 Let’s talk hormones 〰️✨
The menstrual cycle begins with the first day of the period and ends when the next period begins. For women, the leading hormones driving a healthy cycle are estrogen & progesterone. There are others as well, such as testosterone! 💪 Predominantly, estrogen drives the first part of our cycle and rises once the period ends up through ovulation time, which happens on about day 14. This is an important hormone in this part of the cycle— the first half AKA the follicular phase. This is when our body prepares & releases an egg that is ready to be fertilized, if conditions are right! (Again, this happens on about day 14) estrogen helps all of this run smoothly in the preparation of releasing an egg. FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) & LH (luteinizing hormone) also play a role to help ovulation along. Once we pass ovulation, estrogen drops and we need progesterone to kick in! It helps build up your uterine lining to begin to nourish a potential fertilized egg. The second part of the cycle is called the luteal phase. 🌙 Now, estrogen does spike again during this phase, but progesterone really is the main player here. If there is no fertilized egg to nourish, progesterone drops and signals for menses to begin 〰️✨ Foods to support estrogen (first half of cycle!): flax, broccoli, sesame, cruciferous veggies & dried fruit Foods to support progesterone (second half of cycle!): spinach, broccoli (again!), cauliflower, whole grain, beans
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 Herbs & natural remedies for the fall // 🌿
⠀ ⠀ As we enter the fall season it is so important to keep our immunities up. Allergies rise, cold & flu season begins, and then of course there’s the coronavirus. I like to tell my patients that choosing an immunity booster to take regularly is more along the lines of “pick your favorite that you can stick to”⠀ ⠀ There are so many good antioxidants, herbs, white blood cell boosters, and vitamins out there! So maybe you need to pick your favorite from this list to keep on hand for the fall:⠀ ⠀ -elderberry⠀ -vitamin C⠀ -zinc⠀ -Chinese herbs (consult your acupuncturist about what is best for your body because there are a few to choose from)⠀ -apple cider vinegar water⠀ -kombucha⠀ -acupuncture (of course)⠀ -echinacea⠀ -food therapy (Blueberries! Ginger! Scallions! Balanced diet in general!)⠀ -and more! ⠀ And of course added to all of these, water water water!  Welcome to lung season and happy fall!
In Chinese Medicine, the fall is associated with the lung organ. This makes sense in a lot of ways— the lung is most susceptible to the dry season (our driest season is fall), the lung is the most delicate organ when it comes to being susceptible to external pathogens (cold & flu season begins in the fall), etc. One of the most important functions of the lung is to govern qi and regulate breathing. Supporting lung qi through nutrition can help treat symptoms like shortness of breath, dyspnea, weak voice/breath. Strengthening the lungs and our external defense mechanism (Wei Qi) can help prevent external pathogens, like the common cold or allergies, and even coronavirus! The lung has a close relationship with the spleen, so if our spleen is weak or over-taxed we can end up with phlegm in the lungs— this can look like sinus infections or cough. Proper diet can help resolve chronic phlegm and prevent further accumulation of it. Phlegm forming foods include dairy (which is easily the #1 phlegm forming food I see in patients’ diets), oily/fatty food, sugar, cold foods and drinks. (I’m looking at you, iced coffee and smoothie drinkers!!!) The easiest way to aid the lungs through food is to eat easy-to-digest foods that are fresh and lightly cooked, typically with less water and at lower temperatures. Eat small meals more frequently and avoid raw and cold foods like salads and fruits. Some general foods that aid the lung typically include white foods, acrid/warm foods, and aromatic spices, including: -cauliflower -leeks -horseradish -onions -radish -watercress -almonds/almond butter/almond milk -chicken -tuna -chili -ginger -curry -pepper -spiced teas like ginger tea  1.5 Years //
Thank you thank you thank you to all my wonderful patients that have found me & my little healing space and also to those who have yet to wander in. I am grateful now & forever for this profession, my clinic, the ability to be my own boss, the joy to watch you all heal & share your stories with me. I’m in love. Thank you for the best first 1.5 years Healing Haven Acupuncture could have asked for. I can’t wait to see what the future holds & am excited to cross paths with as many of you as humanly possible!  Cycle // 🔄
Check out my favorite chart in the world by Jane Littleton to see what is happening at different times of each month in both western and eastern terminology! I love to explain hormones and how our bodies are ever changing in both ways to my patients so they can best understand what’s going on in their bodies. The best way to advocate for your health care is to learn about yourself and what you need! This intricate cycle is what brings life to this world and also happens to be one of my all time favorite things to work on balancing for you babes out there. Questions? Comment below! I’d love to help you understand how to have a continuously healthy cycle forever and ever (until menopause... then I can help you with that! 😉)  You’re one of a kind //
So why would you let your your healthcare be generalized? This is why I love acupuncture and herbs— everyone’s treatment is different every time because you’re different every single day! With covid hanging around, I wanted to make it even easier for you all to get that customized healthcare you need and deserve. I’ve been loving to fill these orders and chatting with you babes about your custom essential oil blends. Many of you are shocked when you realized how many things we can treat in one little bottle! Things I’ve been treating through the use of essential oils: -anxiety -depression -constipation -diarrhea -muscle pain -insomnia -relaxation -fatigue -immunity -hormone balancing -PMS/cramps -and more! Now, I don’t think essential oils are the be all end all. Far from it actually. But with everything going on around us in the world, I definitely don’t think they hurt in the healing process. Comment below or DM to let me know what area you need a little boost in! And for a bigger boost, the link to book in to see me at my clinic for acupuncture, cupping, facials & herbs is in my bio  In the West, spring begins on March 21st on the spring equinox. The Chinese feel that, energetically, spring begins with the Chinese New Year in February. The days become longer and organic sleepers under the chilled earth begin to spring to life again. In both systems the basic idea is the same: spring brings growth, new beginnings and a fresh start.
As the earth is growing and forging life through it's crevasses and cracks, we too are energetically growing and changing with the season as well. This can bring discomfort in many ways to us. Most people feel that in the spring they suffer from more irritability, anger, insomnia, migraines, anxiety, depression, tendon pain, vision issues, and digestive issues. Whew! That's a lot of change. This season relies heavily on how upward and outward energy is flowing in our bodies, just like the plants bursting from the ground. When energy is heading this direction, we get emotions rushing to the head such as irritability and anger. We also get migraines. We get nausea, indigestion, bloating and heartburn when our digestive energy is weak and energy travels upwards. We get too in our heads and can't calm the mind to fall asleep. We get vision issues such as blurry vision, dry eyes, itchy eyes or floaters. There's too much energy flowing up! So how do we stay balanced and grounded during this time of year to avoid this upward and outward natural energy from becoming too much for our bodies to handle? When we are in balance, we have nothing to worry about and no uncomfortable symptoms occur. The liver is the organ associated with the springtime according to Chinese Medicine, and when the liver gets stagnant or too energetic in the body we can feel it! The easiest way to soothe an imbalanced liver is through movement. Practicing activities such as yoga can go a long way during this time of year, as well as stretching or jogging. If you're a person that's prone to migraines in the spring, it can be helpful to place a drop of lavender essential oil on the temples and give yourself a foot rub or foot soak to help pull the energy back down and out. If you end up with heartburn or digestive upset, try mixing one teaspoon of baking soda in 8 oz of water and drinking that to calm the stomach. If stress and anxiety cause loose stools, try adding a charcoal pill into your supplement regimen as needed. If you feel that your arthritis or tendon pain gets worse this time of year, try taking regular epsom salt baths to calm the irritation and inflammation that is occurring. If you feel that your carpal tunnel pain gets worse, make sure you are keeping your arms and wrists at 90 degree angles while typing at work. And if all else fails, practice whatever self care you need to keep yourself feeling like yourself. Whether that be through massage, naps, spending time with your kids or pets, acupuncture, eating a balanced diet, walks around the neighborhood, or just quiet meditation time--make time this spring!  Insomnia: habitual sleeplessness; inability to sleep.
Auricular acupuncture: A type of acupuncture in which thin needles are inserted at specific points on the outer ear to control pain and other symptoms. It is thought that the outer ear contains a “map” of the whole body and that specific points on this map match up with certain parts of the body. In 2007, a study was done in the Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine where 878 papers were searched. Six trials (402 treated with auricular acupuncture (AA) among 673 participants) met the inclusion criteria to study insomnia. The recovery and improvement rates produced by auricular acupuncture was significantly higher than those of Diazepam. The rate of success was higher when auricular acupuncture was used for enhancement of sleeping hours up to 6 hours in treatment subjects. The efficacy of using Semen vaccariae ear seeds was better than that of the controls while magnetic pearls did not show statistical significance. 6 commonly used auricular acupoints were Shenmen, Heart, Occiput, Subcortex, Brain and Kidney Conclusions: Auricular acupuncture appears to be effective for treating insomnia Check out the full study here! https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/38050061.pdf Research suggests that between 1-30% of the global population suffers from some form of anxiety. Symptoms and physical manifestations vary considerably from shortness of breath and variations in heart rate, to full blown and debilitating panic attacks, headaches, pain and insomnia, anxiety is a complex, pervasive condition that is generally treated with medication.
According to the most up to date evidence, acupuncture is an effective treatment for anxiety. Acupuncture has been shown to increase the release of endorphins. Endorphins play an important role in the regulation of physical and emotional stress responses such as pain, heart rate, blood pressure and digestive function. In 2017, The Acupuncture Evidence Project, co-authored by Dr. John McDonald, PhD and Dr. Stephen Janz was published. Evidence included a 2016 systematic review with over 400 randomized patients that concluded that ‘the effects from acupuncture for treating anxiety have been shown to be significant as compared to conventional treatments.’ The largest of these studies, which included 120 randomized patients, found that acupuncture had a large effect on reducing anxiety and depression compared to conventional treatment involving pharmacological approaches and psychotherapy, with over twice the reduction in symptoms. A more recent systematic review published in 2018 found that all 13 included studies “reported an anxiety decrease for their treatment group relative to the control groups.” Three of these studies used pharmaceuticals as controls! Check out the full study here! https://www.evidencebasedacupuncture.org/present-research/acupuncture-anxiety/ I wanted to use this blog post to take a peek at a study by Cochrane et al. in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine:
The main findings in the study were that acupuncture intervention resulted in significant increases in fertility and quality of life measures. It increased the ability of the recipients to engage in desired activities, such as exercise or rest, and it shortened the time to conception by half. Findings from regular acupuncture for 3 months: reduced time to conception reduced incidence of menstrual clotting reduced length of pain and intensity of pain normalization of the length of the menstrual cycle increased heaviness of menstrual flow in the acupuncture intervention participants The multiphasic fertility acupuncture protocol tested in this trial did positively influence the women who received it compared to the women who used lifestyle modification alone. It increased their fertility awareness and improved their well-being. Those who conceived did so in half the time of their lifestyle only peers. Cai et al. undertook a prospective analysis of cases using a standard acupuncture protocol with a nonacupuncture control. The conclusion was that although “acupuncture did not increase the cumulative pregnancy rate, it decreased the time to achieve pregnancy” in subsequent IVF cycles. Take a peek at the full article here! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4868913/ |
Love cupping!Love cupping is like normal cupping in that it has all of the benefits of regular cupping, with a heart-shaped twist.
So, what is food therapy?
In Chinese medicine, food has been used for thousands of years as a way to heal the body. All foods have different properties, such as warming, cooling, bitter, pungent, sour, spicy, etc. You can use these properties to your advantage based on your own individual constitution and the time of year! For example, everyone should incorporate these foods into their diets this summer because they help cool the body:
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