By James Booth
Christmas and new year festivities may not be the time to worry about diet and your digestion but as the new year progresses you could look at Japanese acupuncture to work on those niggling digestive problems that have been bothering you.
Modern Japanese acupuncture as available The Vale is based of course on the tenets of Chinese medicine established in seminal texts written in the last few centuries BC.
The Chinese have always had focus on digestion and ‘gut health’. When you are greeted in China as often as not you will be asked “Have you eaten?” Today this is not an invitation to say “Well no, actually, what’s for supper?” but is another way of saying “How are you?”. In other words it is central to your state of being.
In Chinese elemental energetics the Earth is the central element without which the rest of the energetic cycle doesn’t turn. And the Earth element in the body is the stomach and spleen (pancreas) – and their correct functioning is not just concerned with dealing with too much Chop Suey or Indian takeaways, it extends to the structural and mental / emotional spheres.
For example a weak Earth element may be behind poor posture as well as your ability to stand up for yourself or low self-esteem. Someone who dislikes the changes in the seasons (especially autumn to winter and winter to spring) will be helped by certain acupuncture protocols, as will people who suffer badly from jetlag.
While acupuncture cannot help with starvation, the many periods of famines during turbulent periods of Chinese history gave the Chinese a preoccupation with food (as mentioned in the greeting above) and it is no coincidence that the most famous acu-point on the body is on the stomach meridian (a meridian or channel is a pathway of points associated with a certain organ.) This point is called zu san li (JP ashi no san ri) and literally means ‘leg 3 leagues’. So needling this point metaphorically gives you the energy walk another 3 leagues (about a mile). Back in the day this could be the difference between life and death.
So with the Earth at the centre of acupuncture energetics and with its wide range of points and treatment protocols, why not try Japanese acupuncture to set you up for the New Year.
animal studies, these effects were also linked to compromised emotional and functional skills. The brain of a 15-17 year old, when compared to that of an early adolescent, and adult, is much more vulnerable to stress. Children and adolescents can experience many chronic sources of pressure, such as: social media, parental expectations, peer pressure and exams. In a recent survey of 1,000 schoolchildren, 61% of the respondents said teachers managed stress well, 29% said children and 10% said parents.
genes than our genome! These microorganisms have evolved to have a symobiotic (win-win) relationship with the human body over millenia: We provide them with a place to live, and they help us with a host of functions. These symbiotic microorganisms, chiefly bacteria, are also known as probiotics.
The Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is where the mandible (lower jaw), meets the temporal parts of the skull. The TMJ has an articular disc between the two joint surfaces and behind that is the retrodiscal tissue, which is covered in nerves and blood vessels. The TMJ also has many small muscles to allow for its complicated movements of chewing (mastication), speech, yawning and swallowing.
s do this on average 20000 times a day! We have different types of breathing for different activities, such as forced breathing which happens when we sing, exercise or are panicked. When our breathing is forced, we engage other muscles located in the neck and shoulders to breathe in and abdominal muscles to breathe out. These are called the Accessory Muscles of respiration. Both relaxed and forced breathing are regulated by our autonomic nervous system which means we generally don’t think twice about our breathing pattern. However, did you know that most of us only use a third of our breathing capacity? This means our bodies aren’t functioning at their full potential. You may notice signs such as holding your breath for no reason and feeling the need to take a deep breath often.
Core stability is also very important when skiing as maintaining good control of your movements and your form are key to preventing accidents on the slopes as well as helping to improve your technique. Using a wobble board for a few minutes
The third Monday of January has been given the title of Blue Monday as it is (supposedly) the most depressing day of the year! With the cold nights, short days and post Christmas-blues, it’s easy to see why we start to feel a little low. It’s also the time where a lot of people are starting to fail in their New Years resolutions and feeling low motivation levels. However, the team at the Vale Practice are on hand to help! Did you know that recent studies have found that acupuncture can have a strong positive effect on patients suffering with depression and stress. It’s been found that acupuncture is effective in lowering activity in our HPA axis (Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenaline) which gives the fight or flight response- our physical and psychological reaction to stress.
