Author: Ann Zimmerman

Fijian healing Story…Part I

Written by Ann Zimmerman on September 29, 2013. Posted in Acupuncture, Zimmerman Articles.

Fijian Healing Story.. .Part 1

lavena kids Part of our honeymoon was spent on a picture perfect Fijian island paradise. We ended up in a very remote village at the end the road where they offered an “eco-tourism” hike to a waterfall and a village stay. When we arrived in this jungle beach village there were no other tourists, only very friendly and easy going Fijians that spoke fairly good english. They were living a traditional Fijian subsistance lifestyle, with no electricity. During our hike to the waterfall we shared with our guide that we are healers.

The next morning some men from the village approached us and asked us if we could treat their auntie (the chief’s wife). In Fiji the village chief has some serious clout and there are many taboo behaviors in the chief’s presence, of which we were mostly ignorant.

Taking time to heal by Ann Zimmerman LAc.

Written by Ann Zimmerman on September 25, 2013. Posted in Immune Health and Balance, Mental and Emotional Health.

Depending on what needs to heal, we have differing capacities to be patient and allow the healing process to take place. Occasionally, life gives us no choice but to lay in bed with a head cold. Sometimes there is almost a relief in feeling the permission to totally give in to healing. However, most of us choose to power through at the first inkling of being OK: quickly testing the waters with how much we can get away with without setting back our progress.

Giving your body and heart enough time to heal from trauma or illness is truly a very individual and tricky act to balance. Depending on our age, cultural upbringing, work, and family pressures, most of us feel a kind of internal pressure to heal quickly and get on with it. After all who wants to be in any type of pain?

Lower Your Internal Thermostat

Written by Ann Zimmerman on August 6, 2013. Posted in Chinese Medicine, Immune Health and Balance.

It seems that everyone is talking about the weather these days. We all know that summer is the season of heat. This is great if you want to go swimming or play in the river, but it can be quite distracting if you are doing most other outdoor activities. Chinese medicine focuses a lot of attention on the internal body temperature. Unlike the western approach of using a thermometer to determine the body temperature, Chinese medicine pays greater attention to how a person feels subjectively about their temperature. In other words, does a patient feel hot or cold, or are they generally comfortable. Temperature is such an important subject in Chinese medical treatment that it is one of the primary 8 principles used to diagnose and treat any illness.

On hot days, it is natural to feel warmer in response to the temperature of our surroundings. It is also expected that when the weather turns cooler our bodies would feel cooler as well. But these tendencies can be influenced by our internal balance. If we are cold internally, then colder weather can exacerbate cold symptoms, leading to a feeling of chilliness, nasal discharge, frequent colds, diarrhea, frequent urination, or digestive problems. If we have “internal heat” in the body, then the warm days may effect us more intensely, leading to symptoms of headaches, increased sweating, red eyes, irritability, dryness, skin rashes/itchiness, constipation, urinary difficulty, digestive complaints, or bleeding problems.