Case Studies and Meridians

Everyone's body is different, and every body has different complaints, aches and pains. In our [massage therapy] class at the Oriental Healing Arts School of Massage we were able to take our personal complaints and were able to help treat them or subside the issue.

Over a period of time, we were taking massage, acupressure, tai chi and qi gong, as well as our own personal home care such as dieting, exercising, and essential oils to change the complaints that we had.

There were many different types of case studies that were covered, from fatigue to joint pain, previous bone injuries, tiredness, skin problems, and insomnia. All case studies were treated differently according to what acupressure points were right for that person, as well as different types of qi gong for every individual.

The five elements played a big role in defining what a person had a deficiency in or where stagnation was in the body. The five elements all compliment each other, and every organ is is linked to an element. 


What is the 5 element theory?The Five Element theory is based on the observation of the natural cycles and interrelationships in both our environment and within ourselves. The foundation of the theory rests in the correspondences of each element to a variety of phenomena.

Depending on the complaint that the individual had, we were given specific acupressure points to trigger in the one hour relaxation massage. All meridians were covered during the massage yet specific points helped subside the complaint the person had.

Some major meridians are the Bladder meridian, Spleen and Gallbladder meridians, Stomach, and Triple Burner meridians.  Qi gong exercises were also given to the person. In most cases the qi gong exercises that were given were moves that the person felt comfortable with. If your body feels like it needs that type of movement, in many cases it means it is effective. For example a type of Qi Gong for the water element is listed below. 


* Reaching for Heaven and Earth
* Pumping the kidney qi 
* Drawing the bow

Some of the individuals in the case studies were given different kinds of essential oils to use, as well as following a healthier diet that included foods that were beneficial to the complaint. When using multiple tools to help the issue you were able to tell the difference in a short period of time.


The result:
At the end of the treatment sessions you were able to tell dramatic differences right away. Problems that the individuals had were either gone or were mild. The change was fascinating because it not only made you feel better but also look at the issue differently.

Massage is such a great and effective way to help treat many problems someone may have, and with multiple types of massage you are able to subside many problems. 

Recipe: Creamy Dreamy Risotto

This recipe came about as I was playing with my new pressure cooker over this past summer. Pressure cooking is something I have never done until recently, but I was very interested in trying it because the pressure causes the energy of the food to go inwards and deep, all the way to the Jing level of your body. This is in contrast to cooking a soup, for example, which would expand the energy of the food outwards.

One of my favorite nutrition sources, Paul Pitchford, in his Healing With Whole Foods book, suggests that by eating pressure cooked food with intention and reaching such a deep energetic level one can work on healing both physical and emotional issues that are held deeply within the bodymind. One can also access this deep level to cultivate spiritual growth. Ok – I’m going to try this for a while and see what I think.

I have to say that so far just by taste alone I am very impressed with pressure cooking. Among several dishes I’ve made absolutely perfect black bean soup in just over 20 minutes, but this risotto is my favorite.

My sister says this is the one dish I make that she thinks about, wondering when I’m going to make it again. So many others that have tried it have asked me how to make it that I’d like to share the recipe. Beware – it’s super easy to make and can be addictive.

Ingredients:
8 organic tomatoes
1 organic lemon
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig fresh sage chopped (or ½ tsp. dried)
1 box or bag Italian Arborio rice (about 3 cups dry)
1 cup bleu cheese crumbles
2 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. butter
sprinkle of quality salt
extra water

1. Rinse the rice and set aside.

2. Cut up the tomatoes and de-seed the lemons but keep the peel on. Peel the garlic cloves. Feed all of these through a juicer. If you have 3 cups of rice you will need about 7-8 cups of liquid, so add enough extra water to make this amount. Use 7 cups if your tomato juice is very thin, and 8 cups if the tomato juice has any thickness to it. If you’re not sure, use 8 cups. [If you don't have a juicer you can substitute a bottle of organic tomato juice with the juice of one lemon squeezed into it.]3. In the pressure cooker, heat the olive oil. When hot, add the sage and let it infuse the hot oil for a moment before adding the rice. Coat the rice and stir for about 1-2 minutes.

4. Add the juiced liquid and extra water, sprinkle of salt, stir and cover. Allow the pressure to build and cook on high setting for 7 minutes once the pressure phase has started. After 7 minutes remove from heat and allow the pressure to release.

5. Open the lid and stir the rice mixture. Add 2 tbs. butter and the bleu cheese sprinkles. Stir again and it’s ready to serve. Goes great with a salad and whole grain crunchy bread. (As the instructor of the Five Elements Nutrition Program at our school, I absolve you from any guilt for eating butter in this dish. Sometimes experiencing great happiness when you eat will neutralize a moderate amount of butter.)
Depending on serving size, this recipe serves between 6 and 8 people. Enjoy!

[Note: If you are going to buy a pressure cooker, look for one that is stainless steel. It costs more than aluminum but is worth it! I have a Fagor brand and am very happy with it. I have no financial interest in saying this.]

Five Element Nutrition: Food Poisoning Entering the Blood Level

My 6-year old son ate a boxed lunch at summer camp. Soon after, he started vomiting, had to come home, and continued to vomit intermittently through the night. He was able to drink fluids and keep it down for a while, so I let his body do its thing. I gave him a little clay water (Sonne’s #7) but he was stubborn about drinking it (kids!). It’s one of the best remedies for food poisoning I know of.

2 days later he started to get a mild fever. I used an essential oil blend (Ravintsara, Lemon, Frankincense) on his stomach, chest, back, and feet several times throughout the day. When he finally started to sweat I covered him with a light blanket to help it.

After sweating, he felt much improved but the sides of his ribs hurt (sign of wood/liver disharmony) and around his eyes started to get very dark (toxic blood – liver manifests at the eyes). Toxins can get into the blood directly from the stomach, so the bad food most likely started this. According to Chinese medicine the liver stores the blood, so toxic blood will produce signs of liver disharmony.

I gave him a homeopathic dose of an internal essential oil blend that detoxifies and balances the liver, once an hour for 4 hours (“Liver Balance”, available at The Oriental Healing Arts Center). After the 4th dose he showed improvement – got up and wanted to play.

At that point I went to the store and bought a large tub of organic strawberries (detoxifies and builds blood). I washed them off and let him eat as much as he wanted. I also gave him several drops of Dang Gui herb tincture (to help build his blood back). He received this tincture 2 times the 1st day and 1 time the next day, each time with strawberries.

I like to use food along with herbs in many cases. Here, the strawberries build blood and kids like them, so the Dang Gui has something to work with, thus enhancing the action of the herb. It worked very quickly to re-balance him.

Note: Had he not improved significantly with my treatment I would have taken him to his doctor for conventional assistance.

Five Element Nutrition: Clearing Heat

Background Story: My sister is queen of the hot peppers. She loves them so much she even went to New York to do this crazy contest at an Indian food restaurant where they dare you to eat an entire serving of some insanely hot food and if you win you get your name on the wall, a certificate, and a free beer. She won – no problem, barely broke a sweat. (By the way, I adore Indian food.)

So here in Anchorage, her friends told her that one of the restaurants downtown was making chicken wings with Ghost Peppers – outrageously HOT! Of course, she had to go. So she comes home later and I ask how they were. She says they made her sweat, burned her lips, and were the hottest thing she ever ate. I remark that you can’t tell her lips are burnt through the lipstick she’s wearing. Only, she tells me, she’s not wearing any lipstick. Oh…. The dark maroon lipstick was the burn. I saw that and almost cringed at what her stomach/spleen must be doing inside to manifest this way through the lips. I had work to do.

Experiencing extreme digestive heat, she drank clay water (Sonne’s #7) for the next day. It was the only thing she could handle taking into her system. It helped enough that she could get some decent sleep through the internal volcanic activity taking place.

I made her a cooling soup to eat for the next 3 days: very light broth base (flavor and nutrition), juiced celery bunch with ½ lemon including the peel (she won’t eat celery but it’s so nice and cooling I juiced it and added that to the broth – lemon was for coolness and flavor), small amount of white rice (soothing and easy on digestion), very small amount of mung beans (cooling, detoxifies). Once this had cooked together, I removed it from the heat and added a tub of cold plain yogurt (cooling, soothing), 1 finely chopped fresh cucumber (cooling), and sprinkled some dill on top for flavor.

It was simple to make, tasted great, soothed her digestion, and cleared the heat. She started to feel much better after the first bowl.

Taoist 5 Elements Nutrition - Spring

Even though we might not think about it much, the food we eat is a form of medicine in that everything that goes into us has some kind of effect on our body – either therapeutic or harmful, it does something to us. We can begin to look at our diet (lifestyle eating habits) as a powerful way to change our health. From a mind-body-spirit viewpoint, food can be used to affect our physical bodies, our emotions, and our sense of purpose in life.

According to Taoist philosophy and Chinese medicine, the Spring season most strongly affects our Wood Element. This includes our physical Liver, the emotions of anger-frustration-resentment, how we respond to stress, and the spiritual potential of being kind and benevolent. Our Liver stores and cleans toxins out of our blood, so it is very important “spring clean” and support our Liver during this season.When our Liver is clogged up or over saturated with toxins that have built up we can experience a variety of health problems like food intolerances, digestive discomfort, physical pain, moodiness, PMS, deteriorating eyesight, finger and toe nail issues, too much anger, and being overly sensitive to daily stress.

Here are some nutritional suggestions for Spring, Liver/Gall Bladder health, and overall lifestyle considerations:

Suggestion #1: ENJOY your food! What fun is it to eat in a way that isn’t delicious and satisfying? This is all too easy to do with things that are fat and sweet, but what about things that are just good for you, like fruits and vegetables? When you eat healthy, think about how wonderful you are being to yourself.

Suggestion #2: Consciously let your food stimulate all of your senses. For example:

Touch/Feel – cut and prepare your food in a way that feels good to your mouth. Do you love to bite into a whole fresh strawberry, or do you tingle all the way down to your fingertips when you eat chopped strawberry pieces on top of hot oatmeal?

See – use several colors together so that when you look at your food it reminds you of a beautiful painting. Imagine a bright green salad with a little bit of chopped white chicken, deep yellow mango chunks, and a pop of little red cherry tomatoes.

Smell – incorporate your favorite spices so that you savor the smell. Pears sprinkled with ground cardamom… mmmm….

Hear – play some nice background music while you eat. Classical, jazz, or acoustic guitar can create the perfect atmosphere.

Taste – mindfully delight in the flavor of your food. Add some fresh home-grown Basil to a salad or pasta sauce, close your eyes, and thoroughly relish each bite.

Mind – use your sixth sense as an intention to allow your body to absorb all of the healing energy from your food. When you eat fresh greens, chew them well, swallow, and feel their energy washing over your Liver.

If you need any help in this area, watch one of the cooking shows on TV and see how the famous chef’s present beautiful scrumptious works of art on their plates.

Suggestion #3: Try to use locally grown organic foods that are naturally growing from the Earth right now. For Spring this is mainly leafy greens and baby vegetables. From your own yard pick some dandelion leaves (that have not been treated with chemicals), wash them, and either put them in a salad or pour some boiling water over a handful to make an infused herbal tea.

Suggestion #4: A fresh juice of carrots and apples is great for your liver! If you have a home juicer, use 4 carrots, 1 apple, and add a few sprigs of parsley (makes 1 serving). If you don’t have a home juicer, get a chair massage at The Oriental Healing Arts Center then walk across the parking lot to Organic Oasis Restaurant and they will make a great fresh juice for you.

Suggestion #5: Goji berries, also known as Gou Qi Zi in Chinese medicine, are becoming popular and easy to find. Very healing to the Liver (when used in moderation as opposed to excess), they are a great edible “herb”. Cook a tablespoon into your oatmeal, or sauté a small handful with chicken or green beans and walnuts. (available at The Oriental Healing Arts Center)

Suggestion #6: Use the “51% Rule”. With all of the above suggestions, try to do these things 51% of the time. Too great a change can lead to frustration or failure, while incorporating a smaller change can still give you good results and you can realistically succeed!

To learn more about cooking with edible herbs for Spring/Liver health, sign up for my workshop on Saturday May 16, 4-6pm. (see details at www.touchoftao.com)

Traditional Taoist Five Elements Nutrition

By Cynthia McMullen, Faculty Member of The Oriental Healing Arts School of Massage Therapy

Cooking with delicious and edible Chinese herbs

Nutrition: That which is taken in to satisfy and nurture a Being.

Often, eating is done out of habit or necessity, sometimes without much thought as to what is being eaten as long as it is acceptable to the palate. However, when we consciously think about what we are eating and why, we can turn the act into a special or even sacred ritual used for healing and self-cultivation purposes.

Traditional Taoist healing practices, upon which Chinese medicine is based, includes Five Elements Nutrition, a treatment method that uses food as a powerful medicine. We can use our food in this way to treat various aspects of our energy body and cause profound physical reactions. If we have physical, emotional, or spiritual symptoms of discomfort, we can go through an Oriental medicine intake with a qualified practitioner. This will lead to an energetic diagnosis based on the Five Elements which include Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Depending on which element is most out of balance, our daily diet can be altered to include foods that will assist in our healing process, and reduce or eliminate foods that are detrimental to our symptoms.

Usually, part of the goal is to strengthen and harmonize our digestive system so that we can efficiently assimilate and use our food intake appropriately. When we achieve this goal a number of things happen: we start to naturally like and dislike certain foods that are either beneficial or harmful to us, we achieve a healthy body weight without dieting, we eliminate food allergies, our mood improves, and our digestion becomes strong and comfortable.

Sometimes Five Elements Nutrition includes the use of Chinese herbs as food, either cooked into a broth or eaten as an ingredient. This is a delicious and fun way to begin exploring the world of medicinal food!

The soups listed below include a few special recipes that are fairly common to the American taste, combined with cooking Chinese herbs as part of the ingredients. They are adapted from the wonderful book "Between Heaven & Earth" by Harriet Beinfield and Efrem Korngold. Watch for my workshops to learn about the herbs, see how easy they are to use, and taste the prepared foods.
Wei Qi Soup (immune system enhancing, builds Kidney Qi an Jing)
Harmonize with the Fall Season soup (strengthens the lungs)
Weight Management Soup (instead of fasting, try this for several days!)

These herbal soup kits are available for purchase at The Oriental Healing Arts Center ($38 each). Complete cooking instructions included. (Call us at 907-279-0135 to order if you do not live in the Anchorage Alaska area.)