When I first started meditating and studying spiritual philosophy in earnest, about 12 years ago, my goal was spiritual enlightenment. I clearly remember, in 2000, participating in a group meeting at the Heartwood Institute, a holistic healing training center where I was doing a work-study program right out of college. Everyone in the group was stating their life goal, and I boldly pronounced that my goal was “Self-Realization,” or enlightenment. At the time I think I had some vague concepts about what enlightenment was. They were mostly centered around ideas of a blissful ecstatic awakening experience, after which I would know ...
According to Chinese Medicine, it is essential to address a cold or flu from the very first early onset symptom. Why? In normal cold and flu season, a Chinese herbal formula can stop the cold or flu in its tracks, not allowing it to progress beyond a tickle in the throat. Sometimes, of course, herbs may not stop the disease entirely. However, the course of the disease will most likely be shortened and symptoms decreased by applying timely initial treatment. The Concept of Immunity in Chinese Medicine The Chinese Medical concept of immunity is based on the concept of Upright ...
One of the biggest differences between conventional Western pharmaceuticals and Chinese herbal medicine, is that the Chinese herbal medicine tradition contains many herbs that help strengthen and boost the vitality of the body. These are called tonic herbs. One of the major uses of tonic herbs is to strengthen the immune system. Tonic Herbs – the original dietary supplements Tonic herbs are meant to be taken in small doses over long periods of time, to build up the body’s energy. In this way, they are more like a supplement to our diet. Dr. Stephen Chang, an herbalist in San Francisco, ...
Awareness Based on my own intensive process of healing through nutrition, I found that in the end, the most important part of the healing process came not as much from changing what I ate as from developing a greater awareness, or mindfulness, around the whole eating process. This awareness can be broken down into 4 parts: What does your body feel like when you’re eating, and after you eat? What are you eating / what are the ingredients? When are you eating / is there a regular schedule? What are you doing / what’s your state of mind while you’re eating? Notice that ...
Baking Soda as Deodorant?? Yes, I too was a bit surprised a few weeks ago when an aquaintance of mine suggested that I try baking soda as a deodorant. "It's actually the best deodorant I've found in terms of effectiveness," she informed me, "Better than every chemical and natural deodorant I've tried, and I've tried many over the years." An Experiment As a longtime consumer of natural, organic, non-toxic personal care and hygiene products, I was intrigued. I had tried a wide variety of deodorants and antiperspirants. I tried them in the usual solid format, and in the spray varieties. While I had ...
This article is a reprint from my July 2010 Newsletter You may have noticed the business name at the top of the page - Transformational Acupuncture. After some long hours (and a lot of indecision!) I decided to go with this name, as supposed to a more normal business name like using my own name and title, or something like Holistic Health Associates, or DC Acupuncture Center. Why did I choose this name? About 11 years ago, just out of college, my health hit bottom. I was about 25 pounds underweight (which I ...
