breathing

Finding Balance When the World Seems Out of Balance.

January 17, 2017 By Karen Siegel Propis Leave a Comment

For each new year, we often set health-related goals. We want to eat better, exercise more, balance our lives, and try to behave in a kinder way in our world. When we strive for balance, we don’t often think about balancing our physical health and our emotional health. We tend to focus on the physical aspects of our being. However, our emotional health impacts our physical health in ways we don’t often realize.

Chinese medicine recognized thousands of years ago that an important relationship exists between emotions and physical health. The Chinese Canon of Medicine recognized that emotional and psychological factors are important causes of physical illness and can negatively affect the internal organs of the human body. It states that “anger hurts the liver, joy hurts the heart, brooding hurts the spleen and melancholy hurts the lungs.”

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Constipation and Chinese Medicine

January 3, 2015 By Editor Leave a Comment

Why is it that so many people suffer from constipation? And how can Chinese medicine help?

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal (GI) problems, affecting about 42 million people in the U.S. – NIH website

Eliminating is related to the concept of letting go. In Chinese medicine, letting go is a quality affiliated with the Metal element (Out of the five elements – Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal) which the lungs and the Large intestine are a part of. Both these organs (more like functions than actual organ) in Chinese medicine are in charge of making sure we are keeping the valuable and are letting go of what is not needed – physically, emotionally and mentally.

On a physical level, the lungs take care of the relatively esoteric gas – the air. They are in charge of using the separating the oxygen from the rest so the body can use it and are eliminating the byproduct of the metabolism in the body, the CO2 – this process has a short cycle and it is repeated many times throughout the day (more Yang in nature). The large intestine deals with more substantial material which is what is left from the food after it is passing through the digestive system which occurs once a day, eliminates all that is not needed anymore and absorbs back water and key nutrients (more Yin in nature). When our body is done extracting the valuable resources from the air or the food – it is letting go of the waste.

On an emotional level – the action of letting go is controlled by the Metal element as well, Grief or Sadness are the emotions related to it. The lungs energy is allowing us to release sadness through crying it has the same energy as a seed the being spread by the wind or a chick that leaves the nest. On a more substantial level, the energy of the large intestine is allowing us to let go of possessions we no longer need. It is the same motion of a ripe fruit falling from the tree on to the ground. All of those are related to the autumn season.

Interestingly, the lung meridian (energy pathway) flows to the thumb and the large intestine meridian flows to the index finger- both fingers are used to form a grip. Letting go is a skill hard to master. It requires the ability to passively do an action, which is a contradiction in a way.

With acupuncture, herbal medicine and nutrition it is possible to work on those aspects and strengthen one’s body and mind ability to let go of what is no longer needed….the outcome is also better elimination 🙂

Making friends with our emotions

February 26, 2013 By Julie Silver Leave a Comment

As acupuncturists, we sit with our clients and talk with them about their emotions. Emotions are an important part of the intake process for Traditional Chinese Medicine. Emotions affect our physical health and physical health affects our emotional well-being.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine – most organ systems have an emotion associated with them. When someone is angry or irritable, we think of the Liver and how to work to balance the flow of Liver Qi. Fear is associated with the Kidneys, Grief, the Lungs, Heart – joy, and the emotion associated with the Spleen is worry. Since we so often experience many emotions, one can speculate the effect the emotions have on our health.

I want to make a pitch for making friends with our emotions. So often, we try to push our feelings away. This may be done through drugs and alcohol, food and other addictions, exercise or medications. An informal industry has been developed in order to support us in NOT FEELING. What this ultimately does is add an additional layer to our pain and suffering. We still feel the emotions we don’t want to feel and we self medicate ourselves to get away from the feelings we still feel! Doesn’t make sense! [Read more…]

Belly Breathing

September 14, 2012 By Jennifer Pillow-White Leave a Comment

When was the last time you thought to breathe? Breathing is an automatic body action that has some conscious control. Everyone knows how to breathe, right? Unfortunately not. Go ahead, try it. Sit up straight with your feet on the ground. Place one hand on your abdomen and the other on your chest. Now breathe. Chances are you are feeling a slight expansion and retraction in your chest. If this is indeed what you are feeling, you aren’t breathing correctly. Shallow breathing only utilizes the upper rib cage. Proper breathing should come from the belly. By feeling the rise and fall in the abdomen with each breath, it is likely that you are using your diaphragm and filling your entire lungs. When you properly use your diaphragm, it contracts downward towards your abdomen during inhalation. [Read more…]

Acupuncture during Childbirth

April 12, 2011 By Monica Mae Leibson Leave a Comment

Acupuncture during Childbirth

Philosophy

The birth of a child is an opportunity for a unique & transformative experience.

Ways a Birth Doula can assist families

Support in preparing a birth plan & be an advocate during birth
Providing emotional support and reassurance
Supporting partner by role modeling and encouragement
Explaining medical procedures
Pain relief techniques such as massage, positioning, breathing, relaxation
Acupuncture during birth (see benefits below)

Benefits of a Continuous Doula (compiled by Penny Simkin)

A 2003 study describing the experiences of nearly 13,000 women has found that women who receive supportive care from a companion (non-hospital and non-partner) throughout labor are more likely than women without such care to avoid cesarean birth & other major medical interventions, and to be satisfied with their birth experience. These women were:

28% less likely to use any analgesia or anesthesia
41% less likely to give birth with vacuum extraction or forceps
26% less likely to give birth by cesarean
33% less likely to be dissatisfied with or negatively rate their birth experience

Acupuncture can help during labor in the following ways:

Induce labor naturally and ease progression of labor
Relax and open the pelvis
Ripens/dilates the cervix
Releases endorphins, encourages relaxation, manage labor pain
Promotes effective uterine contractions if labor is not progressing optimally
Turns breech/posterior babies
Relieves a cervical lip
Sustain a mothers energy
Lowers high blood pressure
Reduce the need for medical interventions
Reduces postpartum hemorrhage

Acupuncture during pregnancy

Research has shown that acupuncture is effective at reducing pelvic pain during pregnancy, reducing morning sickness, and effectively turning a breech baby. The “pre-birth protocol” (once weekly starting at week 36) has been shown to decrease medical intervention. In women who received pre-birth acupuncture there was:

An overall 35% reduction in the number of inductions (for women having their 1^st baby there was a 43% reduction)
A 31% reduction in the epidural rate
32% reduction in cesarean delivery
9% increase in vaginal births

Finding Balance When the World Seems Out of Balance.

Constipation and Chinese Medicine

Making friends with our emotions

Belly Breathing

Acupuncture during Childbirth

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