As of this writing, we are under a pandemic siege by something we cannot see without microscopic magnification, inundated by notices of illness avoidance plastered on store front windows, pop-up reminders on social media and spam-clogged email accounts. These communications are stark reminders of our interspecies vulnerability, basic needs and fragility of living.

As a planet, we have crossed both personal and economic thresholds that are unprecedented. Pathogenic organisms are replicating machines that are impervious to emotion, borders, or religious, moral or political beliefs. Our current reality makes us the perfect hosts for them to thrive. Catastrophe management is not the complete answer as it cannot save us from lack of planning for certain disaster. However, what does come into focus, is the acute awareness that we are out of balance in relationship to each other and with natural law. We are truly in transformation. Now is the time to co-create the future of our health and well-being by making the choice for conscious prevention.

What health looks like in the post global pandemic isolation begs the question: “How can we strengthen our immune systems to stay well?” To begin to understand the concept of how our immune system functions, let’s start with the word’s origin. Immune comes from the Latin root “in” (not) and “munis” (ready for service). The full Latin meaning of “immunis” was used to mean “exempt from public service or charge”, which evolved into late Middle English term of “immune” as in “free from liability”. As a noun, “immunity” is the definition of “an organism to resist a particular infection or toxin by the action of specific antibodies or sensitized white blood cells.” As a verb, “to make immune” means “to render a pathogen harmless or ineffective”. Thus, one can say that the immune system is the secret service that protects the body like sentinels are to castle moat and walls.

The strength of Asian medicine is prevention. Wholistic cosmological theories are based upon centuries-old observations about nature and continuums of change interfacing outside the body and within it. An acupuncturist looks at the weakest links in body systems by assessing a web of patterns for improving their function. When patterns of relationship are in disharmony, they are distressed and open to destructibility at the deepest levels. Just like there is diversity of ecosystems in nature, organism categories co-exist together with fluid or solid boundaries.

There is a popular cultural saying, “Water which is too pure has no fish”, which suggests that the relationship to the natural world does not operate in a vacuum. Fish require food nutrients and oxygen to live but sterilized water is inert. In developing an exceptionally functioning immune system, acupuncture and herbs can help us harness the ability to care for our body-mind-spirit as it relates to its own uniquely special ecosystem of conditions and cofactors. In fact, the efficacy of acupuncture is so good, there is trouble keeping up with the demand of supply for herbs.

Although there is no cure for our ultimate mortality, we can allow our sense of impermanence to motivate us toward improving the vital qualities of our lives. After all, who will live in our body if we don’t choose to become our own advocate for it? Acupuncture works.