Great Health Starts With Great Self-Care

As an acupuncturist with 30 plus years of experience, I have seen and treated many different disorders and issues that people present with, do to either physical, emotional or spiritual imbalances. These can either be caused by past/present physical or emotional trauma and lifestyle issues relating to the person's home and work environments. I would like to address some of these issues here, and ways that one might implement practices in their lives, to stay healthier and stress free.

In a healthy body, all the different aspects of our body work together as harmonious members of a smooth functioning whole, not unlike all the different instruments in a symphony - each has its part and contributes exactly what is needed at just the right time to produce harmonious results. But we are subject to numerous stressors, less than ideal dietary conditions, poor lifestyle choices, inherited deficiencies, and other such factors. These things tax our system, putting pressure on it from numerous different directions, overworking various aspects of our bodies resources.

Unfortunately, in today's fast paced life, emotional and environmental stress as well as physical trauma play a major role in disease and dysfunction. Over time and due to life's stress and or some unseen traumas, some aspects of our body's energy can become significantly overworked and are then unable to do their jobs as efficiently as they might. This in turn can force another aspect of the body to overwork, setting off a chain reaction of imbalance in the body. This energetic imbalance in the body slowly works its way forward and manifests as symptoms. It is the level of this balance or imbalance in the body's energetic resources that determines the body's level of health. We may still be able to accomplish many things, even while we're not taking the best care of ourselves, but using our resources at a less than optimal level will eventually lead serious health problems. Once our body is unable to use its resources to the best of its ability, we end up getting sick.

When a person's symptoms become problematic or are interfering with their everyday functions, they usually seek the help of a physician or trained professional to get some answers and treatment. As a physician of Oriental Medicine, it is my job to see the patient in their "wholeness" and then discover the root of the imbalance and then treat the imbalance... And while that is important, what is more important is educating the patient on what the process was that lead to the issues at hand and how they can prevent this from happening again.

I like to suggest easy and do-able practices that a person can implement over time, that are going to have the biggest impact on their well being. These would be:

Diet

Exercise

Mindfulness practices that may include meditation, self-hypnosis and journaling.

Dietary advice is given from an Oriental Medicine context that supports the patients constitution and also one that uses food and herbs to heal.

Exercise is advised from the point of view of what the patient's interests are, what is going to be beneficial and what is realistic for their lifestyle.

Mindfulness practices, meditation, self-hypnosis and journaling are different tools for the tool box... This is where the patient can start to "grow themselves in new and interesting ways". What I mean by this, is that each person is unique and each person already has the resources to make the changes that they need and want... It is just a matter of uncovering them and bringing those resources "on-line". For instance, self-hypnosis is useful for positive self suggestions and beginning and supporting new behaviors... All to often, people know what they "don't want". However, what is challenging is uncovering what it is that they want.

As a healthcare provider, one of the most important aspects of my practice is to empower my patients with knowledge and the tools to improve their lives.

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Great health and well-being requires us to be engaged and to practice good choices in our diet, our exercise programs and our internal emotional landscape. To learn more and experience greater health and well-being, go to http://www.wisteriahealingarts.net