Autumn Blues: How Acupuncture Can Lift Your Mood

Summer has faded, making way for Autumn's sweet, chill embrace. The leaves are changing colors, every store is filled to the brim with pumpkin-everything, and even though temperatures continue to stay high here in sunny Los Angeles, we feel a shift in the air. Our bodies know: this is a time for inward reflection, for rest and recovery, for preparing for the winter ahead.

But what our bodies know as peaceful darkness and relaxation, our minds may interpret as depressing and energy-sucking. In this blog post, we'll chat about how incorporating acupuncture into your routine can help turn the tides within the sea of your mind, allowing you to fully relax and embrace this time of deep reflection.

The Season of Reflection

While summer usually means big parties, tons of socializing, intense movement, all nourishing yang, autumn is different. It is a season of preparation, a season of reflection and one of beginning to move inward in preparation for the colder, winter months. Autumn corresponds to the lungs (yin) and the large intestine (yang). The element for this season is Metal, associated with helping both the lungs and the large intestine to clear out any physical or mental waste in order to relax and make room for fullness and light in the coming year.

This is a time to take space for peace, for quiet and for processing emotions like sadness and grief. This shift into processing heavy emotions can leave us feeling empty, broken and needing support.

Note that this is not to be confused with having depression or any form of anxiety. We are merely discussing a seasonal shift that occurs and do not at all mean to insinuate anything about the very real and debilitating effects of depression and anxiety.

How Acupuncture Can Help

Acupuncture literally allows one to 'tap' into the energy meridians in the body, healing and revitalizing the organs within to promote long-term healing and emotional release. This can be incredibly effective in helping us process deep emotional trauma, sadness, grief, and so much more.

Here are a few points that can help you nourish your soul and help cope in this heavy season of change.

• Yintang (EX-HN3) - Located between the eyebrows, this point helps to ease emotional instability and help with mental clarity.

• Ear Shen Men - Found in the top corner of the ear, this point is an all-in-one, helping to stimulate mental clarity, open the heart space and allow easy breath to enter.

• Taichong (Liver 3) - Wonderful for folks struggling to cope with depression, anxiety or repressed anger. You can find this point an inch or so below the space between the big and second toes.

• Shen Men Spirt Gate (Heart 7) - Located on the wrist on the Heart meridian, this point helps to clear stagnation and is one of the most common points for anxiety treatment.

More Fall Content to Come

We've been so excited to share these tips and tricks with you about how you can support your mind and body this season, and we cannot wait to dive into more autumn content this year! Fall is such a beautiful, melancholic time of year, and we're ready to support you every step of the way with tips, tricks and love!

With love, The Wildflowers.

Note that any and all information in this article should be addressed with a trusted health professional.