September is National America On the Move Month, hooray! So its time to get off your duff and get moving while the Fall weather still provides some fair weather days to do so. America On the Move, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Americans lead healthier lifestyles, is the unofficial sponsor of this event and while their website isn't perfectly user friendly, it does allow you to track your activity, set goals, participate in social media community and browse a list of articles to help you learn more about eating well, staying active and making positive lasting lifestyle change. They have a great list of 100 ways to add 2000 steps to your day HERE and its surprising how little it can take. Did you realize that an extra 2000 steps will burn at least 100 additional calories? That might not sound like much when your average restaurant meal in the US is 1,000 calories, but hey - that's half a nonfat latte and every little bit really does count. An extra trip encircling the grocery store as you shop for dinner, using the bathroom on the far side of the building at your office (if there's more than one) taking the stairs - everything adds steps, burns calories and keeps you moving leading to healthier you. Lifestyle Change - its a journeyI personally find that lifestyle change towards lasting wellness is a journey. Sometimes you are motivated to change your diet, your exercise habits, the way you mentally process stressful situations, and sometimes you feel like you are struggling and slogging along. As someone who has battled an eating disorder and weight issues, I know it isn't easy and depending on the month and the day, I still struggle myself. I remember my mom always used to get mad at me as a kid (or teen...) if I used the word "just." She could never agree with the Nike slogan, because to her saying "just do X" or "lets just have..." was grossly inadequate for all the steps and stages of any given activity. As a kid, this lead to many mother daughter arguments, but as an adult I see her perspective. Even fixing a simple one pot dinner involves shopping, cutting, chopping, measuring - with two kids hanging on my coat tails, my mom to care for and my solopreneur Acupuncture practice - I often agree with my mom that there is no "just" anymore. At the same time I recognize that the Nike-ism "Just Do It" is a state of mind as much as a call to action. When stress and overwhelm get the best of me I feel like everything - even taking a 10 minute walk - is impossible, but when I can take a deep breath and *be* in the moment, I see that everything that needs doing is just another step, and I can only physically do one thing at time anyway. Every step brings me one step closer to whatever my goal is - be it dinner or exercise or bill paying or anything else - and that is all I need; to keep making measured progress and to recognize it as such. I think the hardest part of any lifestyle change journey is managing those times when you find yourself in the valley, when stress and overwhelm make it feel impossible to "just do" anything. Those are the most important times to have your best wellness tools handy - to keep that (acupuncture!) appointment for self care, to decide the dishes can wait in favor of a walk or some meditation or a few yoga sun salutations. Make Your Self Care Tools More Readily AvailableIf you have a hard time accessing your tools - the self care interventions you know you should do and could do easily if you *just* stopped and did them - make them a little more readily available. You can do this by programming a daily reminder in your phone during the most stressful time of day that tells you to BREATHE or reminds you to schedule self care time. You can keep a white board or bulletin board in a prominent place in your house where you post cards or pictures of 10-15 minute self care activities to remind you of things that are easy to do, or find an app for that!
My favorite app is GPS For the Soul by the Heart Math Institute. It uses the camera to track heart rate and gives you a check in with your stress level, and then you can chose any number of short guided meditations and timed breathing exercises to help you calm down and refocus in the moment. Its a simple thing, but sometimes simple works best. In fact, I am going to make sure to use that app myself today just to check in because you can never do too much to keep yourself on track with decreasing stress and maintaining wellness. Until next time, ~Rebecca Mantras can be powerful tools to keep you in the moment and while I don't employ them as often as I should, I believe in them and have used them to my advantage. One of my favorites is from my Poekoelan days of old. It is short, sweet, and applicable to most any situation: Acceptance If you're feeling overwhelmed in the moment or just feel like you need to center and focus, take a few minutes to close your eyes and repeat this mantra in your mind. Even 5-6 repetitions while breathing deep into your belly can make a world of difference in the middle of the busy day.
So breathe deep, and have a wonderful week! ~Rebecca One of my treatment specialties is Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture, also known as Facial Acupuncture, Cosmetic Acupuncture, or the "Acupuncture Facelift." I like to scan around every so often and see what's online about this specialty to gauge public opinion and, in addition to a picture of Kim Kardashian doing it recently (which I won't subject you too here, but did post on my Facebook page on July 28th), I found this great video from Dr. Oz:
Dr. Oz Show, Acupuncture Facelift Its from last year but it is a very good presentation by a NY Acupuncturist, Dr. Tsai. By her point selection in the demo, she went through a similar training to mine if not the same one. Facial Rejuvenation Acupuncture really can make a difference in your appearance, especially in the realm of fine lines and wrinkles. I often see fine lines disappear and I'd say deep lines can reduce by 50-75% depending on your age and the line location. Facial Acupuncture is something I really feel passionate about, which I did not expect when I went through certification in 2006. I thought of it as a trend I could capitalize on to help me pay back my (somewhat insurmountable) student loans, but it has become one of my most favorite treatments to do because it is so transformative. There's something about seeing patients change visibly before my eyes that is magical. It even goes beyond the incredible healing that acupuncture in and of itself creates. I personally find facial acupuncture sessions even more deeply relaxing that other acupuncture sessions of every stripe and color. One session can brighten your complexion, and when the subtle and lasting changes of facial acupuncture really take hold, I can see in my patient's posture that they feel more confident and seated in themselves. It is something really beautiful to behold. Facial acupuncture often becomes a way to help their outside appearance match how they feel inside a little better, and this gives them more confidence and presence. The changes Facial Acupuncture creates can be close to Botox, but it takes time - at least 6 treatments at a frequency of 2x/week - to really make it stick. A standard course of treatment is 12 treatments total, the first six at a frequency of 2x/week and the next six at a frequency of once a week, to really get the best results. With regular maintenance after that, results really can last 2-5 years. The younger you are the longer the results generally last. I also find that if you stagger facial acupuncture tune up sessions with traditional facials, the results last even longer. I think the ideal time to start a full series is late 30's or early 40's. This is when permanent lines really start to become noticeable to the individual - not necessarily to the "world at large" but we are always our own worst critics. I've seen excellent results for people in their 50's and early 60's and fair results for people in their late 60's and early 70's as well, so it is feasible to pursue at any age. I do not love the term "Acupuncture Facelift," however, I think it is a little inaccurate. The effects of a facelift are very drastic and acupuncture techniques can never truly match that level of surgical intervention. I prefer the term Facial Rejuvenation or Cosmetic Acupuncture because I think it creates a more realistic expectation for the patient. Call it what you will - the results do stand and are tried, tested, true and completely natural. It is the closest thing you can get to a natural facelift, so I suppose if that is what people want to call it I shouldn't complain. If you meet somebody interested in a natural or acupuncture facelift, however, send them my way and I can set them straight about what actually can and cannot be accomplished! ~Rebecca Health insurance changes are coming down the pipeline, and the new plans under the Health Care Act (aka "Obamacare") will be unveiled October 2013 and will go into effect January 2014. I find this is causing concern for some, and that the biggest concerns are about cost and a general sense that people don't know what is going to change. The Oregon Insurance Division has put out a great brochure reviewing the basics of what is included in all new plans and how rate review (regulation) works in Oregon specifically. Click the button below to download or be linked to the brochure in PDF format. Its actually very exciting, and most consumers are going to benefit from the new plans. If you are insured through a large employer it is highly unlikely anything is going to change aside from a few new plan inclusions. Small business employees and privately insured individuals will see the biggest changes in the realm of covered services and rates, but there is much more rate regulation and review in place so the rate changes should be minimal and generally beneficial to the consumer - especially to older Americans. If you don't want to read the brochure, here are some of the more notable points listed:
The Rehabilitative and Preventative care are the bigger areas of change, though "preventative" means wellness exams by your PCP, not alternative medicine (3,000 years of history and clinical evidence for preventative medicine here on the Chinese Medicine side of things....helloooo) fyi.
Most plans in Oregon will have a Complementary and Alternative Medicine (acupuncture, naturopathic, chiropractic, maybe massage) "rider," or supplemental plan, that you can include for an additional premium, but CAM services are not part of the Oregon essential benefits list. They ARE part of the Washington State essential benefits list, so ALL PLANS ORIGINATING IN WASHING STATE WILL INCLUDE COVERAGE FOR ACUPUNCTURE starting January 1st 2014! I am ridiculously excited about this, if you can't tell, but it is quite amazing that Washington has included CAM services in their essential benefits list and hopefully, as our focus in the US shifts from treating disease to treating "dis-ease" and heading problems off at the curve through preventative medicine and a wellness focus, this will become the norm that all states incorporate. Ah, an acupuncturist can dream... If you want to review the full Oregon Insurance Division brochure, please click the button below. There is also a button for the Cover Oregon health exchange site where you can learn more about how the health exchange works, enter your household information to calculate if you are likely to be eligible for a subsidy (i.e. tax refund to help pay the cost of your insurance premium starting in 2014) and sign up for alerts to stay in the know about health care exchange happenings. So click on, read up, and stay tuned here as well - I will be trying to disseminate information about health care act related changes, sign up dates and more through my blog as best I can. I also send out information via my eZine, so if you haven't signed up yet - its time!! Until my next inspiration and installment, ~Rebecca Watch Eat, Fast and Live Longer with Michael Mosley - Preview on PBS. See more from Michael Mosley. So I wasn't intending to watch Michael Mosley's documentary about fasting for health and wellness on OPB Wednesday night, but I found myself zonked out on the couch at just the right time. Despite my intention to catch up on So You Think You Can Dance (I'm mildly addicted, just mildly...) I was mesmerized and just had to check it out.
Let me start by saying that fasting is not a traditional part of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. It is a relatively common naturopathic technique, and can be part of an elimination diet, however, beyond being something gaining popularity for general health. It is not something to be undertaken without supervision if you have chronic health concerns, especially if you are diabetic, and is not appropriate while pregnant or nursing. That said, theoretically being overly hungry is a bad thing from an energetic perspective. Hunger is a sign that your Spleen and Stomach Qi are waning and if they wane too far, your body pulls energy from the Kidney - your foundation and energetic reserve - to continue normal (energetic) body processes. Intermittent fasting involves shorter fasting times at more regular intervals, and I believe that this is more in line with Traditional Chinese Medicine theory since you don't go for such long periods of intense hunger. When it comes to longevity, modern research is also clearly showing that calorie restricted diets can contribute to long life. Even more interesting is the recent research - which this documentary reviews and explores - about intermittent fasting for helping to regulate insulin levels (in non-diabetics), decrease cholesterol, control weight and improve health. To clarify again, intermittent fasting is short term regular fasting - meaning not eating for 6-8 hours anywhere from two to four days a week on an alternating pattern i.e. "feed" one day and "fast" another. Seemingly, this has a similar effect as semi regular long-term fasting (meaning a 4 day fast every few months) and has comparable health effects to a daily calorie restricted diet. If you think about it from a hunter-gatherer past perspective, it kind of makes sense that intermittent fasting would be somewhat natural to our bodies. If you follow the seasons and the herds, you are constantly going between periods of feast and famine - indeed, our body stores fat to prepare for leaner times - but in modern life, the average American with a home and job doesn't have times so lean that they are forced to go without, even for a 6-8 hour period, unless they are just too busy to eat. Fast food and the carb+meat+dairy heavy modern American diet is also very calorically dense - again not lending itself to "famine" like conditions even for a short while, without making a conscious effort to achieve them. One of the statistics in this documentary that really caught me by surprise was about lifespan during the Great Depression. Did you know that life expectancy during the Great Depression increased by 6.2 years? Yeah, leaner times, longer lives. Who knew? Another proponent of intermittent fasting is Walter Willett, MD, the Harvard Researcher and author of "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy" which has long been one of my favorite books about general healthy eating. This book advocates for a diet of 1600 calories a day on average, but if you have a hard time maintaining that he recommends fasting one day a week to keep your weekly calories to a minimum. Not a bad plan, and definitely in line with this recent research. All this said, however, the benefits of intermittent fasting do not mean that if you fast intermittently you can eat whatever you want and not exercise - this method is a technique to help you reach and maintain your health goals, not a way to avoid eating right, supplementing right and exercising. Indeed, regular fasting means your nutritional needs become that much more focused on the days that you do eat full meals, and make supplementation for health that much more important to help you ensure that you are getting the nutrients you need for a long and healthy life. What I like best about the idea of intermittent fasting is that it feels moderate to me. You aren't doing anything extreme for any prolonged period of time - you're just taking a break from eating for a short duration - so there's a focused time delimited period of cravings that I think most anyone can overcome. Again, it doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want on "feed" days, but it does help balance out an extra piece of cake here and there, so that you don't feel like you have to maintain a "perfect" diet every day to be well; you just have to do the best you can do and indulge consciously. For me? Intermittent fasting is the newest addition to my personal repertoire of activities for good health. Exercise is tough at the moment as a mom of two little ones, but I get just enough not to feel insane. Supplementation is a given and I participate in the same All Ways Wellness program I promote for my patients taking regular multivitamin, fish oil, green food, B vitamins and probiotic supplements and get acupuncture regularly to stay on track. Considering that ALL my grandparents who died of natural causes died of heart attack or stroke, to say heart disease is risk factor for me is an understatement. With a congenital heart murmur to boot, I can't afford to mess around with my heart health if I want to be here to see my children grow up some day, so if intermittent fasting can help give me a leg up on keeping my cholesterol down I'm all in. My plan is to start with once a week for the next 4-6 weeks with a goal to increase to twice a week after that. More than twice a week would be difficult for me between the kids and work (my son won't eat if I'm not sitting at the table eating myself at this stage...), but evidence suggests that even two days a week can have a significant impact on your long term health, so here goes! I'll check in here about my progress around the 6 week mark, so if you're interested be on the lookout for a "Rebecca Fasting Experiment Update" to come. Yesterday was my first day - I figured fasting at work when I'm busy would be easier than fasting at home - and it went great. Plenty of tea and water later, I felt like I sailed through the day and was almost hyper-productive. Wish me luck for next week folks! Until next time, ~Rebecca I was digging around in my newsletter archives for inspiration this week and came across a shout out to Dr. Dean Ornish I'd done back in 2009 and ironically, I had just been speaking about his work and programs to a patient yesterday, so it seemed like the right topic for a blog post today. This post is therefore dedicated to The Man - Dr. Dean Ornish. Dr. Ornish is a pioneer in preventative medicine (from a western perspective, nudge nudge wink wink) because he has done some really groundbreaking research proving that low tech solution are some of the best to our high tech health problems. His statement in this TED talk excerpt, that Your Genes Are Not Your Fate, alludes to the fact that by changing your diet, decreasing stress and increasing exercise you can do many incredible things including:
Dr. Ornish's perspective on changing disease and increasing health has a heavy focus on stress and reducing chronic stress in particular. In this way, Chinese Medicine and Dr. Ornish's programs have an incredible synergy. Lifestyle change including the basics of decreasing stress, increasing movement, doing meditation and Qi Gong and eating well to nourish the body have long been part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Indeed, the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic - the first cannon of Chinese Medicine written in the 2nd century BCE by Qi (Ch'i) Po, says: "When the mind is calm and stable, the vitality of life circulates harmoniously throughout the body. If the body is nourished and protected by this circulation of vitality, how can it possibly become ill?" The "vitality of life" is your essence and Qi flow, and here, Qi Po is alluding to the importance of decreasing and managing stress as a preventative medicine measure.
In Chinese Medicine, stress restricts Qi and Blood flow - especially in the Heart and in the Liver - and these in turn can restrict Qi and Blood flow everywhere causing a host of problems from insomnia and headache to mania, pain and digestive disorders. Stress can literally be the root of all health evil - both physically and energetically - so getting it under control must be a top health priority. If stress is a high factor in your life and you have heart disease concerns as well, combining Dr. Ornish's program with TCM is powerful medicine. Dr. Ornish's program will give you a roadmap to success, while Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can balance your energies to accelerate the process, give you focused scheduled time to meditate and relax during treatment, and give you a place to check in - someone (like me!) who is asking you about your progress, monitoring your blood pressure and helping you stay on track with your goals. Dr. Ornish says that even after one month you can start to see changes if you stick to his Reversing Heart Disease program, and even people with previous heart attacks have had proven success. So if you can literally Change Your Fate through diet and exercise and avoid western medications, why not try? It might not be right for everyone, but you'll never know if you don't research it and consider the possibility. So, a tip of the hat from me to you, Dr. Ornish. Thank you for helping the western world see that prevention really is medicine with proven results. ~Rebecca Chinese Medicine has a long history treating women's health and fertility, as you may be aware. I happened to stumble on this "oldie but goodie" from the Ricki Lake show - a brief spot with Dr. Mao. Dr. Mao is one of my favorite Chinese Medicine authors because his books are very simple and make Chinese Medicine lifestyle, philosophies and tips accessible to the wider population.
There's quite a bit of research on Chinese Medicine and fertility, especially Acupuncture in conjunction with IVF for improving success rates. Ultimately, whether you are coming in for fertility, pain, women's health, menstrual irregularity, fatigue or anything else a strong emphasis will be placed on health basics from a Chinese Medicine perspective - balancing your Qi to remove whatever imbalance is causing your symptoms and then stabilizing your Qi to strengthen your constitution long term. The result of this is decreased symptoms, decreased stress and inflammation and increased wellness overall towards a healthier happier you. Sounds good, right? Right! Go Team Chinese Medicine! |
AuthorsRebecca M H Kitzerow is a Licensed Acupuncturist practicing in La Center, Washington. With over a decade of experience she has won 10 Nattie consumer choice awards from Natural Awakenings Magazine since 2014. Archives
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