Molly, Mindfulness Guru and Modern Acupuncture Patient, with a Passion for Health and Wellness Shares How Meditation and Acupuncture Work Together
Molly started her business Woodhull Wellness with the intention of helping provide meaningful ways to manage everyday stressors through mindfulness and meditation.
Molly found out that she had lyme disease and quickly began to understand the importance of taking a holistic approach to caring for the complete mind, body, and soul. She found her passion in health and wellness through her very personal story, so we wanted to ask her a few questions to help us all dive a little deeper into our practice, whatever that may include…
How do you believe acupuncture and meditation coincide?
In my mind, acupuncture and meditation are one in the same. Acupuncture provides a moment to just be. It gives you time to relax, focus on the breath, feel into the body, and rest.
Meditation is a practice in which you focus on one thing at a time. When the mind wanders away from the focal points such as the breath, the body, or the acupuncture points, you bring your awareness back. Therefore, I believe acupuncture is meditation!
If we can connect with our breath and relax into the body, heart, and mind during our acupuncture appointment, the benefits are much more fruitful. When we take a few deep breaths or listen to a meditation we relax on a physiological and emotional level, allowing the body to really soak up the acupuncture treatment.
What have you learned in the last two years about the importance of pain and stress relief?
Gosh, the importance of pain and stress relief are so important! One thing I’ve learned for sure is that we can be proactive when it comes to both our physical and mental pain.
Since acupuncture is a time that you can spend caring for yourself, being quiet, connected to the body, it gives you time to let your body rest so that you don’t push it too hard! Acupuncture can help us mitigate pain and relieve stress before it becomes a problem. And I think that makes a huge difference in the way we live our lives and how we feel physically and emotionally on the day-to-day.
What is physical health to you?
Physical health is about feeling healthy and being able to participate in and enjoy the activities in your life you find important. Physical health is not about looking perfect, it's about feeling good inside and out.
What is emotional health to you?
Emotional health is all about curiosity! Our emotions eb-and-flow daily. So, instead of fighting this constant evolution of thought, get curious! Ask yourself, what brings you joy, what brings you tightness, tension, and anxiety. Get curious about what makes you feel different emotions. Investigate ways to help you incorporate more of the good emotions and learn how to calm sad, tight, or tense emotions when they show up. Inevitably, we all feel a spectrum of thoughts and feelings on a day-to-day basis. It's not about eliminating all the so-called bad emotions, but rather learning how to navigate them.
What is mental health to you?
Mental and emotional health are connected. We can't have one without the other. In fact our body, heart and mind all work in rhythm with each other.
So we must create space to nurture all parts of ourselves. Acupuncture is a wonderful way to do this! When we nurture the physical body, our mental and emotional self feels loved as well! Mental health is dynamic, and I think the most important part here is to have a solid support network in your life to help you develop tools to manage your mental health. Meditation and acupuncture are great tools to add to your tool kit around mental health.
Through your experience, what advice can you give someone who has major anxiety? Unresolved trauma?
You are not alone! This is first and foremost. Secondly, remember all will be well in time. Remembering this is so important as anxiety and depression can make us feel isolated and alone. Once we remember we are in good company with many others, it helps give us the courage or energy to make change.
So, let's start with one breath, because one breath really does make a difference! Breath in through the nose and out through the nose slowly. Feel into your hand and your feet right as they are. Moving awareness into the body and breath and out of the thinking mind will help you curb your anxiety. All will be well.
What is your vision for the collective mindfulness practices – what is timeless and what do you expect to change?
The breath is the foundation of life. For millions of years this has been the case and I believe this will continue. I am sure there will be many ways to tap into the natural rhythm of the breath as we evolve, and I am excited to see how those changes arise.
For now, I am keeping my heart and mind open to whatever changes come our way. This is the idea of non-attachment, a fundamental idea in meditation that helps us not get too attached to the here and now and leave space for changes we can't even predict.
Connect with Molly Woodhull for more.
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