Hello all!  Sorry for the delay on this one. Surprisingly, the information about ayurvedic massage on the internet is very limited.  I've had to really do some digging on this one!

At any rate, there are many different types of massage techniques practiced in ayurvedic medicine (and you can see a list of the types with a brief description of each here), but I'm going to focus on the benefits of abhyanga, a full-body oil massage that you can (and should) give yourself daily. It is performed using warm oil (usually something like organic sesame oil or herbalized massage oils, but any oil, including aromatherapy oils, that are designed specifically for massage will work fine).  It's best to store the oil in a flip top plastic container and warm the oil for a few minutes under hot running water.  Then you should apply the oil all over your body and wait a few minutes before beginning the massage in order to let the oil penetrate into your skin.  Next you massage your body using gentle strokes and circular motions.  There are more detailed instructions here.

Abhyanga massage pacifies the vata dosha and helps to balance the Kapha dosha.  It also improves overall circulation, helps lubricate your joints, makes your skin softer and smoother and helps aid in a restful nights sleep, just to name a few of the benefits. 

Below is a link to the first video in a series of "how to" instructions on giving this type of massage to another person. 


I

And here is a link to the page with a list of the rest of the videos in the series.

Have a wonderful weekend and I will be back next week with a new topic!

Hello everyone!  I hope you all had a nice long holiday weekend!  Today I would like to continue with my series on Ayurveda. I left off last week talking about the traits of the three dosha types Vata, Pitta and Kapha.  Today, I'm going to direct you to some links that explain the basics of restoring balance to your doshas (this is a very detailed subject and I feel that the pages I have chosen do a better job of pulling all this information together than I possibly could)! 

When your doshas are balanced your body is healthy, meaning it is free from aches and pains, chronic conditions, addiction and disease. It's when our doshas become unbalanced that we begin to have problems.  Ayurvedic practioners use a number of techniques to restore balance to the doshas, including a dosha pacifying diet, herbal remedies, meditation, yoga and ayurvedic massage (which I will cover in a seperate entry).  What are some of the signs that a paticular dosha type is becoming unbalanced?  There is a wonderful chart at the bottom of the page here.  (This is a great website and one I recommend bookmarking/adding to favorites, if this subject interests you).

For more detailed information on balancing the Vata dosha, click here, for Pitta click here, and for Kapha, click here.

Tomorrow I will conclude this series with some more detailed information on ayurvedic massage.  Until then, have a wonderful evening!

Hello everyone!  Hopefully you all had a chance to take at least one of the three quizzes I linked to last time and you now know you dosha constitution.  I'm  going to introduce you to the basic traits of each dosha types, both physical traits and in terms of personality.  If you are a dual dosha type, you will recognize that some of the traits from both dosha types fit you (very few people are tri-dosha types). 

Vata:  Vata types are typically thin in build with very high metabolism (some vatas even have trouble gaining weight).  They typically perform physical activities quickly (they walk or talk fast, for example) and their energy comes in bursts.  They also learn new things very quickly but they don't do very well at retaining what they have learned.  They eat at irregular times, have irregular digestive patterns (they have a tendency to get constipated), and often suffer from insomnia or are light sleepers.  They also tend to go to sleep at different times every night.  They are enthusiastic, imaginative and love change and excitement.  They are also very prone to worry and their moods change quickly.

Pitta:  Pitta types are medium in build and typically have average strength and endurance. Pittas are sharp intellectually, love challenges and are very enterprising. They are very clear and concise when speaking and have a determined stride when they walk.  Pittas are quick to anger or become irritable when under stress.  They have very strong digestion and cannot skip meals. Most Pittas have an aversion to hot weather and sunburn very easily (meaning most Pittas are fair skinned with blond, red or light brown hair).  Pittas tend to wake up in the middle of the night due to thirst and feeling too hot.  Pittas are often demanding (sometimes too much so).

Kapha:  Kapha types are very strong and solid in build with a great deal of endurance and physical strength.  They have slow digestion and have a tendency to become overweight. They tend to eat at regular intervals and their hunger is usually mild.  They also go to sleep at the same time every night and sleep very deeply and soundly.  Kaphas are slower when learning things but retain most of what they learn. They walk and talk slowly, are slow to anger and are typically very relaxed.  Kaphas often have thick, pale, oily skin.  While Kaphas are very affectionate, tolerant and forgiving, they also tend to be possessive and complacent.

Now you know some of the basic traits of the three dosha types.  Next I'll go into some of the ways that ayurvedic practioners help their patients restore balance when the doshas get out of whack.  Until then, have a wonderful evening!

Hello everyone!  Yesterday I talked about how I'm turning to ayurveda, at least in part, to help me kick the habit of smoking.  I know that my body is out of balance, specifically my doshas in ayurvedic terms, and I want to aid the return of balance to my body by balancing my doshas.  Before I can go into the ways to do that though, I need to spend some time explaining what a dosha is and give you just a brief overview of the ayurvedic medical system.  Following that, I will provide links to several quizzes to determine your dosha type (I find the quizzes to be a lot of fun and pretty darn accurate)!  Tomorrow I will go into more specifics about the traits of the dosha types.

Ayurveda is an Indian system of medicine that dates back over 5000 years. The term ayurveda translates roughly to "Science of Life".  Each individual has a specific constitutional type which is made up of some combination of three doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.  It's the proportion of each dosha type that you, as an individual, carry that determines your type and ultimately the path for healing for you based on YOUR body.  Each dosha type has unique personality traits, energies and metabolic rates.  Some people have an overwhelming majority of one Dosha type, and therefore would be considered simply a Vata, Pitta or a Kapha.  However many people have two dosha types running neck in neck with the third running quite a bit behind, so they would have a dual dosha type such as Vata-Pitta, Vata-Kapha or Pitta-Kapha.  Still others have all three equally and would be a tri-dosha type Vata-Pitta-Kapha.  So, now for the fun part, determining your dosha type!  Here are links to a few different quizzes (and there are many more on the internet.  Just be wary of really short quizzes, because I don't think they are detailed enough to give you a true picture.  There is also a detailed quiz in the Deepak Chopra book I recommended yesterday "Perfect Health: The Complete Mind Body Guide".  You take one or all of the quizzes here, here and here.  Write down what your type is after you take the quiz and I'll break down what all this means tomorrow!  Have a great evening!

Hello everyone!  Well, I lived through my horrific 3 or 4 day epic battle with Bronchitis, but I have to say there were moments I didn't think I was going to.  I cannot remember being that sick in many, many years and it was downright scary!  This leads me to confession time:  I'm a smoker, I'm addicted to cigarettes. GASP-I know, here I am blogging about healthy living and alternative therapies and I'm doing something destructive to my body!  I know how bad it is for me (I don't know to many people that have destructive or unhealthy bad habits that don't know this, honestly).  I have even lost two people I cared about to lung cancer at young ages (40 and 52 respectively) and there are two people I'm close to now that have emphysema. Anyway, many smokers are that way because they (we) are SO addicted, not only to the nicotine, but to the ritual and habit of smoking, that it's one of the hardest addictions on the planet to shake. It usually takes something happening to us personally (not those around us), such as illness, to shake us up and motivate us (that is true with many addictions as well).

Well, I don't know whether the smoking was the cause of my bronchitis or not, but it certainly contributed to it being as bad as it was, so I came out of my illness ready to quit!   Finally!   I had planned on just stopping; I was sick through the entire process of nicotine withdrawel (which takes about 72 hours) so it should have been that simple.  I had even thrown all my darn cigarettes away!  But NO, last night (the first night I was feeling mostly back to normal) I had a craving so darn bad that I caved and had like 3 puffs on a cigarette.  That was enough to undo the nicotine withdrawel, it only takes one puff.  Sick or what?  Ironically though, having the cigarettes in my possession (as opposed to throwing them away) is comforting (I guess knowing I CAN have one if I want one because they are there) and I only had a couple of puffs today too, no major cravings at all.  I guess different things work for different people.

So, I'm now back to the drawing board, and at a friends suggestion I'm choosing to quit because I want to, not because illness forced me to that decision.  I'm looking at all the various "quit smoking" websites for tips and tricks (many of which contradict each other!  ARGGHH!), but also looking to alternative medicine-specifically ayurveda, for help.  I opened my copy of "Perfect Health: The Complete Body and Mind Guide" by Deepak Chopra, M.D., an ayurvedic practitioner.  Well, one of the first things he stresses in the battle to quit smoking (or kick any addiction for that matter) is the necessity of meditation.  He sites many studies in his book that say that addicts who incorporate daily meditation into their lives are much more successful when they quit their addiction than those who don't (or something to that effect).  Ok, well that's great and I just did a section in my blog on meditation so I should be an expert and it should come naturally, right?  Umm, confession number two.  No, it's not easy for me, especially the practices most people associate with meditation, such as breath focus or repeating a mantra.   When I was in my 20's, I did become disciplined enough to meditate on my breath for about 5 to 10 minutes a shot (though I didn't do it daily).  As I got older and life got more hectic I found it harder and harder to meditate this way, not to mention hard to find 15-20 minutes of peace and quiet at any time during my day.

My friend and I were talking about this very subject at work today and how hard the "practice of meditation" is, and I was telling her that I used to have success with walking meditation (when I lived in the woods and could go off by myself for a walk and all I did was focus on the walk), which led her to ask if something like playing the piano could be meditative?  She had noted that she entered what she considers a meditative type state while doing just that, getting lost in the music and focusing on nothing else.  I told her that I certainly think it's a form of meditation, why not?  There are literally hundreds of ways to meditate out there. In fact, looking back at the two types of meditation, I would say her example, without question, falls into the category of concentrative meditation.  Here's the definition of that again:  Concentrative meditation involves focusing in on something specific or narrowing our field of vision, if you will.  Well, all this led to my EUREKA! moment tonight!  I had a flash of insight!  There is a way for EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE to meditate in a way that is easy and natural for them, in my opinion.  By that very definition, knitting can be meditative, chopping onions, staring at a fire in the fireplace, etc.  So, I think I will meditate in order to help me succeed in my smoking secession and I will find a way that works for me. 

I will go into the other ways I'm looking to ayurveda for help in this fight tomorrow.  Until then, thanks for letting me ramble and have a great night!

I've been sick the past several days with a severe case of Bronchitis and haven't been able to do much more than sleep for the past 48 hours.  I hope to be back on my feet soon (went to the Dr. today, who is by the way, a big fan of using natual supplements as well.  She has me doing the salt water gargle trick and increasing my intake of vitamin C).  Anyway, I will try to get Monday's blog ready to go by Sunday night.  I haven't quite figured out how to juggle this yet, but I will get it right!  Thanks to all of you who are reading.  Please, if anyone has particular topics they want to read about or if you want to know some information on therapies that are recommended for specific conditions, please drop me a line!  I want this to be relevant to my readers and without your feedback, I can't do that.  Thanks everyone and have a great weekend!

I remember several years ago magnetic therapy was all the rage for managing pain due to arthritis or other chronic conditions; magnetic bracelets, anklets and other magnetic products were clearly visible in the marketplace just about everywhere you looked. I even know a couple of people who used magnets as therapy for pain and swore by them.  I personally have never used magnets in this manner, though I certainly didn't discount the idea that they could have some impact on our body considering we have metals such as copper and iron in our system. 

I hadn't given magnetic therapy any thought at all in recent years until today, when I happened to stumble upon this article on the New York Times website entitled "Magnetic Therapy Gets a Boost from Real Study".  In this study, Thomas Skalak of the University of Virginia studied the impact magnets had on swelling, using the swollen hind paws of rats as the subject.  He found that magnets reduced the swelling in the rats paws by as much as 50%.  Clearly, a reduction in swelling would certainly reduce the amount of pain caused by a chronic condition, such as arthritis, though the study didn't go that far since it's hard to come up with a placebo for a magnet and because pain is subjective.  The study did give magnetic therapy some validity however.  No one is sure exactly how magnetic therapy works (there are numerous ideas and theories, many of which you can read for yourself in the Times article or on the magnetic therapy website I linked to), but it seems that science is starting to prove that they may have a place in the medical field.

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope everyone is nice and relaxed today (and not to worn out from the Superbowl festivities from last evening)!  I know that we've touched briefly on the use of herbs as a form of alternative or complimentary medicine in some of my other blogs.  Today I'd like to start a brief, introductory level course on herbology, beginning with the common properties of herbs and some of the herbs having these properties.

All herbs are selected for healing purposes based the effects they have on the body or their "properties" (and many herbs have more than one property).  For example, if you suffer from insomnia you'll want to take herbs or herbal combinations that are sedative in nature.  These herbs are known for quieting the nervous system and include herbs we've touched on before for relaxation, such as catnip, valerian root, and skullcap.  If you have an infection, you'll want herbs that have antibiotic properties, meaning that they inhibit the growth and/or destroy bacteria and viruses, such as echinacea or goldenseal root.  You may also want to take herbs that have an alterative effect on the body, meaning that they cleanse the blood when infections or other toxins are present, such as echinacea (one that does double duty!), marshmallow root, red clover and dandelion. 

The article that I linked to is a great overview of the various properties of herbs, but is NOT comprehensive or complete by any means.  It does however cover the most commonly used properties as well as listing many of the herbs in each category. If you are interested in learning more, there are numererous good books on the subject available at Amazon.com or your local bookstore.  Here is a link to one of my favorites by Penelope Ody.  I'll see you tomorrow!

Yesterday I touched on the subject of meditation, specifically a meditation technique that involves focusing on and/or counting your breaths.  This technique is only one of literally hundreds of types or variations of meditation that people all over the world practice.  Most meditation techniques fall into two types: Concentrative meditation and Mindfulness meditation. 

Concentrative meditation involves focusing in on something specific or narrowing our field of vision, if you will.  The breathing meditation falls into this category.  Some other examples of meditations that fall into this type include focusing on a mantra (such as repeating the word "Ohm" or "Love" over and over) or focusing on our footsteps while we are walking.  You could also focus on one of your chakras for healing purposes, or focus on a flickering candle, if you are more visually inclined.

Mindfulness meditation, on the other hand, is the opposite of concentrative in that you open your mind to everything going on around you.  When a thought comes into your head, you simply acknowledge it and move on to the next thing that enters.

Whatever type of meditation you choose to practice (if you choose to, of course!), they all lead to increased concentration, greater clarity, stress reduction and relaxation. I've included a video that serves as an introduction to meditation (there are 4 more in the series if you find it interesting). Have a good weekend and I'll be back on Monday!

Forget all the relaxation techniques I've been discussing this past week!  I stumbled across an article today talking about a pocket sized gadget called the StressEraser that, using biofeedback, can help us eliminate our stress.

Ok, so don't forget everything that I've talked about, because all the techniques and aids I've discussed really are very useful and this gadget costs $300. But what the gadget "teaches" you to do is control your breathing, which in turn, reduces your heart rate and your stress, allowing you to relax.  In a nutshell, the StressEraser has a little infrared sensor you slip on your finger which registers the way you are breathing and displays your breathing pattern as waves on the screen of the device.  The machine then tells you when to exhale, helping you to slow and control your breathing.  You also count the breath waves on the machine (which is a form of meditation by the way), which helps to clear the mind.  So, if you can't afford to shell out $300 bucks for the StressEraser or would simply prefer to learn to do for yourself what it teaches you to do, here is a controlled breathing exercise:

Controlled Breathing Exercise:

1. Sit upright in a comfortable position.
2. Focus on your present state and existence (this is often termed being “mindful”). Block out intrusive thoughts. You may close your eyes if you wish.
3. Pay attention to your breathing. Inhale slowly through the nose, taking several seconds.
4. Exhale through the mouth, trying to make the exhalation phase last twice as long as the inhalation.
5. Continue this mindful breathing for 3-5 minutes

This exercise is also a form of meditation (and there are many other techniques).  Until next time, breathe easy!

There are a number of herbs or herbal supplements on the market that are very effective in aiding relaxation and combating the negative impacts of stress on the body.  Before I present these to you however, I'd like to add my personal disclaimer here.  While the herbs that I've listed here are safe to use, even in the long term, there are a few herbs that can be toxic or have negative side effects if taken for an extended period of time.  Some herbal supplements can also negatively interact with prescription medications, so it always a good idea to talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking any herbal supplement.  I've linked to some additional safety advice on the use herbs here.

That being said, please don't let it discourage you from trying these, if you have need for them.  As long as you follow the safety precautions (which you should do with anything you take, including over the counter medications and vitamin supplements), you will be ok.  One of the mildest yet most effective herbs for aiding in relaxation is chamomile. Chamomile is readily available in tea form at just about any grocery store and has a very calming and sedative effect (it's best to drink Chamomile tea in the evening before bedtime).  Chamomile is also good at aiding with digestion, which often becomes a factor during times of prolonged stress.  Peppermint tea is another good herbal tea for calming the stomach and aiding with digestion.

For insomnia with tension in the neck and shoulders, I recommend Valerian root.  This is a little harder to find, but it is available in pill form at most drugstores.  You can also find it in tincture form or as a loose herb (which you can make into your own tea if you have a tea infuser at home) at many health food stores or herbal supply stores, as well as online. Lemon balm (which is also harder to find) is also good for tension combined with aches and pains. Feverfew or willow bark are both effective for tension headaches or migraines brought on by stress.  Other herbs that are helpful in aiding relaxation (and are best used as an infusion in tea form) include hops, catnip and skullcap. Incidentally, I will be doing an in depth series on herbs (which will include how to make infusions and tinctures, as well as the various properties of herbs) in the near future, so stay tuned!

Ginsing is another great herbal supplement which aids in rebuilding the immune system after prolonged periods of stress.  It also increases stamina and concentration.  I've linked to an article listing some other great herbal remedies for relaxation and stress here.  Well, that's all I have for tonight.  I think I'll go make some chamomile tea!  Until next time, relax and have a great day!

Today I want to cover another tool that can help you to reduce your stress levels and subsequently induce relaxation: The use of aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy incorporates the use of aromatic essential oils in order to promote psychological and/or physical well-being. Essential oils are extracted directly from the roots, bark, leaves, stems and/or flowers of various plants using a distillation process. They are the purest essences of the plant that they are extracted from and are therefore extremely concentrated, so it is best to use them sparingly. You can use essential oils in a variety of ways, including using a commercially purchased aromatherapy diffuser, putting a few drops in the water of your vaporizer or mixing it into a massage oil for use with massage therapy, to name a few. There are many essential oils that promote relaxation and reduce stress, the most popular being lavender oil. Others include chamomile, geranium, hops, marjoram, nutmeg, sandalwood and ylang-ylang. All of these essential oils have other healing properties as well, so you may want to do some research and some experimentation.  Aromatherapy is very safe when the essential oils are used properly, but it is important to read the guidelines I’ve linked to here if you are new to the practice.

Essential oils can be purchased from a variety of mail order or web-based companies as well as at some health food or herbal stores.  Happy smelling!

Hello everyone!  I'm back from my vacation and am on my regular schedule again now.  I had every intention of blogging more than I did last week but it just didn't work out that way for a variety of reasons. At any rate, I'm going to continue with the relaxation theme that I started last week, at least for the next couple of days.

One of the best ways to relax, in my opinion, is the practice of Hatha Yoga (the form that most westerners practice/are familiar with).  Hatha yoga  combines a series of poses (asanas) with a form of breath control called pranayama.  Not only does Hatha yoga relieve stress and provide relaxation of the mind and the muscles in the body, it is also a great way to tone up, increase your flexibility, and increase concentration and focus. It is possible to learn Hatha yoga online or from a book, but I think everyone should take a beginners class for for 6 weeks or so if possible, just to become familiar with all the asanas as well as the ways to modify the poses to suit your current level of flexibility.  There are several asanas that are especially good at for relieving stress and promoting relaxation, which I've linked to here.  My personal favorite, the Cat Pose, is illustrated in the picture at the beginning of today's blog.  If you haven't tried yoga, I hope that you will.  Chances are, you'll get hooked!  Until tomorrow, Namaste!

I didn't get much opportunity this week to access a computer to do my regular blog entries.  I will be back home next week from vacation and will resume a more regular schedule then.  Have a good weekend!

I'm a few days into my vacation and am finally starting to really relax and really enjoy the time with my family. It's so easy, on a day to day basis, to get used to being stressed out so that it almost feels like our natural state. Of course we all know, stress is not the state our body was meant to be in for long periods of time and that stress can lead to all kinds of problems including illness, insomnia, tension, anxiety and depression. Therefore, relaxation becomes a very important tool for counteracting the negative effects that stress has on our body and bringing our body back into balance. I personally think it would be great if I could afford to have a massage or bodywork done every week, but I live in the real world and this just isn't possible, either from a scheduling standpoint or a financial one. I'm sure many of you are in the same boat there that I am. Luckily we can take our relaxation into our own hands using a variety of techniques which cost little or no money at all. I will talk about several of them over the next few days but I'll start by introducing you to Guided Imagery today, which is not only a relaxation technique, but so much more. The linked article is an excellent resource that explains how and why the process works as well as answering a lot of common questions on the topic.

Guided imagery is a technique that uses all of the bodies senses as well as the emotions to focus and direct a persons imagination towards a particular goal, whether it be the elimination of pain or becoming a better skater. Guided imagery has been successfully used to lower blood pressure, lower bad cholesterol levels, manage pain, build the immune system and much more. I'm going to sign off for today, but will be back to introduce you to another relaxation technique tomorrow.  In the meantime, the following video outlines some of the many uses for Guided Imagery as told by an expert and practitioner in the field:

Hello everyone!  I'm leaving to go on vacation this morning and will be gone for a week.  I do plan on posting blogs next week, but I don't know what kind of schedule I'll be on.  They may actually go up more regularly since I don't have to work! 

I'm driving to my sisters today (5 hours) and then we are driving down to Florida, along with my 1 1/2 year old niece, to visit my folks.  I think it will be fun when we get there, but not sure about the 12 hour trip in the car with a toddler (we are breaking it up into two days, but still, that's a LONG trip for a kid).  I'll probably need a stress relieving massage!  She's a bundle of joy, but like her mom, hates to ride in the car (I didn't get that gene!)

Have a great weekend and I will post something for you all early next week!

I don't know where my head was yesterday, but I found a really good video that shows what to expect during a typical acupuncture session.  Enjoy!!

I know that I've mostly blogged about massage therapy and bodywork this past week and I've decided I'd like to swich gears a little bit today and explore the world of acupuncture. In fact, I think I'm going to switch gears overall as far as this blog is concerned.  Initiallly I had invisioned doing my blogs in a "series" format, meaning I would do a series of blogs about massage and bodywork, then a series on herbology or whatever.  Now I'm of the mindset that the world of alternative and complementary medicine is so vast, diversified and just plain interesting that it would be better to jump around a little more and explore different topics all the time.  That way you guys don't get bored and neither do I. Plus, every body walks to the beat of a different drummer, so one topic in alternative medicine may mean nothing to you, but to someone else, it's a perfect fit!  Of course, there will be topics that warrant more than one blog in a row because they are so complex, but in general, I think we'll try to explore something new everyday.

Ok, now back to an introduction to acupuncture.  I'll be honest, this is something that I know only a little about and is one of those topics I've always wanted to explore in depth and become more educated about.  Acupuncture, like many other forms of Chinese Medicine, has been practiced for thousands of years (over 5000 in this case).  In fact, the first formal record of the practice dates back 4700 years ago and can be found in what's believed to be the oldest medical textbook in the world, "Huang Di Nei Jing" (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine). Shen Nung, the father of chinese medicine, is credited with developing the earliest theories that became the basis of acupuncture.  He believed that the human body had an energy force known as Qi (say Chee) running throughout it and that this energy addressed all aspects of life including the physical, mental, emotional and the spiritual. Shen believed that when this energy flowed freely, the forces of Yin and Yang (the feminine and the masculine) were in balance and therefore the person remains healthy.  If the Qi was to become blocked, unbalanced, deficient or excessive, the Yin and Yang would become unbalanced and the person would become ill.

Shen Nung took this idea further, stating that Qi flows through the body along special pathways called meridians.  There are fourteen main meridians running verically up and down the body and they are the same (paired) on each side of side of the body.  Twelve of these meridians relate to the organs and two are unpaired in the center of the body.  There are certain places where the meridians come closest to the surface of the skin and these are the known as the acupuncture points because they are the easiest to access with acupunture needles, acupressure (a form of massage) and Moxibustion (the practice of using acupuncture with heat produced by burning certain herbs).  Inserting needles at these points restores the flow of Qi in the body and restores the balance between Yin and Yang (Yin in Yang is covered in more detail in the article on the linked website).

Modern acupuncturists typically use up to 6 different sized needles (this practice is not supposed to hurt at all.  The needles are VERY thin and only break through the surface of the skin, not puncture into the body) though only 6 are commonly used today.  Most practioners also now use disposable needles, rather than sterilizing and re-using them. The needles are inserted at angles ranging from 15 to 90 degrees in relation to the skin, depending on the particular treatment. The patient should feel a non-painful sensation called deqi (dah-chee) upon insertion of the needle.  The practioner will also apply a variety of techniques to the needle upon initial insertion, depending on treatment, such as Raising and Thrusting, Twirling or Rotation, Plucking, Scraping (vibrations sent through the needle), and Trembling (another vibration technique).  Acupunture is effective in treating a number of problems, including addictions, headaches, allergies, muscle spasms, and arthritis, to name a few.  There are also clinical trials studying the use of acupuncture to treat anxiety and depression. 

Writing on the subject of Reflexology yesterday reminded me of a commerical I recently saw for a product called "Kinoki Detox Foot Pads".  This product (and other brands of detoxifying foot pads) rely heavily on the theories set forth by the Art of Reflexology as well and the principles of Accupuncture.  You simply place these pads on your feet before you go to bed, leave them on all night and they supposedly draw out toxins from all over the body.  Do they work?  I honestly don't know.  I've been doing some reading up on the topic there are pleanty of people in both camps: some feel this product (and others like it) are nothing but a scam and others that swear by them.  Either way, I personally DO feel that toxins build up in our bodies (yes, our bodies were designed to flush them out on their own, but I feel we are just exposed to way too much in our modern environment for our systems to do it alone anymore) and that periodically detoxifying is a really good idea.

There are numerous ways to accomplish this feat other than foot pads (pun intended)!  Fasting, colon cleanses, special detoxifying diets and saunas all help to do the trick.  The few times that I've personally done it, I've used a product sold by Puritans Pride called "Ultimate Cleanse". This product works really well, in my opinion, but it's kind of a pain to use, in my opinion.  The product consists of two bottles of tablets: a detoxifying herbal supplement and a fiber supplement.  You start out by taking one of each tablet in the morning and after a few days add in a dose in the evening.  You gradually increase the dosage everyday until your system is clear (this is determined by the number of bowel movements you are having per day as well as the consistancy of your stool) and then you gradually wean yourself back off the supplements.  The whole process takes a minimum of two weeks, and for most people it's more like a month or two.  It can get a little expensive and it's a lot to keep up with, but there's nothing unpleasant or difficult about it.

At any rate, I'm planning on giving the foot pads a try to see what my own opinion of them is.  If they work as they claim to (and I personally believe in the theories behind them), I will be kicking myself for not discovering them sooner!  If not, it will be back to ultimate cleanse or some other detox system.  I will definitely report back to you after I've tried them with my opinion.  If any of you have used a product like this, please feel free to comment with your opinion, I'd love to hear what you think!

Reflexology is a form of bodywork in which pressure is applied to various parts of the feet (and sometimes hands and/or earlobes) which correspond or mirror various organs and systems throughout the body. This pressure helps to release congestion and tension from these corresponding areas of the body, thus promoting relaxation and restoring balance (the chart above shows which part of the foot corresponds to what organ or system in the body).  Reflexology is strictly a complementary form of therapy and is not meant to diagnose disease or heal the body by itself.  It is also not technically a form of massage, so practioners are not required to be licensed.  However, most reflexologist go through professional training classes and are well qualified to practice the therapy, so I wouldn't let the lack of licensure deter you from experiencing this wonderful theraputic art.

Like many forms of bodywork and massage, Reflexology has its roots in ancient Eastern medicine from China, India and Egypt.  It was introduced to the Western world by Dr. William Fitzgerald in 1913.  He observed that "reflexes" in the foot were linked to the various organs and systems in the body by corresponding "zones" and he called this therapy "zone therapy".  In the 1930's, a lady by the name of Eunice Ingham observed that congestion and tension in various areas of the foot mirrored congestion in tension in the corresponding part of the body and further developed the zone therapy into what is now modern Reflexology.

Reflexology sessions are typically about an hour long and done without the use of oil or lotion.  Most reflexologists will discuss your overall health history and lifestyle before beginning the treatment, in order to determine which areas require the most focus. The pressure should not be painful and if it is, you should communicate this to the practioner so they can adjust and make you comfortable.  Most people feel relaxed and have an overall sense of well being after a reflexology session, but a few people are tearful, lethargic or nauseous after the first session or two.  If you fall into the latter category, you should not be alarmed, it simply means that your body is returning to a state of equilibrium and these symptoms will disappear in future sessions. Either way, communicate how you feel after a session to your therapist, so they can further refine your treatment.