- Art of Wellness Acupuncture & Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)11704 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 295, Los Angeles, CA, 90025
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Acupuncture
How to Prepare For Seasonal Affective Disorder
When the seasons change you have to be ready for a change in mood, especially as we move from fall into winter. Although it may not seem as drastic of a shift as you think, it matters more to our mental and physical states than you may know. Seasonal affective disorder is estimated to affect around 10 million Americans a year, and this isn’t even the full number of reported cases. continue reading
7 Reasons to Seek Out Acupuncture
Do you ever feel your life’s a ride that won’t ever stop? How many nights do you wait for Mr. Sandman to magically appear? How often do you truly take time for yourself? Do you have aches and pains almost daily? Are over-the-counter or prescription medications controlling your life? When was the last time you actually felt at peace? If any of these questions resonate with you, then it might be time to look at Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture for an answer. People in Asian countries have known the magnificence of acupuncture for thousands of years. Traditional Chinese Medicine is growing in popularity in the United States and here are some reasons why you might want to consider utilizing it also. continue reading
Eating to Reduce and Prevent Inflammation
By Xiaomei Cai, L.Ac., Ph.D.
We usually think of inflammation as something that affects our muscles and joints, causing them to swell and ache. More recently, science has made it clear that inflammation is also part of what causes poor blood flow through the arteries, causing problems of the circulation and the heart. But, really, the root cause of inflammation is a function of the metabolism, or digestive process. It is the body’s normal defensive response to excess internal heat. Excess heat can be caused by stres
s, too many calories, and the wrong kinds of foods.
An anti-inflammatory diet is, first and foremost, a low calorie diet. The meaning of “calorie” is, after all, a unit measurement of heat energy. Simply put, ingesting more calories creates more heat in the body. If the calories aren’t being burned through physical activity, then they are stored in the body as excess fat. Fat not only weighs you down, but triggers the immune system, which tries to attack the fat as if it was a foreign substance. Carrying excess fat acts on several levels to create detrimental inflammation within the body.
It is important to pay attention not only to what you eat, and how much, but also how you eat, and when. Many people’s eating habits lead to poor digestion.
Eat sitting down. The body draws both blood and Qi into its center – the stomach and spleen – in order to digest food. Eating while standing or walking, or trying to concentrate on some other problem, draws much-needed energy to the extremities or the brain, away from the digestive process.
Chew food thoroughly. Failure to chew adequately means that the rest of your digestive system has to work harder to break down your food into usable nutrition.
In general, choose more fresh, raw, and lightly cooked foods, and avoid baked, fried and heavily processed foods. These foods retain the heat energy that was used in their preparation, and that creates more heat inside you.
Increase your use of ginger, turmeric and herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano, all of which have anti-inflammatory properties. Choose high Omega-fatty-acid fish such as salmon, and good quality fish oils. Eat lots of leafy greens. Avoid coffee, and drink green tea instead. Fermented foods such as pickles, sauerkraut/kimchee, miso and tempeh help to heal and promote good balance in the intestines. Shitake mushrooms are a source of copper, a rare nutrient, important in the prevention of arterial inflammation.
It probably comes as no surprise that we recommend cutting back on unhealthy fats (trans fats, processed cooking oils, and fatty red meat). And avoid sugar as strictly as possible, as sugar consumption leads to insulin resistance and is a major cause of inflammation.
Avoid the nightshade vegetables: peppers, eggplants, potatoes and tomatoes. This includes spices and seasonings made from peppers, such as paprika and red pepper flakes. These foods can irritate the intestines, affecting their permeability and setting off unwanted immune responses. These in turn lead to inflammation, muscle spasms and stiffness.
Who Is Your Best Doctor?
By Xiaomei Cai, L.Ac., Ph.D.
What Do Doctors Do?
When you are sick or injured, you automatically think about finding a good doctor. You rush to get tests done. You are given an examination and, usually, medicine.
But have you thought about who “cures” you when you break your arm? An orthopedic specialist provides high-level technology to examine you, and gives you a cast and some pain medication. But do they “fix” your arm?
The Pros and Cons of Western Medicine
Modern advances in Western medicine have allowed us to correct many conditions that historically have been crippling or deadly. How amazing that surgeons can re-attach digits, that EMT techs can re-start heartbeats, and that some medicines can cure or prevent life-threatening diseases! In general, people are living longer and enjoying better quality of life than ever before.
But there are drawbacks, too. Western medicine tends to study the body on a microscopic, cellular level, rather than looking at the whole person. The causes of many diseases remain unknown, so treatments usually address symptoms only. Conditions may come back if you stop taking your medicine. Medicines can have serious side effects. Surgery can create other problems, such as damaged or scarred tissues. Specialists focus on one part of your body, not the whole, so that problems are not understood as being connected to one another. It can feel as if you are being treated like a machine, with separate parts, not as a real person. Sometimes a doctor might try to help you solve one problem, only to find that others then crop up or worsen. And while we talk about prevention, most doctors are not trained in nutrition, and often don’t have the time or inclination to discuss their patients’ lifestyle choices in any depth.
What happens in our body when we are sick?
The cell–the most fundamental unit of the human body– every second that we are alive, has an amazing ability to renew itself.
When a pathogen enters your body, or your body is injured, it launches all necessary systems to diagnose the problem and then begins producing healing factors to work in concert. First, white blood cells go to the area to fight any infection that may have gotten in. They kill off any weak or dying cells. If cells are only slightly damaged, they can switch on special genes which start repairs. If they are too old or damaged, they will self-destruct. When there is bleeding, the platelet cells form a blood clot, so that you will not bleed to death. Once all of this is done, and the rubbish of damaged, dead cells has been cleared away, healthy cells start making copies of themselves to fill the gaps.
This is a vitally important process, and the body must work and watch carefully, because if anything goes wrong–say, unhealthy cells are not cleared away, or start making copies of themselves— the result can be serious disease, such as cancer or autoimmune disease.
Self-healing ability is our miracle doctor.
If you have ever had a pet or the chance to observe a sick animal, you may remember what they do to recover. They usually choose to lie there, without any activity, not even eating. Their bodies just concentrate on healing, conserving all energy for self-repair.
Human beings are the same. When we are sick, we need to rest, eat very lightly, and drink a lot of water, allowing our body to fix any damage and clear out any waste. We are born with this innate ability to self-heal; however, it relies on good lifestyle to encourage it. Sometimes there are impurities that block energy flow to the compromised area. If we continually feed “junk” food into the body, and don’t allow it the rest it needs, then our ability to regenerate cells and heal our own illness and injuries is severely dampened. You are the only one who is responsible to your health!
Acupuncture treatment
We can understand and appreciate that our bodies can heal themselves, and at the same time, we should know that sometimes we need additional assistance. For example, if there are too many toxins in the body, a detox program can help eliminate them. If there is an imbalance that is too severe, herbs can help. When there are blockages of Qi in the body, acupuncture or electro-acupuncture can help free them up. What we offer at Art of wellness is the promotion of the body’s natural healing to take place.
But, who is your best doctor? YOU ARE. Recognize, respect, and take responsibility for your own healing power. When you not feeling well, find a good team to assist your body to heal itself. Remember, prevention comes before treatment. Let healthy lifestyle become a habit. Investment in your health is the best win-win decision.
We Help You Heal
By Qineng Tan, L.Ac., Ph.D.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on thousands of years of practical experience and research. It is also based on the philosophy that human beings are one with Nature. Nature built our body with systems to repair itself. Ideally, the body can heal itself from almost anything. But the universe is constantly changing; so are our bodies. People lose their healing ability from time to time, for many different reasons.
When all is balanced and in harmony–in the world, and in our bodies–we experience health and peace. But, everything is not always balanced in the world. In one area, there is a drought, while in another place, a river overflows, flooding the land. Our bodies, too, are often out of balance. One area weakens. Another area becomes stagnant. When we experience disease and trauma, it is both a reaction to and a reflection of imbalances in our environment and inside the body. Nature is cyclical; it is constantly creating, then destroying, and rebuilding.
Over time, some of our Qi–especially kidney Qi–drains away. The aging process affects the functioning of the organ systems and the healing process of the body. A healthy person in their 20s recovers quickly from a cold or flu, for instance. If they twist an ankle, they rest for a week or two, then function like new again. When you get older, your body starts to weaken due to trauma, environmental changes, toxins, and stress. Your healing power gets weaker and weaker. The body can’t regenerate tissues and healthy Qi like it used to. The kidneys and liver lose function; that is why people become diseased.
Are you experiencing one of the following?:
- Ongoing sneezing and allergies
- Getting sick easily or the same cold keeps coming back
- What used to be an occasional twinge becomes a daily ache
- An injury or wound seems to take a long time to heal
- A stable condition suddenly gets active and difficult to control
- Constant fatigue, difficulty generating energy without coffee
Health is never a final endpoint. No one–even me!– can say, “Now I am in excellent health, and I will be forever!” Health is about relative balance. There are good things on one side – healthy habits, good energy, and a sense of well-being–and on the other side, bad things–stress, pain, recurring issues and weaknesses. As we get older, the bad things start piling up, and the scale can tip to one side. When this happens, we must put in effort to add more to the “good” side – by exercising, eating well, resting appropriately, meditating, and getting regular acupuncture treatments. Acupuncture can play an important role in the healthy aging process.
Acupuncture helps you build up your healing process. We give support to the organ systems, the nervous system, the lymphatic system, the immune system. We adjust the flow of Qi and increase blood flow to help build a weak area up, unblocking stagnation. TCM works on a deeper level, healing problems at their source, so that a person has a chance of recovering in a more meaningful, lasting way.