Mountaintop Acupuncture

What Stress Means for You

Administrator — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:48:39 +0000

Coming soon will be a paper on stress and eustress: everyone experiences stress, and this topic needs to be better understood.
Areas to be covered are: the physiology of stress, the results of long-term stress, and what you can do about reversing the effects of stress, and minimizing it in your life. Included in this discussion will be an explanation of the nervous system, particularly the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest), and how acupuncture can modulate these systems. The inflammatory and immune response (IIR): what it is, how does it function, what it does and what are its effects, and what diseases result in chronic IIR signaling. Lastly, since we’re all subject to stress: psychological, social, work-related, relationship, as well as physical injury, what can we do to blunt its effects and achieve a long and healthy life?

Walking in the Correct Posture: Killing Two Birds with One Stone.

Administrator — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:59:33 +0000

Why not work on correcting your alignment, creating a slight stretch to your muscles, tendons, and ligaments, AND clear your mind, all while you’re going about your business, during the day?

Qi gong and ba gua are two internal martial arts, originating in China, that emphasize correct skeletal alignment. Done correctly, it allows the muscles to become more relaxed when the bones of the body are well placed. Putting your mind into your skeletal structure may take a little time to get used to, and correcting alignment should be done incrementally, so think “subtle” when you practice moving this way.

The main skeletal areas to pay attention to in the beginning are as follows:
From the crown of the head, lift the head slightly off the spine and allow the tailbone to drop down- this should feel like a subtle sensation. What’s happening is the spine is being stretched along its entire length, and this should feel good. In fact, your shoulders will naturally begin to relax with this one movement. This is the first step to maintaining erect posture.
Next, stack the shoulders over the hips by moving them back in space, a small and subtle adjustment. Allow your weight to pass through your knees and down to your feet, allowing the crease at the top of the thigh to have a subtle bend in it for increased response to the natural pounding that occurs when we walk.
Last, see if you can feel the full surface of the bottom of your feet when they touch the ground, rolling through each step, more or less, from heel to toe.

It’s incredibly easy to get distracted from this, so do not become discouraged! But it is, in its way, a meditation in and of itself, so when you find yourself having to wait: for a light, in a line, for a response- tune inside and do a quick checklist on your posture. It’ll make the moment pass more quickly, clear your head, and take you that much closer to better alignment.

Here’s an article from the New York Times on walking, which can serve as an intro to the idea of qi gong and ba gua movement:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/health/nutrition/13fitness.html?_r=1

Acupuncture for Athletes

Administrator — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:26:06 +0000

Acupuncture for Athletes

More to come in this list!

A quick google search cites studies showing how acupuncture can benefit athletes, enhancing performance and speeding healing:

http://www.acufinder.com/Acupuncture+Information/Detail/Acupuncture+for+Athle