Night Sky Acupuncture + Ideaphoria

Liz Asch Greenhill, LAc.

811 East Burnside Street Suite 216 Portland, OR, 97214 United States

NIGHT SKY ACUPUNCTURE WILL CLOSE ON MARCH 31, 2025. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE YEARS OF COLLABORATION, COMMUNITY, GROWTH, AND CARE.

PLEASE SEE THE COMMUNITY RESOURCES PAGE FOR SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESSIVE PRACTITIONERS.

*

We offer transformative acupuncture to reduce pain (physical and emotional) and support the nervous system and whole being. We do not offer managed care or primary care. If we are a good fit, we can serve as an auxiliary person in your network. We are both certified herbalists and can bring herbal medicine into your treatment plan, along with bodywork and other Eastern Medicine modalities. Liz is also an educator on creative embodiment and offers virtual sessions to individuals and groups of artists and thinkers. 

*

Liz is the creator and host of Body Land Metaphor Medicine, a free guided visualization resource on the podcast platform. Listen and get a sense of what it’s like to work with me. These are deep listening experiences that require time set aside in a still, quiet place. They can be listened to in bed for insomnia, via headphones on public transportation for self-regulation, in groups as a guided meditation with an integration discussion afterwards, and so on. They are not to be listened to while driving or multi-tasking. Listen on Spotify, Apple podcasts, Amazon Music, or download directly here on my website. Please share widely. These are a public offering. Seasons 1-4 are in English, and season 5 is en Español.

*

If you’d like to subscribe to Liz’s very occasional newsletter which includes guided visualization and tidbits on Eastern Medicine, here’s the LINK.

LATE SUMMER OF THE SPLEEN

August 29, 2017  /  Liz Greenhill

You know what it's like to get stuck in a loop of thinking? Some cross between obsession and irresolution? If so, chances are it was all in your Spleen. At least the way we see it through Chinese Medicine. The Spleen qi is particularly susceptible to getting congested and stuck like a tire spinning in the mud. Sounds gross. But it's just energy, you guys. Seriously though, it's freaky. Late Summer is... The Time of the Spleen. (cue the spooky music) 

Chinese Medicine is rooted in Taoism and all about naturalism. The body is understood to contain five systems (linked to organs in the body) and nature is understood to have correlating five seasons. So in addition to the regular four seasons, there's an extra one: sandwiched between Summer and Fall is the fifth season: Late Summer, and it pertains to the Spleen. The Spleen is affiliated with our intellect, digestion, fluid physiology, and ability to process emotions and give and receive nourishment. The Spleen is a processing center and when things go awry we feel it and see it in the body. Water retention, varicose veins, bloating, and excessive worrying are a few examples of how we might notice that the Spleen is running weak and clotted with dampness.

 

Chinese Medicine is built of metaphor, imagery, and ideas that translate to sensations in the body. Many of you have heard me say this before, but I'll say it again: acupuncture is poetry. Each organ in the body has a pathway, emotions, states of mind, a spiritual stance, a season, a color, a sound, a flavor, and on and on. In the great cosmos of the world, and likewise, in the mini-cosmos of each of our bodies, everything has its place. Meridians are pathways dotted with hubs of energy into which I put the needles. Some points pertain more to the body and the earth, and some, the celestial points are more spiritual, whereas other points and techniques aim toward the mental-emotional body.

 

When an organ is in its prime season, it has the potential to be its strongest, and at the same time, this is most often when the weaknesses show. Isn't that true generally for our best and brightest qualities? That they are often our challenges too? I'm a pretty strong thinker and I have a skill for looking at things from various angles, but, so far this Late Summer, I've been over-thinking like a machine on loop, so I'm sending the love to my Spleen right now and reminding myself that yin and yang theory teaches us--just like day and night fall, just like Winter and Summer--that everything is in flux, and has heights and falls, and it all belongs. Sometimes that trust is hard to come by, and that's why we have each other. I'm here to help. Let me know if you need a hand with your body, mind or spirit, or if you are just curious how to feel more safe and comfortable in your own body.
 
All my best,
Liz

To schedule a session with Liz: click HERE. 

Like Liz Greenhill Acupuncture on Facebook and follow on Instagram

Sign up for my free occasional newsletter guaranteed to not overwhelm your inbox.