5 Ways Acupuncture Can Compliment Your Lifestyle
DR. MARINA DABCEVIC
1. Increase Circulation And Therefore Decreases Your Body’s Aches And Pains
In the world we live in today we are mostly hunched over our computers, looking down at our iPhones or iPads, driving for hours (especially here in LA), sleeping on our sides or our belly’s and our body eventually starts screaming at us with pain. Do you know there is such a thing as text neck and 11 year olds are going to have hunchbacks soon….Acupuncture can help increase circulation and decrease inflammation, as well as stimulate opioids, which are your body’s natural painkillers, thus the body aches start to disappear!
2. Decrease Stress And Anxiety
How could we possibly forget the day to day stress we encounter with our finances, kids, parents, co-workers, and of course our significant others, I can feel my shoulders rising to my ears as we speak! Look, there are different types of stress, some are good, like the stress that pushes us to go forward, to achieve our goals, and helps us get out of bed every morning. But the bad stress, the one that keeps you up at night, the one that knots every single muscle in your body, that’s the stress acupuncture can reduce. When the circulation is increased to your whole body, your muscles start to relax and so does your mind. You begin to breathe slower and deeper and your anxieties are lessened.
3. Improve Sleep
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) the health of your sleep reflects the health of your mind. Acupuncture aids in restoring proper sleep by harmonizing the yin and yang imbalances in the body that create insomnia. There are different types of insomnia from the TCM prospective. There is the insomnia where you have a hard time going to sleep, but once asleep you sleep well. This is a blood deficiency insomnia and other symptoms may include blurred vision, dizziness, shortness of breath, numbness/tingling of limbs. Then there is the insomnia where you fall asleep easily but wake up every hour or two and can’t stay asleep all night. This is due to a yin deficiency, and symptoms may also include hot palms and soles, night sweats, dry mouth, throat, and skin. Since yin is cool and yang is warm, having a deficiency of yin automatically give you an excess of yang. If yang is warmth and heat rises, it can disturb the mind and create a restless night. Lastly, there is the insomnia where you wake up at 4am and can’t get to sleep no matter what you do. Here we say you have a gallbladder deficiency. Your gall bladder is the organ in charge of courage and you need courage to make decisions. So if you are awake at 4am and cant get back to sleep, muster up some courage and make a decision!! Then you will fall asleep!
4. Stimulate Digestion
Think of your digestion as your second brain…so if it is not working the rest of you won’t work either! Ninety percent of our serotonin supply is found in the digestive tract, and since serotonin has a lot to do with our moods, having a healthy digestive tract is very important. The digestive tract is how we all fuel our body, so continuously eating foods that will create inflammation effects not only our bowel movements, our ability to absorb enough nutrients, but also our moods. Acupuncture can decrease the digestive inflammation, allowing the nutrients to be absorbed easier and faster, giving us more energy, healthier skin, better functioning organs and better elimination. Lastly, better digestion makes us healthier, happier, and all around better people!
5. Best Used For Prevention
Although rarely used as a preventative medicine outside of Asian cultures, acupuncture really can strengthen the immune system and help fight disease. Over 4000 years ago, the founder of Chinese Medicine, Nei Jing wrote, "The sages of antiquity did not treat those who were already sick, but those who were not sick... When a disease has already broken out and is only then treated, would that not be just as late as to wait for thirst before digging a well, or to wait to go into battle before casting weapons?"
Keeping the body balanced at all times will prevent the disharmony caused by illnesses. You can also talk to your acupuncturist about diet, lifestyle and exercise advice to promote balance.
Do you have a passion for nutrition & natural healing?. Learn more about the Food Matters Nutrition Certification Program here.
As a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, Dr. Marina specializes in oncology and chronic pain management. Her approach is holistic, taking into account not only each patient's physical state but also his or her mental and emotional states. She often works with specialist doctors to offer an integrated approach that assists their current treatments