acupuncture

There is Abundance, Not Scarcity

Paul (not his real name) arrived at my office the other day, while I was on the phone with a prospective patient. He overheard me telling the caller that the best plan might be to go to one of my colleagues closer to where she lived, making treatment more convenient. Read more »

Plants love to be pruned. I’ve been seeing the results this spring: we did a major pruning job last fall on our lilac bush, which was too tall and leggy, and we cut it back to half its size. That lilac is looking so wonderful this spring: filled out below, lots of leaves, all around happy. Our Japanese weeping maple tells the same story: after pruning, the tree is lighter and more airy and has a lovely shape. Read more »

Watch acupuncture in action!

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6339272n

In the past several weeks I’ve found myself being a real hard-ass.

One of my clients has neck pain and headaches. I have advised her on several occasions to wear a scarf and hat in the cold wind of winter, because her head and neck pain were exacerbated by cold and wind. Last week she came in with a wet head (she got up late and washed her hair and didn’t dry it be fore leaving the house, and then didn’t cover it before heading out into 25 degree weather.) Her expectation was that I would “fix” her headache and neck pain. Read more »

This post was from Dr. Lisa Nash, a chiropractor in Vermont. It was taken from PerennialMedicine, a listserve on Yahoo for acupuncturists and those who are in a larger conversation about healthcare, as opposed to "fix-it" medicine. Dr. Nash has graciously permitted a reprint of her words.

Dear friends, Read more »

Tigers of Chinese Astrology are truly a force of nature. They are dependable, unpredictable, fearless, stout-hearted, tender and loving. Tigers have the ability to think on their feet and have a primal desire for adventure and first hand experience of life. Read more »

I’ve always been uncomfortable with the word “patient.” While on the one had it helps me to understand that health doesn’t come instantaneously, it also has the flavor of being passive. We have been trained in this culture to be good “patients," as in: “Trust me, I’m the doctor; I know what’s best for you. Be compliant. Don’t question”.

As an acupuncturist, I will ask my clients to be more active in their own healthcare. First, (and not unimportantly) you will be asked for a commitment of your time, energy and awareness. Read more »

Last week, I went to a new doctor, a specialist I had never seen before. She remarked on my name, Clayton, as a name not often seen in “women of your generation.” I was dumbfounded, and felt like slapping her. “My generation,” indeed. What did this little punk know?—she looked about 12 years old. I regained my composure and we managed to get on just fine, but I reflected on that statement for awhile after that visit. (Actually, I was rather startled at the degree of my reaction, and the duration of it.) Read more »

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Chinese medicine doesn’t make a big difference between a cold and the flu, and they are treated much the same. The robust person reacted to the invasion of a respiratory pathogen by getting "wind-heat" and a weaker person reacted to the invasion by getting "wind-cold." (See my last blogpost to see the differences in symptoms.) In ancient times (2500 years ago) there was a simple remedy that was used to address the first signs of cold and flu for someone who developed "wind-cold." It was called Green onion and Ginger Decoction. Read more »