Spring Wellness & Chinese Medicine
In Chinese medicine, we often look to the Five Elements (or Five Phases) for balance and harmony within our systems. Spring is the Wood element; the organ it governs is the Liver – one good reason why it’s not the worst time to do a spring cleanse on ourselves, spring clean our houses, and we feel the itch to move, do and change. As the earth’s energy shifts and changes, so does our inner climate; our bodies feel the same Spring arising inside. As buds are about to emerge, that budding energy also rises within us – it’s painful! Most people think SPRING! It’s exciting! Flowers! Shorts! My $200 sunnies! But most of my patients are actually pretty agitated at this time – they’re it’s difficult to move out of winter into spring, let alone in the Pacific Northwest – just this week we had a 72 degree day and today it’s raining and 51!
Read moreMany of my patients come to me during this time and tell me the Summer to Fall transition is a hard time of year for them. They may not know why, or be able to recognize what is causing them to feel the way they are feeling. Right now, a lot of us are having a difficult time because it is WAY past the Equinox and we are still combating the wildfire smoke!
Read moreWhen most people think about what to receive acupuncture for, they think of getting treatment for pain. I’d say part of my practice is folks coming in for various pain but the other portion is mental health, internal medicine and (if you haven’t figured out by now), cosmetic acupuncture! Did you know that there is a lot of research to back up acupuncture helping with anxiety?! Let’s see…
Read moreIt’s so common in summer, especially in Washington where we really cherish the warmth, to… well, overdo it a bit. Excessive drinking, lots of cold brew, eating sporadically and not well (hello, pizza) and blazing in the sun for hours – sound like a lot of your summers? What does Chinese medicine say about staying healthy in the summer months?
Read more
