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February 21, 2018 By Julie Silver Leave a Comment

What’s Your Favorite Wintertime Activity?

There’s still time to take advantage of the winter season before the cold, snow and ice is gone for good. Not a fan? Take heart: Spring begins on March 20!

Winter is a time for me to “hunker down” and enjoy the beauty of freshly fallen snow and sit by a fireplace. I find that calming yet lifting for my psyche. I also try to nourish my soul by visiting family and friends in warm climates. I come back to Michigan once again appreciative of the quiet beauty of winter.

Karen Siegel Propis, Acupuncturist

Honestly, I am not a huge fan of winter. However, I realize the importance of each season and the benefit of each in terms of my body and the rhythm of the life force (qi) energy. I stay warm with warming soups and stews, bundle up, get extra light from my full-spectrum lighting lamp and get adequate sleep! This said, I did buy a new pair of snowshoes last season that I have truly enjoyed using!

Julie Silver, Acupuncturist

My favorite wintertime activity generally involves hot chocolate. It starts with a short outdoor activity such as sledding or ice skating or hiking — just enough to get my blood pumping and to enjoy being outdoors in the beauty of winter. Then I like to come inside, light a fire, and drink some hot chocolate with coconut milk, turmeric and cinnamon to keep it as healthy as possible.

Monica Mae Leibson, Acupuncturist

I love to walk outdoors on sunny, relatively warm winter days. With the right amount of warm clothing, I love the smell of winter and the reminder that nature is still alive even though it feels so frozen and dormant. It also helps to keep my “cabin fever” at bay!

Julie Shindler-Cohen, Acupuncturist

Acupuncture: A New Alternative for Treating Depression

February 20, 2018 By Karen Siegel Propis 2 Comments

Depression is the most common of mood disorders. It is estimated that nearly 30 million Americans suffer from the often-debilitating disease and it is, in fact, one of the 15 leading causes of disability in developed countries. It is widely believed that depression may the body’s response to chronic and significant stress that seems insurmountable to most people.

While Western physicians are often quick to prescribe drugs, Eastern medicine, used alone or in combination with medication, can offer quick and lasting relief from depression.

The following signs describe someone who suffers from depression, with at least five of the symptoms lasting for at least 14 days:

* Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day
* Markedly diminished interest in pleasure in almost all activities most of the day, every day
* Significant weight loss or gain without dieting, or major changes in appetite or eating habits
* Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day
* Anxiety or lack of desire to do anything
* Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day
* Ongoing feelings of worthlessness, guilt, desperation and psychic pain
* Inability to think or concentrate; indecisiveness daily
* Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide

While drugs have largely been effective in providing temporary relief from acute depression and can assist in the therapeutic process, the side effects are proving to be a severe downside to treatment. In fact, one of the potential side effects is increased suicide risk in certain patients. Most recent studies have shown that number to be increasingly higher in teenage patients taking antidepressants. Another drawback is that the drugs often take up to six weeks to begin working. [Read more…]

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.”

[Read more…]

The Power of Intention

April 7, 2013 By Julie Shindler-Cohen Leave a Comment

Acupuncture is, among many things, a transfer of energy. When we needle a point, we are using the needle to active the acupuncture point’s unique function. Each acupuncture treatment is a combination of points that are used to treat each person’s Chinese medical pathology. However, I have found that the concept of intention is just as important in an acupuncture session as the point prescription. Intention is the idea that when the acupuncturist is inserting needles, they direct their energy into the overall intention of the treatment. [Read more…]

Acupressure for Children

March 16, 2011 By Monica Mae Leibson 4 Comments

Acupressure can be a great way to help your child heal quickly from illness. Choose a time of day when your child is most calm, be it after a bath or just before bedtime. Kindly let them know that this will feel good and help them to get better. Gently put pressure on the acupuncture point/channel. Use as much pressure as your child tolerates and watch for signs of discomfort. Acupressure (as opposed to massage) can cause slight irritability when you hit the right point. Don’t continue with that point once your child feels “the qi”.

As far as the acupressure point locations, please refer to www.acupuncture.com

There you can click on “Acupuncture point location”. You choose which meridian (which is the organ name, for example Stomach). Then click on the point number and you will be directed to a picture as well as a written location.

Constipation

Acupressure Treatment: Stomach 36, Spleen 6, Bladder 20

Other suggestions:

Regular feeding (avoid snacks & avoid overfeeding)

Easily digested foods (avoid bananas, cows milk, peanuts)

Increase fish oils

Increase water

Diarrhea

Acupressure Treatment: Stomach 36, Large Intestine 11, Bladder 20/21/25, Stomach 44, Spleen 9, DU 10, Spleen 4

Other suggestions: BRAT (green bananas are better than ripe) & Vitamin Water

Teething

Acupressure Treatment: Large Intestine 4, Stomach 44

Other suggestions: Homeopathic teething tablets

Fever

Acupressure Treatment: DU 14, Large Intestine 4, Gallbladder 20, Lung 7, San Jiao 5, Stomach 36

Other suggestions: Chinese Medicine recommends keeping a child warm and encouraging sweating. A child can sustain a fever of 104 if it rises slowly (or only at night). Febrile convulsions occur when the temp goes up rapidly. Drink warm lemon and honey to stay hydrated. Do not make children with fevers eat. They are not hungry because their body is trying to heal. Also, it is recommended to keep children home for as long as they had their fever.

Cough

Acupresure Treatment: Ren 17, Ren 22 (note: these can bring up a lot of phlegm so do these points AFTER they wake and see how much phlegm they encourage.)

Lung 5, Lung 7, Lung 10, Large Intestine 4, Bladder 12/13

Other suggestions:

Honey for DRY cough, not as much for a wet cough

Cough with phlegm: avoid cows mlik, cheese, peanuts, peanut butter, sugar, bitter oranges

Acupuncture successfully treats in children:

Digestive dysfunctions, Respiratory dysfunctions, Infectious diseases, Insomnia

Eczema, Failure to thrive, Learning difficulties, Enuresis, Urinary Tract Infection

Puberty/growth concerns, Mononucleosis, Anemia, Anxiety/depression

Cascade of Endorphins

January 22, 2011 By Monica Mae Leibson Leave a Comment

In these modern times, we are busy. We are busy juggling our work lives, personal lives, hobbies, etc. Between all of our responsibilities, we try to fit in a movie or a book. With all of this busyness, many people are experiencing anxiety. The nervous system of the human body is not really designed for the type of constant stress that we are under. Rather, our nervous system prefers to be in “rest & repair mode” most of the day while switching over to “fight or flight” only when something life threatening occurs. But with people feeling so overwhelmed by the amount of things on their to do list, they subsequently feel frazzled.  One way to calm the nervous system, as well as calm our emotional selves, is to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. During anxiety, the nervous system releases catecholamine hormones that trigger an increase in heart rate & breathing. There is also a constriction of blood vessels in many parts of the body and a tightening of the muscles. When we focus on gratitude, a cascade of endorphins is released that produce a feeling of well-being. When we start to focus on our blessings, we actually create a renewed sense of love for life not only in our minds but also in our bodies.
The easiest way to create that attitude of gratitude is to go on a ‘rampage of appreciation’ (see Ask & It is Given by Esther & Jerry Hicks). Basically, say one thing that you are grateful for. And as you experience that gratitude, let another thing slip into your mind. Most of us are fortunate enough to have many wonderful blessings so we don’t need to think too hard. If you’re having trouble, start here. “I am grateful for my eyes that see the beauty around me & allow me to read this article.” As you find more and more to be grateful for, you may realize that sometimes negativity creates your perception, rather than this optimistic view. It’s really a rather simple exercise, but it can have dramatic short term & long term benefits. It is a great tool to allow people to enjoy their lives, no matter how busy they are. In fact, many find that they can cultivate an appreciation for their active lives. They are able to choose to interpret the busyness as a gift.
Blessings on your journey,
Monica Mae Leibson

Ask the practitioner

Acupuncture: A New Alternative for Treating Depression

Finding Balance When the World Seems Out of Balance.

The Power of Intention

Acupressure for Children

Cascade of Endorphins

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