Weight Balance Challenge - Special Meditation

How did the intro steps go? Did you find it easy or hard to love yourself exactly as you are right now?  Were you able to work out any issues in this that you wouldn’t mind sharing?

In changing our Mindset so that we really love and work with our bodies, we can actually tell our body what we need it to do and then expect that to start happening.  Ok, there is a little background info to understand here.

First, when we tell our body out of love what we need it to do, this has a completely different energy that demanding, begging, or talking down to.  “Body, I love you so much. We’re going to be working together to balance our weight differently than it is right now and I would adore your help with this. You have some incredibly important work to do on your end and I appreciate your grasp of the details. Thank you!”

It’s very interesting that when we speak out of love in this way, who are we that is saying this? It’s us, but we’re connecting to our Higher Self also, and there’s an energy of power associated here.  Whenever we completely feel love – gratitude – appreciation and we speak or act within this feeling, we are connected to our Higher Self.  The feeling it part here is very important.

Here’s an easy, fun meditation to work with over the next few days. Doing this right before bed can be really nice! But do it whenever you have a quiet moment.

1. Bring your attention to your heart center and consciously breathe here, as if you are inhaling and exhaling from your heart center.
   
2. At a certain point, your breath will naturally slow, and this signifies that physiological changes are starting to take place. Enjoy the slow softness of your breath.
   
3. In the slow breathing, start to feel love for yourself.  Allow the feeling to grow until you feel your entire emotional state shift and expand.
   
4. Consciously radiate this feeling of love coming out of you beyond your body, into the space that surrounds you.  Can you fill the area or room with it?
   
5. When we do this, our brain waves literally change.  You may feel as if you are experiencing a slight altered state that is extremely light and clear.
   
6. In this state say to yourself “Subconscious Mind, I direct you to begin right now doing what is necessary to change my weight.”  You can tweak this sentence to fit your own words as long as you speak directly to your subconscious mind and tell it exactly what to do – in a state of love.

Let me know how this goes – I’m excited for you to try it! And it’s so much fun to see what your subconscious mind knows you need and starts to do for you. 

Weight Balance Challenge - Introduction

What this is:  We are going to blend a variety of real-life natural techniques found in Oriental medicine that work.  This is going to be done in steps that allow us to experience and integrate genuine changes into our daily routine that bring us into a more balanced state of being.  Through mindset, reaching a higher vibration, caring for and moving our body, and using gifts from the Earth like herbs and crystals, we are going to have FUN shifting into our natural weight and feeling absolutely wonderful about it.

What this is not:  This is not a New Year’s Resolution.  It is also not a diet.  It is not a quick gimmick to lose 5 or 10 lbs then gain it right back.  If you’re looking for an external source to change you, there are plenty available out there.

How to participate:  Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting specific items and ideas to work with, so make sure you Like my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TouchOfTao/) and watch for them.  I’ll also re-post everything here on our blog in case you missed it, or so you can come back to it anytime.

These will be actionable items that you’ll need to play with and actually do.   I like to make things flexible enough to allow them to fit your own unique preferences and ways, because all of this has to work from you and through you.  It’s you that is changing you – not me or anyone else doing something to you. You create your own beauty from within, and all of the upcoming activities will help that come out.

Ready? The first item to work with is Self-Love.  In order for all of this to work as fluently as possible, we need our bodies to feel incredibly loved – no matter what - and invite them to work with us. 

This may take some inner work, because often if we want to change our weight we don’t like how we are right now.  Really look at the self-talk you have going on inside about this.  What do you think about yourself and how your body looks?

If you already say “I love myself exactly as I am right now. I’m beautiful and perfect!” then keep doing more of that.

If you say anything at all like “I’m too fat. I’d look good if I lost 20 pounds. I look terrible.” Etc. etc., then become very aware of exactly what you are saying.  You’ll need to add a disclaimer at the end.  You can make up what works for you, but it needs to be something like:  “I’m too fat. But I totally love myself anyway.”  “I’d look good if I lost 20 pounds. But I completely love myself right now regardless of my abundant weight.”  “I look terrible. Well I love my terrible looking self so much it doesn’t matter what I look like!”

I think of our inner self-talk like talking to a child.  How does a child respond that is told he/she is too fat and looks terrible?  It’s not a good feeling.  Usually it’s a heavy, energetically damp feeling that weighs down morale and slows down the energy flow.  This can directly translate into a slower metabolism.

If we tell a child “You’re beautiful! You’re perfect! I love you so much!” and we mean it deeply and genuinely – now we’ve got some amazing energy to work with and we can be motivated and play and love what we create within.

So start today – right now - and look at your inner self-talk about your body and weight.  Wherever you think or say something negative, imagine you are talking to a beautiful innocent child and change it around.  Add a disclaimer, or apologize to your body, forgive yourself, and think/say a better thought filled with unconditional love.  This takes commitment and practice, so keep doing it until it’s so natural the love you feel for yourself becomes emotionally palpable.

I’d love to hear your comments and experience with this, especially if it will help someone else who can relate or is having a hard time.  Thanks! Have fun & be creative with this.

PS: Throughout the challenge if you feel like you need one-on-one personal assistance please call to make an appointment with myself or the other amazing practitioners at the Oriental Healing Arts Center.  Your success means a lot!

Natural Therapies for Anxiety

Natural Therapies for Anxiety
Acupuncture & Herbs
Massage Therapy
Energy Healing
Meditation – QiGong – Tai Chi

See video at end -
Anxiety: Frankincense and Energy Work

Approximately 38 million Americans suffer with chronic anxiety or depression with one out of eight adults currently taking antidepressant medications for these symptoms. While these medications can offer support and benefit on certain occasions, there are many people that do not respond well to this form of treatment. What happens when you need to try something else?

Natural therapies can offer tremendously helpful support in healing the root causes of this epidemic. This approach is much more comprehensive and much less invasive to the brain than using SSRI medications. Oriental medicine looks at the whole mind-body-spirit, and treats on all 3 levels.

Acupuncture

Practiced for over 2,500 years, acupuncture is a branch of Chinese medicine that treats the energetic level of the human body/mind. Did you know acupuncture is usually a profoundly relaxing experience that establishes a deep quality of restoration and balance to the central nervous system? Many people report a pleasant feeling of an altered mind state, floaty, dreamy, or sleepy after treatment. This feeling tends to stick around for a few hours after the treatment and becomes a more continuous experience with repetitive treatment.

Acupuncture works by balancing the flow of Qi, or internal life force, in the body. Energetically, anxiety is considered a byproduct of weakened Qi in the heart or kidneys. Other symptoms such as low back pain, heart palpitations, insomnia, irritability, or nightmares commonly accompany the anxiety and are naturally included as part of the treatment.

Chinese & Western Herbs

There are a number of Chinese herbal formulas that can work wonders for anxiety disorders. Here is a brief list of formulas an acupuncturist may use to treat anxiety followed by several common Western herbs that can be easily found at your local health food store:

• Peaceful (or Calm) Spirit
• Salvia and Amber
• Heavenly Emperor's classic formula
• Free and Easy Wanderer – one of our favorites!
• Suan Zao Ren Tang
• chamomile
• valerian
• lemon balm
• passion flower

Massage Therapy

Many people have found Massage Therapy to have a wonderful effect in relaxing the body-mind and re-integrating a sense of peace and calm into the nervous system. Regular massage, which we suggest either once a week or every other week for about one season, trains our body to attain and maintain a strongly serene state. It can become much easier to avoid or release the feelings that anxiety brings on.

Energy Healing

Many people find light touch/no touch energy healing helps them to reach a mind state that is so relaxed it becomes a mentally transformative experience.  In this altered state, it can feel like floating, energetic sensations throughout the body or in focused areas, and simultaneously being in a deep sleep while being aware of not being asleep.  Medical QiGong Energy Healing uses the same energy pathways as acupuncture, and externally re-balances energy (Qi) flow to assist in healing symptoms.  The therapist helps the energy of your heart and kidneys communicate harmoniously again so that deep healing can occur.

Meditation – QiGong – Tai Chi

Many people find meditation, qigong, and tai chi to be their most powerful allies in healing anxiety. With regular practice of various breathing techniques and tai chi postures, people often feel that they have much more control over their anxiety and that it need not run their life anymore. These practices can be direct gateways to the rest and restore mode of the nervous system. On a deeper level, they can help us forge a spiritual connection with our lives that instills an unshakable sense of trust and safety in the workings of the universe. 

From a holistic perspective, our symptoms are never random. There is always a reason why they creep up. In the case of anxiety, it is helpful to disengage from our personal feelings about it and look at the bigger picture. What is the anxiety telling us about ourselves and where we are at in life? Is it a warning sign that something is amiss and needs to be acknowledged or changed? In any regard, the practices mentioned here can offer a profound level of support in getting to the root of the problem and inducing a gentle course in a new direction of calmness and insight.

Natural Therapies for Insomnia

Natural Therapies for Insomnia
Acupuncture & Herbs
Massage Therapy
Energy Healing
Meditation / QiGong
Essential Oils & Ear Reflexology

Sleep disorders plague millions of Americans and can be attributed to a variety of causes. Perhaps the main cause of insomnia and restless sleep is the whirlwind pace that most modern people live with day in and day out. Our society emphasizes ‘doing’ much more than ‘being’.

From the perspective of acupuncture, the yin aspect of life is quite depleted for the average modern American.  [

In case you have never heard of yin and yang, these are the polar forces that are reflected in everything in the natural world. Yin is related to stillness, tranquility, and contemplation. Yang is related to movement, accomplishment, and function. We need yin and yang to be in balance within ourselves in order to experience true health and wellbeing.

When we are yin deficient, we easily become restless, irritable, and excessively busy. Our ability to rest and restore is compromised, as we never seem to get a break from the constant activity in our minds and our lives.

This is one of the main dilemmas that we face in terms of experiencing deep states of continuous sleep. We have forgotten how to turn our minds off due to the frantic speed of everything around us and we have become yin deficient.

The common word is stress, but there is a lot more to this picture than is implied. Another way to look at this is that the sympathetic nervous system is on overdrive. We are stuck in fight or flight mode, as we are trying to keep up with our hectic schedules and myriad responsibilities. We have excessive amounts of cortisol and adrenaline in our systems, which keep us feeling amped up and unable to rest.

With the pattern of yin deficiency and a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system, we often feel too warm, excessively thirsty, dried out, and anxious. This pattern is extremely common in menopausal women. Due to the fact that we are in fight or flight, we sometimes can’t tell if we are tired. We often feel wired or manic. Yet other times a deep-seated exhaustion is felt that penetrates into our bones.

There are many other factors that contribute to insomnia, but this is the primary issue that many people are facing. Other potential inputs are nutritional imbalances, suppressed emotions, relationship troubles, hormonal imbalances, and energetic imbalances.

Let’s take a look at a few of the top natural treatment options for insomnia:

1) Acupuncture: All of the major organs of the body are related to specific kinds of insomnia. For instance, there is a liver/gall bladder insomnia in which one is kept awake strategizing, planning and scheduling their lives at night. This person often can’t turn their minds off unless they read or watch TV before bed. Likewise, there are kidney, heart, lung and spleen forms of insomnia that all have specific manifestations. Acupuncture is an excellent treatment option for insomnia, regardless of its etiology.

For chronic insomnia, we generally recommend receiving acupuncture once a week for 4-6 weeks, then we can assess for progress. Acupuncture helps to restore balance to the central nervous system and harmonize Qi, the functional energy that underlies our general state of health. Qi can either become stagnant, meaning that too much energy is locked up in a certain area or organ, or it can become deficient, meaning that there is not enough energy in an area or organ. Either pattern can cause insomnia and both are treatable with acupuncture.

2) Herbs: There are many Chinese and Western herbs that can be very helpful for insomnia. Chinese herbs are typically used in combination to create formulas that treat specific patterns of disharmony. Western herbs are frequently used on their own. The great thing about herbs is that they don’t cause the drowsiness and disorientation that many of the Western sedative drugs do. Here is a great list, and our Acupuncturist can help you make an appropriate selection.

·         Valerian: Has mild sedative properties that help to relax the nervous system and calm the mind.

·         Chamomile: Has a mild tranquilizing and calming effect that soothes all major systems of the body.

·         Kava: A highly prized medicinal that is used to alleviate anxiety and induce deeper sleeping patterns. Kava is contraindicated for those with Liver disease.

·         Gui pi tang: A Chinese formula that nourishes the heart and spleen, for insomnia with low energy, nightmares, anxiety, depression, and possibly night sweats.

·         Tian wan bu xin dan: A Chinese formula that balances the relationship between the heart and kidneys, for symptoms such as insomnia, low back pain, anxiety, feeling of heat, thirst, and night sweats.

·         Suan zao ren tang: A Chinese formula that nourishes the heart and liver, for insomnia irritability.

·         An mian pian: A Chinese formula translated as peaceful sleep, for insomnia due to heart blood deficiency.

3) Massage Therapy:  This is the ultimate way of teaching our body how to go into a deeply relaxed state.  Through massage, our muscles relax, circulation flows smoothly, and our mind quiets.  For insomnia, we recommend getting a massage once per week for 5-8 weeks to start making full relaxation a welcome change. We like to reassess at this point to see if continued  weekly massage is still needed, or changing the frequency to a massage every 2-4 weeks would be of better benefit.  The goal is to re-train the body to attain and maintain a state of pure relaxation and great sleep on its own.

4) Energy Healing:  Many people find light touch/no touch energy healing helps them to reach a mind state that is so relaxed it becomes a mentally transformed experience.  In this altered state, it can feel like floating, energetic sensations throughout the body or in focused areas, and simultaneously being in a deep sleep while being aware of not being asleep.  Medical QiGong Energy Healing uses the same energy pathways as acupuncture, and externally re-balances energy (Qi) flow to assist in healing symptoms.

5) Meditation and QiGong: Meditation – either still or gently moving like QiGong, is a deeply restorative practice and can replicate many of the benefits of sleep. In fact, meditation is often considered to be even more beneficial because it can lead to a state of non-thought, which is said by many spiritual traditions to be the deepest state of relaxation and healing possible for human beings. In sleep, our minds are still processing and dreaming. Spend 15 minutes before bed meditating and it will quite likely allow you to fall asleep faster and to sleep more peacefully. Not sure how to do this? We can teach you, and there are many excellent guided meditations.

6) See our YouTube video on Essential Oil and Ear Reflexology for Insomnia. Click the image to access the video.

Herbs as Teachers

Purple Morning Glories, Plant Teachers

Want to listen to this post? Now you can on our Podcast Channel:



In the Taoist healing practices (and also other tribal and traditional customs), medicinal herbs are used in a very special way. We don’t just take them and expect our symptoms to go away, like a pill. We take them into us as if they are our friends, guardians, and teachers.

“My plant brother, will you teach me why my leg keeps swelling? I want to learn from you and will pay attention to what you tell me.” Plants communicate easily with sincere intention from your heart. They will understand and they love to fulfill their destiny by assisting us.

When I give someone an herbal formula or a special essential oil blend I have already asked the plants if they will help this person, and I know they will. Now it is up to the person taking them to experience and learn from changes in their life as they use the herbs.

For example, ask some of the following questions as you are using herbs (in any form – tea, tincture, decoction, topical):

• Does your desire for food change?
• Do you dream differently?
• How does your breathing change?
• Any shift in attitudes or emotions?
• Any changes in the people around you that you relate with on a regular basis?
• Is sleep different?
• Is there anything you normally do that you have less of a desire to do?
• Is there anything you don’t usually do that you suddenly have a desire to do?
• Any unusual thoughts that keep popping into your mind?
• Any changes in digestion or elimination?
• What physical symptoms change?
• Do you feel anything different about your purpose in life?

When you answer the questions and notice changes, stop and look at what they are teaching you. For example:

  

You normally eat pasta 3 times a week out of habit. Since taking the herbs you just don’t feel like eating it as much, and instead you would rather have a lighter rice dish. You may be learning that the way you eat is done out of habit rather than by listening to your body, and other foods will help to balance out what is either missing or you are using in excess, and your symptoms will normalize.

Or someone else may go to work, sit down at their desk, and turn on the computer. As they look at their schedule for the day their breath subtly changes and becomes constricted in the mid-chest and shallow. As the day goes on and they continue breathing this way, the energy of their body is getting stuck rather than flowing easily throughout, and they end up with their normal and almost daily afternoon headache. Using herbs, all of a sudden there is an awareness of the tight constriction in their chest, and pondering this, the person has an idea – “What if I breathe deeper? Yes, that feels much better.” There is a moment of beautiful peace and calm as they learn that their breathing was greatly contributing to their symptoms.

This might sound very simple, but it is an extremely profound experience to have. There is no one answer for everyone. It will be unique for you and your circumstances. When you know the herbs are teachers and you listen to them, you will learn amazing things about yourself and how you live your life.

Next time you decide to use herbs, remember this. Open your heart to them, ask them to teach you, and always thank them for what they share with you.

Please remember to consult a qualified and certified herbalist who can ensure you are using herbs appropriate for you, and who will refer you to your medical doctor for any advice on prescribed medications.

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.)