By: Rebecca Rice, L.AC
Change, whether it is physical through location or state of health, emotional, mental, job related, etc., can challenge our sense of stability and connectedness. As a simple notion, change is considered growth by some and can be interpreted in a negative perspective as well. All in all change is a catalyst for the ebb and flow of life, an instrument in the natural cycle of creation and destruction.
In Chinese theory we look to the yin aspect to ground us, create stability and placidity. And in the presence of change (yang aspect) this is an exaggerated necessity. One of the goals of Chinese medicine is to create a balance of yin (grounded-ness/non-changing) and yang (motion/change). The goal is not to remove one aspect for the benefit of the other.
A simple thing to do when having periods of change, whether it is dramatic or ordinary, is to do some grounding exercises for 5-10 minutes/day. To do this, sit in a chair with your feet on the floor, back straight, hands resting on your thighs. Close your eyes, sit without fidgeting or distractions, breathe into the lungs so that you can expand your diaphragm to push your belly out slightly, exhale all the air out, and continue breathing this way. Then imagine roots coming out of the bottoms of your feet and connecting you to the earth….this is home…
Archive for the ‘Acupuncture’ Category
The Value of Home
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010Community Acupuncture Update
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010By: Chris Reilly, L.AC
Community acupuncture is off to a great start at the Center. We still have room for new patients, but the initial response has been even greater than expected. Clients are coming in to experience group acupuncture, in some cases bringing along a daughter, brother, mother or friend to explore it with, and leaving very relaxed and happy.
This is a new program for the Center, and we weren’t entirely sure how all the logistics would play out, but everything has gone exceptionally smoothly. The room has come together very nicely thanks in large part to Nadine and Rebecca’s aesthetic sensibilities, and already has the charged feel of a healing space.
It is a deeply satisfying joy to move through a room of clients immersed in an experience that began thousands of years ago. The connection to the past and to each other is all but palpable in the room. I would like to thank all who have come to join us thus far to make this possible, and look forward to all the new faces we’ll be seeing in the future.
Learn more about Community Acupuncture on our website
Qi Gong for Spring
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010By: Chris Reilly, L.AC
Qi gong is roughly translated as “skill and understanding of qi through practice and work.” Qi itself is difficult to define, but can be thought of as the movement of life: from the movement of breath, to kissing a child goodnight. It is both esoteric and obvious. In the narrow understanding of the term, qi gong refers specifically to movements, breath and intent that move and cultivate our vitality. In traditional qi gong, human beings are to follow the greater movements of nature, to keep in tune with the natural order of things and gain insight into the best way to live. We are now moving into a time of expansion and upward growth, the Spring. Our physical and emotional movement should reach up and out to meet the world around us to explore and make new connections.
Getting into the Spirit of Spring
Try the following simple exercise, and see if it helps get you get into the spirit of Spring. Dressed appropriately for the weather, stand with feet shoulder width apart and knees bent in front of a tree that is beginning to blossom new leaves. Hold your palms open and relaxed towards a few inches from the tree with your elbows bent at about 130 degrees (180 degrees would be a straight line). Breathe by expanding and flattening your abdomen, and feel the breath moving between your feet and the earth, becoming aware of the openness between you and the deep earth. Once you are grounded in this way, extend your awareness to the tree. Become aware of the presence of life in and around the tree, and allow yourself to explore it from root to branch. Let your mind’s eye travel through it. Meditating with a tree is a very cleansing practice, and can go to great lengths to cleanse the smudges and tangles in our own vitality, but is also a way to learn from our environment how to be rooted, and how a natural life moves. When you close the meditation, withdraw yourself slowly and respectfully, returning your focus to your own breath and abdomen until it is firmly fixed there.
You may become a little more serious about conservation and recycling after this sort of experience. As your awareness develops, take a walk through the ancient mountains of New York, and get ready for a whole new experience of nature! Next, pat yourself on the back: you are now an official tree hugger!
Many of my clients have already been taught qi gong exercises to help in their own effort to be well. If it’s an area you would like to explore, I’m happy to share what I know and work to develop exercises that would be of benefit to you.
Spring Fever
Monday, March 8th, 2010By: Rebecca Rice, L.Ac
The other day I was marveling at the fact that I hadn’t come down with a cold or flu all year! To the surprise of my pride, the next morning I woke with chills, mild fatigue, and rhinitis. Now I do see my missteps of the previous day-getting overjoyed with the sunshine and warm weather I went outside with damp hair and a lighter jacket, thus making myself more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses. I also had a big cup of hot chocolate and later that night was walking in the cold March wind to my car returning from a concert, wearing the same light jacket.
In Chinese medicine the nape is called the ‘wind gate.’ This is the area in the back of the neck where external pathogens can enter the body. This is why many Acupuncturists wear scarves in the winter – to protect the wind gate. I certainly provided the perfect invitation to the cold I contracted by exposing my wind gate through cold damp hair, wind, and lowered the strength of my immune system with sugar.
The treatment I chose was a hot shower, hot ginger tea, and an acupuncture treatment to open the wind gate, expel the pathogen and consolidate the wei qi. (The wei qi is the protective qi which lies at the surface of the skin and regulates what enters the body and what does not-chills are a sign that the wei qi is weak and has been infiltrated). Because I acted quickly with incorporating all of these therapeutic responses, I was able to significantly reduce the severity and the amount of time I had the cold. Thank You Chinese Medicine!
Winter Solstice and Chinese Medicine
Thursday, December 10th, 2009By: Christopher Reilly, L. Ac
There are a great many reasons and methods to celebrate the winter holiday season. Numerous religious holidays, New Years and the American holiday of Thanksgiving have a tendency to keep us moving at top speed to keep up. In Chinese medicine, the coming of winter is associated with the movement of the water archetype.
With fall, we had the metal archetype- pulling in that which is most valuable and letting go of what is not essential at the time, just as the plants store their nutrients and shed their leaves. With winter we have a time of stillness to sit deep within ourselves and avoid arousing excessive passion. A time to embrace solitude and introspection, and a truly perfect time for the giving of thanks. A good image is the crisp clarity of a deep winter’s night, the moon shining down brightly through the dark as an embracing stillness is felt as a presence all around, and precious things are remembered.
In addition, the winter solstice itself is a powerful time in the tradition of Taoist alchemical practices. The power of the moment as the earth’s yin movement (toward increasing darkness) mysteriously transitions to a yang movement (toward increasing light) is reveared as one of the most important times of the year. Within the exact moment of the transition, there is thought to be a moment of perfect harmony, a mysterious blending of the yin and yang that opens the possibility of new creation and rebirth. It is a time to bring together those parts of ourselves we hold in the light, and those that we hold in the dark. A time of redemption, reconciliation, acceptance and rebirth.
Oh, and P.S.- take it easy on the cookies and spirits! There, I got it out of my system. Happy Holidays!
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) Can be Treated with Chinese Medicine
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009By: Rebecca Rice, Licensed Acupuncturist in Traditional Chinese Medicine
In my practice I have worked with a number of patients who have this diagnosis and are trying to conceive. I chose to write about this topic because it’s a very common condition; and one which can be positively affected by Chinese medicine.
The prevalence of PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) is estimated at about 5%-10% of women who are seeking treatments for infertility. This may be a small representation of the estimated 20% of the population actually effected by the disease.
In Chinese medical theory PCOS is marked by a picture of “dampness.” This occurs when fluids in the body are ineffectively synthesized and accumulate to form cysts. As explained in western medicine, there is also a hyper-secretion of insulin and testosterone. This gives rise to abnormal follicular development also characterized by anovulatory cycles.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are beneficial to those with PCOS in the following ways.
1. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can regulate the cycle.
2. Lifestyle changes based on concepts in Chinese medicine help manage weight and promote healthy eating habits. This is so important because 30% – 50% of obese women with PCOS develop diabetes.
3. Acupuncture and herbs are known clinically to improve egg quality.
In Chinese medicine we focus much of our treatment protocol on the lifestyle changes patient make. For PCOS, as mentioned above, diet is very important. Common foods to avoid are those that promote dampness; these are dairy (especially cheese), refined sugar, excessive sweets, and greasy foods. These will essentially promote weight gain and support the increase of excess insulin and testosterone in the body.
Acupuncture for the West
Friday, October 2nd, 2009By: Christopher Reilly, L.Ac
I was interviewed today by a student at SUNY Albany who was doing a paper on natural healing. At the end of a series of very well thought out questions, she asked me if there was anything else that I would like people to know about acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. I had to pause for a moment to consider the question before beginning to answer.
The common perception of acupuncture is steeped and clouded in mysticism and associations with the culture of China and the East. I’ve often thought about the general opinion that seems to portray acupuncture as a mysterious and magical art performed by wizened Chinese practitioners in the back of old herbal shops in China town. It has become obvious to me over the years that one of the most consistent barriers to accepting acupuncture in the West is this concept of acupuncture as a metaphysical art tied to mysticism of the East, and impenetrable to the understanding of the modern mind.
Acupuncture most likely began in China, and we owe a debt of gratitude to it’s rich history. The first manned flight was achieved in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. And while we applaud the efforts of the Wright brothers, it is obviously a silly notion to think that the pilots and engineers of the rest of the world who aren’t embedded in American culture are unable to understand the dynamics of flight. The laws that govern flight are the same for everyone. In the same way, the laws that govern acupuncture are universal to the human being. Acupuncture is a science that requires training in a very special way of interacting with the human body to facilitate health and healing. It is a human science. And while we look to China to study the history of acupuncture, it is to the West that we must fix our gaze to see it’s further evolution.
The best research in the world on Acupuncture is now being down in countries like the U.S. and Germany. This research is helping to peel away the shroud of mystery that has separated acupuncture from the modern medical community, and kept it from being accepted as a true science by the average citizen. Acupuncture isn’t a system of magic, belief or a supernatural feat. It is a science that works with the natural systems of the human body in a way that other forms of medicine have not yet been able to. It’s value is in it’s use for the treatment all mankind, and its future will be found in its integration with the broader medical community. In this spirit, I hope that we can increase the acceptance and growth of acupuncture in the West not as an elitist or secretive mystical art, but a science of interacting with the human body in the service of all people, regardless of culture or background.
Is it Possible to Have Acupuncture Covered by Insurance?
Monday, August 31st, 2009By: Rebecca Rice, L.Ac
Is it possible to have acupuncture covered by insurance?Yes! In light of the plethora of news about the reformation of health care, where does Chinese medicine stand? Many practitioners in the field of holistic and complementary medicine are trying to encourage lawmakers to include services such as acupuncture into the new health care plan. The national governing bodies for Oriental Medicine, the NCCAOM and the AAAOM are backing this measure. To support acupuncture coverage please visit: http://www.aaaomonline.org/
For information on President Obama’s statement on preventative health care visit:
http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=31983
Uncle Sam Wants….Us
Friday, August 7th, 2009by: Chris Reilly, L.Ac
According to a recent article in Acupuncture Today (http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32014), the programs that the U.S. Army, Navy and Marines are developing to more effectively support soldiers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will now emphasize an integrative approach. To the standard treatments of drug therapy, psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy, these programs will add tai chi, reiki, yoga, acupuncture and medical massage.
This news comes in addition to news from 2008 when the Air Force began a pilot program to train a number of physicians to apply acupuncture for soldiers still in the field (http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=31882). This “battlefield acupuncture” was and is being developed as a way to relieve musculoskeletal pain and some other health problems that can adversely effect a soldier’s ability to function at full potential.
Acupuncture’s reputation continues to grow by the year, and with innovations like those listed above, I’m sure that exciting new insights for the use of acupuncture, and the combination of integrative therapies with more conventional treatments will come to light!
The Heart is Emperor
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009by: Rebecca Rice, L.AC
In Chinese medical theory summer is related to the heart, the emotion joy, the sound of laughter, the ability to sleep, and the function of speech and memory. In western medicine we understand the function of the heart to be related to pumping the blood to supply the body with nutrients and oxygen. In Chinese theory we recognize this along with the concept that the heart is the Emperor and houses the mind. The entire human body can be seen as a kingdom where the center of our being is the heart and the other organs are part of the whole functional dynamic, each with their own unique and necessary roles for the proper maintenance of the kingdom.
The nature of the heart as Emperor is to make its decisions based on clarity. When the heart/mind is clear we sleep well and we are present in conversation. Decision making is easier because we are focused. Things that are harmful to the heart and cloud its ability to “rule” are excessive alcohol intake, anxiety, stress, late nights, and over-thinking; which diminish and stagnate the heart qi causing conditions like insomnia, mania, confusion, poor memory, high blood pressure or depression.
To remedy these symptoms it’s important to clear the mind. This can be cultivated through meditation, quiet contemplation and a lifestyle that allows you to manage the stressors of life. Try being present, listening to your spouse, children, and friends. When they are sharing something with you about their life, look them in the eye and avoid the rustle of thoughts in your own mind. Meditate daily. Clear your mind by beginning the day with 5 minutes of meditation in the morning (for beginners, 30-60 minutes for seasoned meditators). This will give your ‘heart’ a sound ‘throne’ to sit on for the rest of the day.
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