What do you find important?

The first question is: what do you find important? I suggest that you ask this question as broadly as possible. With acupuncture, you choose a holistic treatment method that can have a significant impact on your health and life. So, what do you find important in life? If you are going to spend time and money on a treatment, it had better align well with your outlook on life. Or even better: with how you want to approach life. Perhaps you can already mention a few things. If you have never thought about such questions before, this might be a good time to start.

Questions like these are best answered by taking the time. The answers become 'better' when you first clear your mind. Below are a short and a long exercise. The short one is suitable for everyone, the long one is suitable if you have some experience with 'mindfulness' or a similar 'attention training'.

Short exercise

Sit calmly without being distracted.
Close your eyes briefly, feel how you are sitting in your chair and feel your breath. When you feel this, open your eyes again.
Take a blank sheet of paper and write at the top of the page: "I find it important that...". Below, you can write down words or short phrases that come to mind.
Do this for about 5 minutes, without immediately thinking about what you have written down. Then you can underline the things that you find extra important.

Long exercise
Sit firmly on an upright chair, close your eyes and consciously breathe in and out three times.
Become aware of the sensations in your body. Where does it feel warm? Cold? Where tense, where relaxed? What else do you feel? Just observe. You don't need to understand, change, or get rid of what you feel.
Then, on an exhale, let go of all physical sensations.
Become aware of any emotions. Which of the four B's do you feel; afraid, angry, happy, sad? Again, just observe.
Then, on an exhale, release all emotions.
Become aware of any thoughts. Do this as if you are looking at a news ticker, where messages appear and disappear. Just observe your thoughts about big and small things.
Then, on an exhale, release all these thoughts.
Then become aware of a place within yourself where it is quiet. It can be anywhere. Any place that comes to mind is good.
Ask yourself there: what is really important to me at this time in my life?
Be open to an answer. It may come in the form of a word or phrase, but also as an image, a sound, a smell, a color. Whatever comes, observe it.
Take the time to let the answer sink in.
Once you have done that, take three deeper breaths, open your eyes, and return to your 'normal' awareness.
Write down what you have experienced. Write something about the answer that came to you, but also about what you experienced during the relaxation.

This long exercise is suitable to do every day – even if you are not looking for an acupuncturist! If you do this for a while, you will notice that it becomes easier to focus your attention on your body, emotions, and thoughts, but also to shift your attention away and find a place of silence where you can ask important questions.

I invite you to consider the next question: what do you hope to achieve?

Koos van Kooten: www.de-kraanvogel.nl