Why Do I Struggle With Social Anxiety?

It’s probably because of a combination of your Chinese Medicine Constitution, your Five Element Personality Type and the current health of your fire element.

How can Chinese Medicine Help My Anxiety?

For starters, Chinese Medicine offers a unique perspective on social anxiety and anxiety in general: the role of the five elements and the seasons.

We are moving  closer and closer to the peak moment of the fire element (the summer solstice on June 20). The fire word cloud linked to this blog contains a selection of keywords related to the fire element:  spark, authenticity, creativity, vulnerability, boundaries, clinging, union, heart, love, passion, intimacy, fame…  Do you relate to any of these fire element concepts? 

You may have noticed some interesting words, like clinging. This comes from the idea of fire clinging to its fuel source. In its idealized picture, the fire element within all of us, wants to feel safe in the vulnerability of authentic expression and points to a craving for deep connection, even spiritual union with another. This is especially true for someone with a fire element personality type.

As you can imagine, when imbalances of the fire element surface (whether caused by lifestyle or betrayal), a person might end up closing themselves off to connection by avoiding physical or emotional intimacy or by socially isolating.  OR the pendulum can swing in the opposite direction with codependence, inappropriate emotional or physical intimacy, even obsession. 

How do I fix my social anxiety?

The fire element does best when there’s a *just right* amount of clinging and union. This is done by ensuring that the heart is adequately nourished (so that it feels safe in intimacy) and that the water element is abundant enough to balance fire’s potential to flame into clinging or obsession. When the fire element is balance, social anxiety lessens. 

Can Acupuncture Help With Social Anxiety?

Absolutely. Are you craving a more balanced approach to the fire element in your relationships? Would a bolstering of boundaries help you feel more safe as you navigate friendship or partnership? Acupuncture and Chinese medicine have solutions. I invite you to schedule a free, 15-minute consultation to get your questions answered opens in a new window::HERE::

Also, one more thing. I wanted to offer my community a deep message of thanks for nominating me for

Best Acupuncturist of the East Bay

Another word in the fire element word cloud is fame. And I’m tickled to receive the fire element vibes along with some local notoriety. 

I’m once again deeply honored to be nominated for Best Acupuncturist of the East Bay by Oakland Magazine. I love supporting the east bay community at my acupuncture office in Albany, situated between Berkeley, El Cerrito and Richmond. Thank you so much to my wonderful patients and community for nominating me.