Over the last few years, I have noticed that seasonal allergies have been shifting into all-year-long allergies for many folks. For those who are both susceptible and who are only receiving treatment for the symptoms that arise with an allergic reaction, this can be make for very uncomfortable phases all throughout the year…
7 Burning FAQ about Acupuncture
Have You Been Cupped Lately? 4 Reasons Why Cupping Is All the Rave!
Have You Been Cupped Lately? 4 Reasons Why Cupping is All the Rave.
Cupping is amazing. It feels amazing and it does amazing things for your body. Cupping is a therapy that originated both in the East and the West. Roman and Greek practitioners of Medicine used it. Traditional cupping techniques have been preserved for thousands of years by practitioners and doctors of Chinese and East Asian Medicine.
1) Cupping is time-proven!
It is one of our most ancient therapies. It is suction therapy, originating with shamanic practitioners or medicine people using the sucking of breath to rid their patients of evil influences. Then devices such as bamboo cups, hollowed out animal horn or bone started being used. Glass cups have also been used for thousands of years. Suction a very effective therapy for pulling out infection, sucking out boils and other pleasantries. This is essentially the same philosophy of pulling out or sucking out evil. The Chinese character for evil also means that which does the body harm. Suction is also a very effective therapy for pulling out tension from the tissues of the body. The tension we hold in our muscles and fascia does the body harm. Tension obstructs the healthy flow of Qi, blood and fluids through areas of our body, it can keep our structure from aligning properly, it can keep us injured and it can cause us a lot of pain. In this way, cupping is still pulling the evil out. And it ends up looking like red or purple circles on or around the areas that have been cupped. These are not bruises. They are called 'marks' and they are part of the therapeutic process of cupping. Can you say Michael Phelps?
2) Cupping is super popular because it is super effective!
The cupping brings this coloration to the surface so that it may release. The tiny capillaries and tiny surface meridians in the upper layers ofyour tissue respond to the suction therapy and release the tension held there. As long as the marks are there, the therapeutic process is still happening. Most people feel the full effects of the cupping after the marks go away. Although the experience of being cupped is very enjoyable in the moment.
3) Cupping feels really good!
"I can't believe how good this feels!", "Why does this feel so good?", "It feels like you are sucking all my tension away!". These are common comments I hear when cupping my patients.
Resent studies on cupping have shown that the local fascial webs that may be knotted up from injury or chronic tension reset themselves into functioning and aligned fibers as the cups pass over them. It is interesting, you can actually feel that happening. As traditional massage techniques press inward and break up tension in the tissue, cupping therapy pulls outward, breaking up tension and also giving it an escape route from the body. When done correctly, you do not feel sore after cupping, you feel liberated.
4) Cupping can be done at home!
Many practitioners are starting to use cupping in their clinics now, because it is so effective; chiropractors, physical therapies, doctors of western medicine, and massage therapists. I am passionate about sharing the history and philosophy of cupping and teaching methods that create the least harm. You can over cup someone. You can make thins worse. There are parts of the body and areas that are not indicated for cupping. There are things to pay attention to to make it as safe and effective as possible. With all of this known, it is a very simple and easy to use technique to use on yourself, your loved ones, and your clients. During the cupping classes we discuss the history, we talk about different cups and different cupping techniques and we do a lot of hands on so that you leave feeling fully competent and confident in your skills. Classes are open to individuals, couples, practitioners and body workers.
Come in and see what all the rave is about!
Happy healing!
Reya
Sleepy After Acupuncture?
Why do I go into such deep state during an acupuncture treatment?
Nearly 100% of the time, people receiving acupuncture go into a deep state of consciousness. It is the place between sleep and wakefulness. Some say it is a deep state of meditation. My brother says it is forced meditation because you can't get up with needles in your body. Often, this state is hard to come out of, and leaves us feeling deeply relaxed, sleepy, or as we like to say; acu-stoned.
However we describe it, the similarity of experience is real. Regardless of the focus of the treatment, whether we are working on a headache, a backache, digestive issues or fertility, there is a commonality in this experience of 'dropping in'. As long as the needle locations areindicated and appropriate, this experience happens. This has lead me to the understanding that this general experience is not based on the practitioner's theory or intention or on the patient's symptoms or state of being, it is simply an effect of being needled and needled well.
There is also something that happens to the pulse when the needles have been left in for an appropriate amount of time. I call it "a harmonizing" and it usually happens in cahoots with this sense of dropping in or deep meditation. The needles ask the body to do certain things. Some points ask the body to increase peristalsis in the large intestine, some points ask the body to calm the mind, some ask for increase in circulation, some ask for the eyes to brighten or the nasal passages to open, or the heart rate to slow down. There are over 500 acupuncture points on the body and each one has multiple possible requests for the natural healing capacity of the body. When these points are needled, it is like hitting a button on a keyboard and that request is activated. This communication is happening at the level of energy or Qi. Qi is everywhere, and within the body there are different 'forms' of Qi that collect in pathways called Meridians. Along the meridians, the Qi pools in little vortices called Points. Each point has a particular character and that uniqueness creates the request. Along the course of the meridians circulates a unique fluid filled with genetic material, neuropeptides, hormones, adrenaline, etc. Therefore acupuncture, or needling request, taps into a rich source of biochemicals which allow the treatment to communicate with all the body’s natural systems. This is the physical or tangible aspect of acupuncture. Underlying the intricacies of the physical process lies a general engagement with the energetic or non-physical aspects of the body. When we say 'energetic' there is a usually conventional response based in a gross misunderstanding that 'energetic' mean 'non-real'. At this time in history, our understanding of reality is not as limited as it once was and we can recognize the fallacy of this response. We now have some tools to be able to see that which was once unseen. Bacteria and viruses, atoms and subatomic particles, supernovas and distant star systems. We are still only ‘seeing’ the tip of the iceberg. There is a infinite formless realm that we still do not see. This is the realm of energy. The energetic realm is the most real, for all that is physical stems from the non-physical. Our bodies stem from an energetic blueprint known to the fertilized egg that was the origin of our reality in this particular body. This is not only woo woo nor only science. It is both. It is the place where the two meet that we now call our reality. Cel phones are real, and what are they doing? They are linking non-physical or energetic pathways of communication so that we can talk person to person. On a daily basis we are discovering the reality of what was once unknown or unseen. We are witnessing the formless creating form. How the wind bends the tree. How the sunlight warms our skin. On the home front and in our workplace, we see how our ideas become our creations and form our reality.
In our bodies, it is the formless, energetic, emotional, vibrational genetic world that determines our form, and the form of our well-being or state of dis-ease. Effective medicine is that which influences the the underlying energetic territory in order to create a sustainable difference in the state of being or state of form. This is the intrinsic capacity of the medicine I practice. That is why I call it Brilliant. Acupuncture effects the formed and the formless. Herbal medicine effects formed and the formless, so that the positive shifts in the physical body are sustainable.
Let’s return to the original question. How is the acupuncture itself creating this deep sense of rest? I understand the needles to be a bridge between the formed and the formless, between the energetic body and the physical body. As a bridge they open up channels of communication between these two bodies and this gifts the mind, body, spirit complex with a great opportunity to return to harmony. Like when you had a row with a friend or loved one and the disharmony has kept you from connecting clearly with each other, and then you finally get to talk about it. Communication lines open up again and your relationship is re-calibrated. This connection creates harmony. In the body, this harmony creates changes in the pulse. The pulse harmonizes. Instead of operating independently and running around with different intentions, these seemingly independent aspects of our self get to reconnect, and therefore become more powerful. This place of connection is what I call 'the place of healing'. The team is united and the work that needs to be done, gets done. Contrary to conventional belief, your body knows how to heal, wants to heal, and has a myriad of systems in place to keep you healthy. Our biology is immensely intelligent. Sometimes we just need to do a little coaxing and then get out of the way. Your body does a lot of work reorganizing and healing during an acupuncture session. This is why we often feel tired and sleepy afterwards. Plus we are coming out of that deep state that is the place of healing. It is good to take care of yourself afterwards. Spend some time alone, take a nap, or at least keep a strong sense of inward connection if you re-enter a workplace or social atmosphere. This allows the innate healing process to come to completion after a session. If you are still acu-stoned, your body-mind-spirit complex is still re-organizing.
Sleep easy.
Reya
Can acupuncture treat what I got? Common symptoms + conditions that acupuncture can treat.
A session with me can be a pretty sweet treat…
But the treatment goes deeper than your experience in the moment. Using Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Prescriptions makes Brilliant Medicine both curative and preventive.
Curative…
These therapies are a curative treatment for multitude of conditions. Historically, many people have come to me as a "last resort" for serious and complex medical problems, or chronic pain and find that it can help them when other treatments could not.
Now that Chinese Medicine is becoming even more common, many people come to me first and we clear things before they need any major medical procedures or pharmaceuticals.
Preventative…
Many people see me on a regular basis to stay healthy. Much of the medicine was developed during a time in China when Emperors employed physicians to keep them healthy. So if the Emperor become ill, the physician was executed (maybe just fired).
Regardless, this was great motivation for the physicians to fully develop the preventative capacities of the medicine. Receiving "tune up" or "balancing" treatments can prevent disease and promote health, energy and vitality.
Whether you are looking for treatment for a specific medical conditions, or you don't know what is going on but you are not comfortable in your body, or you feel healthy, but always get those colds in the winter, or you want to continue to feel young and vital, or you are still recovering from that injury, come in and discus your options with me.
Here is a basic list of common complaints and conditions that Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can treat:
Gastrointestinal Disorders
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Spastic colon
Colitis
Constipation
Diarrhea
Food Allergies
Ulcers
Gastritis
Abdominal Bloating
Hemorrhoids
Respiratory Disorders
Asthma
Emphysema
Bronchitis
Colds and Flu
Circulatory Disorders
High Blood Pressure
Angina Pectoris
Arteriosclerosis
Anemia
Immune Disorders
Candida
Chronic Fatigue
HIV and AIDS
Epstein Barr Virus
Allergies
Lupus
MS
Hepatitis
Emotional and Psychological Disorders
Anxiety
Insomnia
Depression
Stress
Acupuncture Also Treats
Chemotherapy/Radiation Side-Effects
Diabetes
Dermatological Disorders
Weight Control
Eye, Ear, Nose, Throat Disorders
Sinusitis
Sore Throat
Hay Fever
Earache
Nerve Deafness
Ringing in the Ears
Dizziness
Poor Eyesight
Gynecological / Genitourinary Disorders
Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
Irregular, Heavy or Painful Menstruation
Endometriosis
Menopause
Fibroids
Chronic Bladder Infection
Complications in Pregnancy
Morning Sickness
Kidney Stones
Impotence
Infertility in Men and Women
Sexual Dysfunction
Musculoskeletal and Neurological Disorders
Arthritis
Neuralgia
Sciatica
Back Pain
Bursitis
Tendonitis
Stiff Neck
Belles Palsy
Trigeminal Neuralgia
Headaches and Migraines
Stroke
Cerebral Palsy
Polio
Sprains
Muscle Spasms
Shingles
