Planting Seeds of Wellness

Traditional Asian Medicine is a natural, safe, affordable and effective healthcare system that has evolved over many thousands of years.  Practitioners of this medicine take a holistic, or whole-body, approach to healing.  This means they consider how the body, mind, and spirit all work together, and treat the WHOLE person rather than just the disease. True health is more than just not feeling sick.  It means that you are functioning at your highest possible level of WELLNESS – your body is in harmony, your mind is alert, and your spirit is calm.  You have the energy you need to get the most out of life.  Each aspect of your whole self is strong and vital.

 

“The physician is only the servant of nature, not her master. Therefore, it behooves medicine to follow the will of nature.”  Paracelsus

Your Body As A Garden

One of the philosophies underlying Traditional Asian Medicine is that we are not separate from nature.  Rather, Eastern medicine sees the body as a microcosm of nature.  Disease or malfunction is a disturbance in the “ecosystem” of the body, and health is restored by treating the entire system rather than fixing one part of it.

When we engage in gardening, we strive to be in harmony with nature’s rhythms.  This allows us to reap a bountiful harvest.  The concept of gardening offers us an excellent illustration of the holistic theories behind Traditional Asian Medicine and how it can help you achieve health and wellness.  When you consider your body to be like a garden, your acupuncturist becomes one of the gardeners, whose role and goal it is to help cultivate life.  He or she will work with you to support and rebalance your natural energies.  By taking your entire self into account, your practitioner can help identify – and weed out – any imbalances that may be contributing to your health problems.  Your acupuncturist’s goal is to nurture your inner ecosystem so that you can reap health and harmony.  Of course, Acupuncture isn’t a “quick fix.”  Instead, it provides you with the tools and knowledge you need to nourish the garden of your body.  Your participation in the process is essential.  After all, you wouldn’t simply plant seeds in the ground and expect them to bloom untended.  You must take an active roll in helping these seeds of wellness to grow and flourish.  A typical course of care begins with relief of symptoms, follows up with corrective and restorative measures and ends with ongoing wellness care to keep you feeling great.

Steps to Wellness

Relief Care

• During this stage, your practitioner is focused on alleviating the obvious symptoms causing you to seek care.  Visits are frequent to promote quick recovery – twice per week for 2-3 weeks for most cases, and up to 8-10 weeks for the most difficult cases.  This stage is akin to replenishing an overgrown garden: the first step in cultivating the space is to cut back excess growth and weeds.  Your symptoms are very much like weeds.  Once you start to experience relief from symptoms, you will move on to the second stage of treatment, corrective care.

Corrective Care

• As you begin to feel better, visits become less frequent, and the practitioner will shift her focus more toward the underlying causes of your imbalances in order to restore your health more fully and preserve all the progress you have made.  Continuing with the garden analogy, we now must take complete care to remove the weeds from the soil from their roots and prepare the soil for new seeds to plant.  This second stage of care addresses what is creating and causing your pain and discomfort, and sets the stage for healthy living.

Maintenance and Wellness Care

• The final stage of care involves ongoing maintenance and prophylactic treatment, in order to further strengthen the body’s resistance and keep you healthy, balanced, and vital.  Little problems may be caught before they become major concerns.  Much the same way you would keep a car running smoothly with regular oil changes and tune-ups, or visit your dentist for cleanings to prevent tooth decay.  Treatments are typically monthly or seasonally, to plant new seeds of health, tend the soil, prevent the return of weeds, and support the growth of beautiful new plants and fruits in the garden of your vitality.

Experiencing Your Appointment

Your wellness is my priority.  I work with a variety of therapy and healing techniques customized to the specific needs of your healing journey.  A visit with me may include:

Acupuncture and ElectroAcupuncture

Lifestyle and Nutrition Counseling

Herbal Medicine

Therapeutic Modalities

Therapeutic Medical Massage, Cupping and Heat Therapy,

Orthopedic Pain Management