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Hello everyone!
It has been a little while since I’ve posted. On the one hand I just didn’t have any more frequently asked questions on the top of my mind. And I’ve been spending my creative writing energies on posts to my personal social media instead of this work blog.
That said, I’m thinking some of the things I post on my personal accounts might be relevant here. Mainly these spiritual-psychological principles I feel are at the core of healing/growth. These perspectives are at the heart of my practice, so lets discuss them.
The following are a list of ideals I have for my practice. Which is to say they’re what I’m striving towards, not necessarily what I can always live up to.
Meet the patient where they’re at.
What this means to me is that I’m not expecting everyone to be a nutritionist, yoga teacher, or ready to make massive lifestyle changes tomorrow. It’s important that people know that they’re accepted first and foremost wherever they’re at in their healing journey and we can make some positive nudges if/when folks are ready.
Adapt to their needs
Very similar to the first, I really want to make space for patients to get the experience they’re looking for. While it is true I’m the one that went to school for this stuff, I think its just as important to recognize the innate wisdom in having lived your own life. If, for example, your nervous system feels a lot better chatting for half the treatment, most of the time I think that’s exactly what we should do. Conversely, I seek to frequently create spaces where we can fall into a comfortable silence as that often seems helpful.
Lets go at the pace of your nervous system
This is one I harp on a lot in practice. While there’s certainly work to do physically or energetically through massage/acupuncture, establishing a sense of safety in your nervous system is my priority. I honestly have a challenging time when patients seem to be asking me to override their nervous system, wanting harder/more intense treatments than I think are ideal. In this case I often try to find a new balance between the request (adapting to where they’re at) and my sense that a gentler approach would be more effective.
Let’s practice listening to your body
While there are plenty of times I’ll use my knowledge of the body to translate for example back pain into a potential hip-origin, or translate leg pain into sciatic nerve pain, very often its helpful to work exactly where the nervous system is pointing. There’s a lot of wisdom inherent to how our systems are set up, so listening to those cues, many patients can tell me when something feels like “exactly what I need” or “a good kind of pain”. Similarly, if someone notices they’re guarding or feeling more tense because of what I’m doing, I want to hear that feedback so we can find a new avenue of approach.
Overall
Zooming out almost entirely, I believe the core of life is loving awareness. Ultimately each of us is responsible for bringing loving awareness to ourselves. But when I’m working, I practice extending that loving awareness to another individual.
To be clear, this “love” is the type known as Metta in Pali, which translates to “loving-kindness,” “benevolence,” or “friendliness”.
I think this combination of witnessing and accepting is at the core of the healing process. And I think practicing giving metta to ourselves helps us give it to others and practicing giving metta to others helps us give it to ourselves.
That said,
I didn’t go to school for nothing. There’s still specific points and techniques I’m performing each visit. I look to assess your needs and provide the best treatment I know how, drawing on my knowledge and experience. And this really is good news because it means even if I’m having a rough day, the acupuncture points and massage techniques do have their own distinct effects. Thankfully, treatment outcomes ultimately do not depend on me having perfect vibes with every patient every day. Sometimes the best I can do is just let the practice speak for itself.
Bonus
Just wanted to share that while I’ve used ChatGPT to help fill out the majority of my blog posts, this one is AI-free. So the formatting a readability takes a bit of a hit, but I am happy to share that this one is straight from my heart to the keyboard to you.
Today I just wanted to point out this study on pubmed: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4479890/
I have personally benefitted significantly from meditative practices, and I’d be happy to help anyone who’d like to learn more about these practices. I deeply believe movement is medicine, yet part of that medicine is shifting our nervous system orientation towards sensations in our bodies.
From the article’s introduction: “Prior to the current accepted biopsychosocial model, the biomedical model dominated all illness conceptualizations for almost 300 years and still dominates in the popular imagination. First proposed by Engel (1977) the biopsychosocial model acknowledges biological processes but also highlights the importance of experiential and psychological factors in pain. The famous gate control theory of pain[3] also proposed that the brain plays a dynamic role in pain perception as opposed to being a passive recipient of pain signals. They suggested psychological factors can inhibit or enhance sensory flow of pain signals and thus influence the way brain ultimately responds to painful stimulation.[4] If mind processes can change the way the brain processes pain then this holds tremendous potential for psychological intervention to produce reduced pain signals from the brain.
Kabat-Zinn’s et al. (1986) described the process of pain reduction in his paper on mindfulness and meditation. The process of pain reduction occurred by “an attitude of detached observation toward a sensation when it becomes prominent in the field of awareness and to observe with similar detachment the accompanying but independent cognitive processes which lead to evaluation and labeling of the sensation as painful, as hurt.” Thus, by “uncoupling” the physical sensation, from the emotional and cognitive experience of pain, the patient is able to reduce the pain.[5] The patients’ descriptions of distraction from pain, identifying maladaptive coping strategies toward pain and heightened awareness of pain sensation leading to behavioral changes are examples of how pain is unassociated with emotion, cognition, and sensation [Figure 1]. Therefore recently these theories attracted several researchers who are working on pain.
The article goes on to share how studies have shown reductions in both pain and depression via meditation.
This particular study has participants involved in a program of 8 weeks with 90 minutes each session.
This is a good start, but the kinds of mental shifts we’re looking for from meditation can take a real commitment that is a deeply individual choice.
Again feel free to check out the study and ask me anything about my 22 years running practicing meditation. I’d love to help you get started. Thanks.
I’ve had a few patients recently tell me they don’t know why they can’t lose weight, even though they’ve been fairly active for a long time.
To me, this is a straightforward question. But it often surprises people because we’ve spent years swimming in mixed messages about weight loss. One of the persistent misunderstandings in the current zeitgeist is that the right kind of exercise is the key.
It isn’t.
Yes, the old calories in, calories out idea is broadly true, but some under-the-hood factors matter more over the long run.
The essential problem with using exercise as a weight-loss tool is that our bodies naturally increase hunger signals in proportion to activity level. More exercise → more hunger → more eating.
On top of that, stress and sleep issues can push people to eat for comfort outside of true hunger signals and can disrupt our basal metabolic rate — the bulk of our everyday calorie burn, just to keep us alive.
Since BMR makes up most of our “calories out,” the real key shifts to intake and satiety. In other words:
How do we get full, and how do we stay full?
Protein, fiber, and water — in that order — do the heavy lifting for satiety.
This is why both major “diet camps” end up being partially right. Keeping fat intake somewhere around what’s needed for hormone synthesis (roughly 20–30% of total calories) is ideal. Carbohydrates can be kept relatively low, as long as you have enough for energy and daily functioning.
Unsurprisingly, properly built salads and soups can work well because they activate stretch-receptor satiety signals. But that’s not the only option anymore. There are now high-fiber, resistant-starch breads, bagels, and even rice prep methods that make fullness and blood-sugar stability easier than ever.
Protein remains the keystone, though. It directly triggers the big satiety hormones, leptin and ghrelin. Ideally, each meal should have a solid source of protein; snacking on chips alone just won’t trigger fullness in the same way.
No — exercise is fantastic for almost everything except weight loss. It helps a little, but the bulk of the challenge is increasing awareness around intake, hunger cues, and general wellness.
Apps like MyFitnessPal can give you a more objective sense of your true calorie intake. Many people do well through the week but “let loose” on one or two days. If you keep tracking on those days, you’ll often see how the weekly average ends up far higher than your “good day” calories — and that’s enough to stall progress.
We are very good at taking in a large number of calories at once, so consistency really does matter.
If you’re curious about specifics, look up a TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator online. Let’s say it gives you 2500 calories/day. Eating about 500 calories below that each day should yield roughly one pound of fat loss per week, assuming everything else is stable.
Just remember: water weight moves much faster than fat. Don’t let normal day-to-day scale fluctuations derail you. Trust the intake tracking, use measurements, or average your weight over a week or month to get a clearer view.
Probably one of the most common questions I get asked is: What do you think of dry needling? Or do you provide dry needling?
It’s a complicated thing to answer because I think there are two valid ways to see it.
As of writing, dry needling is illegal in California, Hawaii, New York, Oregon, and Washington. The essential issue is this: I don’t take a weekend course in chiropractic adjustments and call myself a “dry chiropractor” or “holistic joint manipulator” or something of the sort.
The primary argument against dry needling, as I understand it, is that the requirements for training aren’t stringent enough to ensure safe and effective treatment. Acupuncture licensure includes extensive training for years to make sure we can insert needles into people in ways that are consistently safe and beneficial.
There’s also the financial reality: it’s an encroachment on scope of practice that acupuncturists mostly deal with because they’re under-represented in a lobbying sense in most states.
All that said, I don’t think the legal debate tells the full truth. I believe it is possible for a physical therapist or chiropractor to put in the time and effort to genuinely perform dry needling in a way that is safe and helpful.
In my clinical opinion, there is something beneficial about specifically targeting muscle tension through trigger points or neuromuscular junctions—without necessarily needing to interpret the more subtle energetic connections that traditional acupuncture focuses on.
Some acupuncturists even take dry needling classes for this reason: to supplement their traditional training with a more Western, physiology-based approach to the body, especially around trigger points and fascial connections. Traditional acupuncture is deeply enmeshed in Chinese herbal theory and an extremely detailed mapping of the energetic body. It’s rich—but it can also be overwhelming when sometimes you just want to get a spasmed muscle to relax.
When people ask if I do dry needling, I say yes. I’m more than capable of palpating trigger points and treating them. I mainly let people know that I use a more subtle, gentle technique than most dry needlers. I say this based on both my own experience receiving dry needling and the experiences patients share with me.
Dry needling techniques can often be overly aggressive and, at times, can feel re-traumatizing rather than creating a consistently positive healing experience.
Assuming someone doing dry needling is being safe about it, my real issue is that the intensity of the technique sometimes scares people away from acupuncture altogether. I’ve had many patients tell me they were afraid to try acupuncture because of a previous dry needling experience.
So then I have to educate: while acupuncture can come with some sensation, the intensity is much lower, and many patients feel little to nothing during an effective treatment. It is possible to resolve pain without causing pain.
So that’s my opinion overall. If I had to pick a side, I prefer a generous approach. I’d love to share this practice, and ideally more people would have access to safe, effective treatments to reduce pain.
I’d prefer more training and a shift in perspective—one that considers the nervous system as much as the tissue—so as to avoid treatments that feel like re-injury. But if pressed, I wouldn’t reduce access to acupuncture or to its relatively new Western spin-off: dry needling.
Hello there! I’ve been focusing on keeping this blog limited to clinically relevant information, my advice and perspective around healing. This bit below isn’t entirely opposite of that, but the original purpose of the words was fulfilling my desire to share a bit about myself on my social media accounts.
Still, I think it can be helpful sometimes to know who you’ll be talking to in a session, assuming you don’t just start snoozing! I do my best to translate my perspective to fit whoever I’m working with, but the bits below are closest to my unfiltered perspective on people and life.
If you don’t know the folks in the first line, feel free to look them up, both have a pretty strong online presence, and a lot of good talks & writing. Without further ado:
I think my perspective on life is 50% Alain de Botton, and 50% Ram Dass. Half psychology, and half spiritual.
The former essentially says we’re each individually kind of a mess and that’s okay. The latter saying essentially that we’re unified ultimately by an infinitely wise and loving Oneness.
I think either perspective might be hard to take on depending on the person. Of the two I think the psychology is easier to argue, certainly easier to study and prove that we all have various neuroses and coping mechanisms we pick up. We all have our aspects of enduring immaturity and ridiculousness, and yet somehow we muddle through. I think many people make the mistake of thinking they’re uniquely messed up when I think the awareness and willingness to continue to work on oneself is the unique part, not the wounds.
The spiritual side is one I’ve long struggled internally to argue. And I’ve concluded, it’s not something meant for debate. I don’t think there’s any particular words that can beat out a single heart breaking story of life’s horrendously challenging ways.
I think it’s experiences of loss, prayer, meditation, psychedelics, various ways people come to actually touch and connect with this universal Love that changes people in ways that words just can’t adequately convey.
And in that way psychology and spirituality are similar: people have to find the humility to choose to try something different. Usually it’s through significant hardship that people really put in the work to second guess their own viewpoint of the world. And despite however much good intention exists, no one can do that work for someone else.
I really like this rabbit, to me it symbolizes vulnerability and boundaries. The capacity to love one’s self enough to protect yourself.
I think its helpful to acknowledge both, that we’re so foundationally all in this together and that life can be confusing and scary and cause people to act unkind and harmful out of ignorance and fear.
So, here’s to all of us, here’s to being kind and loving to ourselves and each other. And to this badass rabbit with a morning star flail thingie.
Back in 2019 did an oopsie. I was at a party and saw someone teaching the human flag pole exercise/party trick and I wanted to give it a go. I kept bending my elbow which is apparently a big no-no and I caused a strain in the front of my right shoulder.
Since then I’ve had minor pain on and off, and relative weakness in my right (dominant) shoulder compared to my left. Particularly with overhead movements my right shoulder is more stiff and gives out quicker. That is unless I do some PT exercises before I work out.
I’ve noticed that when I’m consistent in doing a proper rotator cuff warmup I don’t get pain, and my strength is more similar between my left and my right. This warm up always starts with a little mobility work, essentially stretching. And is followed by the real key for me which is stability work: slow controlled external rotation of the shoulder in different positions.
Working the small stabilizer muscles in external rotation helps to support my shoulder in its proper position, and re-educate my body to keep proper shoulder joint positioning throughout my workouts. Generally the urge will be to turn too much internally and pinch upward, causing pressure on the supraspinatus or bicep tendon. The exercises prime the stabilizers around the shoulder to properly activate and hold the shoulder in proper positioning.
The most interesting bit to me, and the reason I’m writing all of this, is just my personal experience about the good and bad news of these exercises. For me, there isn’t a point in which I’ve fully “fixed it”. While I don’t have unprovoked pain away from lifting, if I try to use my right shoulder without warming up with these exercises, the pain always comes back.
I’ve tried a few times now working out without these exercises, and the pain always comes back, even 6 years after the incident, and about a year of regular rotator cuff work.
So, bad news is, it isn’t a fix. If I stop my exercises the pain will return. But the great news is, I can manage my shoulder issues on my own with just about 5-10 minutes work before I plan to lift anything heavy with my shoulders. That works for me.
For more details about some of the stuff I do, check out my favorite PT’s article on shoulder stability: https://squatuniversity.com/2018/10/06/stabilizing-the-shoulder-blade-joint/
The most well-known form of energy work is probably Reiki. But there are many other modalities that could fit under that umbrella — chakra and aura work, muscle testing, sound healing, breathwork, therapeutic qi gong, acupuncture, massage, homeopathy and some types of botanical treatment.
All of these share one central idea: one person seeks to shift or harmonize the energy of another.
And overall, I think these practices can be deeply helpful — in the right context. When someone finds a modality that truly resonates, it can open the door to real healing. In my view, what we often call “spiritual” work overlaps strongly with physiological safety: parasympathetic activation, emotional regulation, and the gentle processing of subconscious trauma.
Good energy work, at its best, helps us step back from who we think we are and see ourselves from a new lens.
But — as promised in the title — the problem is this: energy work is subtle work.
And subtle things are hard to measure.
I’ve met many so-called energy workers who are, frankly, not very good at what they do but believe themselves to be gifted healers. Because the results of energy work are often subjective and difficult to quantify, even the practitioners themselves may not know when they’re truly helping.
That doesn’t make it impossible to measure — just complicated.
And that complexity often gets bypassed by mutual good intentions.
A client wants to be healed.
A practitioner wants to help.
Both want to believe something meaningful happened.
But two people agreeing that something felt good is not a reliable measure of change.
In my opinion, the real challenge lies not in how to measure, but in who can bear to look. To evaluate your impact honestly, you have to face the possibility that you failed — or worse, that you might have unintentionally caused harm. That’s a serious ego check for anyone attached to being “the intuitive healer” or “the gifted empath.”
The attachment to being a great healer or savior is the biggest blocker to realistic self-evaluation.
Stepping back from that attachment helps you grow — both through more accurate self-assessment and through better client feedback. When clients sense that your self-esteem doesn’t depend on being told the treatment was a success, they’re far more likely to be honest about their experience. That honesty is what allows your work to improve.
For a well-trained dancer, graceful, effortless movements are the result of countless mistakes and long, grueling hours of practice. Similarly, effective energy workers must wrestle with uncertainty.
Since the results aren’t easily measured, a dedicated practitioner should be constantly asking: Did I do it right? That doesn’t mean second-guessing yourself mid-session — confidence is part of the art — but reflection afterward is essential. And the clearest sign you’re doing that well is that it feels uncomfortable.
To care deeply about others while consistently acknowledging uncertainty about your own impact is not an easy path. Real healing work demands that you cultivate a big enough inner container to hold both a passion for healing and uncompromising honesty with yourself.
When I reflect on my time at the National University of Natural Medicine, I saw both options firsthand.
The most popular naturopathic doctors and acupuncturists were often charismatic — near cult figures — utterly confident in their brilliance. Yet there were few, if any, consistent measures showing their “subtle” herbal or homeopathic treatments made a real difference.
The doctors who did make measurable improvements in patient outcomes were different. They were humble. Sometimes anxious. They cared enough to doubt themselves. That anxiety wasn’t weakness — it was evidence of integrity. It pushed them to research more, verify their results, and keep growing.
To sum up, energy work is subtle, and subtle work is inherently hard to measure. With outcomes that lack objective assessment metrics, we must rely on our own intuition, honest reflection, and the sometimes inconsistent feedback of clients. I believe the key—beyond years of study, practice, and hopefully quality mentorship—is cultivating a deeper curiosity for truth than attachment to our own sense of self.
It’s an absurdly large chasm between the sense of oneself as either a gifted healer or delusional quack.
“Energy work is subtle, and subtle work is inherently hard to measure. With outcomes that lack objective assessment metrics, we must rely on our own intuition, honest reflection, and the sometimes inconsistent feedback of clients. I believe the key […] is cultivating a deeper curiosity for truth than attachment to our own sense of self.”
That’s the too-long didn’t read version of today’s blog, “the problem with energy work – according to one energy worker”.
As someone who makes their living doing at least in part some form of energy work, obviously I don’t want the baby thrown out with the bath water, but there’s some junk energy work out there. Let’s talk about it.
Go to: DunbarAcu.com/blog to read more.
For a long time, I had trouble answering this question in my practice—not because I didn’t know, but because there are so many details and effects that it was hard to know where to start.
These days, I tend to compare acupuncture to exercise: I’ll say, “The ‘magic’ lies in how the body responds to a kind of good stress.” And then I’ll share a short sampler of some of the information below.
Everything that follows is from a Western physiological perspective—it doesn’t get into the traditional framework of moving Qi or energy through the body. When someone’s interested in that more energetic lens, I’m happy to talk about promoting flow and balance in as much or as little detail as they’d like. But for those who prefer a scientific explanation, here’s your answer:
Acupuncture’s mechanisms of action are multifaceted, involving both physiological and neurological pathways. While the full picture is still being refined, research across neurobiology, endocrinology, and immunology has identified several overlapping mechanisms that explain how acupuncture can produce analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and regulatory effects.
Here’s a clear breakdown of the major mechanisms of action:
Acupuncture stimulates peripheral sensory nerves (especially Aδ and C fibers), leading to activation of the spinal cord and brain regions that modulate pain and emotion. This results in the release of several key neurochemicals:
🧩 Result: Reduced pain, relaxation, and modulation of mood and stress.
Acupuncture can influence pain signaling at the spinal cord level:
🧩 Result: Decreased pain transmission and heightened threshold for pain perception.
Acupuncture appears to rebalance sympathetic and parasympathetic activity:
🧩 Result: Lower heart rate and blood pressure, improved digestion, and stress reduction.
Acupuncture modulates immune cell activity and cytokine production:
🧩 Result: Reduced inflammation, improved healing, and immune balance.
Needle insertion causes a mild microtrauma that:
🧩 Result: Faster tissue repair, muscle relaxation, and pain relief.
Functional MRI studies show acupuncture activates or deactivates specific brain regions:
🧩 Result: Central modulation of pain, emotion, and homeostatic regulation.
Although not the whole story, expectation and context play a measurable role:
🧩 Result: Enhanced therapeutic outcome through psychobiological synergy.
🧩 Summary Table
| Mechanism | Primary Pathway | Key Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Neurochemical release | CNS + spinal | Analgesia, relaxation |
| Gate control theory | Spinal | Inhibits pain transmission |
| Autonomic modulation | ANS | Reduces stress, balances organs |
| Immune regulation | Cytokines, HPA axis | Anti-inflammatory |
| Local effects | Microcirculation | Tissue repair, pain relief |
| CNS network effects | Brain regions | Pain and emotional regulation |
| Placebo/expectancy | Psychobiological | Amplified healing response |
Today’s blog post is a little deep dive into my thought process as influenced by my Naturopathic Doctorate. While there’s a place and a purpose for every part of the pyramid, ideally in non-emergency conditions, the foundational aspects of health are addressed first and indefinitely.
While there’s different wording in my infographic vs chart below, essentially that baseline level is ideally removing whatever obstacle is interfering with the body naturally healing itself. This could be stress, insomnia, or continuing to do intense yard work when your forearms are very adamantly and persistently telling you to take a break (not to call you out Mom).
For many people, there’s things we keep repeatedly being exposed to that keep the dis-ease, pain, suffering, tension, etc. coming back. We might be ignoring our body’s signals to move differently, perhaps ignoring our hearts’ signals to change how we’re working/living, letting our emotions overly affect our diet, and whatever else we’re more attached to than feeling good in our bodymind. This is the best place to focus our efforts for lasting healing.
Certainly more targeted interventions can be necessary, and helpful for starting down a new path, but if the foundational needs for safety and rest aren’t being addressed, problems will keep cropping up no matter how many times we use targeted interventions to keep them at bay.
Feel free to read a bit more below regarding the tiers of intervention and a few notes about how doctors might use this information in practice.
| Level | Focus / Goal | Typical Interventions or Strategies |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Remove Obstacles to Health (Remove Obstacles to Cure) | Identify and eliminate factors that impair the body’s ability to heal | Diet & lifestyle changes, reducing toxic exposures, improving sleep, stress reduction, removing emotional/psychological barriers, correcting digestion, eliminating unhelpful habits 2 |
| 2. Stimulate the Healing Process (Vis Medicatrix Naturae) | Support and prime the body’s innate self-healing forces | Gentle therapies: hydrotherapy, nutrition, mild botanical remedies, exposure to nature, energetic modalities, light exercise 3 |
| 3. Strengthen Weakened Systems | Build resilience and capacity in physiological systems | Nutritional support, adaptogens, detoxification, supporting liver, immune system, hormonal regulation, antioxidants, lifestyle & restoration measures 4 |
| 4. Correct Structural Integrity | Restore proper alignment, mechanical function, and circulation | Physical medicine: chiropractic, osteopathy, massage, postural correction, ergonomics, movement therapies 5 |
| 5. Use Natural, Targeted Therapies | When necessary, apply more specific natural agents to address pathology | Herbal medicine, specific nutraceuticals, botanicals, other therapies selected for a given condition 6 |
| 6. Use Pharmacologic or Synthetic Agents | In cases where gentler methods are insufficient, use stronger tools | Pharmaceuticals, medications, more potent interventions (where within scope/licensing) 7 |
| 7. Use Invasive / Surgical / Life-Saving Interventions | The most forceful or invasive options, when essential | Surgery, radiation, hospitalization, advanced medical interventions, when no less invasive option suffices 8 |
When I was 16 years old my mom asked me if I wanted to go with her to see Wayne Dyer speak. I agreed and went to a talk that I found very moving. In this talk Wayne mentioned a book called Power Vs Force by David Hawkins. The book had this sort of ranking system for spiritual truth, and it ranked Buddhist teachings very highly, so I started reading Buddhist books.
Along with taking up meditation, reading Buddhist books and taking their principles to heart changed me deeply. I’ve always had a curious mind, and wondered about many things, but meditation and Buddhist teachings helped me to go from thinking my way through life to getting in touch with a sort of intuition and, I believe, a deeper intelligence inside.
While nothing can replace practice via meditation or presence in and with ourselves—deep, probing honesty about our own emotions and thoughts—I believe there are principles that help me to get a feel for my best way forward when I’m not so sure.
There are two key concepts that I’ve used and considered so many times that they’ve sort of melded together in my mind. Those concepts are the Middle Path from Buddhism, and Yinyang from Daoism and ancient Chinese philosophy in general.
Both frameworks to me are particularly poignant because they are deeply self-relative—that is, they don’t give any rigid anchor point for all people, but instead engage one’s own intuition to self-define the edges of being overly rigid or abandoning ourselves through excessive indulgence.
At their best interpretation, these concepts are also self-referential. We don’t have to become obsessed with the Middle Path, or seek to avoid all discipline or enjoyment. It’s about learning the flow of our own soul—getting a feel for where we could feel more self- and life-aligned if we were to face the present moment’s gifts directly, rather than obsessively planning, catastrophizing, or running to distractions.
I’m reminded yet again of Rumi’s iconic poem:
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
The point is that the concept of ☯ Yinyang and the teaching of the ☸ Middle Path aren’t about meticulously curating what we allow ourselves to feel, but instead about being present with what is, and learning to conduct ourselves in a way that brings us into harmony with our lives in each moment—rather than constantly trying to push away discomfort.
The surprising reality of life is that suffering openly faced can carry a beauty and a profound peace, while running from our emotions or experience—even if sometimes necessary—can become a habit that feels much worse than the experiences or realizations we’re trying to avoid.
Both of these principles are largely part of helping us detect and adjust when we’re no longer truly present with ourselves, feeling our feelings, accepting what is. I believe that while it is at times quite difficult, the key to a good life through the suffering is finding this balance where we may at times let ourselves go a little more soft or a little more hard, but we do so with intention, honesty, and awareness.
The result is a life that flows. A life that’s dynamic and beautiful. One that isn’t stagnant, stuck in static narrative that limits our potential and our joy.
The practice requires us to get out of our own way again and again. Second guessing our habits of mind, our presuppositions. This can be quite challenging, but the result is freedom, peace, wellness, harmony. Even when we’re sad we can be gentle and attentive in tending to our sadness and move through it into brighter days.
To be honest, what follows is very basic ChatGPT responses to “What is the Middle Path” and “What is Yinyang.” I encourage anyone interested to read the Tao Te Ching and, if you’d like to retrace my own beginnings, check out the first Buddhist book I read: Awakening The Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das.
Origin
The Buddha taught the Middle Path after realizing that neither a life of indulgence (pleasure-seeking) nor a life of extreme asceticism (self-denial) led to true freedom.
Balance
It’s about finding the wise middle ground where you aren’t pulled off course by extremes.
Application
Analogy
It’s like tuning a string instrument: too tight (asceticism) and it snaps, too loose (indulgence) and it makes no sound. The middle way gives harmony.
Overview
Yinyang (often written yin-yang) is a foundational concept in Chinese philosophy, especially in Daoism and traditional Chinese thought. At its core, it describes how seemingly opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world.
The Two Sides
Rather than absolute opposites, yin and yang exist in dynamic balance. Each contains the seed of the other (that’s why the familiar ☯ symbol has a black dot in the white half and a white dot in the black half).
Key Principles
Dunbar Acupuncture And Wellness 