Holistic Health Includes the Whole Family

Posted on February 6, 2012 by admin

“The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” -Aristotle, Metaphysica

In holistic health, we speak about treating the whole person. It makes sense. We are complex beings with emotions, thoughts, and body parts. Each choice we make affects the whole of our being. We have made multiple choices to be who we are at this very moment. In the same vein, whatever health concerns we have, we’ve made many choices to reach our current state of health or ill health. Multiple things come together to make us who we are today.

Holistic health can reach beyond our individual selves. It can also speak of our environment and our communities. Our closest community is our family. Individual families are little communities with their own special rules, needs and values. Each family member fulfills a role. When one family member has health concerns, the whole family experiences changes. Illness can cause stress on the whole family, changing the dynamic of our most tight-knit community.With Community Acupuncture (CA), multiple people are treated in a common room, creating a space of peace and healing. The CA center also becomes it’s own community where people are invested in getting well and staying that way. As parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers and children, CA is a wonderful opportunity to share this healing with our whole families.When whole families are treated together in CA, individuals are able to focus on their specific needs, while all family members benefit from stress reduction. Self-care is modeled to the youngest members, setting them up for a proactive, empowered approach to their health. The experience allows for positive bonding through relaxation and mindfulness.

This broader view of holistic health encourages healthy change at a deep and dynamic level, not only affecting a piece of the whole, but in fact, affecting change for the whole family and community.

What better gift can you give your family?

Community Acupuncture now offered at MV Pediatrics in Quincy, MA. Call (617) 745-0050 to set up an appointment for your whole family.

The Breathing Room

Posted on February 6, 2012 by admin

–Thich Nhat Hanh

We have a room for everything – eating, sleeping, watching TV – but we have no room for Mindfulness.

I recommend that we set up a small room in our homes and call it a ‘Breathing Room’, where we can be alone and practice just breathing and smiling, at least in difficult moments.

That little room should be regarded as an Embassy of the Kingdom of Peace. It should be respected, and not violated by anger, shouting, or things like that. When a child is about to be shouted at, she can take refuge in that room. Neither the father nor the mother can shout at her anymore. She is safe within the grounds of the Embassy. Parents sometimes will need to take refuge in that room, also, to sit down, breathe, smile and restore themselves. Therefore, that room is for the benefit of the whole family.

I suggest that the breathing room be decorated very simply, and not too bright. You may want to have a small bell, one with a beautiful sound, a few cushions or chairs, and perhaps a vase of flowers to remind us of our true nature. You or your children can arrange flowers in mindfulness, smiling. Every time you feel a little upset, you know that the best thing to do is to go to that room, open the door slowly, sit down, invite the bell to sound – in my country we don’t say ‘strike’ or ‘hit’ a bell – and begin to breathe. The bell will help not only the person in the breathing room, but the others in the house as well.

I believe that every home should have one room for breathing. Simple practices like conscious breathing and smiling are very important. They can change our civilization.

Eat. Sleep. Poop: A New Year’s Resolution Love Story.

Posted on December 29, 2011 by admin

Let’s bring New Year’s resolutions back to the basics.

Many high functioning people can’t eat, sleep or poop with ease or contentment. Weird. These are basic biological functions. How have we drifted so far from balance to miss out on these simple joys? Why do we think it’s normal to have difficulty in these essential areas of life? We actually need to do all of these things, regularly, to live. We do. I swear.

How is your sleep? How is your appetite? How is your poop? As a practitioner of Chinese Medicine, these are the core questions I ask every person I treat. A patient may want me to only fix their bum knee. I still want to know about their poop. Your poop is telling you something. Listen up.

A friend of mine told me her usually healthy appetite is really low lately. She thinks this is good. No, I said. This is not good. When one of your basic systems is off, it is a signal from your really smart body. Our elegantly, intelligent flesh is trying to tell our overworked, obstinate mind that something is wrong. The warning signs, like no appetite, might even look good to some at first. But your body is giving you a head’s up that if you continue on your current path, rough waters are ahead.

Most times, the answers are easy. Slow down. Now…, slow down a wee bit more. Eat real food. Avoid stimulants before sleep, including foods, arguments and dare I say it, the internet. Sometimes the answers may be more complex. Find the practitioner that believes in the stories your body is telling and is also on your wave length, whether it be an acupuncturist, massage therapist, a nutritionist or a belly dance teacher… You choose. You know best.

This New Years’ get back to the most basic functions of your most valuable possession. Tune in to the story being told. What is your body telling you?

The TOMS Shoe Guy Writes a Book: “Start Something That Matters.” A Book Review.

Posted on October 11, 2011 by admin

TOMS is a really cool shoe company. It is. The shoes have subtle, classic style. You wear them with a tiny seed of knowing that you may be helping someone, somewhere. You get to buy something, holding tight to believing your seed of good outweighs your consumerism. They have an inspiring story, past, present and future. Seane Corn wears them and she is uber cool. It’s a movement. College and high school kids form groups and get behind a cause.
When I heard Blake Mycoskie was writing a book, I thought I needed to get it from the library ASAP to add to my mounting tower of inspirational, motivational, change-the-world stack that I promise myself to read. I got it and I stacked it.
The cover looked nice. A small piece of me knew I would never read it. Sometimes the small pieces can be wrong. The next day I picked it up. I opened it up and was brought to a comfy place while reading the poem that opens the book.

Success

To laugh often and love much
To win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children
To earn the appreciation of honest citizens and endure the betrayal of false friends
To appreciate beauty
To find the best in others
To give of one’s self
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition
To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

Blake’s book attributes it Elisabeth-Anne Anderson Stanley. I liked that. I had a high-school teacher that changed my life in small degrees who had presented our 16-year-old minds with this poem. I decided to read on.
The book starts with the TOMS story. This is what I heard: Boy has entrepreneurial tendencies and has started companies that were ok, but not great financially or spiritually. No true calling answered. Boy goes on Amazing Race with sister and loses. Argentina is one of the countries they “race” through. Boy falls in love with Argentina. Boy thinks Argentinean shoes are kinda cool. Boy sees poverty. Boy’s heart and mind awaken and communicate. Tomorrow’s Shoes is born but gets a quick name redesign to TOMS. Smart Boy.
As yogi’s, we see the problems in our neighborhoods and across our globe. As yogi’s, we also feel them. I have meet so many amazing yogi’s wanting, needing, burning to make change. I am one of them. We have brilliant ideas and hearts full of compassion. But we get stuck and overwhelmed and our brilliant ideas get beat down because we don’t have the tools or support to get our project off the ground.

Blake begins to give us some tools. I pass them on in easily digestible bites:
1. Articulate Your Passion. Find your Story.
If you didn’t have to worry about $, what would you do with your time?br /What is the emstory/em that precedes your desire? Tell people your story to help you better understand the important parts. Their reaction will help you make it concise and true. Know that your emstory/em is very important. Your story garners support and interest in your project. Your story touches hearts and motivates action.

2. Embrace the Fear.
As a society, we champion boldness. But fear is little talked about. Every “successful” person has faced multiple fears, multiple letdowns and failures, and has chosen to keep going. Believe in your ability to make positive change. Accept that you will fail at things. Decide that you will keep living your passion, and moving towards your project’s goals.

3. Find your team
The importance of a strong, supportive team is huge. You will not have all the skills, experience and knowledge to start your project. No one person can. Find the folks to complement your strengths. emTrust/em your team. Believe in the abilities of each person to make the best choices for your project. Let your project be the team’s project

4. Start simple and get lots of free.
Start with a specific and simple project. You can add to it as it grows.Check out a www.startsomethingthatmatters.com for a boatload of free resources to get you started

5. Now that you know your story, tell your story well.
Allow your online presence to affirm your story and values. Make sure it gives people the opportunity to connect to you and your story. Share your story with bigmouths that love your story. Your online presence, like a website, may be your first platform for figuring out who your project is. Take time to craft it well. Building your website is similar to building your brand. What are you telling people about you and your project?

6. Look for bigger business that wants to be part of your story.
Many bigger businesses have funds for giving. Are you a part of their community? Can they connect to your project? Ask them to sponsor an event or a trial period of your program. They will benefit by supporting your brilliant story. And you get some much needed support and publicity.

One of my personal goals is create an online and in the flesh community that supports the passions of our amazing community of yogis. A place where we help each other build our community minded projects so the dreams don’t die out with exhaustion and isolation. Our community rocks. Let’s help keep each other’s fires burnings. More on that later.

Until then, maybe you want to read these too:

Do Something: A Handbook for Young Activists – Nancy Lublin

The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell

The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together – Twyla Tharp

The Art of Woo – G. Richard Shell & Mario Moussa

Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life, Your Business, and Maybe Even the World – Warren Berger

Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman – Yvon Chouinard

“Poser. My Life In Twenty-three Yoga Poses.” A Reflection on the Book.

Posted on October 11, 2011 by admin

I heard an interview with the author of “Poser. My Life In Twenty-three Yoga Poses.”, Claire Dederer, on the radio. I was instantly embarrassed by my self-absorbed connection to this book. I probably heard the interview on NPR, which just added to the shamed feeling of entitled explorations into my inner soul that sometimes visit me when in the yoga studio. How lucky are we, that we have the opportunity to sit and contemplate ourselves and our place in the world.

Deciding to drop the shame, I quickly fell into the story that Dederer, who comes from the Pacific Northwest, was telling. She was telling a story common to many 30-something women with a kid or two, a husband, a comfortable life and well-worn yoga mat. Survival needs met, we get confused about our existence, our happiness, our desires, and finally what our needs are beyond survival. Do we need organic sheets for our newborn? How do you explain that your bottle-fed baby will survive without your nipple? What happens if I only go to yoga once this week?

I grew up in New Jersey. When my daughter was a baby, I returned to New Jersey for a few years. I don’t mean to reinforce any Jersey stereotypes, but I did not feel the above pressures as a young mother. Maybe I should have had an SUV, and I probably should have had a husband, but cloth diapers were not an expected accessory. I was the hippy, odd ball momma, and to this day, I still have romanticized visions of living in Seattle or Boulder and most recently, Asheville, where your neighbor raises chickens and the whole family rides their bikes to the co-op together.

But back to the novel. I don’t remember the last time I bought a new book. After hearing the radio interview, I so badly wanted to read my story (which was improved by taking place in romanticized locales), that I went to the bookstore and bought it. It was only in hardcover it was so new.

The book is full of gems. Dederer is a fantastic writer. Her story is common, but her writing is not. She nails so many of the experiences we have as we aspire to be yogis, mindful parents and partners, while still balancing a career. I would read any book she wrote. Her word craft could make any story hilarious, devastating, and moving.

Her book is a collection of teachings neatly woven into novel form so that we may float on the poetry of her words. As a yoga teacher, I gained insight into what can make a skillful teacher. Dederer says of yoga practice, “don’t make your feet or your body go anywhere. It’s sort of a radical idea: to be unready, to be immovable. Inertia, you realize as you stand there, is a kind of power.” Discovering a new teacher she shares, “Spellman said sitting in meditation worked just the way the tracker described. If you’re still enough, the wild mind, the mind that isn’t preoccupied with oughts and shoulds and the minutiae of life, will approach you and make itself known.” After being with her idea of a genius, she says, “His teaching …gave off a kind of heat. It was crucial, what he was transmitting. He had to get it off his chest.”

Dederer’s book captures us as we move on our yoga mats and through life with too much thought and too much self-awareness. The book is a mirror and a story. We are not being told to do anything. But we are listening and we can see our reflections.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but it was at this moment, when I decided that I couldn’t be bothered to learn the right way to do yoga but that instead I would continue doing it, following my teacher and doing my work…Submission, trust…imperfection, the release of ego – these were the things that would save me from myself… You can’t go deeper and know what you’re doing the whole time.”

When You Think You’re Pissed At Yoga.

Posted on October 11, 2011 by admin

You know the feeling. Yoga is a big part of your life. You look to some of your teachers like they’re your own ultra-human guru. You love yoga. You lust yoga. It makes you fierce and strong and gooey all in one deep in-breath.

But one day you wake up and you just don’t want to go to yoga… ever again. Overnight your love has transformed. Yoga is bullshit. And you are done riding the bullshit wagon of legs behind your head and sweet ass lulu gear uniforms. You are done with hands to your heart and “om” on a soft, fluffy cloud. What the hell are you all doing in class on your 50 dollar eco mats with your coco water paying ever growing fees for 75 minutes of entitled escapism?

This feeling lasts for a few days. Maybe a week. Maybe it’s a part of your premenstrual routine. Eventually, after many dark days of separation and martyrdom, you realize it’s not yoga you are pissed at. Sure, there are things you can mock and complain about, but that can happen with any aspect of life. Yoga and you, like any long-term relationship, are bound to get in a few disagreements. You realize the bubble world of escapism only exists if you leave your yoga on that 50 dollar mat or strip if off like those 80 dollar pants. You remember that your t-shirt and sweats work just as good as your designed in Canada lycra blends. Maybe your heart could use a little massage at the end of the day. And just like your loving spouse or kick ass BFF, yoga can hold your anger and wait. Yoga will be there when you get over yourself and choose to do something good for that over thinking mind yours. You can even choose to share a little bit of that good with someone else.

Next time my hormonal cycle screams “pissed at yoga”, I’ll pull on my sweats and pop a downward dog, no matter how much I fight it. I’ll wag that dog and laugh at my misplaced outrage. There are plenty of things to be pissed about. I my heart of hearts, I know that yoga is not one of them.

Why Athletes LOVE Acupuncture

Posted on September 6, 2011 by admin

Why do athletes LOVE acupuncture?… because it works! Many sports teams now have acupunctururists that regularly treat their players, and better, help them heal quick to keep them in the game. Ted Lilly of the Dodgers, recently relied on acupuncture for this very reason. Lilly, who previouly wasn’t an acupuncture beliver says of his treatment, “I’ve had [treatment] the last couple of days and I noticed it as soon as I got off the table. I had more movement after being so locked up.”

Haro Ogawa serves as the team acupuncturist for the San Francisco Giants and has previously worked for the New York Mets, and privately for the Golden State Warriors basketball team, NASCAR drivers and the Japanese national baseball team. David Groeschner, head athletic trainer for the Giants, stated that Ogawa’s work with the players has been great. “The players love him and love the treatments. In our game, we are out there every day, so the players get sore and banged up. They definitely get back into the game more quickly because of his work.”

Sports acupuncturist Matt Callison, L.Ac., who has traveled with the Minnesota Vikings and has worked with many of the San Diego Chargers players, says, “There is much that acupuncture can do for sports injuries, especially combined with western therapy. Acupuncture can quickly relieve pain and inflammation, and move blood stagnation (i.e., release osmotic pressure) away from the injury. This, in turn, creates a more efficient healing environment.”

Chi Running: What is it?

Posted on August 25, 2011 by admin

I picked up the book “Chi Running” at the library with interest at seeing two of my loves combined. My life’s work is becoming more clear: helping people find healing through balance in their bodies. I get to move qi (or chi) with acupuncture needles, yoga and breathing exercises, and the encouragement of personal explorations through art and conversation. I know qi has a part to play in all of life’s goings-ons, but I love when others can blatantly wrap it up and hand it over, easy to digest.

Danny Dreyer shares his experience of finding connections between his T’ai Chi practice and his running. Any runner knows that you get to a point in your run where you find a one-pointed concentration. You are completely and fully in the present moment and more, you’re content being there. T’ai Chi can bring you to the same place with a lot less stress on joints, but also very little cardio work-out.

Combining the two allows for healthy joints and some serious blood pumping. “Chi Running” claims to be a “revolutionary approach to efforless, injury-free running”. Sweet! Dreyer starts by asking you to “gather your center”:

gather your chi energy to your center, your arms and legs are as soft as cotton, holding no tension… all movement originates in your center. It is your power source, acting as the axis around which everything else moves.

Your center, in T’ai Chi, is located two finger breadths below your navel and in front of your spine.
Run from there. Like a cheetah, allow your whole body to “effort-lessly” be part of your movement, originating from that center.

Start small and grow from the regular investment of your running. Dreyer encourages goals, but not a clinging to them:

Find your center in your body.
Sense your center in you feelings.
See your center in your mind.
Be centered in your spirit.

When you are centered in spirit, you accept where you are. Maybe you won’t find that marathon start line this year (or ever), but enjoy where you are, in your body and spirit, right now.

As for the technique in the book, I would need to write another book to tell you about it. I had an acupuncture client who took a course from one of Dreyer’s disciples. He told me all I have to do is run slanted forward a bit and I’ll be Chi Running. I can’t imagine it’s that simple. But I’ll still try it.

The question I have on finishing the book: Is it a book to help you run better, pain-free? Or is the running he recommends just a vehicle for a more contented, centered life? Either sounds fine to me. It’s worth the read. Check it out: http://www.chirunning.com/

Girls Against Girls: A Book Review

Posted on August 24, 2011 by admin

“Girls Against Girls. Why We Are Mean To Eachother And How We Can Change.”

A book by Bonnie Burton.

On a hot July morning, we hopped in the Ford Focus, windows down, and left our Boston apartment for a much needed vacation. We were driving to Asheville, NC. No small car ride and I was highly invested in getting over what I believed to be a recurrent case of psychological carsickness. I knew I would be in the car for at least 16 hours and really wanted to dig into the stack of library books I had brought along. I hadn’t read in the car for years but today was the day to breathe deep and move beyond my queesy stomach.

Earlier that week at the library, I scanned through book spines, looking for interesting titles or authors that I had come to love. My nine-year old daughter in tow, we checked out the Young Adult section for some volumes to keep her busy now that Harry Potter had been read to excess. “Girls Against Girls”, by Bonnie Burton, caught my eye as my heart sunk in recognition of the sometimes prevalent girl-tude that breaks hearts and keeps us all down.

“Girls Against Girls” was the first book I picked up in the car. I wanted something to pull my attention quickly and distract me from any possible thoughts of nausea. With my own memories of youthful meanness, and the knowledge of experiences and people that helped me navigate beyond the shallow shores of belittlement, I wanted to hear what Bonnie Burton had to share.

The book starts with why and how we are mean, illuminating the competitive environment, cultural conditioning and plain old disruptive hormones as pieces of the “why” puzzle. The “how” gets messier, as we can all relate to methods: the silent treatment, gossiping, bullying and being cut off. To keep us reminded of all the beautiful, loving, encouraging girls and women we know out there, the book is peppered with awesome quotes by inspiring women:

We live in a culture right now that pits girls against each other. We are brought up socially to be in competition with each other – who has the best body, more boyfriends, better clothes. And this kind of competition can be devastating on female friendships because it emphasizes a mentality that there isn’t enough to go around. Enough love. Enough attention. Enough success. But there is. There is enough to share with your girlfriends ~ Jessica Weiner, author

What a totally helpful quote.

We then move on to what to do when you are on the receiving of end what seems like the cruelest attacks ever. Not only does Burton speak of personal, independent choices, she also encourages “calling in reinforcements”. If there is anything I have learned in my last 35 years on earth, it is that having a team makes everything easier. You have more heads and hearts looking for solutions and offering up expertise. Maybe one friend is a great listener, while another can help you approach a school counselor.

In most cases, we have been on both sides of the meanness drama. The book leaves us with ways to not only stop the cycle, but also on how to build or expand a culture of girls helping girls. Start a girl band. Create a girl club at your school. Get inspired by learning about awesome women that have lead the way before you.

Girls are part of this big human species, meaning we all have our strengths and our challenges. Being able to recognize both allows us to better understand ourselves and others. With this understanding, girls and women have the opportunity to make choices of unity and sisterhood. When we all stand tall and proud, we can support each other up to greater heights.

Needless to say, my car sickness was cured by some deep breaths and a great book that took me out of my own head and into a bigger picture of compassion and unity. A parting quote for our journey into solidarity and self-love:

Recognizing the good in yourself when you’re a young woman can be very difficult, especially when everything around you tells you that you’re not good enough. I wish that I had been self-possessed enough to know that the girls who were mean and exclusive were often making up for their own feelings of insecurity. I wish I could have known that I rock, because knowing that about yourself allows you to help other girls and women fell like the rock. And that’s a great feeling. ~ Emily Moeller

Some resources for girl empowerment:

This being human is a guest house…

Posted on July 23, 2011 by admin

“This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.”

–Jalal ad-Din Rumi, translated from the original Farsi by John Moyne and Coleman Barks