How do you perceive it – the glass is half empty or half full. Your answer will help to determine whether you are prone to a heart disease or not. People with a positive frame of mind usually have less risk of heart attacks. On the contrary, the negative emotions of sadness, anger and aggression are the enemies of your heart.

Negative feelings are the major risk factors for heart attack, while happiness and positive attitude seem to look after your heart.

Your positive attitude can be defined as your experience of enjoyable feelings such as happiness, enthusiasm and satisfaction. An individual, who is usually positive, has overall lower risk of heart diseases. Many researchers, have established that positive emotions help to award long-term safeguards to a person against heart diseases. The positive attitude influences your sleeping patterns positively and controls your heart rate.

People with positive attitudes enjoy longer periods of rest and relaxation and they recover more speedily from stress.

You will be amazed to know that the researchers have found that the happiest people are 22% less prone to develop a heart disease than people who are often found in the whirlpool of negative emotions.

There are several possible reasons, how happiness can protect your heart:

• Happy people follow healthier lifestyle. They sleep better, eat better, do physical exercises and smoke less. They take care of themselves and treat themselves kindly.
• Happiness produces several positive chemical changes in the human body such as reduction in stress hormones.

So, if you too don’t want to be a victim of a heart attack, learn the art of being happy!  Start by looking in a mirror and pasting the biggest grin you can onto your face. Keep looking and keep grinning … you will probably find yourself laughing within minutes.

Summer season is again here with long days and loads of sunshine. Thought there are many ways of staying healthy and taking care of ourselves, let’s have a look at the ancient Chinese traditions for staying fit and healthy throughout the summer.

According to Chinese traditions, this is the most yang time of year. Yang energy that inspires development, expansion, actions and creativity.

During summer season, our body undergoes vigorous metabolic processes. The Chinese tradition teaches us that this season belongs to fire, which represents maximum activity or supreme yang. The heart, mind and spirit in human anatomy are ruled by the fire element. Thus in summers, Chinese medicine systems give top priority to the heart, mind and spirit in order to stay healthy throughout the hot summer months

We all know that our heart’s key task is to circulate oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. In Chinese medicine, all types of mental activities such as our memory, thought process, emotional security, and consciousness – all associated with the heart and hence the fire element.

Ancient Chinese physicians have established that when the fire element is balanced, our heart is healthy, our mind is peaceful and we sleep soundly. But when it is imbalanced, we may lack joy in life and feel depressed. Sometimes we may even have an excess of joy and feel maniac. The symptoms of imbalance in the fire element are indicated by anxiety, uneasiness, heartburn, and sleeplessness.
To prevent summer-time ailments to create havoc in your life, you should follow the advices of ancient Chinese physicians which revolve around the principles of remaining in harmony with the summer environment.

Here are a few things you can do throughout the summer:

• Get up earlier in the morning
• Go to bed later in the evening
• Take a short nap, or be lazy at midday
• Drink plenty of fluids, water is the best
• Add spicy flavors to your food
• Look for moments of joy, bliss and happiness
• focus on changes in your life, on person and spiritual growth

It’s amazing but true! If you want to boost your brainpower and also your physical strength, start consuming Chia seeds, one of the most powerful food items you could ever imagine.

The benefits of consuming Chia seeds are manifold:

1. Chia seeds are wholesome.  When you eat them, you supply plenty of calcium and protein to your tissues.  Chia seeds are also rich in boron that helps the body ingest and use calcium.  The nutrients found in the seeds also support brain functions.

2. Chia seeds soak up huge amounts of water. Thus, they help maintain your body fluid for a longer period of time. This way you remain hydrated and retain electrolytes in your body.

3.  Chia seeds are easily digestible.  Even if you swallow them whole, their shells are broken down easily and can be digested properly.

4. Chia seeds have amazing food value. A small amount of concentrated Chia seeds can satiate the hunger pangs for hours.

5. Chia seeds have a mild flavor.  Its mild taste makes it versatile and it can be easily addes to sauces, smoothies, puddings, and anything else that you love to eat.  They won’t affect the taste of your food while adding valuable nutrients.

6. Chia seeds boost your energy level.

7. These tiny seeds are versatile and can be used in a variety of recipes.  You can replace less-healthy fat with Chia seeds in any recipe.  You can eat them raw when used in salads, spreads, fruit shakes and ice-cream. You can mix a couple of teaspoons in your juice or yogurt.

8. Chia seeds can even help you to lose your extra pounds.  Because they are so filling you consume other foods in smaller quantities.

9. They also cleanse your intestines of old junk and make you less flabby.

Acupuncture has been proven to not only help alleviate the symptoms of allergies when they are active, but more importantly, acupuncture can prevent against future allergic reactions.

In the case of allergies, needle-less acupuncture is as effective as traditional treatments.

Acupuncture treatment affects allergies in 4 main ways:

• Stabilize the immune system to moderate its response to allergens
• Decrease swelling and inflammation of local tissues to stop itching
• Decrease secretions of mucus membranes to reduce nasal discharge and watery eyes
• Strengthen your natural resistance to antigens.

Remember, there’s no reason to let allergies take over your life.

NEW YEARS’ RESOLUTIONS??????? ARE THEY WORTH THE BOTHER??????

History does repeat itself…. And we are the ones who repeat it. Every year we make promises/resolutions to ourselves, get excited at the anticipated end result, and then find ourselves disappointed by March. Most personal trainers find that by March, most new clients have fallen off their wagons and are not returning to the gym no matter how much they have invested. Most weight loss programs are getting fewer and fewer participants to get on the weigh scales. Those who quit smoking are salivating at it’s aroma when they walk by someone who has just lit one up. Why do we do this to ourselves…….

Great success takes more than wishful thinking. Good health and lifestyle choices are wonderful when they become your life, your habit, and an awareness of well-being. But how do we get there?

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) are as simple today as they were thousands of years ago. Much like ourselves. We have not evolved far from what we were thousands of years ago. Our peripheral lives have changed, but we haven’t.
Acupuncture and TCM combine the body, mind and spirit to work together as a state of true health must involve the whole person. If any of the pieces are missing, we find ourselves floundering, and it’s only a question of time before we let ourselves down. Be it the will and determination needed to persist, the energy to continue, the fatigue, cravings, depression, or the symptoms of withdrawl that get in our way.

WHATEVER THE STUMBLING BLOCKS? ……….. THERE IS A WAY AROUND THEM……..

Acupuncture is focused on balancing the body, mind and spirit to provide the energy and strength needed to change our habits. It works to calm the mind and not allow the stress, anxiety and depression associated with establishing new habits to become overwhelming. Acupuncture also invigorates the flow of Qi (energy). Qi needs to flow freely and easily through our body so we can live pain free as we learn new physical tasks and strive towards new goals. It balances our digestion, rids us of cravings and overeating as we change eating habits and diets. It gives us the energy needed to continue. Acupuncture enables us to overcome our emotional issues as well as our physical and mental, thereby providing a link to our whole self.

True health is more than just not feeling sick. It means that your body is functioning at it’s optimum level, your spirit is calm and your mind is alert. You have the energy to get the most out of each and every day.

There are no drugs nor tricks needed to get healthy. It is all within your grasp.

YIN Food and Activities

When a cooling pattern occurs (winter), warming aerobic exercise is essential.  Healing food choices include warm beef or lamb dishes, meat-based soups and stews, trout and wild salmon.  Vegetables include cooked root veggies, baked winger squash, onions, lightly cooked greens including broccoli, turnip greens, asparagus, and kale.  Nuts and seeds are warming as are cinnamon, garlic, ginger, and pepper.

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Yang Food and Activities

When a warming pattern occurs (summer), meditation, walks in nature, swimming, and yoga are ideal for balancing the agitating nature of a heat imbalance.  Cooling foods would include salads, cucumber, melons, pears, beans, sushi, and non-spicy foods.  Vegetables of all kinds are helpful whereas meats should be limited.

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Modern nutrition is based on knowing the chemical composition of foods and the biochemical pathways of the body.  They are bunched into proteins, carbohydrates, and fats accordingly.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) looks at food and life quite differently.  It is based on the energy of the food, the season of year, and balance.  It  works very simply.  When a person is feeling cold, choosing food and drinks that are warming will help regain strength and vitality. A cold, raw salad won’t help them.  Contrarily, if a person is suffering from heat symptoms, choosing foods that are cooling will help.

The Theory of yin and Yang is a corner stone of Traditional Chinese Medicine.  The forces of Yin and Yang are energetic qualities that shape everything in the universe including our health.

The symbol of Yin and Yang is circle divided into two shapes each with it’s own shade of light or dark.  The dark side symbolizes the Yin as the light side symbolizes the Yang.  This carries through to nature.  Yin is on the shady side of the hill in the cool and damp while the Yang is in the sun in its warmth and dryness.  Night and winter are yin in nature while day and summer are Yang.

Different kinds of food and activates are recommended for both Ying and Yang. I’ll tell you more in my next post!

Spring Allergies?

Whether your suffering of allergies are seasonal or perennial, life can become very miserable.  Itching of the eyes, roof of the mouth, or throat, runny nose, headache, sneezing, cough, wheezing, the list goes on.  The symptoms are numerous.
It is up to our immune systems to defend us against foreign substances such as pollens, dust, pets, etc., however,  our immune systems can overreact to certain antigens (allergens) which are harmless in most people.  The result is an allergic reaction.  In other words, it isn’t the allergy itself that is the problem, but the person’s reaction to the allergen.

Acupuncture has been proven to help alleviate the symptoms of allergies when they are active and more importantly, can help to correct the immune system imbalance that causes the allergic response in the first place.

Acupuncture treatment affects allergies in 4 main ways:

• Stabilize the immune system to moderate its response to allergens.
• Decrease swelling and inflammation of local tissues to stop itching
• Decrease secretions of mucus membranes to reduce nasal discharge and watery eyes
• Strengthen your natural resistance to antigens.

Acupuncture not only helps with the active symptoms, but also in the prevention of them.  Acupucnture can enhance the immune system’s performance in the off-season to prevent the on-set of your allergy symptoms.  In other words, to strengthen the immune system to not create the overreaction or the “allergic reaction.”

There is simply no point in suffering with allergies when all it takes is a phone call to book your appointment … 604-839-9789

Haven’t had much time to post with the hustle and bustle of the Olympic Games being in Vancouver, but I saw this great article in the Georgia Straight. It’s a bit long so I’ve just taken out some excerpts.

By Gail Johnson

Although group rhythmic gymnastics wasn’t an Olympic sport back when Sonia Tan was competing, the Vancouver resident represented Canada at a number of international events in the early ’90s. Tan knows firsthand about the grueling physical and mental demands that high-stakes competitions like the Olympics place on athletes. She can also attest to the price athletes pay when they’re not in top health.

Growing up in Toronto, she and her family mostly turned to western medical treatments, even though her grandfather used traditional Chinese medicine with great success. But with an international competition fast approaching, Tan was frustrated by the lack of relief she was getting from conventional approaches.

Out of desperation she tried acupuncture and Chinese herbs. She couldn’t believe how much better she felt so fast.

“I was ready for that competition, and I did fine,” she says. “After about six months, I didn’t need my medication anymore at all. I was completely symptom-free. It was really eye-opening.…I credit it for giving me the gift of my health back.”

With the Olympics in full swing, she’s hoping that, just as she did during her intense days of gymnastics training, other athletes will reap the benefits of traditional therapies. Tan is volunteering as an acupuncturist at one of the Olympic and Paralympic Games’ Polyclinics—multidisciplinary health-care centres in Vancouver and Whistler.

Acupuncture as a treatment for sports ailments gained widespread recognition during the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, when the service was offered for free to athletes and officials in the Olympic Village. Canadian speed skater Kevin Overland has reportedly used it to beneficial effect, as have hockey great Jaromír Jágr and former NFL player Marcellus Wiley.

The treatment involves the insertion of tiny needles along the body’s meridians, which practitioners believe conduct qi, or energy, which regulates physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional harmony. The theory is that illness results when qi is “blocked” or imbalanced. By stimulating certain points in the body, acupuncture seeks to unblock and balance a person’s energy.

Acupuncture’s benefits for athletes and people who are physically active are many, Tan claims, particularly if they’re dealing with musculoskeletal problems. It helps reduce pain and inflammation and increase circulation. Combined, these effects boost the body’s ability to heal from injury and enhance the overall feeling of well-being.

“Acupuncture restores people’s energy to an optimal state of balance,” Tan says. “For me, I had weekly treatments of acupuncture, and my body felt completely different after. I was on so much medication that I felt like I was in a fog; with acupuncture, I felt more strong, more natural.”

That brings up another point about the benefit of the technique for Olympic athletes: it doesn’t involve ingesting any potentially harmful or banned substances. “When it comes to anyone who’s active and who’s conscious about what they’re taking, acupuncture gives them natural relief for pain and inflammation.”

She says it can also help reduce stress and alleviate insomnia, two things that are common among men and women preparing for the race of their lives.

“The mental preparation and stress is huge,” Tan says. “It’s a whole different psyche.”

According to a 2005 medical review of the effectiveness of acupuncture on sports injuries by the U.K.–based Acupuncture Research Resource Centre, acupuncture has been shown to successfully treat ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis pain, and patellofemoral pain syndrome, among other conditions. However, the review noted that more research is needed because there have been few studies to date, and these have varied in quality.

Local acupuncturist Ian Dunsmuir, manager of acupuncture services at the Games’ Polyclinics, explains that this is the first time in the history of the Olympics that such fully integrated health care has been offered. That speaks to the effectiveness and acceptance of techniques like acupuncture.

“Having it during the Olympics is building acupuncture’s integrity and popularity,” Dunsmuir says in a phone interview. “It will create more awareness.”

Whether a person is aiming for a gold medal in alpine skiing or simply running a few times a week, acupuncture can help improve range of motion, loosen tight muscles, align the pelvis, and improve balance, he adds.

Dunsmuir notes that a lot of people don’t like the idea of acupuncture because they’re scared of needles.

“That’s really a myth,” he explains. “The needles are very, very thin, nowhere near as big as ones used when you get a vaccination or have blood taken.

“Most people are very relaxed during a treatment,” he says. “Some people fall asleep.”

Read full article here

While completely eliminating stress in your life is easier said than done, what can be done is reducing the impact of stress on your organs using acupuncture. Acupuncture is able to move the energy within the meridians in your body to achieve balance. You may not be able to avoid stress completely, but you can minimize the damage it does to your health.

Wishing you a low stress week,

Wendy