When people get pregnant, they often put a lot of time towards preparing a physical space for the baby, but there are a lot of reasons for both women and men to start thinking about their physical health before they even conceive. In this post, we'll continue our month-long series on fertility with a few things to consider when you start to think about getting pregnant.
Read moreChange You Can Believe In
If there's something about change that everyone can believe in, it's that it WILL happen. Whether it's in politics or relationships or our health, change is a given. Chinese medicine teaches about the balance of Yin and Yang and this is directly tied to the changes we see around us. All signs and symptoms of dis-ease are ultimately due to imbalances of Yin and Yang in the body (or in our relationships, or in the world) that have gone on for too long.
None of this change happens overnight. It's not like one day we're healthy and the next day we're sick. The body has the ability to correct small imbalances. (This is one of the main functions of sleep.) It's only once the imbalance has gone on for a period of time that we start to see disease. Sometimes it seems like symptoms just show up all of a sudden, and we think "Oh I'm getting older". Well that's true - the balance of Yin and Yang shifts towards Yin as we age, and if we don't shift with it, we're prone to illness and injury. However, often what's also happening is that there's an imbalance in our lives in some way, and it's gone on long enough that the symptoms are starting to show up.
In our world, big acts like the attacks on 9-11-2001, or the dropping of nuclear bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, change our lives in dramatic ways. But most change in our world takes place slowly, through an accumulation of small acts and developments.Similarly, changing the trend towards health takes time. In our pharmaceutical-driven culture we've come to expect that we can take a pill and be done with it. Well, those pills might work for one symptom, but they're often like taking a sledge hammer to a thumbtack. Yes, you see change quickly, but it might come with some unintended consequences! Healthier changes almost always come slowly, giving the body time to assimilate and adapt to the new balance.
Take the example of people trying to lose weight. Everyone knows that losing weight quickly is a recipe for disaster. It throws your body into freak-out starvation mode and slows your metabolism, which means you inevitably end up gaining the weight back, and then some. What's the best thing for your health? Changing your lifestyle to include eating healthier food in portions that make sense for your body, and incorporating exercise that makes sense for your body into your daily life. Whether you lose weight or not, this is a recipe for improved health, no matter what your size.
Change WILL happen. We have an ability to influence that change to some extent but it always takes time. When a person quits smoking, they see some very important effects immediately, but it takes a number of years for all the tissues in the lung to be replaced with healthy non-smoker tissue. Change takes time.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine work on this scale as well. Instead of taking a sledgehammer to a thumb tack, it's more like taking a chisel to stone. While an acute problem might only need a few treatments to correct itself, a problem that has built up over years might take 3 months, 6 months, or even a year to really resolve completely.
How does change happen? Rarely does it happen overnight. Like most things in life, it starts with a simple commitment and a willingness to change.
[Photo Credits: Peyri Herrera, Simon Cocks]
Tic-Toc, The Body's Clock Is Important For Your Health
It's been said that timing is everything, and that may be particularly true when it comes to the body's ability to fight off disease. Chinese and Western medicines both have a concept of a "body clock" with cycles of internal timing and regulation. New research published in the February issue of the journal Immunity shows that the success of our immune defense depends in part on our "body clock."
Read moreNo! Sleep! 'Til ...
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Are you falling asleep easily? Are you staying asleep? Do you have dreams that wake you up? Do you feel refreshed in the morning? Acupuncturists will always ask you about your sleep because it gives us insight into your body's imbalances.
TCM has a lot to say about sleep and sleep difficulties, and insomnia is one of the common conditions we treat. In a small-but-promising placebo-controlled study, acupuncture has also been shown to treat sleep apnea. Prescription medications for insomnia may be helpful on an occasional short-term basis, but they can have unwanted consequences that include mild addiction risk, immune system effects, and a 'rebound effect', where sleep becomes worse after stopping the use of medication. Traditional Chinese Medicine's approach, however, is non-addictive and addresses the underlying imbalances that are causing your sleep disturbances.
If you're someone who suffers from insomnia, there are some common causes of sleep disturbance that you can address on your own:
Too much stimulation in the hours before bed. Exercising, working on the computer, or watching a stimulating movie too close to bed time can definitely affect your sleep. Try setting a cut-off time for electronics at least an hour before bed, and try to get exercise before 7PM. Get to bed around 10:30 so that you're asleep by Gallbladder time at 11 PM.
Not enough stimulation during the day. Many people get to the end of the day and feel a sense of anxiousness or lack of completion. If this describes you, take a look at your day and ask "What needs do I have that aren't being met during the daytime?" It may be a physical need for exercise, or it may be another kind of need likemeaningful connection to others, creativity, or inspiration. There may be a need for security or safety that isn't being met (which can look like worrying about bills, etc). You may not be able to change the circumstances of your life in one day, but taking the time to acknowledge these needs is the first step towards meeting them and being able to set them aside momentarily so you can get some shut-eye.
Too much heavy food or alcohol in the hours before bed. Try eating more in the daytime and a smaller meal at dinner. Also, try to finish eating before 7 PM to give your body some time to digest before bed.
Too much caffeine consumption during the day. Try to cut back on your caffeine consumption (especially coffee), and avoid caffeinated beverages after noon.
Low levels of Vitamin D. Vitamin D levels outside the range of 60-80, either low or high, can affect the quality of your sleep. Many people today have low Vitamin D levels and don't realize it, so get your D25OH checked the next time you get a blood test. More importantly, get outside at least once a day!
A few other things to consider:
Light stimulates the brain to wake up, so finding a way to block light out can help you sleep better.
A drop in body temperature signals sleep time for your body. We've all heard about having a warm cup of milk before bed. Doing that warms and comforts the body, but then the subsequent drop in body temperature 20 minutes later is part of what signals the body to get sleepy. You can also achieve this by taking a warm bath before bed. It's also a good idea to keep your bedroom somewhat cool, while staying warm under enough blankets. The colder temperature of the air will also help you feel sleepier.
Try some Sleeping Qi Gong. First, do these light, calming movements to help you relax and shake off the stress of the day. Once you've done those, lie in bed on your back and breathe in deeply. Let your breath go all the way to the area below your belly button. Feel your belly rise and fall with your breath. Then, imagine that your breath is coming in through all the pores in your body. Feel your breath come in and go out through your arms and legs. (If that feels overwhelming, just focus on the sensation of breath going in and out of your nose.) Stay focused on the breath entering and leaving your body and you'll be drifting off to sleep in no time!
Start by trying these approaches. If these aren't helping, you may also have an imbalance in your body that your local Chinese medicine practitioner can help you address with herbs and acupuncture! Acupuncture and herbal medicine can help to relax your body and address the imbalances behind your sleep issue.
Have other ideas for dealing with insomnia that have worked for you? Has TCM helped you have better sleep? Leave a comment below to share it with the rest of us!
(Photo credit: Chelsea Oakes)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.