Hi everyone,
And if you haven’t heard, yes I’m back in Ashland now full-time! October 17th was double 9 day in the Chinese calender – the 9th day of the 9th month. Considered the Yang’iest day and a good day for a hilltop picnic. Then Yang is on retreat – enter the Autumn for real. The air is clean, the birds are chirping and the breeze is flowing nicely in Ashland as I type this. There is a little chill in the air in the evening…,some feel it in the bones, and depending who we are, we might love or resist the oncoming Winter.
It is a great time of year to prepare the body for this seasonal change with both Acupuncture, and the deep nourishing Herbs Chinese medicine is known for. Whether it’s concentrating on seasonal issues (catching colds in winter) or more systemic “Kidney” issues (weaker bones, glands, adrenals, sexuality, aging in general), Chinese medicine has you covered.
HERBS
There are a lot of great Chinese herbal formulas for strengthening the body to not only overcome illness and fatigue, but also to enhance longevity, stamina and endurance, and quality of life. I’ve studied, prescribed, adapted and worked with many of these formulas for more than 30 years of continuous practice. Using traditional Chinese herbal tonics in the Winter is like feeding the roots of your trees in the right season, very useful – and good timing.
With the large pharmacy we maintain at the Center for Chinese Medicine, we have a variety of pills, concentrates, and bulk herbs available. The mainstay is the 5:1 concentrates which I custom-make clients, mostly from KPC (Taiwanese government graded for purity). I also stock raw, bulk herbs for acute cold and flu problems. Not everyone needs herbs, some people are fine with just a reminder to have more soup 🙂
“ACUMOXA” Therapy
With the Winter season, the ancient Chinese art and science of using Herbs and Acupuncture (with TDP lamp, possibly Moxibustion to take in the warmth) really comes into its own. The characters for ‘Acupuncture’ (zhenjiu) in made up of 2 parts – ‘needle’ and ‘fire’ – really i”Acumoxa” therapy. Moxa is used to warm up achy joints as well as to Tonify organs (Stomach, Kidneys, Lungs) and the entire body. Moxa in Asia is sometimes used at home alone. There are traditional calendars that specify days of the month to moxa oneself on acupoints, said to add 5-10 years to life! Internally the herb is also ingested to ‘warm the womb’ – sometimes used to help overcome infertility.
It’s a nice experience on a colder afternoon to lie face down in a comfortable position with acumoxa applied along the outer ‘back shu’ point of the UB meridian. This addresses emotional/spiritual aspects as well as physical ones. Setting up this ‘field’ of points can work on acute conditions and underlying stressors at the same time. Classic stuff!
THREE TREASURES
Naturally catching the wave from Autumn into the Winter, we preserve Fall’s harvest and store a little deep down for the long nights . Sleep more, dream more. A really excellent treatise I’ve used for teaching is the SantiDao:Three Treasures book by Liu Ming. It has some of the best explanation of Diet and its relationship to full expression of human possibility, a list of food and traditional explanations, an explanation of Chinese Cosmology (12 animals etc) in relation to timing, and just some GREAT recipes which relate to the 2-week period known as “Qi Nodes”, subcycles of the seasons. Check it out! I might just have to do a class on this again…
SPECIAL OFFER!
If you haven’t come in a month or more, mention this article to my assistant Jennifer or myself and receive 20% off on acupuncture (non-insurance) re-visit, and 10% off on herbs.
Scheduling on line can be done here: https://centerforchinesemedicine.fullslate.com/. If there’s a time you’d like and it doesn’t seem listed, call us and we can often adapt: 541-482-7071.
All the best,
Ken Bendat, L.Ac.