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Category: New Year New You

ottawaholisticwellness.caBlogNew Year New You
4 Ways Acupuncture Can Help Your New Year’s Resolutions
By Emily Dunn 0 Comments New Year New You

4 Ways Acupuncture Can Help You Achieve and Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions

1. Weight Loss

Acupuncture won’t make the pounds magically shed themselves overnight, but what it can do is increase your metabolism by directly affecting hormone regulation and improving your absorption of nutrients.

Acupuncture is extremely good at relaxing the body, so if you are a stress eater acupuncture would be an excellent tool to reduce unnecessary snacking due to stress.

Combining acupuncture, cupping and moxa, a form of heat therapy, is a great way to pack an even more powerful punch into your weight loss efforts.

Cupping can reduce cellulite by 50% by increasing blood flow directly to fat and by helping the body detoxify itself.

Moxa does the same thing, as well as increasing the Yang energy of the body which relates directly to your metabolism.

2. Pain Relief

Is pain holding you back from following up on your New Year’s resolutions such as going to the gym, practising yoga or taking relaxing and therapeutic walks?

If you haven’t already tried acupuncture, then make this year your year to try it out – your body will thank you!

Acupuncture is best known for its ability to relieve pain. Whether it is acute or long-lasting chronic pain, acupuncture is very good for treating pain and encouraging healing, working on many different levels.

Below is an outline of how it works from both a traditional and modern perspective.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective:

Acupuncture is based on the philosophy that Qi, or vital energy, flows throughout the body.  Qi protects the body from illness, pain and disease.  A person’s health is influenced by the quality, quantity and balance of Qi.

From a TCM point of view, pain is caused by the stagnation of Qi and Blood in the body or by Cold, Damp or Heat trapped in the joints.

Acupuncture works by removing energetic blockages in meridians of the body and dispelling pathogenic factors causing pain.

From a scientific perspective:

There are some theories as to why and how acupuncture relieves pain

Neurotransmitter Theory:

Acupuncture affects higher brain areas, stimulating the secretion of beta-endorphins and enkephalins in the brain and spinal cord.  The release of neurotransmitters influences the immune system and the antinociceptive system, which relates to inflammation, a critical factor in pain.

Autonomic Nervous System Theory:

Acupuncture stimulates the release of norepinephrine, acetylcholine and several types of opioids, affecting changes in their turnover rate, normalising the autonomic nervous system, and reducing pain.

Vascular-interstitial Theory:

Acupuncture affects the electrical system of the body by creating or enhancing closed-circuit transport in tissues.  This facilitates healing by allowing the transfer of material and electrical energy between healthy and injured tissues.

Blood Chemistry Theory:

Acupuncture is known to affect the blood concentrations of triglycerides, cholesterol, and phospholipids, suggesting that acupuncture can both raise and diminish peripheral blood components, thereby regulating the body toward homeostasis.

Gate Control Theory:

Acupuncture activates non-nociceptive receptors that inhibit the transmission of nociceptive (pain) signals in the dorsal horn (part of the spinal cord), ‘gating out’ painful stimuli. The excruciation can sometimes be attributed to the mechanical disorders and misalignments that the spinal cord can be subjected to. If you were to know and affirm this with them, you would have no room left for any doubts to arise.

3. Focus and Memory

Many of us feel our memory isn’t what it used to be and to stay focused can also be a challenge.

Many acupuncture points help with both memory and focus.

In TCM theory, the spleen is responsible for short-term memory and focus, and the kidneys for long-term memory.  The points to nourish and support these are found mainly on the legs.

A lack of focus can also be rooted in anxiety and stress.  Someone who has never experienced acupuncture might be surprised at how relaxed one feels after a treatment as it engages the body’s ‘rest and digest’ nervous system.

4. Quitting Bad Habits

Whether it’s cigarettes, caffeine, soda or some other addictive habit, acupuncture is a great tool to help ease withdrawal symptoms.

Cravings, edginess, fatigue and sleep disruption can all be treated with acupuncture.  If you have decided, like so many, that the new year is the time to kick your habit to the curb then consider trying acupuncture to help you through the journey to a better you.

Disclaimer

This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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Renew Your Digestive Defences This New Year
By Dr Eric Viegas ND 1 Comments New Year New You ,

Renew Your Digestive Defences This New Year

Your microbiome is the collection of microbes, in and on your body, which offers a mutual benefit. The health of your microbiome affects your overall health. Human cells that compose you are dwarfed by the number and variety of microbes those cells house.

Your microbiota, the friendly microbes in your gut, help to digest food, strengthen your immune system, defend your intestines from unfriendly bacteria, and heal your gut. The balance of your microbiota lies in a complicated relationship between your genetics, diet, environment, and social circles.

It is one of the defence systems, along with stomach acid and peristalsis, that your body uses to keep out unwanted organisms from the small intestine. When one or more of these systems fail, SIBO is possible.

Peristalsis, the muscular contraction of your intestines that moves food through the gut into the colon, is impaired in people with SIBO.

Peristaltic waves during your unfed state act to sweep unfriendly bacteria into the colon, limiting SIBO.

The vagus nerve controls peristalsis in your rest and digest state, and the strength of your vagus nerve can alter your heart rate and breathing rate.

Why is this important?

Variation of your heart rate and breathing rate, known as respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), can improve the efficiency of your heart, lungs, and digestion. RSA is more significant in children and athletes than in the elderly, and many RSA is associated with better mental health and positive social interactions.

You can enhance your RSA by practising yoga. Interestingly, deep laughter also stimulates the vagus nerve, causing RSA. Like to sing in the shower? Singing and making music also enhances RSA.

What about SIBO and its relation to Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

If you have IBS with SIBO, you require digestive support and eradication of bacterial overgrowth. More than half of all people with IBS and about half of all celiac cases have SIBO. SIBO symptoms overlap with the gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, and abdominal pain that is common in IBS.

In celiac disease and SIBO, intestinal inflammation and a leaky gut reduce nutrient absorption in the small intestine. As a result, people with SIBO are typically deficient in iron and vitamin B12; nutrients that are absorbed in a healthy small intestine.

A lack of peristalsis also affects the secretion of bile for the digestion and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) in the small intestine. In SIBO, some bacteria also digest bile before your body can use it, further contributing to fat and fat soluble vitamins ending up in the toilet.

Weight loss due to malnutrition is a common symptom in long term SIBO.

How is SIBO diagnosed?

Hydrogen and methane breath tests are used in the diagnosis of SIBO. First, you need to fast, then consume a lactulose or glucose drink. If SIBO is present, bacteria in the small intestine will begin to digest the sugars into hydrogen and methane before the normal colonic bacteria do the same.

Using diet to reduce methane and hydrogen producing bacteria

There is no one size fits all approach.

The FODMAPs diet, Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), or Gut and Psychology Syndrome diet (GAPS) may work for some people, but not others.

Identifying your individual food triggers is important. Sometimes a combination of the previously mentioned diets is what works best.

It is important to eat foods that cause bacteria to ferment carbohydrates when starting treatment because it will lead to more efficient eradication of SIBO.

Once bacteria levels and SIBO symptoms are reduced, you will enter a recovery phase to rest and replenish your gut. Certain strains of probiotics can alleviate SIBO after short-term therapy. Ask your Naturopathic or Functional Medicine doctor which strains are most appropriate for you. Managing SIBO in

Managing SIBO in day to day life

Successful treatment of SIBO relies on a holistic focus. Equal emphasis should be placed on eradicating bacteria, repopulating with probiotics, restoring peristalsis, avoiding food triggers, and healing the gut. Above all, know that your road to recovery will be a bumpy one because relapses often happen.

Understanding your mental-emotional health and its relation to SIBO should be a long-term goal to build defences against stress in your life. Awareness of the connection between your mind and body is what will lead to building back your digestive defences.

It’s no wonder that a relaxed state and laughter improves digestion. Also, finding enjoyment in exercise will result in improvements in peristalsis.

Finding something that brings you joy, something that leads you to more self-expression, is what will result in a truly meaningful change.

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Emotional Blueprint: Claiming Back the Responsibility for Your Own Health
By Deborra Cameron 0 Comments New Year New You

Emotional Blueprint: Claiming Back the Responsibility for Your Own Health

Discovering Your Emotional Blueprint

Our emotional well-being affects every aspect of our lives: our work, our relationships and our health. Science has now proven that the cells of your body store memory and your genes respond to the environment.

Each of us has negative emotions, beliefs and responses that are stored in the cellular memory of our bodies that can have a crippling effect on our ability to live a full and happy life. Ensuring that the body and mind are clean should be the number one priority of any person, as this is highly essential if one wishes to live a happy and healthy life without going through any form of strain or distress in their life. Our emotional patterns tie us to replays of responses such as fear, grief, depression, anger, guilt, shame, or hurt that can hold our loved ones and us emotionally hostage.

The Emotional Blueprint is a pattern of beliefs embedded within each person. By identifying and connecting with your Emotional Blueprint, and understanding the negative patterns that set you up for disappointment, distraction or discord with family, friends and work colleagues you can bring about a shift. It is possible to dissolve the negative patterns you have been storing in your body and break these cycles in your life.

How exciting to realise you can claim back the responsibility of your health by rewriting your genetic story!

The human body is the last to let go of the disabling emotional patterns we carry in our DNA, but the life-altering experience of your Emotional Blueprint journey can create new designs for an energetic and productive life!

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A New Year and a New You or Just More of You
By Sofia Lopoukhine 0 Comments New Year New You

A New Year and a New You or Just More of You

Instead of trying to be a new person in the new year, how would you feel about bringing more of you into 2017?

Could a new you mean more of you?

Are there parts of yourself you hold back that prevent you from connecting more deeply with others? Would you be willing to be more vulnerable with people in your life?

Brené Brown in her inspiring book, Daring Greatly states that vulnerability is a paradox, The irony is that when we’re standing across from someone who is shielded by masks and armour, we feel frustrated and disconnected. That’s the paradox here: Vulnerability is the last thing I want you to see in me, but the first thing I look for in you.”

On the one hand, it makes sense that we don’t want to let our vulnerability show, especially when it means revealing what could hurt us. On the other hand, seeing how someone is hurt inspires most of us to want to express our desire to help and solidarity.

Recently, a famous pop star spoke up about her experiences as a woman in the music business. She talked about how there was a time in her career where she felt like the most hated woman on the planet. During her speech, there were a few moments where her eyes filled with tears.

The crowd gave her their full attention because there in front of them this confident, well-respected artist allowed some of how she had been hurt to be seen.

Her speech made an impact not with anger, statistics or superficial platitudes. It made an impact because those listening to her could see that she was talking about the truth of her experience, not just the beautiful, shiny, easy-to-digest parts.

The crowd’s nodding heads seemed to indicate they shared some of the same feelings that the pop star revealed. The group felt connected to her as she showed her vulnerability.

In our social media-driven world, where we mostly share the lovely, shiny, easy-to-digest parts of ourselves, are we missing out on deeper connections?

Could relationships with family members, work colleagues, neighbours and friends become more meaningful if we let more of our authentic, vulnerable selves be seen?

I’m not proposing that we burden other people with our problems or that we share our deeper selves in every interaction we have or every post on social media, but maybe there are some relationships in our lives that could benefit from more authenticity.

A client of mine shared a story of how a friend of hers from high school, someone she described as always happy and put together, recently confided in her that she felt overwhelmed by her work and family responsibilities.

For my client, this was a remarkable moment to see that her friend was struggling with the some of the same insecurities and challenges that she was.

Before this woman opened up about how overwhelmed, she felt, my client, admitted she would never have shared her difficult feelings.

After this conversation, she felt much closer to her friend and plans to spend more time with her in the new year.

How about you?

Is there someone in your life with whom you could deepen your relationship by revealing more truth, authenticity and vulnerability? Is the mere idea of letting down your guard anxiety provoking to you? Does it feel like opening up in this way is something you would never want to do in a million years?

If the idea of making yourself vulnerable with family, friends or romantic partners is holding you back, this is something a counsellor could help you with. Through counselling and psychotherapy, we can explore ways to help you deepen the connection in your relationships and what is holding you back.

I would be happy to meet with you for a free meeting to find out if working together on this or any other life issues could be right for you.

May 2017 start out with us all having a little more courage to be vulnerable with the important people in our lives!

Brown, B. (2012). Daring Greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead. New York, NY: Gotham Books.
Amazon.ca link: https://www.amazon.ca/Daring-Greatly-Courage-Vulnerable-Transforms-ebook/dp/B007P7HRS4/ref=s9_simh_gw_g351_i1_rpf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=T4BSE5MTF5RP2R9MBSQV&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=b06971ce-9992-44c1-9ee0-eb9792e71b5e&pf_rd_i=desktop

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new years health resolutions
By Dominick Hussey 0 Comments New Year New You

5 Simple Tips To Make Your New Year’s Health Resolutions A Reality

After the excesses of the holidays and with the beginning of the new year have you made a plan of looking after your health?

The gyms love this time of year as countless good intentioned punters flood through their doors to sign up.

You are going to exercise regularly and eat less sugar.

Unfortunately, your good intentions are only paper thin and doomed to failure.

The gyms are well aware of this fact as they know that your good intentions are based on willpower.

Willpower is a finite resource and if it was not the gyms would be full to the brim all year.

So how can you buck the trend?

Read on to find out my top 5 ways to make your new year’s health resolutions a reality.

Tip 1: Don’t join the gym, find a tribe

If I tell someone that they need to avoid gluten to feel better I always recommend that their close family to so also for moral support.

Adherence and compliance are much more likely in a community.

By sharing the journey with others that tribal support is much more likely to get you to your goal than struggling alone.

If exercising more is your goal join a class or even better take up a team sport.

If you really want to use a gym then try CrossFit.

Crossfit gyms are successful because they encourage community among their members.

Tip 2: Broadcast your new year’s health resolutions

Accountability is a powerful compliance tool.

If you want to increase your chances of achieving your health goals then tell people about them.

Tell your family and friends, broadcast your plans on Facebook.

By making yourself accountable to others you are less likely to give up.

Also tell people about your progress.

How many days you have been sugar? How much weight you have lost?

When I was running the London marathon it was the people on the side of the road cheering me on that inspired me to the finishing line.

Tip 3: Baby steps

When I first began training for the London marathon I did not run my first training session I walked it.

Trying too much too soon can be considerably disheartening.

Making small by gradual steps or changes you are more likely to gain confidence and be encouraged to take further steps.

So if you are thinking about doing more exercise just start by getting off the bus one stop before your normal one or take the stairs instead of the lift.

If you are trying to take something out of your diet then remove it from one of your meals you eat during the day.

Tip 4: Find your motivation

To give you a new year’s resolutions you need to have the right motivation. When settings your goals you have to ask yourself why you want to do try and achieve them.

In my experience it is not enough to say I want to be healthier, you have to go deeper than that.

Try asking yourself what being healthier would bring to your life.

Would it give you more energy to play with children?

Would you be able to take that cycling trip you always dreamed about? Whatever the motivation make it meaningful to you.

Tip 5: Fill the void

When you are attempting to make healthier food choices it is important to ask yourself why you make unhealthy ones in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong in enjoying a piece of Christmas cake over the holidays.

Food is and should be one of your life’s pleasures but when it becomes a source of comfort you should ask why.

It could be that food is filling a void in your life.

What is missing or what are you unhappy about?

Unless you look deeper and resolve these types of questions then there is a good chance you will reach your goals.

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Are Stress, Past Traumas and Trapped Emotions to Blame for Your Excess Weight?
By Sue Taylor 0 Comments New Year New You

Are Stress, Past Traumas and Trapped Emotions to Blame for Your Excess Weight?

We all know about emotional eating, the need to eat for comfort, or if we are sad or angry.

But did you know it often goes deeper than that?

There has been a lot of research into why we over eat, and why people are often unable to lose weight or having lost the weight, it goes straight back on.

When dealing with immediate emotions such as being dumped by a partner, falling out with a friend, being bullied or having issues with our boss it is evident that we are comfort eating. However, there often deeper reasons.

Emptiness and missing aspects of our lives

Often people who are lonely, or who feel unloved, unsupported or undervalued will find it impossible to lose weight. Their eating fills a void.

It is unfortunate that the foods usually craved are the feel good foods, the ones that generate feelings of pleasure. This usually involves sugar and fat. Also, cakes, muffins, cookies, pasta, pizza are all made from wheat, which contains gliadin, an opiate which binds to the opioid receptors in the brain and triggers excessive appetite.

(See http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2012/04/wheat-is-an-opiate/)

It becomes difficult to function without these feel good foods as we experience withdrawal, in addition to which the void in our lives is not fulfilled.

Protection

So often when working with my larger clients the inability to lose weight correlates with physical or emotional trauma. On occasion, there can also be trauma during the parents’ lives before conception, or of the mother during pregnancy.

It can be viewed that the subconscious, sometimes referred to as the inner child, is seeking protection.

The excess weight provides a physical protection against abuse. It has the added protection of making the person unattractive and can relate to childhood sexual abuse.

Primitive, Instinctive Reaction to Stresses

Our primitive, reptilian or automatic brain can feel our daily stress and tries to interpret the cause. It can associate the stress with physical dangers, famine or threat from the elements such as winter cold.

To deal with the perceived threat of hunger or cold it will respond by slowing the metabolism and increasing appetite leading to fat storage. The extra fat would have been essential for the survival of our ancestors.

Solutions

In light of the above, it becomes apparent that we need to resolve these past traumas and emotional stresses to lose weight and keep it off.

So, how can you do this?

Mindfulness

Bringing awareness to your emotions is a great start. Acknowledge what triggers you and work to let it go.

Look for areas of stress in your life and make changes to address that stress, or at least put in place a plan to make the necessary modifications, whether it is a change of job, to resolve relationship issues or release past traumas. Having a light at the end of the tunnel can be very beneficial.

Seek Help

Some therapies and healing modalities can help.

It is important to be sure that you feel comfortable and can connect with the person you choose. Some therapists and healers offer a free introductory session, a chance to meet before committing to a full session. This is an excellent idea as there is nothing worse than starting a session and 5 minutes in you are sitting there thinking I don’t want to be here!!.

Having a team of people to help is also a good idea, drawing on whichever approach is needed at the time. You may see people for a while then someone else, then maybe go back to the first, each assisting you with a particular issue.

You may want to consider the following:

Talk therapies such as:

  • Counselling and Psychotherapy
  • Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
  • Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)

Energetic work, including:

  • Emotional freedom techniques (EFT)
  • Reiki and Chakra balancing, energy healing
  • CranioSacral therapy or Bowen therapy

In summary

However you decide to deal with your stresses and emotional issues or traumas, remember that this a process, not a one session instant fix.

The process can be complicated as you work to bring changes to your life, release your emotions and stresses, and reprogram long-standing habits and beliefs.

Stick with it and you will ultimately become less reactive, happier, more whole and most importantly be able to lose the weight and keep it off!

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Disclaimer

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4 Ways Acupuncture Can Help You Achieve and Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions
By Emily Dunn 0 Comments New Year New You , , , , ,

4 Ways Acupuncture Can Help You Achieve and Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions

1. Weight Loss

Acupuncture won’t make the pounds magically shed themselves overnight, but what it can do is increase your metabolism by directly affecting hormone regulation and improving your absorption of nutrients.

Acupuncture is excellent for relaxing the body, so if you are a stress eater acupuncture would be a wonderful tool to reduce unnecessary snacking due to stress. Combining acupuncture, cupping and moxa, a form of heat therapy, is an excellent way to pack an even more powerful punch into your weight loss efforts.

Cupping can reduce cellulite by 50% by increasing blood flow directly to fat and by helping the body detoxify itself.

Moxa does the same thing, as well as increasing the Yang energy of the body which relates directly to your metabolism.

2. Pain Relief

Is pain holding you back from following up on your New Years resolutions such as going to the gym, practising yoga or taking relaxing and therapeutic walks?

If you haven’t already tried acupuncture, then make this year your year to try it out – your body will thank you!

Acupuncture is best known for its ability to relieve pain. Whether it is acute or long-lasting chronic pain, acupuncture is splendid at treating pain and encouraging healing, working on many different levels.

Below is an outline of how it works from both a traditional and modern perspective.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective:

Acupuncture is based on the philosophy that Qi, or vital energy, flows throughout the body. Qi protects the body from illness, pain and disease. A person’s health is influenced by the quality, quantity and balance of Qi.

From a TCM point of view, pain is caused by the stagnation of Qi and Blood in the body or by Cold, Damp or Heat trapped in the joints.

Acupuncture works by removing energetic blockages in meridians of the body and dispelling pathogenic factors causing pain.

From a scientific perspective:

Neurotransmitter Theory: Acupuncture affects higher brain areas, stimulating the secretion of beta-endorphins and enkephalins in the brain and spinal cord. The release of neurotransmitters influences the immune system and the antinociceptive system, which relates to inflammation, a key factor in pain.

Autonomic Nervous System Theory: Acupuncture stimulates the release of norepinephrine, acetylcholine and several types of opioids, affecting changes in their turnover rate, normalising the autonomic nervous system, and reducing pain.

Vascular-interstitial Theory: Acupuncture affects the electrical system of the body by creating or enhancing closed-circuit transport in tissues. This facilitates healing by allowing the transfer of material and electrical energy between normal and injured tissues.

Blood Chemistry Theory: Acupuncture is known to affect the blood concentrations of triglycerides, cholesterol, and phospholipids, suggesting that acupuncture can both raise and diminish peripheral blood components, thereby regulating the body toward homoeostasis.

Gate Control Theory: Acupuncture activates non-nociceptive receptors that inhibit the transmission of nociceptive (pain) signals in the dorsal horn (part of the spinal cord), ‘gating out’ painful stimuli.

3. Focus and Memory

Many of us feel our memory isn’t what it used to be and to stay focused can also be a challenge. Many acupuncture points help with both memory and focus. In TCM theory, the spleen is responsible for short-term memory and attention, and the kidneys for long-term memory. The points to nourish and support these are found mainly on the legs.

A lack of focus can also be rooted in anxiety and stress. Someone who has never experienced acupuncture might be surprised at how relaxed one feels after treatment as it engages the body’s rest and digest nervous system.

4. Quitting Bad Habits

Whether its cigarettes, caffeine, soda or some other addictive habit, acupuncture is a great tool to help ease withdrawal symptoms (find more information about the Transitions Recovery Program here). Cravings, edginess, fatigue and sleep disruption can all be treated with acupuncture. If you have decided, like so many, that the new year is the time to kick your habit to the

If you have decided, like so many, that the new year is the time to kick your habit to the kerb then consider trying acupuncture to help you through the journey to a better you. To find out more ways in which acupuncture can help you,

To learn more ways in which acupuncture can help you, book for a free meet and greet with Emily.

Sharing is caring

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Disclaimer

This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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