Right Before the Arrow Flies
A reflection on worthiness, spring, and the moment just before something new begins.
Part of my work — both in the clinic and in my own life — is paying attention to the movement of energy.
In Chinese medicine we’re always reading patterns. Not just symptoms, but the larger currents moving through the body, the seasons, and the collective field around us. The same way the liver energy rises in the spring, or the lungs contract in the fall, human beings move through rhythms that are both deeply personal and deeply shared.
In the clinic I see this play out every day.
One person comes in with insomnia.
Another with hormonal changes.
Another feeling exhausted or stuck.
On the surface the symptoms look different. But underneath them there is often a common pattern — a shift in the energetic weather that many bodies are responding to at once.
Lately I’ve been noticing something very particular in that field.
A kind of threshold energy.
It feels like we are standing right before a turn.
Part of that may be the timing. As the Spring Equinox approaches, the eclipse portal closes, Mercury begins to move direct again, Jupiter has just turned direct, and the season itself is changing.
Spring arrives.
The earth tilts back toward the light.
But the real reason I feel something shifting isn’t only the astrology.
It’s the question that keeps appearing everywhere I turn.
In conversations with clients.
With friends.
With mentors.
Even in my own reflections lately.
The same question keeps surfacing:
Am I actually worthy of the life I want?
Can I really have this?
What if it all blows up?
What if I reach for it and it doesn’t work… and I’m heartbroken?
Am I capable of holding what I say I want?
Could I really do it?
Of course, some of this is probably my algorithm — which we all know is a kind of mirrored funhouse.
But when the same question appears in the clinic, in personal conversations, and internally all at once, I start to pay attention.
Because often that’s how energetic shifts announce themselves.
This is the edge many of us seem to be standing on right now.
And when we get close to something meaningful — a new level of health, love, creativity, or possibility — something in the nervous system often starts to panic.
What I’m seeing lately is that many people respond to that edge by speeding up.
Working harder.
Going without.
Withholding from themselves.
Trying to force things forward.
But the guidance I received this week while I was out in my garden was something completely different.
I was weeding — hands in the soil, pulling back what had overgrown during the winter — when the message came through clearly:
Slow down to speed up.
This is the moment.
Right before spring.
The image that came to me was a bow and arrow.
The bow being pulled back.
The tension building.
The pause before movement.
That moment can feel uncomfortable. Like things are stuck. Like something should already be happening.
But that pause isn’t failure.
It’s the gathering of force before the arrow flies.
In Chinese medicine, spring is associated with the Liver system — the organ network responsible for the smooth movement of energy through the body, but also for vision, planning, and our sense of direction in life.
During the winter months energy naturally stores inward. But as spring approaches, that liver energy begins to rise again, like sap moving up through a tree.
When that movement is clear and supported, it can feel like creativity, motivation, and new possibility.
But if the pathways are congested — physically or emotionally — that same rising energy can show up as frustration, anxiety, overwhelm, or the sense of being stuck right when you want to move forward.
Which is why this moment before spring can feel so intense for many people.
The energy is rising.
The arrow is being pulled back.
And the body is deciding whether it’s ready to move.
Which is part of why I’ve decided to offer my Spring Cleanse this year after all.
I honestly wasn’t sure if I would.
But the more I sit with the energy of this moment, the more it feels like many of us could use a gentle way to clear space — physically, emotionally, and energetically — before stepping forward.
This cleanse isn’t about deprivation or pushing the body harder.
It’s about working with the natural rhythm of the season.
Spring has always been the time when the body wants to move things out — when the liver begins to wake up and the system naturally shifts toward renewal.
During the 9 days we focus on simple practices that support that process:
• eating real, nourishing foods
• supporting the liver with specific herbs
• letting go of fats in the morning to help the body detox more easily
• reducing some of the noise (including screen time) so the nervous system can settle
In many ways, it’s less about “detoxing” and more about making space.
Space for the body to recalibrate.
Space for clarity.
Space for what wants to grow next.
If that feels supportive for you, you’re welcome to join me.
And if you’re simply looking for herbal support for this season, you can also explore my liver tonic and detox formula Rebirth, which was created specifically for this time of year.
It’s one of my favorite ways to support the body as winter turns to spring.
Spring is coming.
The earth knows how to do this part —
how to soften, thaw, clear, and begin again.
The real question might be whether we can let ourselves move with that same rhythm.
Whether we can slow down long enough to gather the energy for what wants to move forward.
Whether we can believe we are worthy of the life that is trying to grow through us.
Right now feels a little like the moment when the bow is pulled back.
The tension.
The stillness.
The quiet gathering of force.
And then — release.
I’d be curious to hear from you:
Where are you feeling this edge in your own life right now?
What feels like it’s about to open… if you let it?
If this reflection resonated with you, feel free to share it with someone who might need it as we move into spring.