“The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. ” ~ Thomas Edison I have been in practice for well over ten years now and have learned so much about health, people, patterns and the human body. When I was a student I was intrigued by so many of the concepts and mysteries of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I was fascinated with every facet of it. How could a person be diagnosed by changes in the pulse, tongue and complexion? How could personality traits indicate with great accuracy the type of illness a person would be susceptible to? There were so many questions and mystery. I was in awe of it all. As the years went by and I treated more and more people, I began to really understand TCM. It was not magical or mysterious, it was based on concrete observable patterns. Yes, the tongue does reflect the health with great accuracy. The tongue is an extension of the esophagus which connects to the stomach. Inflammation and acidity that originate in the stomach will show on the tongue. It’s not a mystery just simple observation; like paleness under the eyelid when a person is anemic. If you see hundreds of tongues, after awhile you see patterns. The part reflects the whole. TCM diagnosis and treatment is the culmination of 2000 years of careful observation and recognition of patterns in the body. The tongue is only one method of ‘reading’ the body. The pulse, complexion, voice, body type, hair...
Here is a little video I made introducing the concepts of Qi Gong. It is 16 minutes long and covers some of the ideas that are important in Qi Gong practice and can really help you understand why the practice makes you feel so...
Happy ‘Year of the Horse’! The Chinese zodiac is based on a twelve year cycle. Each year in the cycle is named after an animal and associated with an element. The elements are earth, water, metal, fire and wood. In Traditional Chinese Medicine there is a form of treatment based on the five elements known as “Five Element” acupuncture. A person’s ‘element’ is identified based on their constitution and health patterns. Each element is associated with different organs in the body and has associated strengths and weaknesses. As for the Chinese zodiac, today marks the beginning of the year of the horse (‘wood’ element). People born in the year of the horse are said to be social, active, energetic and positive! The year of the horse is supposed to be an important one and a time of good health. May your 2014 hold much health and...
Thank you so much to everyone who came to the first class of the winter Qi Gong session. There was a mixture of beginners, some expert practitioners and even a few out-of-towner’s and I think everyone would agree that the room was buzzing with vibrant Qi! While this is a six week class feel free to drop in when you can and don’t worry if you can’t make all of the classes. The main focus of the classes is to practice so just come when you can! I did a 5 minute introduction to the concept of Qi Gong but if you would like to know more I will be uploading a video on YouTube that goes into a little bit more depth in the next little while so stay tuned. If you haven’t already done so please feel free to ‘like’ our Facebook page or subscribe to our newsletter to get updates, info and inspiration. I look forward to seeing you all next week and thank you for helping build a great “Communi-Qi!” -Jeffrey...
Meditation is an amazing, effective and accessible form of self-care. I’m not sure why everyone isn’t doing it. Seriously. It’s simple, easy-to-do and has an enormous impact on your body. It’s a powerful tool that can really improve your health. If you don’t believe me….try it! Stress is one of the biggest causes of illness, it affects all our systems and essentially makes the body start to ‘shut down’. Chronic stress actually causes part of the brain to ‘shrink’ over time and this affects our short-term memory and thought processing. Have you ever noticed that during moments of high stress you tend to forget names, words and dates? This is normal and happens to most of us. It is just one of the many ways that stress affects the body. The physical effects of stress show up fairly quickly in the form of frequent colds, flu, headache, fatigue, muscle tension, insomnia, and high blood pressure. Unfortunately this is when many people resort to pain-killers and sleeping pills…but they don’t think of meditation. Meditation truly is one of the best health remedies around. It has strong effects on the body physically and mentally. It’s like taking a multi-vitamin for the body and soul. Physically it helps: Lower blood pressure Reduce pain Improve sleep Increase energy Strengthen the immune system Mentally it helps: Improve memory and concentration Reduce anxiety and depression Improve mood Reduce stress Increase creativity There are so many benefits from such a simple practice and it’s accessible to everyone; it doesn’t require fancy athletic gear, going to the gym or taking expensive supplements. It’s so simple yet one...
