Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs
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My 3 days have been filling up quickly lately. In an effort to accomodate everyone’s requests for treatment I have decided to add one day a week to my schedule. I will now be available on Tuesdays in addition to Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Don’t forget you can book online by clicking the “Book Now” button on the top left of this page.
Hope to see you soon!
Reiki is a technique of energy healing developed by the Japanese theologist Dr. Mikao Usui at the end of the 19th century. Reiki literally means “Universal Life Energy.” By laying hands on particular parts of the body, a practitioner becomes a conduit of this universal energy allowing it to move from the universe into the person being treated. This energy enters the person and a “conversation” happens between the person’s core energy and the universal energy so that appropriate healing can take place. It can be used as a complement to physical medicines for treating ailments of the body, and also can help a person’s energy align for deeper psychological or spiritual healing.
The feeling is generally one of deep relaxation and of becoming more “grounded.” Responses to treatment can vary from simply speeding up the healing of physical ailments, to profound answers to one’s inner-most questions. For me, Reiki, like meditation or acupuncture, helps me to feel more whole and at one with myself, the world and the people in my life; reducing anxiety and increasing confidence to make life decisions.
If you have never experienced Reiki, I encourage you to do so. It is a safe, non-invasive treatment with no side effects for children, adults, pets and even plants!!
Queen Anne Acupuncture is now offering 30 minute Reiki sessions. I have been Reiki certified for 12 years, but until recently practiced solely on friends and family. It has come to my attention that people in Seattle are interested in receiving Reiki treatments, so I am adding it to my professional services. I hope to encourage those who are curious about Reiki to come give it a try by offering a 50% discount for 30 minutes of Reiki during the months of May and June of 2010. For $25 you can experience the deep relaxation and healing benefits of the ancient Japanese technique.
In this day and age we feel like we need to choose between western and eastern medicine. I had a wonderful experience in my office that I think puts that concept to the test. It’s a great example of how I think modern medicine should work.
There is a Naturopathic doctor in my building, Dr. Amy Fasig, with whom I have many shared patients. She had a patient recently with a severe sore throat and fatigue that wasn’t getting better. Dr. Amy took a throat culture to see if she had a bacterial infection, and gave her a homeopathic remedy for her throat and a referral to my office. I diagnosed her with the Chinese Medicine pattern of Wind-Heat Toxin in the Lung. I had a Chinese herbal formula in mind which contained anti-bacterial herbs that cleared Wind-Heat and Resolved Toxins in the Lung. While this patient was receiving acupuncture, Dr. Amy came into the office to let me know that the culture came back positive for a bacterial infection. I showed her the Chinese herbal remedy I was going to use, she thought it looked great, as it contained several herbs used in Western herbalism for bacterial infections. We determined together that the best course of action would be to give her the herbal remedy first, and if it didn’t do the trick in 2 days, Amy would give her antibiotics. This is such a great example of how we can work together. The Western culture gave us knowledge which informed our eastern herbal formula choice, and should the more natural choice not resolve the infection, the western antibiotics would be available.
Western and Eastern medicine both have strengths and weaknessess and in this modern world we have the advantage of being able to use them together for the best possible outcome for patients.
This Thanksgiving, consider putting a Heritage turkey on your table. They cost more, but the benefits to our health, the environment, and local farmers is worth the cost if you can afford it. Typical grocery store turkey’s are raised in close quarters, cannot reproduce on their own, are genetically all the same and therefore are at higher risk of developing diseases that would wipe them out completely if it weren’t for the antibiotics they are injected with. They are also often injected with water or oil in order to improve the texture and taste of their meat since they are dry and tasteless from overbreeding and from being fed grain. The diet of a natural turkey is full of grass and grubs, not grain.
The taste of a Heritage turkey is significantly better than that of a factory farm turkey.
Here in the PNW we have a lot of choices for these tasty varieties. There are many farms within driving distance, and a few grocery stores, including the Metropolitan Market, that carry them in the month before Thanksgiving. I have included three links below. The first two are more details about what Heritage turkey’s are and why they are the best choice. The third link is a map to help you find a farm or market in your area that carries them.
http://www.sustainabletable.org/features/articles/thanksgiving/
Many of my patients suffer from allergies to gluten. And when I say “suffer”, I really mean it. It is so hard to manage the world of modern food and avoid gluten. Eating out is a nightmare, grocery shopping is an exercise in chemical science (did you know they sprinkle gluten on shredded cheese to keep it from sticking?) I recently came across a blog that I would like to share with all my gluten-free friends. It is written by a woman who lives gluten-free and is married to a chef. The blog is chock-full of recipes, ideas, and support. Her basic premise is, just because you can’t eat gluten, it doesn’t mean life can’t be full of flavor. As someone who has no problems with gluten, I still get a lot out of her site. I love her “Recommends” section, and have made a few changes in my own kitchen based on them, with great results. Her photos are also just plain amazing. Check it out and ENJOY!!
One of the most powerful points on the Lung channel, lieqi, is used to help open the lungs, strengthen the immune system (or wei qi,) relieve sore throat, and stop coughing. It is also the “command point” of the head and neck, aiding circulation to the brain and stimulating memory
