengthen the immune system; it can help you get over any illness you are currently trying to fight off as well as help you to avoid getting sick in the future.
4. Enhancing sleep quality and quantity, while increasing energy. For many people, getting a good night's sleep is as common as a $2 bill; it's out there, but you don't see it very often. Nothing improves productivity more than sleep: you can think more clearly, respond more quickly, be more creative, plus being in a better mood can do wonders for your interpersonal skills. Acupuncture can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep and keep you from tossing and turning all night. With more good quality sleep your energy increases as well.
Proper sleep, stress management, good diet and exercise all play a part in ensuring that you are the healthiest you can be, so that you can feel good about the work you do. Productivity at work and in life is highest when you are functioning at your best. Acupuncture can help.
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If you would like to learn more about me and what I do, please visit www.acuyogamama.com.
