Eye Strengthening – Eyesight points for Fatigue

A portion of us rely on our eyes for navigation, communication, entertainment and other daily activities. Eye health contributes to a sense of well-being and holistic at-home eye care is a necessary resource. When we take a moment to step away from the screen and get into a darker environment, we start to feel less stimulated. Taking the eyes away from stimuli for moments of day can help to prevent eye fatigue.

Eye fatigue is common with our modern lifestyle from strain caused by screens, reading, driving and overuse. Straining can cause symptoms of blurred vision, floaters, broken blood vessels, eye pain and headaches. Combining ocular exercises and acupuncture points we can help to strengthen our eyes, prevent unwanted symptoms and changes in vision.  

In Eastern medicine, observation of the eyes is an important tool for showing the health of our internal systems and how to treat these. Often an acupuncturist will focus on the treatment of the liver channel, blood and Yin when focusing on strengthening the eyes. Also, points around the eyes can help facilitate better motor function and clarity. Taking time each day to nurture the eyes, can be a simple self-care practice that leads to a more comfortable work-life through less eye strain.

Morning Recipe for Eye Health

1.     Take 5 mins for ocular yoga: try near window if possible

a.      Rub palms together put over closed eyes and breath

b.     Keeping eyes closed & press the inner part of eyebrow (acupuncture point Bladder2)

c.      Remove palms, look up to the ceiling, then look down to the floor. Repeat 6x

d.     Rub palms and put over closed eyes again.

e.      Open eyes, to look left then right 6x

f.       Now find something close to focus on in front of you. Then look out window and pick something to focus on far away. Keep doing this. Repeat this 6x

g.      Rub palms and put over closed eyes again. Breath.

2.     Breakfast food for ocular health  

o    ½ cup your favorite hot breakfast grain: cook as directed

o    Add your favorite milk or non-dairy seed/nut milk

o    Handful of Goji Berries: helps to nourish blood and Yin

o    1-2 Dates cut and cooked together: nourishes blood and Spleen

o    Tablespoon of Pumpkin Seeds: rich in zinc, important for Vitamin A transportation- for eye health

3.     Ju Hua (Chrysanthemum flower) and Gou Qi Zi (Goji Berries) tea

Steep 1 tsp each together in cup of water for 15-20 mins and strain.

Eastern medicine uses Ju Hua for irritated, red eyes that need cooling and calming.

These items can be found at most health food stores, online herbal stores and Asian markets

Acupressure Points for Anxiety and Stress by Dr. Katy Peter

During this time, fear can become a theme in our lives through the unknown and uncertainty of this pandemic. More at home self-care practices are needed right now to ensure better health and well-being. The practice of Metta translated as “loving kindness towards all” is a meditation practice that cultivates positive awareness directed towards oneself and the world around you. To practice Metta for self care and to destress, a person quiets the mind by focusing on a specific phrase about compassion, friendship and loving kindness. Jack Kornfield’s phrase below with link to his website is useful for lovingkindness meditation practice. Metta is a practice of deep self-love and empathy towards others to further our ability to both evolve inward and outward. This act of conscious goodwill breaks down any fear we have with our environment and ourselves. The outcome of this meditation practice brings more joy and ease to our body and mind.

In Eastern medicine the emotion of joy is associated with the heart and the heart meridian goes from the heart to our hands. Another practice that can be utilized at home is acupressure. Acupressure like acupuncture stimulates specific areas of the body to encourage healing. In Korean hand therapy the hand forms a microsystem of the body and by applying acupressure to specific areas of the hand we evoke healing mechanisms. The Korean hand map shows different parts of the hand relate to organs and their functions. Today, we combine acupressure points and meditation to encourage self-love and compassion for all beings.

Jack Kornfield’s Metta Phrase: Buddhist practitioner and teacher

May I be filled with loving kindness.

May I be safe from inner and outer dangers.

May I be well in body and mind.

May I be at ease and happy.

This is then repeated but with the 

May YOU be filled with loving kindness.

May YOU be safe from inner and outer dangers.

May YOU be well in body and mind.

May YOU be at ease and happy.

Finally, we bless all beings:

May all beings be filled with loving kindness

May all beings be happy

May all beings awaken and be free

May all beings be happy

Immune Support with Chinese Herbs by Brooke McClelland, LAC


In Chinese Medicine, one way that pathogens enter the body is through an invasion of wind.  Wind is thought to be “the carrier of a thousand evils”—what Western medicine would identify as microbes like viruses and bacteria—and it brings in these bugs through the wind gates or immune system—areas of the body like the low back and back of the neck that are considered entry points for invaders. 
 
This past weekend, I started feeling some of the tell-tale signs of a wind invasion—a scratchy, uncomfortable throat, chills, a low-grade fever, tight shoulders and neck, an achy body, slight headache and fatigue.  I had felt fine earlier in the day, but then I recalled my mistake!  I had taken a shower and I tied up my wet hair and gone about my day, forgetting to blow-dry or air-dry my hair.  This is a no-no in Chinese medicine as the cold and damp sitting on my head for hours made me more susceptible to a cold or damp pathogen coming into the body.  I was also dressed for warm weather in shorts and t-shirt, but it was a bit breezy and I had the doors of the house open, letting in the wind.
 
When I started feeling sick, I sprang into action with the tenets I learned in Chinese medicine school for staving off a wind invasion.  Read on to find out what I did and what you can do in the very early stages of a cold or flu to kick the pathogen out.  I’m happy to say that just two days later, I feel right as rain!

1.Take a hot shower or bath
Even though I had already taken a shower that day, I got back in the shower to warm myself up.  I wanted to warm the channels and evoke a bit of a sweat if possible. In Chinese medicine, sweating is one way to expel an invading pathogen when it has only recently come in. I made sure to blow dry my hair and even spent some time with the hair dryer aimed on my upper back and shoulders to warm the wind gates. You can do this anytime you feel like you’ve gotten a chill.
2.Bundle up
I changed out of my summery clothes into warmer layers including a wooly hat and scarf!  I was feeling chilled at that point, so this felt good.  When I drank some hot tea, it also helped to induce a light sweat which is what we want.  When your throat feels scratchy, it’s important to keep it warm with a scarf and drink lots of fluids.
3.Gargle
The throat is where many pathogens incubate and proliferate once they come into the respiratory tract. It’s a good idea to gargle with something antibacterial and antiviral (not bleach!)  I use very salty, warm water as salt is both of those things and also pulls excess fluid from tissue that may be swollen.  My favorite trick is to brew a strong cup of black tea and add plenty of salt, let it cool, and gargle with that.  It sounds gross, but you won’t taste it.  Send it down the hatch for a gargle in the back of your throat, then spit out.  The black tea is astringent and pulls out any phlegm that has accumulated there.  The bitterness of black tea also clears heat if your throat is feeling hot and painful.
4.Take herbs
It’s handy to have some go-to Chinese herbal formulas for cold or flu on hand for times like these.  Consult with your practitioner about which formulas would be right for you.  I started Chinese herbs right away when I noticed symptoms and took them frequently for 48 hours until I felt better.  If you don’t have any herbal formulas with you, one home remedy you can make in the very early stages of a cold or flu is a tea of boiled fresh ginger and scallions.
5.Get plenty of rest
After all the previous steps, I took a long nap as I was feeling weary.  I bundled myself up and slept for 1-2 hours and when I woke, I felt a bit better.  It takes energy for the body to mount an immune system response, so it’s smart to give the body extra rest and allow this process to happen.
6.Get acupuncture
Just as we have Chinese herbs that are great at expelling wind invasions, there are acupuncture points for that too!  In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we ask that you not come in to the clinic if you have active symptoms, but a telemedicine consult would be perfect to get you the ideal herbal formula and to direct you to some acupressure points you can use on yourself.  Acupressure uses the same points as acupuncture, but with pressure from your fingers instead of needles.
 
I hope this Chinese medicine wisdom helps you when the time comes to nip a cold or flu in the bud!

The Beauty of Functional & Eastern Medicine

I can't tell you how many times I hear this in my office. It is frustrating to me that many people and doctors have been trained to think that symptoms stop at "normal labs". Allopathic medicine looks at the body in divided systems and how to treat the disease for those individual dysfunctional parts. I'm super duper generalizing here but if you really think about it, allopathic and conventional medicine is great for Disease Management, but not great for Health Care.

Eastern Medicine has always had an approach to health care that looks at checks and balances between the systems. If one system is dysfunctioning, we look to the other systems that are functioning and use them for support. It is a system that really looks at the body as a whole and how each part works together. ☯️

Functional Medicine is a way at looking at the very small details in our blood work to see where the body is functioning and where it needs focused attention. There is SO much that we can decipher in labs about where the body needs support even when they come back "normal". 💗

What I love most is blending these two Health Care systems into a comprehensive approach to care. By combining the very important information that our pulse 💓 and tongue 👅 provide us in the Eastern medicine diagnosis and then using labs work we can to really bring it all home and get to the root cause of your symptoms. 🌟✨

Email Dr. Parker to get started on this comprehensive approach!

The Lost Coast!

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I spent a big chunk of last week on one of the most challenging but epically beautiful hikes of my life. My friends and I took three days to hike 25 miles of the Lost Coast Trail, and it was hard 🥵! It felt so good to challenge myself like that but I can certainly say I’m still recovering . Much of that trail is on sand and treacherous rocks and it took an incredible amount of focus to get across safely. As hard and tiring as this was, it was kind of my favorite part. It was quite an experience to have to completely focus on each step for hours at a time with the waves crashing next to me. It reminded me of how much I love walking meditation and hope to re-incorporate it back into my routine. 🌈🌟

Menopause Miso

Chicken Broth with Yellow Miso and Lotus Root

Serving size: About 2

  • 2 Cups chicken broth – benefits blood, essence or Jing, spleen, stomach and Qi. Enters the kidney channel.

  • ½ Cup yellow onion julienne– warm, counteracts damp and cold, improve blood and Qi circulation

  • 2 Tablespoons water

  • ¾ Cup tofu – builds Yin, blood and is a Qi tonic that supports the kidney

  • Small handful spinach – promote Qi and Blood and Yin

  • 2-3 inch piece lotus root thinly sliced– counteracts heat and promotes Qi circulation

  • 2 Scallion, green part - warm, tonifies yang, eliminates cold and supports blood circulation and digestion.

  • 1 teaspoon miso – soy same as tofu benefits, naturally fermented foods are invaluable for digestion, warming, benefits the kidney,

  • 1 Tablespoon goji berries – tonifies kidney Yin

  • Dash white pepper – counteracts damp

  • 1 Tablespoon ginger, julienne– warming stimulates digestion and boosts circulation

  • ½ Teaspoon sesame oil – counteracts heat and tonifies Yin

  • 2 Medium shiitake julienne – blood and Qi tonic, supports spleen stomach and liver

Directions

Lightly cook the julienne onion and shiitake mushrooms in the 2 tablespoons water, add the chicken broth, ginger, goji and lotus (do not peel lotus, allow the hot broth to slightly braise.) bring to a simmer.  Add the white pepper, tofu and miso (Thin the miso with a little stock then add back into the soup. Long cooking or boiling destroys miso’s beneficial organisms.) Add spinach and sesame oil and serve, garnish with scallions.

Options:

Seaweed is great for strengthening kidneys and building Yin so you could use dashi granules or make a broth using kombu and bonito flakes.

Add poached egg if you want more protein, should be antibiotic and hormone free if possible.  Chicken eggs supports blood and promotes blood circulation, it also supports essence and Yin.