Art Inspired by Essential Oils

This video features some beautiful artwork done by Alanna K. Dunn, LMT, as part of the homework for the Essential Oil Certification Series.

Alanna completed the series and is now a Certified Aromatherapist. She uses essential oils in her art and in her massage therapy work.

One of the things that I love most about my extraordinary "job" as an instructor is putting out information and watching the incredibly creative things that people do with it—it’s energy that spirals up and out. Enjoy!

Learn tons of great information with my On-Line Essential Oils Course series. You can study here at our school in Alaska from anywhere in the world!

Chron's Disease: Oriental Medicine View

What is Chron's Disease?

Crohn's disease is an Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Auto-immune disorder which causes inflammation in the GI tract. It usually affects the small intestine, and the beginning of the large intestine. Because of the pain, it results in severe diarrhea, and blood in the stools. Other symptoms include Anxiety and Depression, adhesions, bloating and gas, cramping, anal fissures and hemorrhoids Anemia, Fibromyalgia, Constipation, uveitis, fatigue, and many more symptoms.

                Western medicine treats Crohn's with anti-inflammatory steroids, corticosteroids, immune suppressors, antibiotics, anti-diarrhea drugs, and surgery in which it removes the affected parts of the intestinal tract, which can include the whole Small Intestine, and a portion of the Large Intestine. Other than drugs and surgery there is not much else in the way of treating the symptoms of Crohn's in Western Medicine.

What about Crohn's in TCM?

There are four general categories for Crohn's in Chinese Medicine: Damp Heat, Spleen Deficiency, Spleen and Kidney Deficiency, and Qi and Blood Stagnation.

                DAMP HEAT in LI (Large Intestine) is characterized by Diarrhea, mucus and blood in stool, abdominal swelling and pain, irritability, thirstiness, greasy tongue, and pulse is wiry, slippery, and rapid.

                SPLEEN DEFICIENCY May Be Due To Constitutional Deficiency, Or An Excess Of Cold, Raw Foods.   It Is Characterized By A Compromised Ability For The Spleen To Transform And Transport Food Symptoms Such As Frequent And Severe Diarrhea;. Watery Stool With Undigested Food; Dull Abdominal pain; poor appetite; poor digestion; . and gastric discomfort after food intake Sallow facial appearance, fatigue and lethargy are due to chronic malabsorption and malnutrition are some of the signs of spleen deficiency The tongue is pale with a white coat;. the pulse is soft and weak.

                SPLEEN AND KIDNEY DEFICIENCY May be constitutional, or due to the chronic-ness of the disease. Some symptoms of spleen and kidney deficiency is early morning diarrhea around 5:00 am. Also, abdominal pain that increases with cold but decreases with defecation and may . I have an intolerance to cold and cold extremities The tongue is pale with a white coat; the pulse is thready and weak.

                QI AND BLOOD STAGNATION Is An Acute Phase Of Crohn's Disease In Which There Is Severe Abdominal Pain And Fullness With A Palpable Mass In The Right Lower Quadrant. This Condition Is Similar To Acute Appendicitis. In Addition, Patients May Experience Diarrhea, Lack Of Appetite, . muscle wasting and lethargy The tongue is dark purple; and the pulse is thready and knotted.

                 With all that in mind, it's important to realize that Crohn's does not just appear one day. Crohn's starts building up from childhood due to any number of things, especially if the child has been malnourished in anyway (bad food, bad relationships with family, bad, from around the time he / she hits adolescence, until the mid-20s, and suddenly, it hits out of nowhere. Western Medicine says there is no cure, but as long as you are alive and breathing, there is always a way.

            What I am going to explain is how to modify massage for a Crohn's patient:

Massage Relief for Crohn's

            Massage is contraindicated during flare-ups of Crohn's for 2 reasons: First, you do not give massage over an inflamed area.   And second, a person with a flare-up is likely so uncomfortable, that they do not want to be touched.

            Another thing to think about is, often a client with Crohn's has been on pain relief medicine for years, and their intestinal tracts are a mess, and very fragile, so do not perform a deep and vigorous massage, focus on light, gentle massage that will soothe the stomach, and calm the fire.

Doing a light abdominal massage with diluted fennel essential oil followed by some light cupping along the Large Intestine tract will help to reduce / induce bowl movement, and help gently guide the stomach back to its regular cycle.

1.        Warm The Belly With Diluted Fennel Essential Oil, Standing On Right Hand Side. And Pull From Left Side, Along Ribcage, On The Diaphragm.

2.       Cupping, Just Like You Did With The Massage. Take 6 Cups, Starting On Left Side, And Go Along The Ascending Colon Tract, Following It Down To The Descending Tract, And Back Again. Repeat 3 Times, Quickly Putting One Cup Down , and taking another cup off. Then you can use a gliding cup, and go around the small intestine tract.

Those two methods greatly relieve a lot of the symptoms and stress from Crohn's, and make the client feel greatly relaxed.

References

http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=27771

http://vitalitymagazine.com/article/chinese-herbs-for-crohns-colitis/

Agelessherbs.com

http://www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/Crohns-Disease

Acupuncture & Massage for Anxiety

Acupuncture is amazing for anxiety. Combined with massage, we have students who start school with anxiety, and graduate calm and strong. Here's a link to some easy to understand info about how it works, and the experience of one of our students:

ARTICLE: WHY ACUPUNCTURE WORKS FOR ANXIETY RELIEF by Morah Hohman

Our Student's Reply: I was one of those students and I can't express strongly enough how much this school changed my life. I started the program diagnosed PTSD, GAD, and Panic disorder and was on a miriad of anxiety medications that did nothing to fix the problem, they just covered it up like a bandaid. This wonderful place of healing gave me a safe environment to rip those bandaids off and I finished the program medication free (talk to your doctor, never just stop taking medications without first doing so, for it can be harmful). I feel better now than I ever have before and I wasn't aware that was even a possibility for me! All I want is for others to experience the miraculous healing that I found here and discover the beauty of life outside of dibilitating anxiety. It worked for me, and it can work for you!! It's not just a school, for me it was an awakening. I am just so happy I made that first step and enrolled, regardless of the anxious fear trying to stop me- I found peace here. ~H.P.12/11/15

Want to Try Acupuncture? Do This First!

There is a wonderful treatment we call an “Acupuncture Clearing”.  It’s like going into the energetic space of your body and cleaning, dusting, and scrubbing the surface area so we can see what we really have to work with.

We highly recommend this as either a first treatment, or done fairly close to the time of beginning a series of Acupuncture treatments.

How Is It Done?

A total of 12 Needles are gently inserted in a series of very special points along the spine called “Shu Points”.  While they are in, you can lay on a massage table or sit in a massage chair and rest for about 45 or so minutes.

What to Expect

This treatment works over the next 72 hours (3 days).  People are so different there is no standard to say exactly what you will experience, however most people report a shift in physical symptoms, or a change in attitude.  Sometimes symptoms can feel worse at first, but there is something different about them and they go away faster than usual.  At the same time, it’s not unusual for a number of seemingly unrelated symptoms to go away.  One example of this is a person who came in for leg pain and had the ringing in their ears subside.

Follow-Up Treatments

We like to schedule you back in about 1 week after the Clearing.  At this time the Acupuncturist will ask some questions, feel your pulses, and decide on course of direction.

We love it when we can help you achieve your health goals, experience a more balanced life, and then use Acupuncture proactively to maintain your new high level of health – the way it was originally intended.

What Does It Cost?

We have 2 options for the Clearing Treatment:

• Private appointment with Professional Acupuncturist: $130
• Acupuncture Student Clinic: $65

Follow up treatments are very reasonable and range in price from $35 - $95 depending on your choice of Community Clinic, Student Clinic, or Private Professional.

Call us to Schedule Today:   907-929-4525

5 Best Ways to Use Massage Therapy

Getting a massage here and there when we’re stressed out or sore is great, however getting a massage on a regular basis has some huge benefits worth looking at.

Depending on our health goals and the resources we commit to our self-care, regular massage can be once a week, once every other week, or once a month.

1.  Detox with massage
In today’s world filled with pollution, environmental chemicals, and industrialized food, it’s difficult if not impossible to not be affected by all of this.  Detoxing our body becomes a priority to consider.  There are many great ways to do this, like cleansing fasts, juicing, bathing with essential oils, and more – and getting a regular massage complements all of them because of the way it releases substances held in our tissues.  Once released, these waste products go back into circulation to get flushed out.  That’s one reason massage therapists always remind us to “Drink More Water” afterwards.

2.  Supercharge your immune system
There is tons of research on this topic.  When our immune system is healthy and vibrant we have a much better chance at warding off colds, the flu, and even things like cancer that show up when our immune system is highly compromised. Gotta care for our little T-Cells!

3.  Reduce injury intensity (pain sensation) and duration with massage
Hopefully we won’t get injured, but if we do, people who get regular massage experience less pain and heal noticeably faster.  This is great for outdoorsy athletes, and especially everyone over 40 because of the way our healing response slows with age.  Even if we don’t get regular massage, when massage puts our body into the relaxation response, it reduces the sensation of pain everywhere in our whole body.

4.  Avoid common effects of stress and muscle constriction
It’s estimated that up to 85% of Dr. visits are related to the effects of stress in some form.  For example, digestive issues and ulcers, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and more.  When we’re stressed out and our muscles constrict this causes decreased circulation and holding toxins in our tissues which greatly contributes to headaches, migraines, chronic pain, and skin issues. Get a massage and get those muscles relaxed and flowing.

5.  Build a more intuitive relationship with yourself
Studies have shown that people who do yoga and get regular massage tend to eat better and generally take more control over their own health.  A huge benefit of experiencing our natural state of relaxation and flow is that we can become very aware of things that take us out of that.  We notice when our breathing shifts, when our intestines rebel, when our emotions constrict our neck and shoulders, and we can actually do something about it right in the moment.  #SelfLove, one of the most important things in life.

Free Acupuncture Clinic for Military

Hal our Hero

DID YOU KNOW WE HAVE A FREE ACUPUNCTURE CLINIC FOR
MILITARY PERSONNEL, ACTIVE DUTY AND RETIRED?

Every Wednesday from 12-3 pm we welcome military personnel to our clinic, Inner Space, 2610 Spenard (next to Organic Oasis).  Acupuncture is not only effective in treating the physical wounds of combat.  It can also ease the more invisible emotional scarring.  We are deeply honored to offer this service to our brothers and sisters in all branches of the military.  Please spread the word. The donations we receive from our special events like Solstice treatments and Spirit of the Points help defray material costs for this clinic.  Pay it forward, mates!

Hal served in WWII and even had coffee with Harry Truman! Always the gentle man, we love it when he comes to call.

Spirit of the Point

August is the Spirit of the Heart Protector.  It’s the work of the Heart Protector to guard the Heart against assault or insult.  This month we will be offering a 1 or 2-point treatment Friday nights from 8-9 at Inner Space in the Community Room.

The points being needled this month are on the arm. The needles are inserted and gently stimulated and immediately removed. The points are like light switches to your heart.  You won’t want to miss it! Please call to reserve a spot.

Friday, August 7: Gate of Qi Reserve, Xi Men

Feeling like you’ve got nothing left to give?

Can’t remember the last time you had a good laugh?

Xi men is one of the strongest points to bring peace and serenity to a troubled heart, mind and soul.  It’s brings reinforcements to the struggle.  It brings warmth to the mind through the heart and helps to stabilize mood.  It’s a good point to use in acute illness, or in recovery from an illness that’s taken it’s toll.  It’s a reserve for people who’ve “had enough.”  It’ll make you smile again.

It helps to open the diaphragm so you can breathe more deeply again.  It’s good for people who bruise easily, physically and emotionally. If you’re feeling vulnerable around others.    

Friday, August 14: Inner & Outer Frontier Gates, Nei Guan/Wei Guan

Neiguan  is often translated as Inner Gate or Inner Border Gate.  It is also a Taoist expression - to examine oneself, a heartfelt search of one's inner world. When out of touch with what you want out of life, this point gives connection, take you inside.  It is a messenger of the Emperor (Heart) who resides in the interior.  Restores balance between body and mind.  A good point for "broken hearts", it let's you see you will not be torn in half.  

Weiguan  reflects the importance of harmony and opens the gate to allow access between our internal and external environment.  Has a big effect on the senses for those who don't want to see, hear or know.  Triple Energizer is the social ambassador to the Heart. The party hostess who ensures everyone at the party gets what they need.  She promotes harmony within the kingdom of the bodymindspirit. 

These points together help to keep the gates well-oiled so there is balance  between  the internal and external world and healthy boundaries between the two. 

Friday, August 21: Heavenly Well, Tianjing

Drawing from this well is like feeding someone in the desert. A deep reserve for strengthening mind and spirit. It gives stability of mind, strength, peace and serenity. A supply of heavenly Qi. Come with us this Friday, reconnect with the Divine and drink deeply from the well of joy.

I'd like to add that this point is particularly poignant for those whose relationship with their father was/is disrupted

Years ago when I was diagnosed with a potentially life threatening squawk, I happened upon a sage in the mountains of Virginia.  This sage whispered to me "often in this life a being of great wisdom and strength comes into a life to lend support when you can't cope on your own.  He or she will walk beside you, taking your arm gently enough so as not to force you in a direction, and firm enough to support you in the direction you have chosen."  I envisioned that being taking hold of my elbow to keep me from falling should I stumble along the way.  I think of that image when I think of this point.  A heavenly helping hand that doesn't try to lead me, but rather walks beside me supporting my progress.