Holiday Preparation

I still find it very hard to believe that we are already in November.  Yes, I sound like an old person when I say “where has the year gone?”  Halloween blew by and now Thanksgiving is approaching.  It reminded me that during the holiday season, people are going at mock-speeds and the stress level is high.  When you speed through your day, we forget to stop and appreciate the little things in life.  Do you stop to appreciate all that you have in your life?

Rather than focus on the stress related to the holiday shopping, travel, etc., take moments throughout the day to reflect on your blessings and turn a negative event into something positive.  Recognize and identify how you are blessed in the event rather than allow it to ruin your mood.  For example:  you are stuck in traffic.  Take a moment to recognize the blessing in this as you have a car to get you from point A to point B, and family waiting for you at the other end.  There are many that can not afford a car, and many that go home to empty houses. Recognize your blessings in everything that stresses you out.

Another great exercise is every night before you go to bed, take a few minutes to write down 3 things you are grateful for in your life that occurred during the day.    At the end of the year, you will be have a book of little blessings that occurred the past year.  The meaning of Thanksgiving is to recognize and give thanks to all you have in your life, not just about holiday stress or over-eating.  Find little ways to keep Thanksgiving in your life throughout the year, not just in November.

Monthly Breast Exam

Since this is Breast Cancer Awareness month, hopefully every female has done a breast exam and set up a system to check her breast each month.  This is not an “old lady” disease!  I have seen woman in my office that were diagnosed at 35 years of age and you still hear of woman younger being diagnosed.  The exam takes all of 2-minutes to do but it can save your life!

Some tips for BSE:

• Try to get in the habit of doing a breast self-examination once a month to familiarize yourself with how your breasts normally look and feel. Examine yourself several days after your period ends, when your breasts are least likely to be swollen and tender. If you are no longer having periods, choose a day that’s easy to remember, such as the first or last day of the month.
• Don’t panic if you think you feel a lump. Most women have some lumps or lumpy areas in their breasts all the time. In the United States, only 20% of women who have a suspicious lump biopsied turn out to have breast cancer.
• Breasts tend to have different “neighborhoods.” The upper, outer area — near your armpit — tends to have the most prominent lumps and bumps. The lower half of your breast can feel like a sandy or pebbly beach. The area under the nipple can feel like a collection of large grains. Another part might feel like a lumpy bowl of oatmeal.What’s important is that you get to know the look and feel of YOUR breasts’ various neighborhoods. Does something stand out as different from the rest (like a rock on a sandy beach)? Has anything changed? Bring to the attention of your doctor any changes in your breasts that last over a full month’s cycle OR seem to get worse or more obvious over time.
• You may want to start a journal where you record the findings of your breast self-exams. This can be like a small map of your breasts, with notes about where you feel lumps or irregularities. Especially in the beginning, this may help you remember, from month to month, what is “normal” for your breasts. It is not unusual for lumps to appear at certain times of the month, but then disappear, as your body changes with the menstrual cycle (if you are still menstruating). Only changes that last beyond one full cycle, or seem to get bigger or more prominent in some way, need your doctor’s attention.

Click on the link to show you how to do a breast exam.  Mark it on your calendar and get in the habit of checking monthly.  Information listed above provided by www.breastcancer.org.

The leaves do not really change in Florida

Happy Autumn, everyone!  We have different seasons in Florida than the rest of the country.  In Florida, our seasons go like this:  Cool, Hot, Hotter, and Muggy Hot.  Autumn would be a mix of Muggy Hot with a few cool days mixed in now and then.  I do love living in Florida and would not trade in our seasons for Warm, Hot, Cold and Freezing.  Florida has been in my blood for too long and I have learned to embrace it.  Where else can it be a cool 32-degrees outside with clear, blue, sunny skies?

As many of you already know, cold/flu season is here or coming, depending on which news channel you listen.  I encourage all of my clients to schedule a “Fall Tune-Up” to help prepare and strengthen their immune system for the flu season.  It is also a great time to stock up on herbal remedies and essential oils to use upon the first signs of a cold/flu or help ward off viruses.  Wherever you live and the seasons you enjoy, it is a good thing to schedule “Seasonal Tune-Ups” with your local acupuncturist.

As Acupuncturists, we focus on the changes in the air, environment and how they affect our bodies.  This allows us to strengthen the channels that will be affected during the season, as well as supplying you with herbal medications and essential oils that address the common ailments of the season and continue to build your immune system, helping you fight off infections.

If you live around the Jacksonville area, for a limited time, I am offering New and Existing clients a discount on the “Fall Tune-Up.”  Visit my website, www.AWayOfLifeAcupuncture.com, for details.  Forward this information to your friends and family so they too, can start experiencing the benefits of acupuncture.  Schedule your appointment now, to begin strengthening and preparing your body for the cold/flu season.

Acupuncture alleviates chronic health problems

The following was taken directly from www.rodale.com.  Enjoy!

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—In all this talk about health-care reform, most of the conversation has focused on who’s paying and what myths are being spread about legislation that hasn’t been written yet. Unfortunately, people aren’t talking about measures that would vastly improve the population’s health, such as ending obesity, or about alternative therapies that could wean people off expensive medication. Part of the reason that alternative treatments get short shrift is that doctors are generally unaware of the science showing that they really are effective alternatives to drugs and medication.

Here are six scientifically studied ways that acupuncture therapy, one of the most popular forms of alternative medicine, can alleviate chronic health problems:

#1: Eases your aching back. Using acupuncture therapy to successfully relieve chronic back pain is well documented in scientific literature, and acupuncturists say that it’s the leading reason that people visit their clinics. A study published in May’s issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine even found that people who were given “simulated acupuncture,” where pressure was place on certain acupuncture points but no needles were actually used, saw as much as a 15 percent greater improvement in their symptoms (equal to the improvements seen in people who were receiving true acupuncture) than people who were taking medications and undergoing standard chiropractic care.

#2: Boosts the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals. A study from China, published in the August issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that a low-dose of fluoxetine (Prozac) combined with acupuncture therapy was just as effective at reducing anxiety in patients being treated for depression as full-dose medication. Cutting the dose and adding acupuncture also reduced the drug’s side effects, which can include nausea, weight gain, and a decreased sex drive.

#3: Soothes the burning in your stomach. This June, Brazilian researchers published research finding that acupuncture therapy alleviated heartburn and indigestion in pregnant women. One group of pregnant women was given a combination of acupuncture and medications, and another group was counseled on dietary changes and given medications if needed. Over the course of the study, 75 percent of the women in the acupuncture group saw heartburn intensity, and antacid use, decline, while only 44 percent of women in the standard-treatment group saw those same effects.

#4: Counteracts the effects of radiation. Cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment are likely to suffer a variety of side effects, depending on the part of the body being treated. However, acupuncture therapy has been found to have some effect on the perception of how bad those effects can be, particularly for nausea and dry mouth, common in patients receiving radiation to the head and neck. A review of studies published in CA, a journal of the American Cancer Society, found that people undergoing radiation treatment perceived fewer negative side effects of radiation even though the side effects may still be there. For instance, in one study, patients who wore acupressure bands during treatment said they felt less nausea, although they still had the same occurrence of vomiting as they did before wearing the band, and in another study, people said they had less of a problem with dry mouth, even though measures of their saliva showed that levels remained the same. The acupuncture didn’t actually alleviate the symptoms, but it did help improve patients’ quality of life after treatment.

#5: Dulls persistent headaches. A review of 22 studies involving acupuncture therapy, migraines, and tension headaches found that regular acupuncture therapy was effective at preventing tension headaches and migraines from becoming a problem, and that it was an effective treatment for existing headaches.

#6: Ends obesity? The influence of acupuncture therapy on obesity isn’t as well-documented as the other examples we’ve listed, but there’s enough evidence to suggest that it could be an effective weight-loss treatment. Researchers from Korea analyzed 31 studies on a total of 3,013 people, and found that acupuncture therapy led to greater decreases in body weight than lifestyle changes or medications. However, they note in their findings, published February in the journal Obesity, that flaws in many of the studies made it difficult to see how effective acupuncture therapy would be on obesity in the long run. But for people willing to try it, adding a weekly acupuncture session to daily exercise and a smart diet could lead to healthy gains.

The beauty of breathe

Breathing is vital for survival, we all know this.  Yet, most of the time we are not breathing correctly.  Many of us are taking very shallow breaths throughout the day, never really expanding the diaphragm completely.  I came across a beautiful article by a fellow acupuncturist, that blends the importance of breathing with oriental philosophy.

Take a moment to read the article and make a promise to yourself to stop throughout the day for a few deep, abdominal breaths to help calm the mind, quiet the mind, and de-stress. Enjoy!

Here is the link:

An Eastern Way to discover health and ‘wholeness’

Entering Flu Season

Kids are returning back to school this week and many parents are worried about the H1N1 virus.   This is nothing to be overly concerned about as the flu works its way around classrooms every year.   With that being said, here are ways to help prevent spreading the flu, as well as what to do if you start showing symptoms.  All of the information below was found at the website of the Centers of Disease Control & Prevention, www.cdc.gov.  For more information, please visit the www.cdc.gov website.

Symptoms
The symptoms of novel H1N1 flu virus in people are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with novel H1N1 flu virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting.  The high risk groups for novel H1N1 flu are not known at this time, but it’s possible that they may be the same as for seasonal influenza. People at higher risk of serious complications from seasonal flu include people age 65 years and older, children younger than 5 years old, pregnant women, people of any age with chronic medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease), and people who are immunosuppressed (e.g., taking immunosuppressive medications, infected with HIV).

Avoid Contact With Others
If you are sick, you may be ill for a week or longer. You should stay home and keep away from others as much as possible, including avoiding travel and not going to work or school, for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of fever-reducing medicine.)  If you leave the house to seek medical care, wear a facemask, if available and tolerable, and cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue. In general, you should avoid contact with other people as much as possible to keep from spreading your illness, especially people at increased risk of severe illness from influenza. With seasonal flu, people may be contagious from one day before they develop symptoms to up to 7 days after they get sick. Children, especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer periods.  People infected with the novel H1N1 are likely to have similar patterns of infectiousness as with seasonal flu.

Treatment is Available for Those Who Are Seriously Ill
It is expected that most people will recover without needing medical care.  If you have severe illness or you are at high risk for flu complications, contact your health care provider or seek medical care. Your health care provider will determine whether flu testing or treatment is needed. Be aware that if the flu becomes widespread, less testing will be needed, so your health care provider may decide not to test for the flu virus.

Protect Yourself, Your Family, and Community

• Stay informed. Health officials will provide additional information as it becomes available. Visit the CDC H1N1 Flu website.
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners* are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you are sick with a flu-like illness, stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible. This is to keep from making others sick.
• If you are sick and sharing a common space with other household members in your home, wear a facemask, if available and tolerable, to help prevent spreading the virus to others. For more information, see the Interim Recommendations for Facemask and Respirator Use.
• Learn more about how to take care of someone who is ill in “Taking Care of a Sick Person in Your Home”
• Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds, and other social distancing measures.
• If you don’t have one yet, consider developing a family emergency plan as a precaution. This should include storing a supply of extra food, medicines, and other essential supplies. Further information can be found in the “Flu Planning Checklist“

My Top 20 Ideal Career Traits

Every day, I am reminded of the stress of working in “Corporate America.”  My clients come in for acupuncture to help relieve ailments mostly caused by high levels of stress in their life.  I hear stories of having to work 7-days a week because one person is doing the job of multiple people due to all the layoffs.  The workload has not decreased but the amount of people normally required to do the work is constantly being reduced with all the layoffs and cutbacks.  People are stressed to perform perfectly, as one minor error could cost them their job when layoffs come around again.  More people are not sleeping, are completely exhausted, and do not eat healthy due to having to grab food when they can and whatever is the quickest.  More people are taking anti-depressants and anti-anxiety prescriptions than ever before.  Heart attacks are on the rise and high blood pressure is being diagnosed younger and younger.  Just last night I had a client come to my office in tears, as she could not even take an hour for acupuncture because she had to get a presentation done or she would lose her job.

When I worked in corporate, we always knew when we were coming up to “layoff season” and the stress level would skyrocket.  I vividly remember doing my work, while my cubical neighbor was just told they no longer had a job.  You could see it on their face as they wondered how they were going to support their family.  I made the decision to take control of my future rather than have it controlled by others.  I quit my job to pursue my education and training in acupuncture and oriental medicine.  It was scary and stressful working full-time while going to school full-time, but it was all worth it.  I am now in practice for myself, I set my own hours, help people every day, and my stress level is nothing like it used to be.  (My biggest stress factor is when people do not get the results I expected them to get with acupuncture, or not being able to get them in soon enough for relief.)  My migraines due to high stress levels are gone and for once in my life, I look forward to going to work every day.  Aside from running a successful, full-time acupuncture practice, I started a home-based business to help me achieve my “dream acupuncture practice” faster.   What I envision for my dream practice requires a lot of money to achieve, so the home-based business is able to easily give me additional income each month.

I know a lot of people are not able to do what I did or feel they are too old to start over.  I am here to tell you there are legitimate options out there for everyone at any stage of your life to take control of your situation.

Here is my Top 20 list of the ideal career traits:

1. No experience necessary – anyone could do it
2. You are your own boss
3. Low start-up cost
4. Little to no risk
5. On-going residual income
6. No income ceiling
7. Self-satisfaction – help yourself and others improve the quality of their lives
8. Free training and support system
9. No administration hassles – no R&D, packaging, payroll, legal matters, delivery costs
10. You can keep your regular job until this income can replace it
11. Tax deductions
12. Work from home
13. Work with people you like
14. Flexibility of work hours – you make your hours
15. Unlimited vacation days
16. Achieve your retirement goals in 4 yrs versus 40 yrs working a “job”
17. No commuting – save money on gas and car expenses (can write these off, too)
18. No office rent / expenses
19. Job security (no layoffs or downsizing)
20. Better retirement plan (higher percent than 401k)

Does that sound like a career you might be interested in?  A career your family, friends and co-workers might want to do? I know, you are probably thinking  it sounds too good to be true, which is why so many people stay in the safety of corporate “jobs”, rather than think “What if…?”   I was skeptical, too, but I am here to tell you it is truly possible.  Contact me directly at drchristineyaz@yahoo.com, so I can introduce you to the ideal career and help you achieve all of your goals.

Have a blessed day and make it your best!

It’s time…back to school!

It is that time of the year that kids dread and parents rejoice.  School is starting for some as early as this Thursday, while others have a few more weeks of freedom.  Parents are doing the last minute preparations for supplies, clothes and physicals.  I read the other day that hand sanitizers are the top purchases for kids.  The question is, will your child actually use it?  I think back to when I was in school and admit it would probably never be used.  So what can parents do?

Here are some foods that help boost the immune system.  Now, how to get your kids to eat them, I leave up to you as some people do not like the idea of tricking kids to eat veggies.  Personally, I think you should still offer the foods to your children to try, but also puree and add to the meals.

1. Yogurt: natural probiotic, to help the body resist respiratory infections
2.  Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables: (such as cabbage, kale, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and turnip) are valuable sources of vitamins A, C and E. Broccoli is high in glucosinolates which stimulate the body’s immune system. Broccoli also contains a high concentration of sulforaphanes, which are potent anti-cancer agents.
3.  Turmeric: spice found in every yellow curry.  The golden color is the result of curcumin, a polyphenol with strong cold and flu-fighting properties.
4.  Garlic: The immune-boosting properties of garlic come from its sulfur-containing compounds, which are effective against bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections.
5.  Oregano: strong anti-bacterial properties, with 42 times more antioxidants than apples, 30 times more than potatoes, 12 times more than oranges and 4 times more than blueberries.
6.  Bell peppers: a good source of phytochemicals as well as beta carotenes and vitamin C (particularly red bell peppers). Research has shown that increasing vitamin C intake can reduce the length of time cold symptoms last as well as reduce the severity of those symptoms.
7.  Green Tea: Tea is rich in plant antioxidants (polyphenols) and other chemicals that can help protect the body against cold or flu.
8.  Pumpkins: Rich in beta carotene, a nutrient that the body breaksdown to make vitamin A. Vitamin A helps strengthen the immune system.  Research suggests that vitamin A may help keep the respiratory system healthy.
9.  Ginger: Helpful in increasing sweat production, which may help us get rid of germs and toxins.  Ginger has also been shown to reduce nausea and vomiting.
10.  Mushrooms (shiitake, maitake and reishi): immune boosters, rich in compounds that fortify white blood cells, they also neutralize environmental toxins
11.  Raw Honey: provides antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, carbohydrates, and phytonutrients. It fights bacteria, builds the immune system, and provides energy.
12.  Seafood and Lean Meats: Seafood and lean meats generally have a high zinc content. Zinc enhances the function of helper T cells, which are important in identifying foreign antigens and alerting other cells of the immune system to invaders.

Acupuncture in baseball?

I read a wonderful article on the SF Giants having an acupuncturist on-staff to treat their players.  I am so excited to see this finally being accepted!  Acupuncture is a wonderful preventative or it can help speed up the recovery time following an injury.  I can only hope other sporting organizations will follow the lead set by the SF Giants, and have an NCCAOM Board Certified Acupuncturist on their staff to work with their athletes and coaching staff.  (Acupuncture is great for many things, including reducing stress)

Here is the article:    http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=32011

Please send this article to everyone you know, especially those involved in sports.

Trying to quit smoking? Let acupuncture help

I saw in the news the other day that a pack of cigarettes is now $5.00 a pack.  Wow!  I can not imagine spending $5 for something that causes cancer.  It seems absolutely crazy, but then I do not recall having the addiction to nicotine that many people suffer.  People try everything and anything when they are trying to quit smoking.  Patches, gum, prescription drugs, hypnosis, even books, are the most common means to help you quit.  Recently, I have had a surge of people trying to quit smoking in the office.  (Maybe the $5 a pack got to them, too.)

Many people do not know that acupuncture is very helpful on trying to break the habit.  When people ask about acupuncture to quit smoking, the first and most important question I ask is “Are YOU ready to quit smoking?  Not because the doctor or loved one gave you an ultimatum, but because you want to make a change.”  If they answer yes, then I proceed to tell them how acupuncture can help.  Yes, acupuncture can still help if someone has to quit for health reasons.  I have found it to be more successful when the person makes that decision on their own.   If you do decide to try acupuncture to help you kick the habit, there are a few things you should know, but of course this varies from acupuncturist to acupuncturist.

1.  Plan on having acupuncture done a minimum of 2 times a week for a couple of weeks.  This could increase depending how your response after the treatment and how much you smoke.  I highly recommend to commit to twice a week for up to 4 weeks.  This will change as the withdrawal symptoms lessen.  Afterward, you will still need to come in once a week for a few weeks to help nourish your body from the toxin.   Acupuncture helps to nourish your body, remove toxins and reduce withdrawal symptoms.  It can also curb the craving for nicotine.

2.  I also recommend a couple of books for my clients to read either before they start treatments or during.  There are many out there, so find one that catches your interest.   Read what you can throughout the day, even if it is only one line.

3.  Use a straw cut to the size of your cigarettes or a pen and act like you are smoking them.  It sounds stupid, but just having that trained act of hand-to-mouth movement can help you break the habit.

4.  Eat raw carrots.  It sounds strange but it helps draw out the nicotine, lessening your withdrawl.

5.  Stop and take a deep breath often throughout the day, without using the cigarette to do it.  People always say they are completely relaxed after a cigarette break.  It makes no sense but yet it does when you break the act down, as Nicotine is a stimulant, so why would you feel relaxed?  Easy, you get up, walk away from what you are doing, go outside and take deep (yet toxic) breaths for 10 minutes.  If everyone would take a breathing break every hour throughout the day, we would all decrease our stress levels and be ready to get back to work refreshed.  I encourage people to take breathing breaks during the work day.  If you can not leave your desk for whatever reason, then close your eyes and breathe there.

Those are just a few tips that I give to my clients to help them break the habit while having acupuncture.  Once you do quit, you will feel better and your lungs will love you for it.   If you need 25 reasons why to quit smoking, check out this blog:  http://dratiffarid.today.com/2008/11/17/25-reasons-to-quit-smoking/