Is Acupuncture Right for You?

One of the most common questions I get after I tell someone I am an acupuncturist is, “Can it help with (insert any condition or ailment here)?.This is because the majority of us suffer from something we wish we didn’t have to. The reason most of us suffer is that we have been taught only to receive medicine and health care as a means of fixing something which is already broken; we do not think about creating and maintaining a healthy body before malfunctions start to occur. But what if we could change our way of thinking?
As a society in general, we tend to be hyper-focused on fixing problems. When we shift our focus back a bit, we can usually see how problems come from preventable causes, and that it is the causes, not the problem, that need to be addressed. When it comes to the human body, we all ought to be able to recognize ourselves in the following scenario:

Imagine a time where you had an injury or felt pain somewhere in the body. You may have noticed that you quickly developed a very intuitive way to relieve the pain; perhaps you shifted your bodyweight to avoid an achy foot, or used your non-dominant hand to pick up something heavy, or placed a pillow below a sore hip in the car. Whatever the situation, I’m sure you instinctively and creatively found a way around worsening your pain. 

At first, these adjustments may have been just what you needed to allow some part of your body to rest and heal. Sometimes, however, circumventing pain can cause prolonged unnatural use of your body in other areas; and when you strain one part of your body in order to avoid strain on another part of your body every day for a week or a month, or in many cases even years, you will without a doubt begin to feel pain somewhere else. The body has a way it is supposed to move, and when you move in a way that is contradictory to it, you incite a domino effect.

The entire body is interconnected. Every system, every organ, and every cell that is out of balance has to pull from reserves somewhere else. Simply put, the sick robs from the healthy. This is how imbalance forms in the body, and it is the reason unpleasant symptoms begin to manifest. Symptoms of imbalance can be subtle--they may show up in the form of dry mouth, a slightly aching head, or difficulty sleeping. Every person has a different chemical makeup, and therefore these imbalances will show up differently in everyone. It takes an in-tune and aware individual to begin noticing these changes in their body, and an even more proactive and intelligent person to decide to do something about them when the first signs arise.

 At last, we come to acupuncture and its role in all this. Acupuncture is part of a holistic medical system that originated in China and dates back thousands of years, and its entire motivation is to restore balance anywhere in the body. That means that in a roundabout way, acupuncture can really work with anything, although its strength is with preventative and early-onset illness. This is why acupuncture is fantastic for children and adolescents, because the majority of their imbalances are fresh and new, still close to their root cause, and relatively easy to reverse. It becomes more difficult when we keep ignoring the subtle changes that show up in our bodies, because they continue to get more numerous day after day. This then leads to a very deep, systemic malfunction in the body, which in turn takes longer to treat with any form of medicine.

When explaining this to those who are new to acupuncture, I often get follow-up questions about whether or not acupuncture can cure things such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimers, and other extreme ailments. Without a doubt, there are some very debilitating diseases that are best managed with a combination of pharmacological treatments and acupuncture. Until you begin getting treated with acupuncture and seeing how your body responds, it is nearly impossible to determine the level of imbalance in the body. What I can say with clarity and assertion is that acupuncture will most definitely help in some area of a person’s life. When dealing with chronic illness, there is such a deep imbalance in the body that the person’s main concern may not be transformed in the way that they hope. In these individuals, although their illness may not be cured, their quality of life will almost certainly improve and many symptoms will be managed with acupuncture included in their care.

Because acupuncture works with such a variety of individuals with drastically differently manifesting symptoms, it is challenging to specifically say what changes you will see after beginning your course of treatments. Following are a list of benefits I have found to show up in almost everyone I treat, regardless of primary concern:

• Improved and more stable mood
• Stress reduction and the body’s ability to handle difficult situations 
• Better and more sustainable energy throughout the day  
• Deeper and more quality sleep 
• Appetite regulation- more or less depending on what the individual needs 
• Overall increased feeling of well being 
• Decrease in pain and inflammation in the body 

There are many lists out that there have been approved by the FDA detailing specific ailments that “acupuncture can treat” and they can be helpful, but just remember that looking at the benefits of acupuncture in that way minimizes the vast comprehensive approach that it actually has on the body. It is a much more holistic medicine that can positively affect many individuals. 

Here's to healthy and balanced bodies, 

3 Easy Steps to Prevent Burnout

Congratulations! You’ve found the section of my blog where we are going to get very real. I wholeheartedly promise to highlight my deepest regrets, failures, mistakes, and saddest of times. 

Why would I do this? Because it is in these times where transformation happens; it is here where our souls grow in ways we never thought possible. I’ll start small, of course; after all, I don’t want to scare you. I merely want to share with you some of the valuable lessons I’ve learned and some of my most treasured experiences, in the hopes that some of my stories may help you in the future. 

I also want to remind you that although we as individuals of a specific culture create images on the web of what our lives are like, often using only beautiful pictures, carefully edited words, and strategically chosen brands, there is a very real side to each and everyone one of us. Every single one of us will fail, lash out, cry heavily, say things we don’t mean, and feel defeat many times throughout our lives. The goal of this section in my blog is to help all of us accept that this is normal, and this is where the beauty lies, this is the truth, this is where real change and growth happens. 

BURNOUT is REAL! My 3 Very Simple Tips to Avoid (or correct) Burnout 

I have a tendency to overload myself in life. I work too hard and create so many unrealistic goals that would never, ever be possible in a million years. Since as far back as I can remember I’ve been working at least 2 jobs at a time, studying something or other, attempting to exercise, and trying desperately to take care of myself (and I wonder why I get headaches or feel exhausted!). Needless to say, I have burnt the candle at both ends and have nothing left to burn. I had an intense breakdown the other night where I cried my eyes out in front of my wonderful, loving, and ever-patient roommate. What about? I had no idea. I just knew that every other sentence ended in: “I’m just so exhausted.” 

After spending some time journaling to follow my massive waterworks, I realized that something had to change. I had started in a situation that I absolutely loved: I’m a practicing acupuncturist and, in my totally biased opinion, there is no better job out there. I have an extremely loving support network, I live in a beautiful area, and I have so many wonderful ideas for the future. The problem? I often had no energy to enjoy any of it. 

I realized I was beginning to feel burnout. If you’re not familiar with burnout, the term is used to describe fatigue, high stress, and impossible standards that are specifically related to your job. The major downside of this, in addition to the toll it plays on your overall health, is that many people begin to dislike their jobs. 

Burnout was originally referred to as an issue affecting medical health professionals, but today, with our high-stress, high-speed lifestyle in any first-world nation, it can be seen in almost every profession. Imagine my immense panic when I started to feel burnout in my acupuncture job? Literally, I love acupuncture. I think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. Since my cognizant, rested mind knows this, I knew I NEEDED to do something to make sure my fire for the medicine kept alight. 

Following is my attempt to reverse the burnout I’ve been experiencing in myself, and hopefully help prevent it in some of you! 

1 - Have at least 2 days off a week. 

If you’re lucky enough and it’s financially accessible to you, I highly recommend taking 3 days off. Operating on 1 day off is literally impossible. That day ends up being everything but a day off. It is spent doing laundry, grocery shopping, meal prepping, exercising, doing bookwork, and trying to prepare for the week ahead. There is absolutely no way around it. You need (I need) one full day to do nothing. NOTHING! Or at least whatever comes up, be it hiking, Netflixing, reading, or sleeping. Trust me, adding extra jobs, working overtime, or offering to cover coworker’s shifts may seem like a wonderful idea at the time but this is not sustainable over time, and what good will the extra money be? You’ll be too tired to do anything with it! 

2 - Schedule in lunch breaks. 

Lunch breaks, doesn’t that sound so simple? Well, let me tell you when it’s NOT so simple…when you’re fresh out of graduate school and you feel like you need to cater to your every patient’s optimal schedule or they won’t see you, they’ll find someone else, and you’ll never make a dime. It would probably be better to just call your whole degree a wash, declare bankruptcy, and hide under a rock. If this sounds familiar to you, you are not alone. It is EXTREMELY difficult to advocate for yourself when you own your own business. More often than not, your needs get pushed behind those of your clients. Once again, this is a completely unsustainable lifestyle. You are NOT a better person if you put everyone else’s needs before yours, you are just a more tired person with a whole bunch of resentment. When you begin to skip things like lunch, I’ll tell you what happens. You send the message to your body that you are not important. So not only will you get moody, light headed, irritable, and over tired from lack of nutrition, you will also begin to lower your self worth and importance. This leads you to become short and frustrated with those around you, and you won’t be able to show up in a present way for your clients, patients, colleagues, and loved ones. Here’s hoping you have a job that schedules this time in for you, but if not and you are a small business owner- please, please, please make this a priority for yourself. Even if you work from home, make a healthy lunch every day, eat it without distractions and optimally take half an hour to get out of your place of work to change up the scenery a bit. Things that especially help me regroup are: short walks, deep breathing, yoga poses, meditation, and journaling. 

3 - Make “me time” a priority. 

Get it in your head that your “me time” is just as important as a business meeting with the head of the company. Schedule in time for whatever makes you tick. For me, it is meditation, yoga, and/or getting outside. I find that my days are so much more pleasant (and I am more pleasant) when I do these things for myself. This all circles back to the idea that we have to show our “innerselves” that we are our number one priority in life. And, as an added bonus: when we take time away from work, it will be that much more enjoyable to come back to it later feeling refreshed. I have an abundant history of using so many excuses on the reg: “I’m too tired”, “there’s not enough time”, “if I cut out my yoga, I can schedule one more patient on that day.” No, no, no, honestly you can make an excuse every single day of your life to avoid “me time”, it gets pushed aside SO OFTEN. Just think, you wouldn’t miss a meeting with your boss would you? By missing out on your quality time with yourself,  you rob yourself of your importance and you will start to skimp in other areas of your life. This is simply crucial, you need to know that you are taking care of yourself, it gives you grounding, stability, and confidence. So, start blocking off time in your day to do something that brings you joy. If you don’t start looking out for yourself, who will? It is nobody’s job other than your own. 

Take it from me, burnout, even at the early stages is no fun. Please don’t let yourself get there, look out for yourself from day 1. Make yourself your biggest and best priority in life, and everyone else will respect and honor you. It is so easy to pick out the people who take care of themselves in a crowd, be one of those radiant, shining humans who everyone wants to be like. 


Mad love to all you hard working souls,