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​Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction), said “As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than there is wrong, no matter how ill or how hopeless you may feel.”

Take a moment to reflect on this.  As humans we often focus on the things that we have done wrong. We could be better, smarter, richer, thinner... fill in your own adjective. I encourage you to begin a practice of remembering and acknowledging all that is right with you. Do it now, as you read this. 

1. Focus on your body. Write down all the things that are right about it. For example, 

• Your blood is circulating and carrying oxygen to all of your cells.
• Your skeleton is carrying you, and along with your muscles, tendons and ligament, allowing you to walk.
• Your brain is making plans.
• Your sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose,  and mouth) are helping you to connect with the outer world.

2. Focus on your actions. Write down a list of all the things that you have done to take good care of yourself and those that you love.

3. Focus on your thoughts. Write down all the thoughts that lift you up. Look to your favorite quotes for inspiration.

4. Focus on your emotions. Make a list of times when you felt complete, happy and at peace.

5. Focus on your connections. Make a list of all the positive connections that you have had with people in your life. 

• Start with those closest to you -- your partner, your children, family members, close friends. 
• Then think of people in your community -- those you work with, those in organizations that you belong to, your children's teachers. 
• Finally, those people who you come in contact with when you are running errands -- the cashier at the supermarket or drugstore, your car mechanic, wait staff at the restaurants you frequent. And those at the periphery of your life -- a neighbor you wave to, someone you greet as you when you are out walking or jogging.

6. Focus on your accomplishments. Make a list of your accomplishments over the past year. Include projects big and small.

You are an amazing being!

Revel in this. Take your list of all that is good and right with you and post it on your bulletin board or on your refrigerator. Acknowledge yourself fully and completely.

When you find yourself being critical about something that you have done, switch to being gentle. Surround yourself with love and kindness. Lift yourself up when times get hard. 

Look at your list of all that is right with you EVERY DAY. I promise that this practice will transform your life.

Acupuncture plays close attention to the cycle of the seasons. As shown in the diagram, each season corresponds to a particular element and organ. Balance between these entities is key for achieving harmony in the world and health in the body.

The earth element comes into play at this time of year. This element is a central one. It is activated in late summer and also for short periods of time at the end of the other seasons. The earth element is associated with transformation. It's perfect in helping us make the shift from the relaxing, playful days of summer to the busyness of work and school.

Each element in the five element system has a corresponding organ, emotion, color, season and tissue. For the earth element, the organ is the spleen-pancreas (our digestive system), the emotion is ruminating or over-thinking, the color is yellow, the season is late summer and the tissue is muscles.

Here are ways to keep your spleen energy strong and improve your health at this time of year:

• Get good nutrition. In particular, limit your intake of dairy and sugar. These foods weaken the spleen. 

• If you find yourself thinking about the same thing over and over again, simply allow the thought to be there. Then picture it as an image and watch it float off, saying good-bye to it as it goes away.
  


• As you are reading this, rub your bare feet over the floor or carpet and feel your connection to the earth.
  


• Go out and take a walk. You'll connect with the earth and add movement into your life.
  


• Raise your shoulders up to your head. Now slowly release them and feel the tension dissipate. Bring focus to any areas of tension in your body and slowly release them.
  


• Massage the acupuncture point, spleen 9, located just below the knee. This helps you to relax your muscles and strengthen your digestive system. It is often a very tender spot.