It works.
Well, let’s start by distinguishing two types of cosmetic work. First, acupuncture can treat dermatological conditions like acne, all forms of eczema, and more generally, any condition where someone’s skin is not functioning properly for someone their age. Which leads us to the second type. That phrase “for someone their age” draws us into the world of beauty. Anyone who lives well, eats well, is resilient, vibrant, and well adjusted will look great. Period. Does this describe many of us? You know the answer. Lifestyle, attitudes, and behaviours can compromise vitality.
You walk into the office of any Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner (without makeup) and show them those dark circles under your eyes and they immediately know you have compromised kidney function. Similarly, those bags over your eyes? You’re always tired? You don’t need a surgeon. You do need to restore your spleen and digestive system to better health. Am I speaking to you or someone you know? This is the world of cosmetic acupuncture.
Now, If you google “Cosmetic Acupuncture” or “Facial Rejuvenation” you’ll see lots of before and after shots, testimonials, and demonstrations. Everyone will tell you that it does three basic things: increase collagen production, tighten skin, and tone muscle. This speaks directly to every potential client’s primary motivation: vanity. It’s true so you might as well own it. Who doesn’t want to look their best? I know I do.
Looking great and feeling great go hand in hand. If a cosmetic treatment is going to have longevity, and be worth the money, it has to address the real reason you have those crow’s feet, dark circles, or puffy eyes. The energy of your body, your bodily systems are out of balance, and you are not replenishing your face. So while you will receive many painless needles in your face, the needles that contribute to you feeling great (and looking great) will be the ones that go other places like your lower legs, feet and hands. Those needles far from your face get your body working better in every way. The truth is, cosmetic acupuncture works by healing all of you. Those crafty Traditional Chinese Medical practitioners are using esthetics to hook people on feeling and looking great and maintaining themselves with their ancient methods. Oops, was that a secret?
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
More anger
A while back I made note of the fact that I was thinking about anger and illness. Two things came out of that humble comment. 1) People were concerned that I was angry. What shocked me was that they thought my anger was a problem. Had I been angry it still would not have been a problem. No more than any other healthy emotion. You know, joy, sadness, fear, pensiveness. 2) It became clear that anger carries a stigma. Anger = Problem. Well, not in my book.
This is the last note I will make as a result of reading the Gabor Mate book mentioned in my last note.
About anger...
The repression of anger and the unregulated acting-out of it are both examples of the abnormal release of emotions that is at the root of disease. If in repression the problem is a lack of release, acting out consists of an equally abnormal suppression of release alternating with unregulated and exaggerated venting. I had a fascinating conversation with Allen Kaplin, a physician and psychotherapist in Toronto. He points out that both repression and rage represent a fear of the genuine experience of anger.
Healthy anger is an empowerment and a relaxation. The real experience of anger "is physiologic experience without acting out. The experience is one of a surge of power going through the system, along with a mobilization to attack. There is, simultaneously, a complete disappearance of all anxiety.
If anger is relaxation, then what is rage? When I am in a rage, my face is tight, muscles tense, and I look anything but relaxed. "The question is, What do people really experience when they experience rage? It's fascinating to ask people. If you really ask, the majority will describe anxiety." [272-273 When the Body Says No]
So acting out and repression are both ways to avoid feeling one's emotions. What does this tell us, for example, about one of our favorite forms of entertainment ? (Violence) The hero gets angry and reacts. The master gets angry and responds.
OH! Now I'm really mad! ;(
This is the last note I will make as a result of reading the Gabor Mate book mentioned in my last note.
About anger...
The repression of anger and the unregulated acting-out of it are both examples of the abnormal release of emotions that is at the root of disease. If in repression the problem is a lack of release, acting out consists of an equally abnormal suppression of release alternating with unregulated and exaggerated venting. I had a fascinating conversation with Allen Kaplin, a physician and psychotherapist in Toronto. He points out that both repression and rage represent a fear of the genuine experience of anger.
Healthy anger is an empowerment and a relaxation. The real experience of anger "is physiologic experience without acting out. The experience is one of a surge of power going through the system, along with a mobilization to attack. There is, simultaneously, a complete disappearance of all anxiety.
If anger is relaxation, then what is rage? When I am in a rage, my face is tight, muscles tense, and I look anything but relaxed. "The question is, What do people really experience when they experience rage? It's fascinating to ask people. If you really ask, the majority will describe anxiety." [272-273 When the Body Says No]
So acting out and repression are both ways to avoid feeling one's emotions. What does this tell us, for example, about one of our favorite forms of entertainment ? (Violence) The hero gets angry and reacts. The master gets angry and responds.
OH! Now I'm really mad! ;(
Healing with "negative thinking"
I’ve been moved to re-read Gabor Mate’s book “When the Body Says No / Understanding the Stress Disease Connection” and last night this paragraph really jumped out at me.
In order to heal, it is essential to gather the strength to think negatively. Negative thinking is not a doleful, pessimistic view that masquerades as “realism.” Rather, it is a willingness to consider what is not working. What is not in balance? What have I ignored? What is my body saying no to? Without these questions, the stress responsible for our lack of balance will remain hidden. (p. 244)
I have yet to find a better book on the connection between emotions and disease.
The book draws on a wealth of scientific research showing that for a wide variety of illnesses, a self-effacingly positive attitude will expedite the disease process and kill you faster.
In order to heal, it is essential to gather the strength to think negatively. Negative thinking is not a doleful, pessimistic view that masquerades as “realism.” Rather, it is a willingness to consider what is not working. What is not in balance? What have I ignored? What is my body saying no to? Without these questions, the stress responsible for our lack of balance will remain hidden. (p. 244)
I have yet to find a better book on the connection between emotions and disease.
The book draws on a wealth of scientific research showing that for a wide variety of illnesses, a self-effacingly positive attitude will expedite the disease process and kill you faster.
horoscopes and your path
There are two basic philosophies when it comes to horoscopes, animal signs, and kua numbers. Your sign is who you are, OR your sign is your homework. I believe that you have a choice about how you behave and the events that make up your life. I believe your attitude is everything. And that the way you embrace or reject those things you perceive as “challenges” in your life determines so much about the life you live. The forecast for anyone who is born in this firey year of the Ox is that they will be especially challenged when it comes to parenting, and performing in the roles of either father or mother. To me this means they can make their lives miserable by turning their backs on these possible parts of their lives, OR they can enrich their lives tremendously by embracing parenthood and the male or female roles (which, for them, will most likely be more challenging than for people born in different years). Similarly, if your sign is one that traditionally does not deal well with conflict, then your choices about conflict will set the tone for your life.
The easy things. The things you do so well. The things at which other people marvel. Your strengths. You can rely on them. And no doubt your success depends on them. But your perceived weaknesses? Accept that you shouldn’t even try? Or never give your best because it won’t work out well anyway? Ignore them at your own peril. Choose to make them worse, and they will reward you for your lack of effort. As a dragon I could dread the arrival of the next dog year, but instead I consider it my greatest opportunity for growth and self-discovery. I relish the opportunity to be tested.
Personally, I am a dragon about to marry a dog. I know. (On the surface) Completely inauspicious. We should not get along at all. We are both kua 9, kindred spirits. And most importantly, I/we embrace the difference, the challenge and reward for being with someone so different. We love each other. We make something together that neither of us has ever made apart. That is worth fighting for, committing to, and growing.
If you are willing to see, there is more you can be.
The easy things. The things you do so well. The things at which other people marvel. Your strengths. You can rely on them. And no doubt your success depends on them. But your perceived weaknesses? Accept that you shouldn’t even try? Or never give your best because it won’t work out well anyway? Ignore them at your own peril. Choose to make them worse, and they will reward you for your lack of effort. As a dragon I could dread the arrival of the next dog year, but instead I consider it my greatest opportunity for growth and self-discovery. I relish the opportunity to be tested.
Personally, I am a dragon about to marry a dog. I know. (On the surface) Completely inauspicious. We should not get along at all. We are both kua 9, kindred spirits. And most importantly, I/we embrace the difference, the challenge and reward for being with someone so different. We love each other. We make something together that neither of us has ever made apart. That is worth fighting for, committing to, and growing.
If you are willing to see, there is more you can be.
Monday, December 22, 2008
After the Winter Equinox : : Yin Feng Shui : : Musings
So many things are networking and connecting around me. It is great!
We just passed through the most yin/female/cool/dark/nurturing/watery day of the year. The year when female energy is at its strongest. The best time for males and male aspects of yourself, to regenerate and energize (The (TCM) Traditional Chinese Medical term is TONIFY -- to strengthen.) I did the tai chi form this morning and paused to wonder at the softness. I know that tremendous power and force can come from that softness, or bgetter, flow through that softness. I was like water this morning.
Later when I put more wood on the fire, my hand moved through cool ash at the edge of hearth. So profoundly soft. Crushed velvet has nothing on ash. Nor does talc. More air than solid and amazingly yielding. Softness. There is such strength in understanding how to yield. With intent to do so. I am reminded of the Taoist phrase about moving a tremendous weight in motion with a small well placed force.
Yin. In both feng shui and TCM circles "yin" also refers to death and the dead. Like this sleepy wintertime. Extreme inactivity. An absence of life force. Everything I do for clients is YANG Feng Shui. Feng Shui for the living. There is another world of feng shui for the dead. The proper or improper placement of headstones and plots has implications and effects on generations.
Similarly, the family into which you marry, OR the family karma you unite with your own has tremendous implications. You don't marry a single isolated individual. You bring together two separate streams that would not flow together without your actions and choices. [Still think arranged marriages are stupid? Better left to emotional whimsy?]
There is so much just below the surface if you know what to look for. And when I touched the ash, I was reminded, humbled, because it is like touching every human being who has ever been. We all go there eventually, our physical bodies. And it reminded me that I have only so much time in this body. Then I must move on. Just as winter leads into spring. Extreme Yin inevitably transforms into young yang, OR the yin recedes and the yang becomes more and more dominant.
There are so few practitioners who do yin Feng Shui. The responsibility for future generations is too big for most people. Like playing with GMOs or setting national environmental policys and regulations. Who is truly qualified to do such things with an understanding of the responsibility to generations. Sometimes I forget the significance of what I have learned. I take it for granted. Like it is common knowledge. It is not. And I am so grateful for what I have learned and continue to learn.
We just passed through the most yin/female/cool/dark/nurturing/watery day of the year. The year when female energy is at its strongest. The best time for males and male aspects of yourself, to regenerate and energize (The (TCM) Traditional Chinese Medical term is TONIFY -- to strengthen.) I did the tai chi form this morning and paused to wonder at the softness. I know that tremendous power and force can come from that softness, or bgetter, flow through that softness. I was like water this morning.
Later when I put more wood on the fire, my hand moved through cool ash at the edge of hearth. So profoundly soft. Crushed velvet has nothing on ash. Nor does talc. More air than solid and amazingly yielding. Softness. There is such strength in understanding how to yield. With intent to do so. I am reminded of the Taoist phrase about moving a tremendous weight in motion with a small well placed force.
Yin. In both feng shui and TCM circles "yin" also refers to death and the dead. Like this sleepy wintertime. Extreme inactivity. An absence of life force. Everything I do for clients is YANG Feng Shui. Feng Shui for the living. There is another world of feng shui for the dead. The proper or improper placement of headstones and plots has implications and effects on generations.
Similarly, the family into which you marry, OR the family karma you unite with your own has tremendous implications. You don't marry a single isolated individual. You bring together two separate streams that would not flow together without your actions and choices. [Still think arranged marriages are stupid? Better left to emotional whimsy?]
There is so much just below the surface if you know what to look for. And when I touched the ash, I was reminded, humbled, because it is like touching every human being who has ever been. We all go there eventually, our physical bodies. And it reminded me that I have only so much time in this body. Then I must move on. Just as winter leads into spring. Extreme Yin inevitably transforms into young yang, OR the yin recedes and the yang becomes more and more dominant.
There are so few practitioners who do yin Feng Shui. The responsibility for future generations is too big for most people. Like playing with GMOs or setting national environmental policys and regulations. Who is truly qualified to do such things with an understanding of the responsibility to generations. Sometimes I forget the significance of what I have learned. I take it for granted. Like it is common knowledge. It is not. And I am so grateful for what I have learned and continue to learn.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Knowing and Caring for patients
Too often too few take the time.
Let me explain. There is a song by Rogers and Hammerstein, made famous by Deborah Kerr in the film version of The King and I, called Getting to Know You. She sings it to the King’s wives and children. It is a warm, loving, welcoming song. Now, let that song run through your head for a minute… Getting to know ALLLLL about you… Holistic practitioners cannot do their jobs properly, nor give you their best service, without getting to know you. It is that simple.
Health care is a huge industry. And the government-funded part has become faster and less personal. Don’t take my word for it, think about your experiences in recent years. I know GPs who will only deal with one concern per visit. “Triage” is an important emergency room practice for addressing the most critical cases, and leaving less critical conditions to wait. The patient to doctor ratios are high. Hence the waiting lines and lists. The doctor who was there for my birth at the Wellesley in Toronto, Daniel MacPherson, knew every member of my family. He made house calls. He made the time to know us. He left an indelible impression on my sense of what health care can and should be. I am indebted to that man. If every physician in Canada now, took the time that Dr. MacPherson took with his patients, we would need many MANY more physicians. Difficult choices.
That impression led me to learn and practice a form of health care for which knowing people is essential. Sometimes the intake interview is over an hour (without giving any form of treatment beyond conversation). And I suspect this is in part because people are not given the undivided attention of someone knowledgeable who cares and listens. This is something rare in our time. So when you get it you make the most of it!
OK, so let me give you a snapshot of a typical Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) intake. You arrive at the clinic for the first time and receive an intake questionnaire from your TCM practitioner. They are friendly and explain that before you two can sit down and really talk, you need to complete the questionnaire for them. Now, many things just happened. You were just evaluated. From the look in your eyes to your handshake, everything meant something to the person you just met. E V E R Y T H I N G. You received a lengthy questionnaire that covers your body, mind, and emotions. Completing it gives you the time to reflect on what is going on with you, and remember things you might forget if you just walked into the office and started talking. You get to focus on you. Then you hand it over, they review it with you, and then you talk, as openly and honestly as you can.
From the beginning you are a puzzle they are trying to reassemble through the pieces you give them. Using all the tools they have assembled. Why does everything matter? Knowing the type of work you do, steel worker or seamstress, tells me of your daily activities and environments. Your family life, hobbies and interests reveal your level of spirit. Everything, from the coarseness of your hair to how many hours you sleep at night reveals information about your condition and completes a profile of you as a living person. And now they can provide you with their best treatment and care.
For your wellness on all levels, they make the time.
See also, the recent article in the CBC news regarding the importance of physician patient relationships:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/healthcare/patient-doctor-relationship.html
Saturday, November 29, 2008
New Clinics
New Clinic Locations & Hours
Acupuncture, Cosmetic Acupuncture, Tui Na Chinese Health Massage, Chinese Herbs, and Mentoring
Acupuncture, Cosmetic Acupuncture, Tui Na Chinese Health Massage, Chinese Herbs, and Mentoring
--------------------------
Starting December 12 , my full range of services will be offered
Fridays from 9:00 to 6:00 pm at
Body Sense
33 King Street West in Dundas 905.628.3807
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Starting Thursday November 27, my full range of services will be offered
Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 9:00, and
Saturdays from 8:00 to 6:00 pm
Main Street Wellness
807 Main Street West in Hamilton 905.524.2220
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My Privat Clinic operates to serve the needs of clients who are unable to book appointments at the above locations and times. Appointments outside of regular clinic hours are available. Please call for an appointment.
65 Inverness Avenue West in Hamilton 905.317.8899
I WILL do my best to accommodate short notice and emergency patients whom I have previously treated.
I do NOT accept drop in patients. I respectfully ask that you make an appointment and submit a completed diagnostic Questionnaire (page 1 and 2) before you arrive. Only this way may I give you my best.
House Calls
I make house calls. Yes, I do. In the Hamilton region I charge an additional $25. For emergency house calls, with less than 24 hours notice, I charge $50. House calls outside the Hamilton region are an additional $0.50 / km. There is no additional travel charge if the house call is done in conjunction with a Feng Shui consultation.
FULL DETAILS at http://www.balancedwaycons
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