One of the things I love about my patients is that they are always teaching me things too; it’s a healthy exchange.
A new patient today reminded me of something I learned years ago while a business consultant. It’s the power and simple beauty of being able to say as the “expert” that “I don’t know” in answer to a question as long as I follow that up with “ but I will find out” and then deliver on that promise.
If we are honest, not a one of us knows everything for a 100% fact and we also have different views of what the truth and correct answers are. In addition sometimes someone asks a question that we can’t answer from our own perspective without additional research and thought. I believe it’s far better sometimes to give ourselves the time and perspective to give a reasoned and intelligent answer while keeping the door open for further input and possibly an even more astute answer down the road.
This always worked for me when I was an IT consultant brought in as the troubleshooter because the client felt like they were a contributing part of the team resolving the problem and by the way, they were always really part of the solution as we shared thoughts and inspirations back and forth. We made each other look mutually good and everybody was a hero at the end.
It’s also part of what I bring to my acupuncture practice. I don’t see myself as a magician or omnipotent healer; rather I am an educated facilitator with you the patient as the ultimately empowered being creating your own health and well being. I encourage you to ask questions and share observations freely all along this journey we take together. These “clues” help me be a better practitioner for you and I see you as a smart consumer taking responsibility for your own health and well being.
It’s that time again…December. The child within us remembers the sense of magic we felt as children during the holidays and we so want to recreate that each year for our families and ourselves; it’s also not a bad distraction for those of us who aren’t winter lovers. So we add in a whole new level of expectations and obligations that compete and clash with our regular day-to-day responsibilities. Add in insufficient resources to achieve our dreams (time, money and space amongst others) and you get a great recipe for enormous stress.
How to cope? First and foremost, find some time each week to dedicate yourself to a restful activity that quiets your mind and eases your spirit; it will renew you for the next conflict and give you fresh perspective on how to accomplish your dreams. For each person there are different solutions: a walk in nature, a quiet time for a bath, a little time to read, meditation, yoga, communing with plants, crafting with your hands, whatever works for you. My personal favorite solution is acupuncture; I joke about acupuncture being “adult naptime” but the truth is it’s an exquisite time for the body to use its innate sense to heal itself while the mind takes a rest and heals as well. As an acupuncturist I am there as an educated facilitator of that healing process. As a patient, I emerge after the treatment at peace, refreshed and ready to face the crazy world we live in once more.
I am seeing lots of people this week experiencing neck and shoulders that are either tight or tight and painful while also mentioning stress. Most of us tend to carry stress in our shoulders and neck just like the physical burden it is.
For each patient I have seen with this condition I give them an acupuncture treatment tailored to whatever else is going on followed by a few minutes of gentle Tuina (an Asian form of body work) and all report tremendous relief from shoulder/neck issues.
I also send them home with an easy remedy to help stem some of the cause. It’s easy and free.
First the cause…many of us spend many hours in front of some kind of computer…desktop, laptop, notebook or tablet…working intently. Our backs tend to bend forward as we pull our shoulders and head in to focus on the display and we strain our hands either typing or clutching a mouse. Aside from the eye strain of staring at the well lit screen we aren’t doing our body any favors by holding it in this position while intently working, surfing etc. We are holding our shoulders and hands in positions that strain muscles and ligaments along with restricting our oxygen intake by compressing our chest capacity. Ultimately we are getting less oxygen to the brain because of this which can make our thinking a little sluggish after a period of time; after repeating this for hours and days, we get sore shoulders and necks plus sometimes we experience headaches because those tightened muscles in the neck most likely restrict blood flow and therefore food to the brain.
My remedy? After an hour take a minute or less to take a break and do a few simple things to compensate. Move away from the computer and stand up. Stretch your arms over your head and stretch your fingers out like a fan, bring both arms slowly out and down to your sides while you breathe deeply and let your eyes relax (maybe even close them); then roll your head around a few times both to the left and right to loosen your neck up. If one round doesn’t loosen you up repeat once or twice more. While you are taking this short break try to relax your mind so it can rest as well.
It’s not just at the gym that we need to stretch before and after workouts. We spend far more time in front of our electronic gadget of choice and we need frequent stretching to compensate from these workouts as well…both physical and mental.
I think we all know but often forget to acknowledge that our feet are the first line of support when we stand and walk and that when they feel good we are well supported and conversely when they hurt we don’t feel as well.
Personally my favorite summer foot ware is either flip flops or nothing; I love the freedom of it all but these choices can definitely produce a lot of calluses and other foot issues causing pain so in years past I have gotten a lot of pedicures or visited a podiatrist to keep my feet healthy. This year a combination of caring for my 88 year old failing mother plus other obligations leave me little time or money for the luxury of a pedicure so I found something really simple that keeps my feet amazingly healthy and well in only 30 seconds per day at no cost to me except for the additional water used.
Every morning when I take a shower after soaping down and rinsing my body I scrub my feet with a wet (not soapy) wash cloth to remove dead skin much like using a loofah mitt or pumice stone. Upon exiting the shower I also make sure I vigorously towel off my feet to encourage removing the remaining dead skin cells. My feet feel a little raw initially but they are generally very smooth clean and healthy without any nasty bumps, cracks or calluses; what remains are healthy flexible smooth and happy feet. And by the way no oils or creams have been used to soften anything; my feet are just healthy and strong on their own. And I feel a lot better walking on them all day…no pain or discomfort.
I have road construction and detours to thank for today’s insight. I originally figured out how to get to a weekly morning meeting in a tucked away place based on Google Maps on my iPhone and that was my route until road construction derailed that route this summer. So I found a faster and more peaceful way on more quiet roads to get to my destination and started enjoying the drive more. Early this morning I was taking that more peaceful drive enjoying sun and birds singing when my mind opened to the thought that I used to use paper maps to figure out how to get someplace and how that bigger picture allowed me to see very clearly the logical pathway to take.
I love my iPhone for its many gifts particularly the Maps app when I am lost trying to find someplace. I rarely take a day off from my computer and the internet as like most of us I have become very plugged in. But what I noticed today in the peace of the early morning drive is that sometimes those little maps, computer generated directions, focused searches and abundant social media suggestions serve to either focus us too closely on the small immediate picture or scatter our thoughts over too many topics to actually stay in one place long enough to see the larger picture before we hop on to the next thing. It’s hard to sit still long enough to take in the surroundings and make intelligent choices when we are traveling at warp speed and multitasking with many little pictures and thoughts guiding our way.
There is an old expression about not being able to see the forest for the trees. It dawns on me that to some degree technology has moved us towards seeing the trees more often without being able to step back and see the forest. So my thought for the day is to resolve to use that vast encyclopedic knowledge available via technology more wisely, allowing myself time to step back and see the bigger picture to make more informed choices in my life.
When I was just being delighted by the results of Oriental medicine as a patient I found a lot of the books I would read to try to understand the “why” to be really confusing rather than enlightening. After I chose to study and be a serious student of the medicine I noticed that what are legitimate diagnoses in Oriental medicine (e.g. Liver Qi Stagnation, Spleen Qi Deficiency and Kidney failing to grasp Lung Qi) are completely baffling to the average patient or medical Doctor who lives in the USA and quite possibly look either spooky, weird or off the wall. When you add in some peoples’ fear of needles and general misunderstanding of what an acupuncture treatment is like or what it does, many people are at the point of having heard of acupuncture and feel a little suspicious and possibly scared of it.
My goal in blogging is not to provide a scholarly explanation of this medicine which I understand to be a beautiful and very effective vehicle for great health and well being. I am aiming to translate it to words and concepts that make sense to the average person who has not been immersed in Asian culture and history. In my humble opinion this is great medicine and I want to help others understand “why” they might like it in words and terms that make sense to them.
