Sleeping

     And, speaking of sleep, I'm convinced that if we can just get our consicous mind out of the way, acupuncture is twice and maybe even three times more effective than when we're actively engaged.
     I often joke with my patients about wishing the treatment could take place while I was in the other room, so as not to interfere with the work their body needs to do. And further, I wish I could invite their conscious mind to join me! 

Does It Hurt?

     That's probably the one question I get asked most often. Well, does it? I'll tell you what my patients tell me. "Not as much as a broken heart." "Not nearly as much as the grief for a departed loved one." Not quite as much as the worry over meds." "Sure, I guess it does some, but I'm not thinking about it and so it doesn't bother me."
     The most common side effect in acupuncture treatment is falling asleep.
      And, I'm a big fan of the sleep. So much so, that I give myself a gold star if the patient falls asleep and two gold stars if patient snores!

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Sleep is the golden chain that ties our bodies and health together. - Thomas Dekker

Water

     We're moving into the season of the Water. Here's what we say:

     Water in the Body: the Kidneys are the source of all Yin and Yang in the body; the Kidneys store Essence; the Kidneys rule the bones and teeth; the Kidneys manifest in the head hair and open into the ears; the Kidneys are also called the Kidney and Adrenal glands; the Kidneys grasp the qi from the Lungs; the Kidney rule water; the Bladder stores and eliminates fluid waste.

Water in deficiency: pain in the lower back, scanty, dark urine, red tongue, afternoon fevers, malar flush, insomnia, night sweats, feelings of heat in the soles and palms, anxiety, infertility, hysteria, palpitations, prematurely grey hair, feeling “tired and wired”

     Water’s flavor: salty like salt, seaweed, and soy sauce.

     Water’s vegetables: they tend to grow in a suspended manner and tend to propagate horizontally, spreading out like waves or ripples like seaweed, fungi, and squashes
     Water’s fruits; melons and grapes.

Water’s colors: blue, black, and purple

Water’s thermal nature: cool/cold

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Don't you realize that the sea is the home of water? All water is off on a journey unless it's in the sea, and it's homesick, and bound to make its way home someday.
-Zora Neale Hurston

Labor, Delivery, Lactation

     It turns out that there actually is some interest on behalf of the hospital's labor and delivery staff regarding what other things can be done for moms experiencing a difficult time in the childbirth and lactation process.
    There may indeed be some acupressure points they can use like:
          KI 9 which minimizes the transfer of toxins from mom to baby as well as calming the mother's spirit 
or
          SP 6 which helps a difficult labor and morning sickness or insufficient milk.

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A newborn baby has only three demands.  They are warmth in the arms of its mother, food from her breasts, and security in the knowledge of her presence.  Breastfeeding satisfies all three.  ~Grantly Dick-Read

The Luuuv

     It’s all about the love, or “the luuvv” as she would say. That connection. We spent a fair amount in time working on the techniques and strategies revolving around making that connect. Establishing rapport, touching the energy, emulating the patient’s posture, making our energy in line with them.

     Can you tolerate being loved for nothing else than being you, being alive on the planet at this time? Some people can’t even stand being looked at, much less actively seen. That whole “the sacred in me recognizes the sacred in you” thing. Alternatively typed, substituting “scared” in that sentence characterized me at the beginning of doing this work.

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Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.
- Vincent van Gogh

Choosing

     It’s all about the choosing, whatever it is. Habits are such easy things to take up and so deceitful to recognize. They are often very much confused with what actually is and, therefore, easily mistaken for what must be. In truth, we can choose all of it – how we are in this world. (That's ling - Ling is drawn as rain that falls from the heavens into three mouths of three shamanesses who are dancing between heaven and earth praying for rain. It means marvelous, divine, mysterious, spiritual and ingenious.)

     I can’t lose weight because . . . I can’t stop smoking because . . .

Michael J. Fox talks about his Parkinson’s as his gift. He says it’s a real pain, literally, but it reminds him each and every day to be very much alive. “Live to learn,” he says.

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How does use beget habit in a man. - Shakespeare

Constitution Factor

     A distinctive aid to the Five-Element acupuncturist is to determine where the patient lives at “home base”, what is the place where they are most familiar (maybe not ever most comfortable) from which to carry out their life, perhaps what is their "constitution factor".

     As an example, we as a species tend to collect things. How do we do that – do we hoard or accrete or herd things together? And therein in the manner lies the key. But do not be deceived, coin collectors are no more people of the Metal that stamp collectors are people of the Paper (if there were such a thing.)

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I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It's been about two months since I've worked out. And I just don't have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh..and watch tv. And get a bone density test. And uh.. try to figure out what my phone number spells in words.

- Ellen DeGeneres