Mid-way through Winter we’re beginning to see the day light hours lengthen. But as we head toward spring, many feel sluggish and even fatigued. Nature’s re-set button is the gift of slumber. Getting more sleep allows your body and mind to rejuvenate and prepare for an active Spring.
Recharge this Winter with Acupuncture According to Oriental medicine, the cold months of winter are the perfect time to recharge your battery and generate vital energy – Qi – in order to live, look, and feel your best.
The ancient Chinese believed that human beings should live in harmony with the natural cycles of their environment. The cold and darkness of winter urges us to slow down. This is the time of year to reflect on health, replenish energy and conserve strength.
Winter is ruled by the Water element, which is associated with the Kidneys, Bladder and Adrenal Glands. The Kidneys are considered the source of all energy or “Qi” within the body. They store all of the reserve Qi in the body so that it can be used in times of stress and change, or to heal, prevent illness, and age gracefully.
During the winter months, it is important to nurture and nourish our Kidney Qi; it is the time where this energy can be most easily depleted. Our bodies are instinctively expressing the fundamental principles of winter – rest, reflection, conservation and storage.
The Nei Ching, an ancient Chinese classic, advises people to go to sleep early and rise late, after the sun’s rays have warmed the atmosphere a bit. This preserves your own Yang Qi for the task of warming in the face of cold.
Eating warm hearty soups, whole grains, and roasted nuts help to warm the body’s core and to keep us nourished. Sleep early, rest well, stay warm, and expend a minimum quantity of energy.
Seasonal acupuncture treatments in winter serve to nurture and nourish kidney Qi which can greatly enhance the body’s ability to thrive in times of stress, aid in healing, prevent illness and increase vitality.
Below are a few nutritional tips to help you renew and restore.
Water – The Kidneys are associated with the Water element. Drink ample water, at room temperature, throughout the day.
Kidney Shaped Foods – Black beans and kidney beans are excellent examples of kidney shaped foods that nourish and benefit Kidney Qi.
Blue and Black Foods - The colors blue and black correspond to the Water element of the Kidneys and are thought to strengthen the Water element. Include blueberries, blackberries, mulberry and black beans in your diet.
Seeds - Flax, pumpkin, sunflower and black sesame seeds relate to fertility and growth which is governed by Kidney Qi.
Nuts – Walnuts and chestnuts have been found to be especially effective for increasing Kidney Qi.
Vegetables – Dark, leafy green vegetables are the best choice for Kidney Qi. Other Kidney Qi boosting veggies include asparagus, cucumbers and celery.
When I meet a new patient, I wonder, “Who is this person? How is she feeling? What does she need to become whole on all levels — physical, emotional and spiritual?” To find out, I ask deeper questions about her well-being in order to find the symptom’s cause and treat it.
Any symptom a patient reports can be the result of an imbalance in one of the five elements — Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal. Once this happens, the imbalance can spread throughout the body, because all five elements are connected like members of a family. When one member is sick, unable or unwilling to do his tasks, the rest of the family suffers. In time, they all become symptomatic, too.
Because symptoms and imbalances are interrelated in this way, I need to know more than just that my patient has migraines, arthritis or insomnia. Those symptoms can be the result of imbalances in any organ or function, so I have to find the elemental cause.
In classical five-element acupuncture, this is done through the senses — perceiving the odor (yes, odor!), color, sound, and emotion that identifies which element is out of balance. Then I work empathetically — feeling what the patient feels in order to understand the level of disease.
If a roof gutter fills with leaves, water may stagnate rather than drain, encouraging clogging and the growth of unwanted seedlings. In the same way, when the body’s gutters and drains stop flowing, manipulation of an acupuncture point opens and clears out stagnation, encourages flow and returns the body to a balanced state so that it can heal itself.
Symptoms are the body’s distress signals, clues to what’s going on inside. When symptoms are suppressed by prescription drugs, the body is being told to “shut up!” But centuries of Chinese medicine have demonstrated the wisdom of listening…
Most people are already familiar with the concept of acupuncture: releasing the blockage of essential Qi, or life force, to promote healing. But I am often asked about Five-Element acupuncture, which is the classical Chinese form that I practice.
According to classical Five-Element acupuncture, the five elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water – exist in everything and everyone. When an imbalance occurs, illness can result. So, Five-Element diagnoses and treats the element that is out of balance, enabling healing to occur in the body.
Each element has an odor, color, sound and emotion attached to it that can be perceived when that element is out of balance. In addition, each patient’s unique body, mind and spirit are taken into account when determining diagnosis and treatment, so that each individual receives customized treatment.
Each person has a unique balance of the five elements – no two people are the same, regardless of the similarity of their symptoms. The goal of the 5 Element practitioner is to pin-point and treat the underlying causative factor of “Dis-ease”. Treating the causative factor enables the person to heal completely.
This is the essential difference between acupuncture and Western (or allopathic) medicine, where patients presenting the same symptoms usually are treated in the exact same way and given the exact same dose of the exact same prescription drug. An acupuncture patient receives an hour of my time – more during the intake session – to diagnose and treat an imbalance and, in most cases, arises from my table already feeling better.
This is one reason why more people are turning to alternative medical treatments – for individualized care, a personal relationship with the practitioner, natural treatment free from adverse side effects and the promotion of improved sleep and overall calmative effect.
How can we create a nurturing environment in our wombs for a healthy fetus to take hold and thrive to full-term? How do we encourage the natural cycle of fertilization and growth without fertility drugs?
Women who delay having children till their 30’s may find it difficult to get pregnant. Failure to conceive within a year, women turn to fertility specialists who offer a menu of medical interventions that are financial, physically and emotionally costly. Failure to conceive, even after months or years of trying, does not automatically mean complete infertility.
The long-term consequences of repeated fertility drug and IVF intervention has not been studied. Chinese Medicine views the use of drugs as having a depleting effect on both the Liver and Kidney Qi which are related to the conception, growth and development of the fetus.
In order to conceive a healthy child, a woman’s hormones need to be balanced. Even slight imbalances in the endocrine system, can alter the way the body produces hormones. Medical tests may not detect slight hormonal abnormalities making it difficult to conceive until corrected.
Your menstrual cycle is vitally important to establishing where imblances are so they can be corrected. The menstrual cycle should typically be 28 days, last 3-5 days or up to 7 days on some women. Menstrual blood is usually light red at the beginning of a cycle, deep red in the middle and pinkish towards the end. A normal blood flow does not contain clots.
Years of poor diet and stress depletes the reproductive systems of both men and women. The health of our children depends on what we eat, both before they are conceived and in the first 9 month of their life.
Making healthy lifestyle changes and eating properly needs to start BEFORE conception.
If you’re eating foods rich in Vitamin A, C , K & F (Essential Fatty Acids) and rich in minerals: calcium, chromium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese and potassium then you’re golden. Changes in Western diet and methods of food production have impacted the quality of the food we eat. It’s probably safe to assume that you’re not getting the adequate amount of these nutrients – hence the need for additional supplementation.
Here are some suggestions toward conceiving and growing a healthy fetus.
Clear up allergies which are linked to a range of conditions including asthma, eczema, hayfever, mirgraine, epilepsy, hyperactivity, violence and depression. Food allergies are the result of nutritional imbalance, and in particular zinc deficiency.
Manganese Deficiency can lead to birth abnormalities so make sure your eating Manganese laden foods such as nuts, green leafy vegetables, peas, beets, egg yolks and wholegrains.
Zinc is the most important supplement to take in preparation for pregnancy to avoid genetic abnormalities and low birth rates or even still birth. Good dietary sources for zinc are: meat, fish, and shellfish, particularly oyster, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds and other nuts, wheat and oat germ, sprouted seeds, ginger, fruit, leafy vegatables and watercress. Zinc absorption is helped by vitamin B6 and by eating oranges as the citric acid increases absorption. Too much iron and copper depletes zinc.
Folic Acid deficiency has been linked to defects such as spina bifida, where the spinal chord is not properly developed. Mothers who supplement folic acid and vitamin B12 before conception and during the first 3 months of pregnancy have a lower incidence of neural tube deftects. Good Folic Acid food sources include: green leafy vegetables, brewer’s yeast, wholegrains, wheatgerm, milk, salmon, root vegetables and nuts.
Eliminate negative incluences on prenatal health that include, stress, smoking and intake of alcohol, drugs and toxic chemicals, metals and minerals including lead, cadmium, mercury, aluminum and copper.
As a Five Element Acupuncturist, I have worked with women on helping them to correct imbalances in their menstural cycle that have resulted in healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.
Check out my website at www.acusharon.com and don’t hesitate to call with questions.
You’re frustrated by having to take medications to produce more eggs and the side effects are making you more moody and irritable. A year later, in preparation for invitro fertilization, you’re on a regimen of injections. First to stop your period, then to start it.
Your bank account is being drained by expensive interventions, AND there’s a only a 20 percent success rate. The chances fall to less than 10 percent for women at age 39, and only 3 percent for women at age 44.
If you do get pregnant, what are the chances of carrying to term and having a healthy baby?
There is another way: an alternative approach to treating a diagnosis of “infertility” using Chinese Medicine on its own, or to optimize modern reproductive technology.
Many causes of your failure to conceive over time exist and it’s important to discover the underlying cause(s) instead of allowing the label of being “infertile” to overwhelm you.
There is a Chinese medical view of the underlying causes of endometriosis, uterine fribroids or polycystic ovarian syndrome symptoms and how to treat them. Often times it’s a matter of correcting patterns of Qi disharmony caused by the modern lives we lead with a combination of acupuncture, chinese herbs, diet, and lifestyle changes. Do you have pelvic adhesions or some other obstructions? Is your cycle intermittent? Are you ovulating? Do you experience irritability, cramping, headaches or mood swings prior to your period? What is your birth control history?
Evaluation begins with a detailed understanding of your medical history, diet and lifestyle which cause disruptions in your delicate hormonal balalance. Having an understanding of what the underlying cause of your inability to conceive is the first step in overcoming obstacles and making the necessary adjustments that will allow conception naturally. It’s important to find out if there is a deficiency or excess in the flow of Qi throughout the body.
To receive a free evaluation questionnaire to begin your process email me at elemont5@yahoo.com.
Look for future posts on:
Preparing Womb for Conception – Part II
Unexplanied “Infertility” – Part III
Male-Factor “Infertility – Park IV
Healing Body and Soul When All Else Fails – Part V
