Chinese medicine is a wonderful system of self care because it has an answer for how to address practically every imbalance. These approaches are practical, simple and often very effective. Many of these answers are found by studying the concept of correspondence for the 5 phases/elements used in Chinese medicine: water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. In this article I want to give you an example (this is Andres) from my own life of how I am using Chinese medicine for my self care. In Chinese Continue Reading
Resources for Healing the Eyes
I have helped many people heal holistically from a wide range of conditions using herbs and acupuncture. I never guarantee any results, and yet most people find great benefits from a combination of acupuncture and herbs, as well as the use of qi gong. Being a new father I experienced a level of worry and fear around his health and well-being and a new time drain that I was unaccustomed to. Up until I became a father, I was used to having abundant time for my qi gong practice and also time for Continue Reading
Strengthen Your Digestion with Chinese Medicine
In Chinese medicine, the earth forms the center of a five element configuration of any given human being. Many traditional systems, like Ayurveda and Native American systems, understand each human body as a unique combination of the natural elements, with each system identifying and working with specific elements, such as water, earth, wood, air, etc. The purpose of using natural elements in identifying body systems is to have an easy, succinct and efficient way to explain and to address any Continue Reading
How Acupuncture Works For Depression
Written by Andres Vergara, Dipl. OM, L.Ac. and Michele Vergara, RH (AHG) Depression and Acupuncture Treatment Acupuncture is time-tested way to unblock and free the flow of qi. What is anger, sadness, frustration? These are but amalgamations of unhealthy qi that have accumulated into patterns and habitual ways of being that interfere with ease and a sense of fulfillment in life. How can acupuncture help? Acupuncture can help to reorganize the patterns and habits from the inside out. Continue Reading
How Chinese Medicine Can Help Anxiety
Written by Andres Vergara, Dipl.OM, L.Ac. and Michele Collins Vergara, RH (AHG), MPH Anxiety often represents an advanced progression of various smaller imbalances and thought patterns. In Chinese medicine various symptoms are used as clues to understand how to easily and practically address the reality of anxiety. In order to best help we ask clients to breakdown how does anxiety feel in their body. Are there heart palpitations? Is there a shortness of breath? Spinning thoughts? Sleep Continue Reading
Why Sweat a Cold?
Andres Vergara and Michele Collins The ancient chinese used natural metaphors to understand illness and health. These developed into a diagnostically useful framework that is effective for many types of ailments. One of these is the common cold. Have you ever heard the idea that whoever discovered a cure for the cold would make billions? In fact the ancient Chinese have already developed cures for the cold. But you will not find it in a pill. Instead it is a complex and diagnostically Continue Reading
ADHD and Chinese Medicine
Michele Collins, Rh (AHG), MPH and Andres Vergara, L.AC.,M.Ac. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is becoming a very common childhood neurodevelopmental diagnosis. What many people may not know is that Chinese herbs are very effective at calming anxiety, increasing ability to focus and think clearly, as well as settling the emotions and calming moodiness. We have both worked with ADHD in our practices and want to share some of what we have Continue Reading
Ayurveda and Menopause
On Saturday, December 7th from 1-4 PM at Sunrise Yoga studio, Valerie Kiser and I (Michele Collins) will be offering a workshop, Ayurveda and Menopause. Ayurveda, which translates from Sanskrit as Science of Life, is a 5000 year old wholistic health system that is rooted in achieving wellness and health through an individualized approach based on constitution of Dosha type. Learning about how to apply Ayurveda to your own life is essentially learning a language, the language of Continue Reading
The Effectiveness of Chinese Medicine For Treating Male and Female Infertility
Michele Collins, RH (AHG), MPH and Andres Vergara, L.Ac., M.Ac. Chinese medicine can make a tremendous contribution in promoting fertility for both men and women. On the March 26th episode of Holistic Healing with Herbs and Chinese Medicine, we discussed why Chinese medicine is so effective at treating male and female infertility. Chinese medicine is a holistic system of medicine that identifies and treats a specific pattern of imbalance that could inhibit the ability to either create Continue Reading
Herbs for Emotional and Spiritual Health
Andres Vergara, L.Ac., M.Ac. and Michele Collins, RH (AHG), MPH Herbs can work on many levels in the body, one of which is the physical. However what many people may not be aware of is that you can use herbs to support your emotional health, your mental health, and your spiritual health. In several previous posts, Michele has written about the multiple-level healing properties of plants such as peony (Paeonia lactiflora), mimosa (albizia julibrissin durazz), and poke root (phytolacca Continue Reading