Acupuncture

Summer from a TCM Perspective

Let’s talk about late summer – from an acupuncturist’s view.

The season of the late summer is the time of the stomach and spleen. The summer season actually belongs to the heart, heart and small intestine, the late summer which is that hazy time between summer and autumn. It’s that time when yin and yang feel really balanced. When it’s not too hot, it’s not cold yet, there’s a slight crispness in the air early morning and late evening. It’s a time of perfect balance at the end of summer, and it’s also the harvest time, suggesting that there’s a sense of abundance. You’ll notice, there’s an abundance of food ripening, quite literally one the vine. This is when the earth element is at its peak.

The fascinating thing about the earth element is that it also has a season in between every other season. There’s a little window in between every season where we have ‘late summer’ again, even in-between winter and spring, in between spring and summer, definitely in-between summer and autumn and in between autumn and winter as well. These are little windows in-between every season which are known as late summer, or earth season are times of balance.

This time between seasons is a time of everything coming back to the core – all of your energies coming back into the center, grounding, rebalancing and then ready to go again into a new season which has new opportunities and new challenges. At the time of writing we’re in the earth element now, we’re crossing over from spring into summer. So this is a perfect opportunity for you to come back to your center, spend a little bit of time regrouping, grounding and preparing for what’s coming next in the summer months. When we do this, we give our body an abundance of energy again to work with and do whatever it needs to do to balance itself in the next season. There’s nothing for you to do, just come back to ground zero and give your body a rest. Get grounded in nature, rest up and your body does what it knows it needs to do with the energy. Your acupuncturist will also be able to treat these organs and maximize your ability to recharge these organs in their horary time.

If you are an Earth element constitutional type you can also receive treatment on the Stomach and spleen during their horary time of day. Receiving treatment between 7am and 11 am is the best time to treat these organs. Each organ has its own time of day where it’s at its strongest. The time of day for the Earth element, Stomach and Spleen, is 7-9am, and 9-11am. The old housewife tale says eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a pauper. This is true because the chi is the strongest in the digestive system in the stomach between 7:00 and 9:00AM, and in the spleen between 9:00 and 11:00AM. Eating your biggest meal of the day between these times means you’re going to have optimum digestion, and your body is going to be able to take the most chi from the food and transform it to give your body the most energy available. Eating your biggest meals at the opposite times will have the opposite effect, as there’s the least amount of chi in the digestive system 12 hours later. So between 7:00AM and 11:00AM is when we’ve got the most chi in the digestive system, and then 12 hours later, between 7:00PM and 11:00PM we’ve got the least.

If you want to learn what your element constitutional type is, come on in! I may be able to shed some light on this for you.

The Human Heart; an Element of Fire

The organs in Chinese medicine are more than just a physical representation. The organs include not only their physiological function but also their mental, emotional, spiritual, and elemental qualities that align with nature and the seasons. Let’s explore the heart and unique perspective Traditional Chinese Medicine can offer.

The heart season is summer, and the heart is considered the most yang: hot, bountiful, and abundant. Yang is what is bright, moving, outward, hot, and loud. Yin is what is more inward, still, dark, and cooler. The color of the heart is associated with red, the climate is heat, the flavor is bitter and its paired organ is the small intestine (many urinary issues are due to “heart fire” heat descending). The sense aligned with the heart is the tongue, and the vessels associated with the heart are the tissues. The heart sound is laughing, and the emotion is joy. The heart houses what is known as the shen, which is the mind and spirit. You can see a person’s shen in a healthy complexion and radiant eyes that are clear and bright. The heart is in charge of circulation and keeps the tissues well nourished. It is also associated with mental clarity, memory, and strength. The motion of this fire element is upward, like a flame. Many who have this element dominant in their personality have red hair that is curly or spikes upward. The heart is also connected to speech. An imbalance in heart energy can result in stuttering, speaking excitedly, or talking excessively.

A balanced heart:

A healthy heart energy exudes a sense of joy, enthusiasm, action, warmth, charisma, and fun. These people are the “life of the party,” and love to have a good time with friends and to be the center of attention. When the heart is balanced, sleep is sound and one is well-rested.

An unbalanced heart:

On the other hand, when there is an overabundance of fire this can result in restlessness, anxiety, sweating, excitability, and symptoms such as palpitations, irregular heartbeat, insomnia, disturbing dreams, mouth sores, thirst, red face, constipation, and dryness. This person might shrink if not in the limelight and would constantly seek attention and need activities that produce a lot of excitement. He or she might have trouble being introspective and could not be alone. “Overjoy” is an imbalance of heart energy and is likened to manic behavior. A dominant fire may also be extremely sensitive to heat. A lack of the fire element, on the other hand, can result in a lusterless complexion, low energy, inertia, depression, feeling cold, low libido and the personality may lack warmth. This type may seem cold, frigid, lack drive, and may be prone to addictions.

How to help your heart stay in balance?

Studies show red foods have been shown to help the heart biochemically; foods such as hawthorn berries, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, tomatoes, watermelon, peppers, and goji berries keep your heart happy with lycopene and anthocyanin, antioxidants, and beneficial vitamins. Other helpful foods include garlic, cayenne, cilantro, basil, magnesium (found in leafy greens, nuts, and soy), and green tea. Also try ginseng, jujube dates, reishi mushrooms, dong quai, seaweed, and schizandra berries. Calming activities such as walking, tai qi, or qi gong help calm the shen.

It is best not to self-diagnose, make sure to seek the guidance of a medical professional to confirm these foods are right for you. You don’t want to assume you have too much of one element and end up eating the wrong foods. A thorough diagnostic evaluation is the best way to get a proper diagnosis. As far as the Five Element theory goes I’d be happy to see which element is dominant in you, and together we can treat your condition with acupuncture, herbs and offer advice for beneficial diet and lifestyle adaptations. If you are looking for heart health remedies, give me a call today.

Winter and your Kidneys

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, health is achieved by living in balance with nature and the seasons. Winter, the season of the Water Element, is the season for slowing down, reflecting, and conserving our resources. We all feel this tendency, but we don’t always listen to our bodies. In Western culture, being active is rewarded and expected. We feel compelled to keep up the hectic pace that is typical in our daily lives.

This season is associated with the kidneys, bladder, and adrenal glands and the time of year when these organs are most active, accessible, and even vulnerable. They are more receptive to being restored, nurtured, and energized. At the same time, it is also when they can become easily depleted.

According to Chinese medicine, our kidneys receive a specific amount of energy at the time of our conception that will carry each of us through our lives, called Jing Qi. Imagine for a minute that our kidneys are like batteries. Batteries that have come from the shop with a limited amount of charge. These unfortunately are not the rechargeable types of batteries. Jing Qi is the energy stored in our kidney batteries. Our body and mind pull from this reserve in times of change, healing, and stress. Every action we take draws on this power supply.

Some people can easily deplete their Jing Qi due to poor lifestyle choices and extreme stress. Others preserve it by nurturing it with the right foods and behaviors. Jing Qi is finite. The more we use it, the less we will have for necessary body functioning. Every day our kidneys filter blood and other body fluids, remove toxins from the liver, and our bladder collects, processes and excretes these liquids through the urine.

There are ways we can preserve our Jing Qi. In addition to Jing Qi, we operate on renewable sources of energy. The spleen makes Qi (vital life force) for us out of the food we eat, and the lungs bring us Qi from the air. We will have less need to draw on our Jing Qi and be healthier and more energetic as we eat, rest and breathe better and do Qi Gong to replenish our renewable sources of energy.

Keep in mind, stimulants such as caffeine deplete the kidneys, and rob us of our ability to know how we really feel. If our body is in need of rest and sleep, caffeine consumption will make us unaware of this fact, thus causing us to ignore our body’s needs. This can then contribute to the unnecessary depletion of our Jing Qi.

In order to maintain and cultivate health, it is important to nurture and nourish our kidney energy. Now is the perfect time to recharge your internal kidney batteries. Acupuncture, yoga, Tai Chi, quiet reflection, meditation, simple walks, and herbs are wonderful ways to recharge and energize!

Chinese Medicine for COVID-19

In December 2019, an outbreak of a new strain of a pneumonia-like virus had occurred in Wuhan, China and by January 7th, 2020 a new case of coronavirus (also known as SARS-CoV-2) had been confirmed.

Since then, the world’s scientists have been working hard to understand this virus, how it spreads and what precautions and preventive measures can be taken to slow (and even stop) the spread of this illness.

We have been reading through published research papers related to the treatment of COVID-19 using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and have come across some helpful information you can use to try and combat COVID-19 should you catch it.

Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Patients Infected with 2019-New Coronavirus:

The above mentioned paper involved research on finding a treatment of SARS-Cov-2 through Traditional Chinese Medicine which was said to be inspired by the treatment methods used during the SARS outbreak in the 2002 Guangdong Province of China (which later spread drastically in 2003). From those studies, there was compelling evidence that supported the notion that TCM had beneficial effects of SARS treatment.

During the 2002/2003 SARS cases, a dramatic decrease in the percentage of SARS-related deaths occurred once TCM was introduced as a supplemental treatment method in comparison to the conventional method that was being used at the time.

During the SARS outbreak, it was reported that there were over 1,000 volunteers including 926 hospital workers and over 30 laboratory technicians working in high-risk virus laboratories using a TCM herbal extract that had “… resulted in marked improvement of symptoms and shortened the disease course.”

Fast forward to present day with the 2020 SARS-Cov-2 Pandemic. The National Health Commission (NHC) for the People’s Republic of China reported that over 60,000 confirmed COVID-19 patients (nearly 85% of the total confirmed cases) had successfully been treated with a combination of TCM and conventional medicine.

With this information, and more cases being treated with TCM, the NHC has published documents stating that Traditional Chinese Medicine is a recommended treatment of COVID-19 based on symptom differentiation and the stage of the disease.

The NHC recommends TCM for both preventative care of the virus, as well as to help the recipient through their illness should they contract it.

Before you make a list of items to get at your next outing for the following recipes, keep in mind that herbs are considered a powerful medicine and that they should be consumed and used only after consulting a professional, especially if a serious illness is involved.

Yin Qiao San: Fructus Forsythiae, Flos Lonicerae, Radix Platycodonis, Herba Menthae, Herba Lophatheri, Radix Glycyrrhizae, Herba Schizonepetae, Fermented soybean, Fructus arctii, and Rhizoma Phragmitis

Shuang Huang Lian: Lonicera japonica, Scutellaria baicalensis, and Forsythia suspensa

Sang Ju Yin and Yu Ping Feng San: Sang Ju Yin [made with chrysanthemum, mulberry leaf, and 6 other herbs] and Yu Ping Feng San

For more information on how to best navigate the COVID-19 Pandemic, follow us on social media and stay up-to-date on our blog! If you have questions about acupuncture and coronavirus, reach out to us to schedule an appointment!

https://exploreim.ucla .edu /wp –content/uploads/TCM_covid _review _Yang 2020.pdf

How Movement May Prevent COVID-19

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 (also known as the coronavirus or the SARS-Cov-2) in December 2019, the world has been working together to not only find a cure for this wretched disease, but to also find ways to best combat it or even prevent one from being a recipient of it.

Physical exercise as therapy to fight against the mental and physical consequences of COVID-19 quarantine:
In the above mentioned paper, the importance of maintaining physical activity (PA) in your daily routine despite being in quarantine throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic is discussed.

A quarantine was obviously the best choice in order to stop the rapid spread of infection and become more prepared for how to handle this unexpected Pandemic, however, finding ways to adapt and overcome the change in routine in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle is still important.

The paper states that “initiating a sudden quarantine state implies a radical change in the lifestyle of the population.” It also states that in order to “…counteract the negative consequences of certain diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, CVD, respiratory diseases, or even simply to guarantee an active aging by reducing the risk of frailty, sarcopenia and dementia, as associated diseases in older people, [physical activity must stay consistent].”

Exercise is important for all, but this paper focuses heavily on those who are at higher risk by being immunocompromised and even of the elderly generation as exercise in older people prevents faulty and positively impacts them.

This paper suggests that for those who are still stuck as home and/or have had to extend their quarantine, to find a well-regimented exercise regime that can help the individual maintain an active lifestyle in order to stay healthy and best combat this virus.

Recommended Movement Guidelines
As stated in the study, the following is recommended if the individual is under quarantine:

Weekly exercise: 200-400 minutes of exercise per week (being spread out over the course of 5-7 days to “compensate for the decrease in normal daily PA levels).”

Of those required days, 2 days of resistance training is combined with 3+ days of aerobic training.

There are many reasons that exercise is recommended when it comes to nurturing a healthy immune system. The most important reason involves your body temperature. As you workout, your body temperature rises during and after exercise which helps to prevent bacteria from growing, thus helping to fight infection. Physical activity also helps flush out bacteria from your lungs and even slows the release of stress hormones.

Acupressure for Better
Chingling, Weiling: Pressing on these points release tension from the legs which makes it easier to stretch them out. To effectively use this acupressure point, slide the middle and index fingers down the back of the other hand (towards your wrist) and move along the spaces to the outside of the middle two fingers. These points help to release tension out of the legs making it easier to stretch the legs out.

Gallbladder 34 (yang ling quan): This point is specifically used to relax the tendons and ligaments within your body. It is located on the outer aspect of the lower leg, in the depression in front of and below the head of the fibula. Gallbladder 34 is the command point of the joints and sinews, which makes it a great choice for relieving pain, especially in the lower extremities. It is also used to address hemiplegia, lateral costal pain, bitter taste in the mouth, vomiting and jaundice. This point relieves hip and ankle pain, thus allowing you to move more freely.

Bladder 57 (cheng shan): This point relaxes and strengthens the lower back, Relaxes the sinews, invigorates blood, clears heat and even removes obstructions from the channel. This point responds well to strong deep pressing movement when applying pressure.

Overall, movement is medicine! It helps keep us healthy and moving throughout our day-to-day life. If you have questions or want to schedule an appointment regarding acupuncture for mobility, reach out to us!

https://exploreim.ucla .edu /wp –content/uploads/Jimenez–Pavon-2020-Physical–exercise–as –therap–copy.pdf

http://www.fightingarts .com /reading/article.php ?id =624

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