I just finished reading this article about Miss Arizona and her personal health struggle with Tourette's Syndrome. Western Medicine left her exhausted and considering brain surgery.
Thankfully, before she went to this extreme treatment that offered no promises, she tried drug free, negative side effect free Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs. She found near total relief and is now an advocate for Turret's awareness and is spreading the word about her experience with Eastern Medicine.
She is now on maintenance with a very inexpensive and common formula she takes during more stressful times in her life along with seasonal Acupuncture tune ups, according to the article.
In my experience as a practitioner, patient, and active observer, this is not a unique experience. Difficult and complex disease processes that stump western medicine and treatments are often treatable using Chinese Medicine. Find your local Acupuncturist & Herbalist today!
Click below to read about her story, published in Acupuncture Today.
Miss Arizona Uses Acupuncture & Herbs To Win Her Life Back
Monday, November 4, 2013
Friday, November 1, 2013
Wisdom from my Hairdresser
I got a haircut today from my fabulous hairdresser in Los Feliz, I drive a long way by LA standards for the "perfect" cut, and she and I had a really great conversation about our feelings on a lot of current topics in life and culture, LA style.
It just so happened that about 30 minutes prior to me leaving the house a shooting took place at LAX. I was driving at least 30 minutes on LA freeways so like an informed Los Angelino, I checked the traffic reports to see how much time to give myself and I saw the news. I left quickly, not knowing what I was about to encounter, I expected a nightmare but luckily was catching traffic the right direction.
When I sat down for my make-over, I mentioned what I'd just heard about and how I saw several police cars going to the airport on my drive. From that comment followed a conversation about the stress in watching the news and then to her recent month long vacation to France.
What I loved about what she said, and wanted to share with you, was how she really let go on her trip. She said in Los Angeles, she is so focused on getting her workout in and eating the right things and being "In Control" all of the time. On her vacation however, she decided to let herself do what she wanted, when she wanted, and to be present in each moment and true to what she was feeling.
She told me how she ate French Fries, croissants, drank wine and walked all the time instead of her regular strenuous workouts.
"I lost 5 pounds!" she proudly shared with me.
Her comment on the entire experience was, "We really don't realize in this country how much our emotions affect our health."
I could not have been more excited to hear her say this. One of the pillars of health the Chinese write about in the classical materials is that the root of much, if not all of disease stems from our emotions and how we process them.
This might sound silly or 'wu-wu', but I have found in clinical practice, so far, there is a great deal of truth to this. Whether the problem is Chron's, back pain, headaches, PMS, or even Cancer, emotions play a role that isn't just under recognized but ignored all together by most people. We can eat right, sleep right, exercise properly, but at the end of it, we are emotional (I would argue spiritual) beings having a physical experience here on earth. You don't have to be religious to know this, although, if you are religious, isn't this exactly what you are supposed to believe? Do you?
When we get caught up in our emotions, anger, fear, sadness, and worry about things like the shooting today, or the Nuclear spills, or the latest school shooting - how do we process that? Some people choose to ignore these things, choosing to live with blinders on. Others get consumed and eaten alive by the never ending stream of what is bad and wrong in the world.
I have a post about Sandy Hook from last year. I tend to write around big and tragic events a lot. For me, these events are reminders and check in points for my own life. How am I doing? Am I living my truth? Am I telling those I love that I love them? What can I do in my own life to reflect the changes I'd like to see. Writing is one way I cope with the inevitable harshness of life, and one way I choose to process through my emotions. It keeps me healthy.
Poor health is a progression, not a quick hatchet. Like water torture, one little drop at a time over days, weeks, months, years, maybe even decades, emotions take a toll. What starts as unseen thoughts and feelings, unattended to these feelings become seen, the emotional becomes physical. Thoughts are things, and our bodies teach us this. Thoughts and feelings become disease. Yes, they do.
One of the things I love best about what I do is that I get to talk with people and mirror for them all that is going on in their mind, body, and spirit and then give them time to just rest and be with themselves as they start to feel their body in a new way. When I see people light up at the connections between their symptoms and their job, or their personal life struggles, I see people change and heal. It is a wonderful thing to witness, and a great reminder for myself.
It just so happened that about 30 minutes prior to me leaving the house a shooting took place at LAX. I was driving at least 30 minutes on LA freeways so like an informed Los Angelino, I checked the traffic reports to see how much time to give myself and I saw the news. I left quickly, not knowing what I was about to encounter, I expected a nightmare but luckily was catching traffic the right direction.
When I sat down for my make-over, I mentioned what I'd just heard about and how I saw several police cars going to the airport on my drive. From that comment followed a conversation about the stress in watching the news and then to her recent month long vacation to France.
What I loved about what she said, and wanted to share with you, was how she really let go on her trip. She said in Los Angeles, she is so focused on getting her workout in and eating the right things and being "In Control" all of the time. On her vacation however, she decided to let herself do what she wanted, when she wanted, and to be present in each moment and true to what she was feeling.
She told me how she ate French Fries, croissants, drank wine and walked all the time instead of her regular strenuous workouts.
"I lost 5 pounds!" she proudly shared with me.
Her comment on the entire experience was, "We really don't realize in this country how much our emotions affect our health."
I could not have been more excited to hear her say this. One of the pillars of health the Chinese write about in the classical materials is that the root of much, if not all of disease stems from our emotions and how we process them.
This might sound silly or 'wu-wu', but I have found in clinical practice, so far, there is a great deal of truth to this. Whether the problem is Chron's, back pain, headaches, PMS, or even Cancer, emotions play a role that isn't just under recognized but ignored all together by most people. We can eat right, sleep right, exercise properly, but at the end of it, we are emotional (I would argue spiritual) beings having a physical experience here on earth. You don't have to be religious to know this, although, if you are religious, isn't this exactly what you are supposed to believe? Do you?
When we get caught up in our emotions, anger, fear, sadness, and worry about things like the shooting today, or the Nuclear spills, or the latest school shooting - how do we process that? Some people choose to ignore these things, choosing to live with blinders on. Others get consumed and eaten alive by the never ending stream of what is bad and wrong in the world.
I have a post about Sandy Hook from last year. I tend to write around big and tragic events a lot. For me, these events are reminders and check in points for my own life. How am I doing? Am I living my truth? Am I telling those I love that I love them? What can I do in my own life to reflect the changes I'd like to see. Writing is one way I cope with the inevitable harshness of life, and one way I choose to process through my emotions. It keeps me healthy.
Poor health is a progression, not a quick hatchet. Like water torture, one little drop at a time over days, weeks, months, years, maybe even decades, emotions take a toll. What starts as unseen thoughts and feelings, unattended to these feelings become seen, the emotional becomes physical. Thoughts are things, and our bodies teach us this. Thoughts and feelings become disease. Yes, they do.
One of the things I love best about what I do is that I get to talk with people and mirror for them all that is going on in their mind, body, and spirit and then give them time to just rest and be with themselves as they start to feel their body in a new way. When I see people light up at the connections between their symptoms and their job, or their personal life struggles, I see people change and heal. It is a wonderful thing to witness, and a great reminder for myself.
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