tcm

Summertime Dietary Considerations

✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.

According to traditional Chinese dietary practice, foods should aid in balancing and contributing to the health of the person, and what that requires varies throughout the seasonal shifts of the year. The daily diet in summertime should rely more on vegetables and fruits than in other seasons to stimulate the appetite, which can become sluggish due to seasonal heat and humidity. Due to environmental heat and subsequent loss of fluids through sweating, Yin fluids of the body can become depleted, leading to dehydration and taxation. Seasonal fruits and vegetables help to replenish Yin fluids, which in turn, keep the body temperature cooler. In the summertime, Qi and Blood move more vigorously than at other times of the year. Such physiological changes contribute to overfunctioning of the Heart, with the potential for Yang Qi to flow excessively to the exterior of the body.

According to the five-element theory, an over-functioning of Fire [Heart] restricts the functioning of Metal [Lung], and so it is advisable to eat a complement of moderately pungent flavor of corriander, chive, parsley, and the like; while reducing foods and drinks of a bitter taste including hops beverages, vinegar (both sour and bitter), coffee, and the like, because bitter is the flavor of the Fire element, and exherts control over the Metal element. The Lung maintains normal sweating, essential during the heat of summertime, to regulate inner heat and fluid moisture. Sweat is the humor of the Heart, and excessive sweating ‘scatters’ the Qi of the Heart, weakening the mind and causing symptoms such as restlessness, vexation, lackluster, and difficulty sleeping. So, the Heart should be in balance to maintain homeostasis, especially during the summer months.

Yin: During summertime, the most Yang time of the year, Chinese medicine emphasizes mostly Yin foods in the daily diet, which are foods that naturally ripen to fruition in the brightness of the Yang growing months, and counteract the excesses of the summer season. Generally, vegetables have the overall tendency of Yin, and contain inherent moistening, Yin energy.

Preparation: Cooking methods affect the energy that is contained within food. In summertime, steaming is favored as it enhances Yin. A person who is Yin deficient benefits from eating foods that are steam-cooked throughout the seasons.

Summer foods that cool and accentuate Yin: Fresh bamboo shoots, lotus root, water chestnuts, tofu, soy beans and mung beans, cucumber, celery, string beans, bitter melon, watermelon, strawberries, plums, peaches, jicama, bok choy, enoki mushrooms, spinach, lettuce, radish, cantaloupe, peppermint, aloe vera, wild rice, aromatic herbs, green and herbal teas with mint added, and chrysanthemum tea. To name a variety.

Avoid iced drinks and desserts, and an abundance of chilled foods, in general.

The tendencies and symptoms that an individual develops are consistent with their constitution and way of life, and therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all diet. The basic outline drawn here lends a sense of how foods are utilized for their flavors and properties that have respective effects on the organs and humors, differentiated from season to season, and highlighting summer. Chinese medicine has long taught that acupuncture points, herbal medicines, and foods are to be utilized seasonally, integral in keeping the individual in balance and harmony with nature and universal flow. This overview is not intended to advise or manage any illness.

Well-Wishes to You · Please Enjoy & Share

Posted by Wendy in analytical

Wei Qi: How the Body Prevents Colds and Flu According to TCM

✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.

As a microcosm of the rhythms and fluctuations of the seasons and their elemental factors to which we are inextricably linked, Chinese medicine would consider the result of our health in one season as being a marker of our lifestyle preparations in the previous seasons as well as in the present. With regard to colds and flus, the ability of the immune system to resist external pathogens, be they bacterial, viral, or allergen toxins that result in immune suppression that leaves us ailing and struggling to recover, exists in the strength of ‘Wei Qi.’

A patient texted me asking how my flu kung fu is: i.e. my thoughts on flu shots. I put together the following from the TCM perspective to share in response. Collage by W.Brown, Lic. Ac.

In Chinese medical theory, Wei Qi is fierce, useful, combative energy from nutrition, says the Lingshu, a medical text compiled in the 1st century BCE, one of two parts of a larger work known as the Huangdi Neijing, the Yellow Emporer’s Divine Classic. Wei Qi is lively and agitated and circulates in superficial tissues, skin, connective tissue, muscles and peritoneum. It radiates to the chest and abdomen. According to the classics, it does not circulate through the meridians but rather flows through the face, trunk, and limbs during the day, and at night through the viscera. Wei Qi protects the body from external perverse energies by opening and closing pores and warming connective tissues. It concentrates at the sites of acupuncture points, the “Holes of Qi,” per se. Wei Qi represents the whole immune system, from leukocytes to anti-bodies, histamine, bradykinin and serotonin.

In Chinese medicine it is an intrinsic reference to discuss “wind gates” and “wind invasion or wind penetration.” The neck, sides of the head, forehead, and upper back according to TCM are conduits whereby externally contracted pathogenic wind can gain entry to the body. Fierce Wei Qi is the primary way the body resists an invasion. Nutritional status, inadequate rest, excessive consumption of alcohol, among other lifestyle factors may lead to the impairment of Wei Qi. It is always advisable to adequately keep wind gates covered, interestingly, in every season to varying degrees. The migration of wind inside the superficial levels of the body can lead to cold and flu symptoms exhibited as chills, body aches, headache, runny nose, congestion, cough and fever. Vulnerability in externally contracting wind is increased by damp hair. We are far more empowered than we may realize in the ways to govern our health and be master of our own unfolding. The timeless ways of Traditional Chinese medicine can be an invaluable guide to reeducating our modern misconceptions and to show us the way.

Further reading on Wind

With all best wishes for a healthy cold weather season!

Posted by Wendy in analytical

Water Element in Nature

✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.

Shuǐ 水

We are microcosms of the natural world, unfolding our human destiny on a beautiful blue planet where a mosaic of water nourishes and patterns life.

Attuned to nature’s rhythms and vibrations, in essence, we are one and the same.

Though this world seems stable and solid, nothing here is permanent; but like water, snow, and ice, life is always shifting and taking form.

Winter is the time of energy storage and of hibernation. Through resonance of water in its contracted state, very subtle patterns can emerge to be sensed in this phase of inward vision.

Ever-remembering that in a great storm the wise bird returns to her nest and waits patiently, surrendering to winter’s depths. Nature’s icy retreat instills hibernation and inner reflection.

The water element is expressed in the season of winter which carries information of recharging and renewing.

Reverently entering nature and observing the flow of streams, rivers, and waterfalls is, in itself, one of the natural remedies for a troubled mind. Water benefits the ten thousand things and yet does not compete with them. Water dwells in places the masses of people detest. People detest such places not because they are bad, but because they are unfamiliar; they are held back by fear of the unknown or thrust forward in fearful arrogance, in either manner not trusting in the Tao.

The emotion of fear ultimately causes difficulties. Learning to move gracefully around obstacles, like water does, is one of the aims of T’ai Chi.

The flow of Tao, wherever it may go, leads one to unusual places, but places meant to be visited by those who have devoted themselves to the Way.

Life is a dream and we can dream new dreams.

May all beneficent aspirations be fulfilled

Posted by Wendy in analytical
My Visit to Master Wang’s Clinic in Chengdu

My Visit to Master Wang’s Clinic in Chengdu

While visiting Chengdu China in July of 2017, I observed and participated in treatments at Master Wang’s clinic. Master Wang’s work consists of his patients soaking in Chinese medicinal herbal baths in large bamboo tubs, followed by a uniquely vigorous type of manual therapy administered, simultaneously, by his two apprentices. As a practitioner of Chinese medicine myself, I was allowed to observe and palpate patients on the treatment table undergoing treatment, guided by Master Wang to discern the therapeutic changes taking effect. I also experienced the methods personally, as a patient. I experienced notable results for my sacrum and shoulder joint which at the time were nagging me, and right before my trekking pilgrimage in Tibet – a blessing to have resolved in one session of herbal bathing and 30 minutes of Master Wang’s highly vigorous manual therapy methods.

Patients from all over the world come to stay in Chengdu to be treated in Master Wang’s clinic. While there, Master Wang, his family, apprentices and I shared a delicious vegetarian lunch that was prepared by Master Wang’s wife and daughter-in-law. Over our leisurely meal I learned that Master Wang’s treatment methods were passed down to him despite cultural revolution precepts, by his life-long teacher, a Shaolin monk. Master Wang has only trained a handful of students in these methods during his 65 year career. Master Wang, his staff, and family were all warm and welcoming. I consider myself fortunate to have had this enriching educational and therapeutic opportunity while I was in Chengdu and am ever-grateful to those who helped to make it happen.

More from my time in Chengdu

© Image W.Brown, ECOMA

© Image W.Brown, ECOMA

© Image W.Brown, ECOMA

© Image W.Brown, ECOMA

© Image W.Brown, ECOMA

2018 bestowed the excellent fortune of a new and expanded location for Master Wang’s clinic, and thus, the capacity to help even more people. Here are pictures of the new clinic taken by our kind-hearted mutual friend. 

Photos of new facility by S. Subedi

Wellness Best Wishes to All!
Elemental Changes

Elemental Changes - Asheville Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

Posted by Wendy in analytical

Tang or Decoction of Chinese Herbs

A decocted Tang, literally “soup”, is by far the most common form of Chinese herbal medicine administration in China. Decoctions are solutions and suspensions that are readily absorbed, thus expediting their therapeutic effects. They are prime in this way in the treatment of acute disorders. Decoctions, being liquid in form, are easily ingested and digested and so are excellent to tonify long-standing deficiencies, as well.

Tangs are comprised of the raw herbal constituents of roots, tubers, seeds, fruit, and leaves but shells and minerals, and sometimes animal ingredients, are also used for their medicinal value. Dense substances require longer cooking time, while fragrant herbs such as chrysanthemum flowers and peppermint leaves, for example, require brief decocting. Decocted formulas require preparation time and can deter some patients’ interest, however, the attributes of decocting medicinals in contrast to other forms of administration such as pills, granular concentrates, herbal wines, and elixirs to administer the compounds and energetic essence far outweigh objections to convenience or strong taste, in my opinion.

Decoctions should usually be ingested at room temperature. Traditionally, medicinals intended to treat lower burner issues would be taken prior to meals, while those treating upper jiao disorders whould be taken 30 minutes after, however, I tell my patients that they should take them at the recommended dosage and frequency, but when it works best for their constitution and/or daily routine, because the formula can not have its healing effect if the person does not have the time or interest to take it.

Wellness-Wishes to You

 

Posted by Wendy in analytical

Handmade Moxa


A colleague in my office recently gave me some pure, aged, Japanese moxa from MoonGate Moxa Source.

I immediately used the Homare on two cases of arthritic pain and am happy to recommend it.

The incense is lovely, also!

www.ElementalChanges.com Pure Moxa

 Please share these photos with accurate credit siting to: ELEMENTAL CHANGES • www.ElementalChanges.com

 Please share these photos with accurate credit siting to: ELEMENTAL CHANGES • www.ElementalChanges.com

 Please share these photos with accurate credit siting to: ELEMENTAL CHANGES • www.ElementalChanges.com

 Please share these photos with accurate credit siting to: ELEMENTAL CHANGES • www.ElementalChanges.com

Please only share these photos with accurate credit siting to: ELEMENTAL CHANGES • www.ElementalChanges.com

thread moxa, direct moxa, moxibustion,

okyu, japan, incense, chinese medicine, moxa floss,

tcm, acupuncture, japanese incense, mugwort,

acupuncture treatment, moxa, artemisia vulgaris,

miyabi, homare, matsu

Elemental Changes - Asheville Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

Posted by Wendy in analytical
Perspective on Marijuana in Chinese Medicine

Perspective on Marijuana in Chinese Medicine

I was fortunate to have had a conversation with Dr. Hammer in 1990 in the hallway of N.E.S.A. in my graduating year of school. Welcoming me to the profession, Dr. Hammer also congratulated me on choosing such a wonderful pursuit as the healing path of Oriental Medicine. Dr. Hammer is a trove of wisdom and compassion, which is reflected in this article.

“This article was written in response to the unheeded acceptance of marijuana as a harmless substance that potentially does good when used for the medical relief of pain. I wish to register my experience with marijuana over these years, as a substance extremely functionally, if subtly, destructive to people.

At the same time I wish to make it clear that I oppose the “war on drugs” as a counterproductive, misguided predictable failure, as if we did not learn anything from the cultural experience with the attempt to control alcohol with prohibition.

The Individual

I have been a physician for sixty-one years, during which time I directed many drug-abuse councils and worked with thousands of addicted young people as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. With more than fifty years of experience with marijuana as a clinician and as an observer in social settings, I feel that it is important to share my experience of marijuana as a substance of substantial danger to both individuals and to society.

Marijuana allows people to make extensive and sometimes unrealistic, even grandiose plans for their life, and robs them of the ability to realize these plans. They are left often with a life sometimes filled with excellent designs and without the will or energy to execute, to make decisions and follow through.

Among so many people, clients, friends and acquaintances, I have seen lives lived in fantasy and futility in many degrees of severity with endless energy depleting maneuvers to hide their failure from others and themselves. Somewhere deep inside each loss is registered if not faced. However, marijuana is the feel-good substance that is even more dangerous because it deadens the pain that would signal danger and engender change. On inquiry, the reason given is fear; fear of the emotions that would otherwise lead them to encounter struggle. Fear of their own anger and that of others; fear of failure to cope with stress and the consequent loss of self-esteem and a deep need to avoid battle and disapproval were most often cited.

Western medical studies are long since quoted saying that marijuana is physiologically harmless. Of course, people vary in their ability detoxify it. One problem stated in the literature is that it has been difficult to obtain enough marijuana of uniform strength and quality to conduct large-scale research.

Marijuana, according to Chinese herbal medicine is what is known as a “cold” herb, draining the essential energy called Yang primarily from the Liver, rendering the Liver relatively unable to perform its functions of moving physical and mental energy and containing it for when it is needed. The result is that while there is no problem making plans, when it is time to move on these plans, there is no coherent energy to do it.

Marijuana, Apathy and Chinese Medicine, Part 1 By Leon I. Hammer, MD

* Published in Acupuncture Today, and is the Intellectual Property of that site and of Dr. Hammer, reproduced for educational, informational purposes only. (View Original Part 1: May 2015, Vol. 16, Issue 05 • Here: http://tinyurl.com/p3toq2y)

Liver Patho-Physiology And Marijuana

In the recent literature from the East, nor in either the Neijing or Nanjing, have I found any reference to conditions that I find constantly increasing since first learning about it from Dr. John Shen OMD, more than thirty years ago. The conditions are Liver QI deficiency, Liver Yang deficiency and the Separation of Liver Yin and Yang.

Liver QI and Yang deficiency was associated by Dr. Shen with overwork (beyond one’s energy over a lifetime) and found from late middle to old age. The principal consequence was easy fatigue and less stamina in performing daily tasks. The concept of “beyond one’s energy” means simply that we are not all created equal, and that work that might deplete one person might have little effect on another. Constitutional essence (or Jing) and bodily condition, along with the stress were the determining factors.

What I am about to describe differs from Dr. Shen’s observations in that it presents with a greater degree of deficiency on the pulse. Besides fatigue, there is lassitude, lethargy and procrastination always associated with varying degrees of a clear inability to follow through and move forward on plans and decisions about which there is endless discussion and little or no action. The consequence is that ideas rarely become reality. The most serious long-term outcome described by Dr. Shen is the development of a lymphoma of the Liver.

I wish to make it clear early in this discussion that as stated already, we are not all created equal. Some people with very strong Livers will tolerate much more abuse than others with less substantial Liver function. There will be many who can honestly say that they have used and abused the cold substances with no obvious consequence.

On the other hand, there was the teen daughter of a friend to whose side I was called in the middle of the night in a psychotic state because she had for the first time had one puff of marijuana. She was brought home early from a party by friends, disoriented, irrational, and severely agitated. Her friends reported her to have taken one puff from a joint that was being passed around. It was necessary to hospitalize her for a few days when she recovered and fortunately did not resume smoking marijuana, and going on to a successful life. While psychosis in my experience is the exception, I have witnessed it more than this once.

Liver QI deficiency is identified on the Shen-Hammer pulse at the left middle position by increasing degrees of deficiency by a yielding and diminished QI depth, spreading (absent QI depth and separating blood depth), by a reduced substance and pounding, and a diffuse quality especially at the blood and organ depth.

Liver Yang deficiency is described as the entire left middle position being feeble-absent, deep and/or beginning to separate at the organ depth (empty quality). Separation of Yin and Yang of the Liver is found in various stages with middle finger pressure on the radial artery, first with separating at the organ depth and later at the blood depth until there is a complete disappearance of the blood and organ depths and retention only of the QI depth (the empty quality). An even more serious pulse sign that indicates the separation of Yin and Yang or empty quality, is changing qualities at the left middle position.

Years before I studied Chinese medicine or met Dr. Shen, I had observed the phenomena of easy fatigue, inability to recover energy and an inability to follow through on plans with hundreds of young college students who I encountered in the late 1960s and early 1970s in my capacity as a psychiatric consultant to a student health clinic in a local college. During the 1970s, I also observed this in friends and acquaintances. They all had one common lifestyle, though some were obviously more vulnerable; they all smoked marijuana fairly constantly.

When I began to teach the pulse in 1983, I used the student’s pulses to demonstrate positions, depths and qualities. I found an alarming number of them to have an empty quality at the left middle position. It was incumbent upon me to share the interpretation with the class and soon found that rather than wanting to hide this widespread use of marijuana and LSD, the cold substances that were draining their Liver QI, the participants were eager to share their stories. The pulse workshops were becoming group therapy sessions and the story from mostly health professionals was that they had turned to Chinese medicine in the hope of recovering their health. I began to use subjects referred by the practitioners for demonstration rather than the practitioners themselves. Gradually I realized that substances such as LSD and heroin were equally cold QI-Yang draining substances leading to the same symptoms and pulse picture.

During the time that Dr. Shen and I worked together he was unaware of the effect of substances of abuse as an etiology of Liver QI-Yang deficiency and separation of Liver Yin and Yang. In my practice, it was increasingly clear that this was becoming the major cause of the pulse findings described above.

The Liver has two functions with regard to QI. The Liver moves the QI (metabolic heat) for the entire organism and Liver QI contains the QI in the form of repressed emotions in order for a society to follow the Ten Commandments, especially though shall not kill. Think of how often that would happen, or even lesser violence, if the Liver did not provide us with the ability to stagnate, actually contain, our emotions. Liver QI stagnation has gotten a bum wrap and is blamed by students and practitioners for almost every pathology in my experience as a teacher of Chinese medicine; this, along with a misunderstanding of Liver QI rising. It must be kept in mind that the Liver is the detoxifying organ whose deficiency will greatly exacerbate the effect of any toxic substance.

However, it is the function of the Liver to move rather than contain that concerns us here. That ability is necessary for us to mobilize the energy and put into motion the potential will contained within the Kidney. It is this function, to move from the idea to the act that is impaired when Liver QI is disabled by anything that will reduce Liver QI-Yang. This is evidenced by pulse after pulse and patient after patient presentation, by the cold substances that rob the Liver of QI-Yang, and the ability to act, as with the patient presented above.

 

Therapy

The two most important individual herbs to recovery of Liver QI-Yang deficiency and separation of liver yin and yang are Astragalus (Huang QI) and Salvia (Dan Shen). Other herbs in the formula would depend upon that individual’s other conditions. The most commonly used formulas are an altered Ginseng and Longan (Gui Pi Tang) and Ginseng and Astragalus (Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang). The latter tends to be too stimulating but is somewhat ameliorated adding the linking decoction (Yi Guan Jian).

Research En Toto

• Marijuana and executive function: A broader spectrum of cognitive functions designated as executive functions were investigated (attention, concentration, decision-making, impulsiveness, self-control of responses, reaction time, risk taking, verbal fluency and working memory) all were impaired acutely in a dose-dependent manner. The authors concluded that some elements of executive function usually recover completely after stopping marijuana use, but deficits most likely to persist for long periods of time are decision-making, concept formation and planning, especially in heavy users who started using at an early age (Crean et al., J. Addict. Med., 5: 1-8. 2011).

Adverse health effects of marijuana in evidence-based review of acute and long-term effects of cannabis use on executive cognitive functions, there is generally good agreement between the conclusions based on these studies and the clinical impressions based on population studies (Hall W. and Degenhardt L. Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use. Lancet, 374: 1383-1391, 2009).

Marijuana and brain function: Cannabis produced dose-related impairments of immediate and delayed recall of information presented while under the influence of the drug. Learning, consolidation and retrieval of memory were all affected (Ranganathan M and and D’Souza DC. The acute effects of cannabinoids on memory in humans: a review. Psychopharmacology, 188: 425-444, 2006).

Marijuana and cognition: Here it is mentioned for chronic users, “by subtle cognitive impairment in those who are daily users for 10 years or more by (Hall W. and Degenhardt L.” in Lancet as cited below with a high incidence of psychosis with a family history or personal history of psychosis.

Marijuana and anxiety: There is a strong pattern of cannabis relieving anxiety at low doses and promoting anxiety at higher doses. (Viveros et al., 2005; Moreira and Lutz, 2008; Akirav, 2011). Daily cannabis use was associated with anxiety disorder at 29 years (adjusted OR 2.5), as was cannabis dependence (adjusted OR 2.2). Among weekly+ adolescent cannabis users, those who continued to use cannabis use at 29 years remained at significantly increased odds of anxiety disorder (adjusted OR 3.2), (Degenhardt et al, The persistence of the association between adolescent cannabis use and common mental disorders into young adulthood. Addiction. 2012 Jul 6. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.04015.x. PubMed PMID: 22775447.)

Marijuana and depression: High doses of cannabis in humans appear to increase the risk of depression, especially in the young (Ashton CH and Moore PB. Endocannabinoid system dysfunction in mood and related disorders. Acta Psychiatr. Scand., 124: 250-261, 2011).

Higher mortality: In more recent research, marijuana use disorder is associated with higher mortality. A massive study was undertaken to understand the mortality rate of methamphetamine users, in relation to other drug users. Methods: Excluded for space considerations.

• Results: Those treated for addiction to cannabis (marijuana) had a higher mortality rate (3.85 times higher than controls), higher if compared to death rate risk of cocaine use disorder (2.96), alcohol use disorder (3.83), but lower than opioid use disorder (5.71) or methamphetamine use disorder (4.67).

The study demonstrates that individuals with cannabis (marijuana) use disorders have a higher mortality risk than those with diagnoses related to cocaine or alcohol, but lower mortality risk than persons with methamphetamine or opioid-related disorders.

Given the lack of long-term cohort studies of mortality risk among individuals with methamphetamine-related disorders, as well as among those with cocaine- or cannabis-related conditions, the current study provides important information for the assessment of the comparative drug-related burden associated with use and addiction. (Callaghan et al., All-cause mortality among individuals with disorders related to the use of methamphetamine: A comparative cohort study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2012 Oct 1;125(3):290-4).”

Dr. Leon Hammer, MD


Dr. Leon I. Hammer is clinical director at Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine in Gainesville, Florida. He may be contacted at www.dragonrises.edu.

Posted by Wendy in analytical

Horary Cycles and Bi-Hourly Clock

HORARY CYCLE BI-HOURLY CLOCK

HORARY CYCLE • BI-HOURLY CLOCK

According to root and branch energetic rhythms in traditional Chinese medicine, Qi flow circulates through the 12 main meridians beginning with the lungs, as respiration is the first independent bodily function of the human vessel, then systematically flows through each organ. The organ systems have their points of highest energy and lowest energy throughout a 24 hour cycle. By the insight of these rhythms we can best understand times to participate in basic functions of daily living and also when to communicate with a particular organ or energetic system of the body. Chinese Medicine practitioners will sometimes use the horary clock to corroborate their diagnoses and patients typically find the clock to be of great interest. Here is more detailed information the Horary clock can reveal to patterning healthy habits of body-mental functioning-and emotional well-being.

3-5 am the time of the Lungs. This is the time where the body should be asleep. If woken at this time, soothing breathing exercises are recommended and the body should be kept warm to enable the lungs replenish the body. Emotionally, the lungs are associated with feelings of melancholia, sadness, and grieving and these emotions may be more commonly felt during these hours.

5 am to 7 am is the time of the Large Intestine. This is energetically the ideal time to have a bowel movement, removing toxins from the previous day before moving forward into the present one. It is also the ideal time to wash the body and comb hair. It is believed that combing hair helps to clear energy from the mind. At this time, emotions of defensiveness or feelings of being stuck could be evoked.

7-9 am is the time of the Stomach so it is important to eat the biggest meal of the day here to optimize digestion and absorption. Warm meals that are high in nutrition are best in the morning. Emotions that are likely to be stirred at this time may be include disgust or despair.

9-11 am is the time of the Spleen, where energy for the day ahead is released from food digestate. This is the ideal time to exercise and work. Do your most taxing tasks of the day at this time. Low self-esteem is an inherent Spleen vulnerability that could be noted at this time.

11 am- 1 pm is the time of the Heart which will work to pump blood throughout the body to provide energy and nutrition. Eating a light, cooked meal at this time is recommended. Having a one hour nap or a cup of tea is also beneficial during this time. Feelings of significant joy or sadness could be experienced at this time.

1-3 pm is the time of the Small Intestine, the time when digestion will take place and assimilation of food eaten earlier will be complete. This is a good time to carry out daily tasks or exercise. Vulnerable thoughts or feelings of abandonment may subconsciously arise at this time.

3-5 pm is the time of the Bladder when metabolic wastes move into the kidney’s filtration system. This is the ideal time for study and completion of brain-challenging work for the day. Another cup of tea is beneficial, as would be drinking some water. Feeling irritated or timid may come into expression at this time.

5-7 pm is the time of the Kidneys when the blood is filtered and the kidneys work to maintain proper chemical balance. This is the perfect time to have dinner and to activate your circulation either by walking, having a massage, or stretching. Subconscious thoughts of fear can be active at this time.

7-9 pm is the time of Pericardium, when nutrients are carried to the capillaries and to each cell. This is the perfect time to read, but avoid any more mental activity than this at this time. A difficulty in expressing emotions may also be felt however, this is the perfect time in the day to have sex. 

9-11 pm is the time of Triple Warmer or Sanjiao, pertaining to waterways and the endocrine system where the body’s homeostasis is adjusted replenished. It is recommended to be asleep at this time so the body can conserve energy for the following day. Feelings of paranoia or confusion may also be felt.

11 pm-1 am is the time of the Gall Bladder and in order to wake feeling energized the body should be at rest. In Chinese medicine, this period of time is when Yin energy fades and Yang energy begins to grow. Yang energy helps you to keep active during the day and is stored when you are asleep. Subconscious feelings of resentment may appear during this time and should be dissipated in favor of resting.

1-3 am is the time of the Liver and a time when the body should be in deep sleep. During this time fresh blood is made. If you find yourself waking during this time, excessive yang energy, heat toxin, or problems with liver energy in general may be indicated. Anger, frustration and repression of emotions pertain to the liver and may be part of the tendency for wakefulness.

The energetic cycle is completed with circulation through the liver at night when the eyes are closed and where the spirit roots into the body during sleep.

If one tends to experience an aggravation of symptoms or fluctuations in energy, note the time of day of the occurrence. The time may provide a cue to the organ system that may be a contributing factor in current health themes.

 

Posted by Wendy in analytical

The 6 Stages of Disease

The Shānghán lùn 傷寒論, known as the treatise on cold injury or cold damage disorders, is a Chinese medical text compiled by Zhang Zhongjing 张仲景 around the end of the Han dynasty period. It is one the oldest completed medical books in the world.  The Shānghán lùn has 398 chapters, 113 herbal prescriptions, and is organized by the six stages of disease.

Tai Yang  太陽, Greater Yang   A milder stage with external symptoms of chills, fever, stiffness, and headache.

Therapeutic Principle:  Promote Sweating.

 

Yang Ming  陽明, Yang Brightness   A more severe internal excess yang condition presenting as fever without chills, distended abdomen, and constipation.

Therapeutic Principle:  Cooling and Eliminating.

 

Shao Yang  少陽, Lesser Yang   A Shao Yang type person are most young adults in their prime, a medium body type that bounces back from extremes. Pathogenic factor is half outside, half inside; Half excess, half deficiency, presenting as chest discomfort, and alternating chills and fever.

Therapeutic Principle:  Harmonizing.

 

Tai Yin  太陰, Greater Yin   A Tai Yin type person lacks tone, has flacid tissues, is pale, puffy, bigger on bottom than top, there is deficiency of Spleen Yang effecting proper digestion leading to overall dampness. Presents with chills, and distended abdomen with occasional pain.

Therapeutic Principle:  Warming and Supplementing.

 

Shao Yin  少陰, Lesser Yin   A Shao Yin type person has not much muscle, flat chest, narrow hips. There is a deficiency of Yin (which controls Yang) resulting in Yin fire effulgence. Presents with weak pulse, anxiety, drowsiness, diarrhea, chills, and cold extremities.

Therapeutic Principle:  Warming and Supplementing.

 

Jue Yin  厥陰, Absolute Yin   Presents with signs of thirst, difficult urination, and physical collapse.

Therapeutic Principle:  Warming and Supplementing.

 

 

Posted by Wendy in analytical

Perspective on Acupuncture Needle Size

               ✍️Wendy Brown, Lic. Ac.
Unsurprisingly, some people initially express some concern about needles that are used in acupuncture treatment. On occasion, the concern may verge on a phobia of needles in general, which would likely deter the person from seeking acupuncture treatment that they may derive great benefit from, due to a vague and undifferentiated grouping of needles, and how they were applied. Here is an important visual to lend perspective to the extent to which acupuncture needles are finer than needles that people may have previously encountered. Acupuncture Asheville, ELEMENTAL CHANGES

Used for acupuncture, needles are almost exclusively constructed of stainless steel (although infrequently, of zinc, gold, or copper). They are pre-sterilized, fine-gauge, with no hollow space to transmit or extract a liquid substance. Acupuncture needles are inserted to varying depths from shallowly beneath the skin to a depth that depends upon structural location and patient’s personal build. The needles used are usually silicon-coated to create an extremely smooth blade surface, and they are completed with an ethylene oxide gas sterilization which can keep individually packaged needles sterile for approximately 5 years. Needle gauge, or thickness, and needle length vary considerably depending upon factors from anatomical terrain, to patient comfort level, to desired outcomes of treatment, most commonly. Nearly all acupuncture needles are intended for single use and are to be disposed of in bio-hazard waste containers, and discarded accordingly.

Elemental Changes - Asheville Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

Posted by Wendy in analytical