Practitioners' News

Numbers play a significant role in Classical Chinese texts. They indicate the quality more than the quantity. The systematic recourse to numerology helps to keep the framework of the discourse in mind, while setting out the processes of life. Without losing sight of the unity ‐ which is the nature of life ‐ numbers show its development, stage after stage. They are the reflection of the natural order.

Wired and tired is the perfect description for many of our patients that come to the clinic. Many of today’s health problems have their root in excess yang (wired) and deficient yin patterns (tired), or in other words, adrenal fatigue and chronic inflammatory conditions.

Bookstores in China have shelves and shelves of books on Chinese medicine. A great many of these books chronicle a practitioner’s experience with and thoughts about the practice of the art. What drew us to select this book and to choose, through our translation, to offer it to Western readers is its unique depth, nature, and tangible clinical utility.

The patient who balks at the cost of herbs/natural medicines that are recommended to them is an all too familiar experience for practitioners. In Canada, many of us are used to a heavily subsidized allopathic medical system, so we are trained to not want to spend money on our health. In fact, for those with extended healthcare plans, it may be easier to go to their family doctor or walk-in clinic to get a prescription for medication to suppress the symptoms so they get immediate and cheap relief. But, they have come to you for help, and that is a major hurdle overcome. The second hurdle is for them to take the next step and follow your recommendations, which likely includes lifestyle changes along with some nutritional and herbal support. In light of this, we wanted to take a closer look at the cost of health, so you can work with your patients to make reasonable and effective choices for their health plan.

The neologism "Time Acupuncture" illustrates the combination of the energetics of the time with the energetics of the acupuncture. Through the coordination of these energetic cycles we are able to optimize the effectiveness of the acupuncture treatment.

There is always a relationship between present beings. This relationship is even stronger when these beings focus on one another, direct their attention from one to the other, as is the case between doctor and patient. What occurs in the treatment is also what occurs between them.

An important, and often overlooked, aspect of healing is the bioavailability of the necessary nutrients needed for the body to function optimally and for healing to occur. Over the past while, we have been referring to this as a core nutritional foundation, and it needs to be a key part of any treatment plan. While eating healthily is obviously important, it may not be enough for a variety of reasons.

According to Oriental Medicine (OM), the gallbladder is considered both a fu (yang / bowel) organ as well as an extraordinary or curious organ. It has characteristics of both a zang (yin) organ and a fu (yang) organ. Its hollow structure makes it resemble other yang organs. But unlike other fu, the gallbladder is never directly in contact with the exterior or with food or waste.

A patient once told me that, for years, she had avoided eating soup or moist foods such as warm applesauce and fruit because her acupuncturist had warned her against Damp. Her acupuncturist had told her, with a straight face, “You are too Damp: you need to avoid Damp food.” Soup and moist foods would have been perfect for her. They literally are damp foods: foods containing moisture, healthy foods. Moist foods were just what she needed. Remember, damp foods, foods full of moisture, are good for us.

Not all probiotics are alike! In fact, there are so many in the market place that we would need a weekend course to go through them all and explore their strengths and weaknesses. With all the positive research on probiotics emerging from the Human Biome project, we as practitioners need to consider how probiotics figure into our treatment plans.

Over the past two years, we have been expanding the range of products we carry to include whole food supplements and probiotics. As a company geared toward practitioners, we recognized that while we have been providing you with quality botanical remedies and adaptogens, we were missing an essential piece. That missing piece is the product necessary to help patients (and all of us, for that matter) help build and maintain a solid core nutrient foundation.

Eating a nutrient-rich, whole food diet ensures the health of the growing baby. Health Canada recommends a prenatal multivitamin/mineral supplement as “insurance” for a health pregnancy in case mother’s diet is lacking since greater demands are placed on her body. (When not obtaining required nutrients, mother’s stores are depleted for baby’s needs.) However, it is also an investment in the child that will reap enormous gains.

As a profession we are blossoming and going through growing pains. As professionals we are improving the healthcare landscape and surmounting challenges. As people we are moving towards the fulfillment of our life’s dreams and confronting hardships. While there are many dimensions through which to look at life, it is undeniable that both the Yang and Yin aspects exist. That which nourishes partners that which diminishes. Abundance walks beside lack and progress means set backs.

January 28, 2017 is the start of the Chinese Year of the Red Rooster. The Rooster is Yin to Monkey’s Yang and many of us are still reeling from the Monkey’s shenanigans around the world! The Yin nature of the Rooster forecasts a calmer year and should bring a lot of relief from the shock, strain, tension and anxiety of last year.

Did you know that each year has five hundred twenty five thousand and six hundred minutes? Each one of those minutes stream through our brains and life like grains of sand through an hour glass. Before you know it, all the minutes have slipped by, a year has passed, and it is now time to reset, turn the hour glass over again and let the countdown begin once more!

Food talk today can be complex and confusing: eat more of this, less of that; this is a superfood, that other is a must avoid…or is it the other way around? Fads come and go, and studies can be found to justify almost anything. What is often overlooked is the importance of the way foods are combined into dishes and into meals. This is the open secret: it’s not just the foods we include or exclude, it is the amounts and the way we combine them that may be the key to supporting good digestion and—by direct extension— nearly every aspect of our health.

We are excited to now offer lifetime access on new course purchases. This means you can complete your certificate for your CEUs, and then review the material again and again.

Our online and call in order minimum levels are changing soon. As of December 1, 2016, in order to qualify for free shipping, your orders will need to reach the following total values: - For web orders: $200.00 (inclusive of quantity and sales discounts). - Call in orders: $300.00 (inclusive of quantity and sales discounts).

We are into the last two months of the year and are being reluctantly dragged into the cold and dark days of winter. While we may resist by clinging to the memories of long warm days, the purging/simplifying nature of this season creates important opportunities to reset our personal and professional lives.

In autumn we learn more about ourselves, perhaps, than in any other season. Having provided the harvest, Nature now makes everything bare. In this season Nature lets go of its abundant creation of the past year in a grand final display. Autumn marks the end of the growing season - a turning inward, a falling away of outer-directed energy. Leaves turn color and drop. The old leaves go back to the earth, enriching it to promote the coming of new leaves, a new harvest.