Stress free!

$20 for acupuncture?  Yep!

What it is:

A very simple, effective acupuncture treatment designed to regulate the energetics of the body.  This treatment is excellent for stress relief, and can have the happy effect of decreasing pain, improving mood, regulating digestion, and helping sleep improve.  Plan on spending about 30 minutes at the office.

What it is not:

Though balancing your energy may have far reaching effects, this is not a focused treatment for specific complaints (injured shoulder, hot flashes, etc).  For your individual health problem, it is best to make a regular appointment.

The Fine Print:

Offer good for new patients only, one per person.  Please call 315-368-7457 to schedule your session.  Also, see information for new patients so you know what to expect.

Can your acupuncturist do this?!

Do try this at home!

Ideally, you want to have a bowel movement daily, that is well formed, and easy to pass.  No pain or strain, and no big odors.  That’s the “perfect poop” of Chinese Medicine!

Poops aren’t perfect?  Here are Five Things you can do:

Typically, IBS is actually due to unmanaged stress.   Irregular eating habits or poor nutrition can also play a part.

Usually I use a combination of acupuncture, herbs, and lifestyle/nutrition advice to help IBS patients.

What can you do if you suffer from IBS, or your poops aren’t as “perfect” as you’d like?

1) Eat a lot of vegetables! The fiber helps to give stools their bulk.  Those with colitis, crohn’s, or diverticulitis may need to be careful about eating too much fiber.  If you have a diagnosis of IBS, that means you can go nuts with the veggies!

2) Do something about your stress level. Try to get some work off of your plate.  Take time out with loved ones.  Enjoy yourself.  Everybody knows this is important, but we tend to forget sometimes.

3) Try a little Qi Gong deep breathing. This is simple.  Take 5 minutes before you fall asleep (lying in bed) and place both your hands on top of your belly button, one on top of the other.  As you inhale through the nose, feel your belly push on your hands.  As you exhale, let the belly sink back in.  This is slow, deep breathing.  See if you can do this for 50 breaths.

4) …And an abdominal Massage while you’re at it.  After you do your Qi Gong breathing, use your two hands to softly massage your abdomen.  Make small clockwise (like your belly is a clock) circles over the abdomen with light/medium pressure.  Why clockwise?  Because that’s the way the large intestine moves through that area.  See if you can do 50 laps around the abdomen.

5) You knew I would say this:  Chinese Medicine! Acupuncture has a way of helping to relieve stress that is only beginning to be understood by conventional science.  Many Chinese herbs have a regulatory effect on the digestive system as well.  I’ve seen IBS and “IBS-like symptoms” respond very well to this style of medicine.

Tell a friend!

The most common artist I play is The Sight Below.  He has a few CDs out, and they are all very hypnotic and minimal.

Another great artist in a similar vein is Loscil.

Every now and then Adam Hurst gets in the mix too.  His cello work is phenomenal.

Fluxion has a unique sound.  House music without the obnoxious parts.

I do have a few patients that aren’t into this sort of music.  They usually get to listen to Mazzy Star!

That green plastic grass is a tragedy.  In Chinese Medicine, we recognize the energetic effects of foods.  For example, sushi is a raw, typically cold food.  Cold is typically not conducive to digestion, so traditional people would eat herbs to balance the cold effect.  This is why we usually see warm spices like ginger, or wasabi on the plate.  Also, miso soup and green tea warm the body and aid the digestion.

There is an herb called Shiso, or Zi Su Ye, or Perillae Leaf.  This is a purple or green leaf that we use in Chinese Medicine for its warm, acrid nature (can help with acute cold/flu symptoms).  The warm nature is good for the digestion, and helps to offset the cold of the sushi.  In very nice sushi places, this leaf (pictured above) will accompany the sushi.  You can eat this.  It tends to have a lemon/mint flavor.

The other benefit of the Shiso leaf is its ability to kill parasites, and prevent mild food poisoning.  Those are two things to be considered anytime we eat raw fish!  To me, the green plastic grass is a sign that the meaning has been lost.  The people serving the sushi have forgotten the importance of the Shiso leaf.  Using herbs and spices to balance the energetics of food used to be common sense, and common practice.

Don’t let your simple medicines be replaced by plastic!  Demand the real thing!  Say Yes to Shiso!!

As a beginner, learning Qi Gong can be overwhelming.  Presented here are a few points to keep in mind that will help your practice immensely as you start on this path.  Follow these tips to keep your structure sound, and your energy smooth.

1.  Stand well. Our basic stance starts with the feet.  The feet should be about shoulder width apart, with the pinky toes parallel to each other and pointing forward.  The knees should be soft (not locked out) and not be past the toes.  Try to keep alignment in the spine.  What does that mean?  Some people say you should pretend there’s a weight on your tailbone, and a string pulling at the top of your head.  This tends to help align the spine.  The shoulders need to relax.  You can draw them back and down, lowering them onto your back.  This also helps to open the chest.

2.  Start becoming aware of negative space. This means the space between your body parts.  We want to make room in the joints to help the circulation, so don’t cramp yourself up.  The easiest place to notice this is in the hands.  Let your hands open so that the fingers are relaxed, yet not touching each other.  See the space between the fingers expand.  Is there space in the armpits (imagine you had to fit a tennis ball in there.  Is there room?)?  Also, make sure there’s room in the groin.  This is an area we tend to jam up all day with all of our sitting.  If the thighs are touching, you need to make a little more room there.

3.   Touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth. You do this by sliding the tip of the tongue up along the backside of the front teeth.  Keep sliding it onto the roof of the mouth until you feel a little depression where everything just fits.  You will not swallow your tongue.  This may seem a strange practice at first, but it is highly effective for allowing your energy (Qi) to circulate well.  When you have good energetic circulation, you are much less likely to experience headaches, dizziness, or light-headedness.

4.  Breathe slow, deep breaths. Take your time with this.  In the nose, out the nose.  Breath deeply, letting the belly fill on the inhale.  That’s how we’ll start.

5.  Smile. For real.  It makes everything a little better.

Curing Pills

Here comes another secret weapon! In Chinese Medicine, we have a concept called “Food Stagnation.”  This is exactly what it sounds like, too much food just sitting in the stomach, causing all kinds of problems.

Symptoms of food stagnation include bloating, belching, tasting the half- digested food in your mouth, fatigue, headache, and of course, gas.  These symptoms can last for multiple days.

The best strategy for Food Stagnation is to avoid it in the first place by eating moderately.  But even the best of us slip up and over-indulge once in a while.

Curing Pills are an especially relevant secret weapon during the holidays (or any other time of revelry and overindulgence!).  They are small pills, made of Chinese Herbs.  They’re very easy to take; you don’t even taste them.

Share them with your friends and family to prevent the big nap that usually follows the big meal.  Wouldn’t you rather take a family stroll around the neighborhood instead of slumping in a lazy boy, slowly processing and assimilating a belly full of food?

You may be more familiar with the liquid version of food stagnation; we call it a Hangover!  You have two options here, often used in tandem:

1.  Take Curing Pills in the morning after to help your system process the lingering alcohol.

2.  Take Curing Pills before you begin drinking to strengthen your system proactively.

Food Stagnation and Hangovers are a drag.  If you’re going to indulge, at least help your system handle it!

Curing Pills have proven themselves again and again over the years.  You might be amazed.

Curing Pills are available for sale at the office, individually, or as part of the Herbal First Aid Kit.

Call for info 315-368-7457

*PS:  These pills are not gluten free, so please be aware who you share them with..