Immune Health and Balance – Page 5 – Medford Acupuncture & Herbal Clinic

The Gift of Sacred Space

Written by Ann Zimmerman on September 22, 2015. Posted in Immune Health and Balance, Mental and Emotional Health.

By Clark Zimmerman, LAc.

Years ago, my wife and I were in Beijing, China to do some advance study in Chinese medicine and qi gong. We arrived a couple of days before we were to meet the rest of our group. We checked into our hotel, and were overwhelmed with the busyness of such a large and chaotic city. The noise and pollution were disorienting. So being the nature loving Oregonians that we are, we got a map of Beijing and looked for any green space we could find. We discovered a park on the map, and took a very slow taxi ride the few miles to the park. To our dismay, the park was as crowded as the rest of the city, with thousands of people apparently craving the same stillness that Ann and I were looking for. We wondered around a bit disappointed for awhile, until we found a little walled garden where they served tea. When we entered the unassuming space, we were instantly transported to a different world. Away from the crowds and busyness of the park, a certain stillness permeated the place. People already seated in the tea garden were speaking more softly, more slowly. They were making eye contact with each other, and there seemed to be more smiles. Every detail of the garden seemed to invite a greater sense of stillness. The stones, the trees and plants, all seemed to dance together in perfect harmony. Ann and I were struck by the amazing ability of a deliberate, sacred space to change our mood. We were in a little oasis, away from all of the noise and clutter of the city.

This same phenomena is recognized all over the world. In the great cathedrals, in the soft gardens, in the simple altars. In this increasingly busy world we live in, it is more important that ever to visit, or even create our own version of these places in our lives. The greatest ally we all have in our journey to good health is cultivating the ability to relax, and take a break from the chaos of the fast paced world. This starts with finding a place that beckons us to slow down and just sit. It can be a local garden, with plants, stone and water. It can be in a silent alcove in our favorite church. It can be a little nook in the corner of our yard. The main criteria is that it is free of clutter and distraction: No cell phones, televisions or emails. With all of the things that beg for our attention in this fast moving world, we need to create space to relax. The effect of serene and sacred places can be instant; when we leave and rejoin the frenetic world we take a little piece of the stillness with us. This is the gift of a quiet and sacred space.

Supplements: What are your really getting?

Written by Ann Zimmerman on September 22, 2015. Posted in Digestion/Diet, Immune Health and Balance.

By Clark Zimmerman, LAc.

Years ago my wife and I took a month long trip to Tibet to trek through a remote section of the Himalaya’s. We signed with a local budget travel group that promised to arrange our food, travel, lodging and gear for the two week trip. We were careful to ask all the right questions in an attempt to make sure we were safe and comfortable in one of the most isolated and inhospitable parts of the planet. Once on our trip we discovered that the “North Face” cold weather gear we were provided was counterfeit and of very poor quality when we spent our first night camping out on the Tibetan plateau. After two weeks of frozen toes, we learned the hard way that you can’t always trust the label, or the budget option.

I was reminded of this experience the other day when I read a disturbing story about herbal supplements. A recent study found that many herbal supplements that are available at large budget chain stores, such as Walmart, GNC or Walgreens, contain little to none of the herbs that are listed on their labels. Many of the supplements that were tested were actually other plants or fillers that are at best ineffective, and at worst problematic. The herbal supplement industry has become a sort of “wild-west” where few things are regulated in a way that is supportive to either the patient or practice of herbalism itself.

This practice of misleading consumers has created an unfortunate reality in our country. Not only is it potentially harmful to the consumer, but it is also creating a confusing situation concerning herbal medicine itself. I have personally worked with patients over the years that tell me that they have tried certain herbs and that the herbs didn’t help them. When I ask the patient about what they have tried, many times they mention a low quality, cheap brand. Rather than thinking that the supplement itself is not good quality, the patient assumes that the herbs themselves are ineffective. With many of these patients, if they are given the proper formula, with high quality herbs, they respond in a favorable way. This is misleading many people to assume that herbal medicine itself doesn’t work, when it is actually the system of labeling and regulating itself that is to blame.

Mislabeling herbs is only part of the problem. Some herbal supplements are given irresponsibly, without a proper assessment of the patient’s medical situation or needs. This was the case several years ago with the herb ephedra. Ephedra has been used medically for asthma for thousands of years, but when big business found that it could be used to help people lose weight and “build stamina” is was marketed as a weight loss or exercise aid. Unfortunately, it was given at doses that were too high, and to people with health conditions that made it unsafe, so dozens of people became ill or even died from improper use of this wonderful plant. The FDA then made it illegal to import and sell ephedra. This was good for the general public in that it avoided more problems for the unsuspecting person, but it was terrible for legitimate herbalists and their suffering patients.

So given the seeming enormity of the problem, what is to be done? We must explore regulating the supplement industry in a way that makes reliable, safe, controllable herbs and vitamins available to the public, but does so in a way that doesn’t price small producers and companies out of the market. This is a work in progress, and there is a lot of discussion about the best ways to do this. Until this happens it is very important to work with trained and certified professional herbalists who can guide patients in a safe and effective manner. It is also important to purchase products from a company or practitioner that is reputable. In this case the old adage that “you get what you pay for” is proving to be more and more true.

The Weekend Warrior

Written by Ann Zimmerman on September 22, 2015. Posted in Immune Health and Balance, Mental and Emotional Health.

By Ann Zimmerman, LAc.

We have reached the time of year when we tend to do more than we “normally” would schedule on our calendar. Somehow all the friends, family, camping trips, festivals, gardening, etc need to get squeezed into a few months. The long days of light, warm weather, no school and the general energy of summer bring forward a manic quality in most everyone. We anxiously peruse our calendars looking for another way to take a Monday or Friday off or maybe even longer from work. And if its not going to be a long weekend…..than we are willing to eek out everything we can for those 2 days.

In Chinese medicine, summer is the season of the heart and the emotion that is associated with summer is joy. In summer we have joy. It almost feels like a mandate, a must for surviving the other seasons. A reward for the long winter and the busyness of spring. Summer tends to swing our inner pendulum way past the middle place of balance. This season tends to be a time of excess versus winter’s time of deficiency. It’s the time of the year when you say, yes.

Yes…..I will paint my house, yes I will stay up all night dancing, yes I will travel across the country and visit 5 sets of friends, yes I will have another beer, yes you can stay at my house, yes I will be gone another weekend…………We naturally feel more energy and hopefully it will get us through the summer. Of course with excess comes the price of overdoing it. We each know our unique way we overdo it in life.

Over joy can often result from summer’s manic pace. The idea of over joy is unique to Chinese medicine, it certainly is not an american concept. There can never be too much joy, right? Remember how you felt last September when you were finally ready to stay home and take it easy? That is the effect of overjoy. The drive for more and more joy tends to make our everyday jobs/chores feel mundane. This restlessness tends to build pushing us past when we would “normally” slow down.

So the challenge here is to embrace the natural expansion of summer without pushing yourself into the excess of injury, compromised immunity, insomnia, anxiety, and overindulgence. Good Luck!