Are you interested in using either Acupuncture or Acupressure to manage your holistic health issues? If so, are you wondering which one is best for you? Let’s talk about the benefits of each of these modalities, as well as important differences. I also want to dispel some misinformation along the way! Read on or watch the video below to learn more about Acupuncture vs. Acupressure and decide which one is better for you!

What’s The Role of Acupuncture and Acupressure in Traditional Chinese Medicine?

Before we talk about the comparison between Acupuncture and Acupressure, it’s important that we take a step back. What these modalities are and what their role are in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)?

Acupuncture is 1 of the 5 main branches of TCM, along with Dietetics, Herbology, Tuina Massage, and Qigong. Acupressure uses the acupoints from Acupuncture, but is a Tuina Massage technique, so is a combination of the two.

Both modalities stimulate the movement of Qi (vital energy) along channels in the body that link up with the vital organs they’re named after. When Qi is moving freely, we have no pain and are in good general health. When we experience pain or disease, this is indicative of Qi being stuck or vacant in a certain area. Acupuncture and Acupressure regulate the Qi in these regions to restore health and vitality.

What Do Acupuncture And Acupressure Help With?

Acupuncture and Acupressure are extremely effective in treating you if you have an existing health issue, such as:

Even more phenomenal, Acupuncture and Acupressure, as well as other aspects of TCM, are preventative health measures. With regular treatment, they help us stay healthy and free of disease!

Difference Between Acupuncture and Acupressure

Let’s talk about what makes Acupuncture and Acupressure unique. Take note of what sounds most appealing to you, or what you think would work best for your circumstances.

With Acupuncture, it’s performed by a Licensed Acupuncturist or a Medical Doctor. I have a strong opinion that you will get a more well-rounded experienced from a classically-trained Chinese Medicine practitioner. Some Western medicine practitioners will only treat pain conditions (and that is usually all that insurance covers). Disposable, stainless-steel needles are used to gently pierce the skin and access the Qi. It’s usually painless, but sometimes that’s unavoidable. There’s a chance of a punctured lung if the practitioner is careless when needling the torso. But if they know what they’re doing, that is easily avoidable and the only risks are slight bleeding and bruising. Because of the pain issue and fear of needles, some people have a strong aversion to Acupuncture. But if you have no issue with them, this can be deeply relaxing!

Acupressure, on the other hand, can be performed by anyone and even on oneself. Of course it’s best to first learn from a practitioner and understand that your intention while doing it is what’s most powerful. You can use your hands or shonishin tools. If you’re doing it on yourself, then you’re not completely relaxing. And it usually takes longer than Acupuncture to receive the desired effect with Acupressure. However that doesn’t matter so much when you are able to access this healing skill whenever you want and have complete control over your treatment.

Which is Best – Acupuncture or Acupressure?

Of course, that question is best answered by you!

If you would like to leave your house, rest for an hour on a table, want quick results, and don’t mind needles – then Acupuncture is best for you.

However, my own personal preference is Acupressure, and for many reasons:

• I love teaching people this skill so they feel more empowered with their self-care and healing abilities. Especially with moms – by just teaching her acupressure I’m treating the whole family!
• I also love incorporating the use of essential oils with Acupressure which accentuates the effectiveness of both.
• I’m able to do Acupressure with clients in our online Health Coaching sessions to help them resolve the energetic, emotional, and spiritual root of their health conditions.

I hope that this information was insightful and that it makes you want to try Acupuncture or Acupressure! As mentioned above, I do Acupressure in my Health Coaching sessions and currently have spots in my schedule for new clients. I love helping women with stress, anxiety, gut health, hormones, emotional stability, trauma, spiritual guidance and navigating relationships affected by their health. We do this in conjunction with Human Design. You can schedule a free 15 minute call with me here if you’d like to talk briefly about your holistic health issues and we can decide if we’re a good fit for each other.

Well wishes to you and your family!

Healing happens when we’re in an empowered state of being. Whether we’re talking to ourselves in our own healing journey or whether we’re supporting others with their care, what we say matters since words are a powerful influence over our body, mind, & spirit! Read on or watch the video below to learn which words we need to hear to make healing possible and powerful. I’ll also share the words we should avoid! Once you bring more consciousness to your speech, and the intentions & beliefs behind it, you’ll wield more power in healing!

Inspiration For This Subject On Mindful Speech

This topic is inspired by the story I shared on YouTube with you a couple of weeks ago about my friend and patient who was recovering from Covid-19 in the hospital. What I didn’t share about that story was that she had just had a baby (who she hadn’t seen or held yet) and was recovering from a C-section. The reason I didn’t share was that I wanted to just highlight her recovery from Covid and all the progress that she had been making. I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her. Many moms could put themselves in her position and feel despair.

I was also careful with the language I was using with this patient because she was still in the hospital when I was making the video this was still very much she was still in the middle of this healing journey. I wanted to stay positive, hopeful, and encouraging to help her through this process.  Now that she is well on the other side, and she and her baby are doing awesome, I wanted to share a little bit more here about this mindful speech because I think it was key in supporting her.

Reasons To Choose Your Words Wisely

I’ve talked about mindful speech before in a parenting article about Nonviolent Communication. But here I want to emphasize the importance of it with regard to healing. Words matter in the healing process, no matter if we’re supporting ourselves or others.

Our bodies believe everything we say!

I learned this when I was in massage school a long time ago. I remember our teacher telling us that we needed to be very careful about how we were talking to our clients when they were on the table, especially when we were touching their bodies. If we found an area that was tense and needed more work, she asked us to say something like:

“This area needs more support”

or

“I see that this area is really opening up!”

We were instructed to talk about the progress of healing.

We were conscious of not saying:

“This this feels really bad”

or

“Wow you’re you’re really broken”

I would even refuse to agree with people talking about their “bad back”, that it was something they’d always have to deal with. I’d try to correct that by letting them know that their body was speaking to them and that the pain was evidence of the seriousness of the message! If we listen to the message and not berate it, healing is possible.

Since then I’ve been conscious of helping clients feel stronger and empowered. That is the state of being that I want to shift them into.

These days, I take this even more seriously and go in much more depth. I believe we can pick up on each other’s intentions. We can pick up on thoughts and feelings from each other too. So it’s not even just what we say but the thoughts and beliefs beyond those words that matter. We really need to be shifting this within ourselves.

Words That Heal

This is what I think people need to hear in order to feel more healthy, strong, and hopeful:

They need to know that…

• healing is possible
• the body does miraculous things every second of every day
• illness is a temporary setback
• this is an opportunity to make more positive changes in their life that their life will be even more amazing on the other side of the healing journey
• they loved and supported by their friends and family
• they are loved and supported by their ancestors
• their healing journey is actually healing this whole family line
• they have support from beyond as well from spirit

When working with clients, I actually go beyond the words to the beliefs and energetic power that I’m holding for them. I see them in this empowered state, sitting up strong and vibrant, and full of joyful light. I hold that vision for them and that is what I’m speaking from.

What makes this powerful is that I believe everything i am telling them and I hold that vision until they can see it themselves. Hopefully this also changes their beliefs about their situation and how they’re talking to themselves.

Unhelpful Words That Can Impede Healing

It’s my opinion that there are some things you definitely should not say.

Of course we don’t want to say, “oh that’s really bad, that’s really terrible” or a variation on that phrase. It definitely does not lift people up and it can magnify the despair.

Nor do we want to say something like “oh if only you did so and so to prevent it”. This is not the time to bring up things they could have done differently that makes them sit in guilt, shame, and regret which are extremely low vibration states. When they are completely recovered, then they can investigate the changes could be made in their lifestyle to prevent it (if there’s a chance of this recurring).

I am also careful to not pity the person and say “you poor thing…”, which can keep them in victim-mentality. And this brings me to the phrase I refuse to say which you may disagree with:

“I’m sorry…”

To me, “I’m sorry” is a variation of “you poor thing”. And it implies that I have some responsibility for how the person is feeling too. If that’s true, I definitely do not want the responsibility of keeping them feeling weak and powerless!

I think we need to be careful with the language and really investigate what these phrases mean. We can be more clear with our intention too. If you don’t feel sorry for someone then don’t say “I’m sorry”, just because it’s automatic. Thing of more helpful words instead . We can still acknowledge that a situation is serious while also being positive and encouraging at the same time.

I truly believe that that’s possible!

Find Practitioners Who Speak This Way To You!

As a side note, I hope you see how important it is to have health practitioners who empower you with their words. In that video about Covid recovery, I shared that my friend’s doctor said a few things that were not at helpful! I’m glad she shared this with me, because it made me be even more mindful of how I was speaking to her. The doctor actually told her she had a 50:50 chance of living or dying! Of course this made her panic (which doesn’t help when you have a respiratory illness that prevents deep breathing!)

I highly suggest you look for practitioners who speak to you with positive language. Look for practitioners who like to build you up and don’t make you feel bad about your choices, while at the same time offering you different ways to do things in the future. Find practitioner who will meet you where you’re at with loving kindness.

I hope that this gave you a lot to think about! Let me know what you think in the comments below! Please share if you have some words of encouragement that helped you on your healing journey or have helped others. Well wishes to you…

One of the intentional shifts you can make, if you are desiring change in your life, it to follow the cycles of the moon and adjust your activity to it. Why does paying attention to the moon phases make such a difference? And how exactly can we make this shift? Continue reading and watch the video below to learn how living by the moon can make your life truly magical.

Cyclical Energy Of Women And Men

I’ve written many times about how humans are microcosms of nature, but it bears repeating. Usually we’re talking about how to align with the energy of the seasons which cycle throughout the year. But there are smaller cycles we align with as well, such as the day/night cycle of the sun and the cycles of the moon.

Men and their Yang, active nature tend to be more affected by the sun and can reset their energy in a 24 hour cycle. However, women, perhaps because of their Yin nature and more complex hormones, align more with the 28 day cycle of the moon. So paying attention to the phases of the moon is especially important for women to consider.

The Energy Of The Moon Phases

We know the moon has tremendous influence over the ocean tides, so of course it influences the human body. And the energy can affect not only our bodies, but also our emotions and behavior.

We can look at the phases of the Moon from the perspective of Yin and Yang energy. The Moon itself is relatively Yin, emotional, and feminine compared to the Sun. However within the Moon we have different Yin/Yang energy patterns too.

Waxing From New To The Full Moon

As the moon is waxing and building, the activity is considered more Yang. At the Full Moon, we experience the full expression of this energy. It can be very emotional and chaotic, feeling like we’re going to burst. I’ve noticed in my practice that many patients have a harder time sleeping close to a Full Moon.

Waning From Full To The New Moon

Naturally, we feel a strong release at the peak of the Full Moon which is more of a Yin activity – letting go. It can be a more relaxing period if we allow ourselves to go with the flow and not cling to staying the same. We move toward the emptiness of the New Moon. And at that point, we pivot again. The emptiness represents pure potential that can spur new ideas and creations that motivate us to act again.

How To Align Your Activity With The Phases Of The Moon

If all of this makes sense to you, then I recommend you try living by the moon, which will bring more intentionality and purpose to your life. It can also help you stick with commitments and to evaluate how things are working out, month-to-month.

The Full Moon and the waning period after it is a great time to:

• Finish up projects, tie up “loose ends”
• Notice how abundant your life is and if there’s anything overwhelming your life that may be blocking the flow of more health, wealth, and happiness
• Commit to releasing unhelpful habits, time-suck activities, set boundaries with people & let go of shallow or hurtful relationships
• Detox & cleanse your living space (ditch toxic home products, processed foods, clutter, clean your car, donate clothes you don’t wear)

The New Moon and the waxing period after it is a great time to:

• Dream about a better future and take actionable steps to attain it (monthly or 90 day plan)
• Start new projects and endeavors
• Visit friends and network with business connections
• Develop your intuition and seek spiritual connection (nourish your heart, mind, and spirit)
• Make beautiful additions to your home and wardrobe
• Have a party
• Plan a vacation

Having a mindfulness practice such as Yoga, meditation, walking in nature (without a device), or journaling can be very helpful anytime of the month to help you see how well you’re aligning.

Consider joining my Full Moon Yoga classes online each month through the rest of the year (ending Dec. 2021). We do a gentle Yoga asana practice with a balanced Yin/Yang approach and end with a group energy healing session to help clear your system.

I tend to follow the phases of the moon with home life, creative projects, business endeavors, and my relationships with friends & family. When it comes to my body, I tend to follow the wisdom of my menstrual cycle instead. For some lucky women, both the moon and their menses sync up with the Full or New Moon. But this is not the case for most women.

I may do a separate video & blog post on aligning with your menstrual cycle. Just know that the concept is pretty much the same, considering when you’re feeling more Yin & Yang energy and adjusting accordingly.

Do you have any new ideas of how you can adjust your life to the moon cycle? I highly suggest you try them out now! You may have more success than if you were trying to force situations without considering whether the time was “right”. I’d love to hear about how this works for you, in the comments below. Well wishes…

Have you heard that you need to “raise your vibration”, but don’t know exactly what that means? In the healing arts, we teach how to align internally so that our outer experiences match what we desire (whether that be health, wealth, happiness, etc.). In this post, I’ll be sharing exactly how you can raise your vibrational frequency and improve your life overall.

What Is Vibrational Frequency?

Everything in the world is made up of life force energy. Every person, fish, rock, chair, etc. is able to receive energy from the environment, store it, and emit it back into the world. This energy consists of oscillating atoms that vibrate at a unique frequency, measured in Hertz (Hz).

Human emotions vibrate at particular frequencies (see the chart below), which can flavor our life experiences. But more importantly, communities of people have collective frequencies that impact the world strongly.

If you’re new to this subject, an easy way to understand it is by looking at the chart below. On the bottom are the lower frequencies of shame and guilt which make us feel contracted and small. And as we travel up the funnel, we feel more expansive as we tap into higher frequencies of peace and enlightenment.

I personally don’t like focusing on the actual frequency numbers, but instead like to think about each emotion as having a certain level of awareness which leads us to relate to ourselves and others in a particular way. This is how we think of it in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qigong, and Reiki with our dan tiens or chakra energy centers. As we open them up and take responsibility from the choices we make in life, we reach a more evolved or enlightened state.

What Does It Mean To Raise Your Vibration?

It’s obvious looking at the charts why one would like to “raise their vibration”.

• Do you want to live a small existence where you feel like you have zero control?
• Wouldn’t you rather feel hopeful and limitless instead?
• What about on a community, national, or even global level? How do you want your outer world to feel?
• What would the world look like if the collective frequency was courageous, accepting, and loving?

Many people say they want to see peace on Earth in their lifetime. But they don’t understand that it needs to start on an individual level, within themselves. We all need to take responsibility and raise our own vibration to then affect the whole.

Luckily, because of the faster, more expansive nature of higher vibrational frequencies, it doesn’t take a lot of people at this level to make big shifts in the collective.

How Do You Raise Your Vibrational Frequency?

There’s much you can do to lift yourself up out of a lower vibrational state. These steps below can increase the quality of your life and contribute to a more peaceful world.

1. Make the intention to lift your consciousness

This is a challenging first step. Most people who live in fear, who blame others for their circumstances, have no concept of what it’s like to be any different. They think that people who speak of positivity about peace and love – are delusional and not living in reality. It’s actually true that there is a divide in reality between these people and ranges of frequency! Their lives and outlooks are completely different.

What’s unique though, is that people who have achieved higher frequencies have an easier time relating to those who are vibrating lower because they have experienced it before. And they are making the intentional choice over and over again to continue to evolve so that they spend more time in a higher vibrational state. They recognize that they’re doing this not only for themselves, but for the benefit of all beings.

2. Be grateful for everything in your life

Expressing gratitude for your life every morning can set you up for having a more pleasant day ahead. It will start you off in a higher vibrational state where it’s easier to fluctuate from instead of starting low and trying to rise up throughout the day.

Gratitude helps us see that every human experience and all the emotions we feel are completely acceptable. There are lessons from challenging experiences. There are huge growth and healing possibilities from trauma. We don’t necessarily want to welcome them into our lives. Chances are these challenging experiences happen when we’re vibrating lower (like attracts like). But these experiences if looked at mindfully, can show us that there is room to grow.

3. Meditate

Mindfulness meditation teaches us to watch how the mind creates our reality. We can see how our intentions, thoughts, feelings, and our actions are responsible for what is showing up in our lives. And to make it different, we need to change the way we relate to ourselves and others.

A regular meditation practice will help us experience mindfulness in everyday situations. And with time, we have less fluctuation in our vibrational frequency when the mind is constantly checking our experience.

4. Remove yourself from lower vibration situations and relationships

Eventually, you’ll have insight about how your relationships with others is affecting you. Especially if you’re meditating, you’ll start feeling the divide between your reality and others. If you’re not able to continue your pursuit of positivity, especially if your friends and family are trying to keep you on their level and are being mean about it, then it’s best you create some distance.

“If you’re not helping me evolve, you’re a distraction.” Ralph Smart, Infinite Waters

https://ralphsmart.com/

This goes for our work, school, and recreational environments. If they’re not supportive of your growth, then why are you supporting them?

We might mistake this for compassion, but if you really take a close look you may be caught up in the vibration of fear. Are you afraid that no one else will love and accept you? I would bet that is absolutely not the case, which brings me to the next step…

5. Hang out with high vibe people who inspire you

Finding friends and mentors who inspire you to develop yourself and grow are the best people to hang around, in my opinion. They’ll support you on your journey, continue to inspire you to greatness, and remind you of what is possible.

It’s not usual for these people to initially trigger us. If we’re caught up in a lower vibrational state where we’re constantly comparing ourselves to others, as I mentioned in the beginning, it may seem like they’re not relatable to us. But as we continue to develop, it’s interesting to see how they become our best teachers and friends.

6. Clear blocked centers with energy medicine

In order to speed up the process of raising your vibration, it’s helpful to work with Acupuncturists, Qigong practitioners, Reiki masters, Light workers, or Shamanic practitioners to clear your energy field and heal trauma. You can find a practitioner in your area to see in person, but much of the energy work can be done through distance healing sessions since energy has no boundaries. I do a combination of all of these modalities in my distance sessions. The process is essentially to unblock trapped energy which shows up as intense emotions & physical pain, tonify weak energy, and regulate to distribute the energy evenly. Energy healing is truly transformational since we’re working with the root of imbalances. I love incorporating into my holistic health coaching work too since it can be a strong foundation for any personal development.

7. Nourish your body with higher frequency foods and plant medicine

Everything we take in with our senses affects our vibrational frequency. One aspect of health that’s easier to control is which foods we choose to consume and the other ways that we nourish the body to heal. Processed foods, conventional produce laced with herbicides & pesticides, low quality animal products, sugar, alcohol, and greasy fried foods are all considered low vibration since they can lower your quality of health. When we eat crap, we generally feel like crap, right? That’s because of the energy we’re consuming that is becoming part of us.

Organic, fresh, local fruits and vegetables vibrate higher, so it’s better for everyone to add more of these foods into our diets. Of course we don’t need to be super strict about this! Just like the emotional state of being that we’re trying to stay in, we can to eat these higher vibration foods most of the time. They should make up the greater part of your diet to achieve the highest degree of wellness.

How foods are prepared is important too. What’s the environment they’re made in? What’s the emotional vibration that meals are cooked in?

This also holds true for how we care for our bodies when we’re ill too. Are we taking medicine that is unrecognizable to the body, far removed from nature, which was made with the intention to help you ignore your body’s natural signals? Or is it natural medicine that’s familiar to your body, that’s made with the intention to heal you on all levels? This is something to ponder.

Essential oils are know for being extremely high vibe (rose & spruce are the highest). This is not only because of plants reverent nature in the world, but also because they’re highly concentrated. A little goes a long way to help you heal, and the aroma uplifts your mood as you’re using them.

8. Spend time in nature

You know I’m always preaching this, because it’s so healing. We must spend more time in nature. Being among the trees and with other animals can lift us up into higher vibrational states. But to stay lifted, we must reflect on our relationship with nature and constantly remind ourselves that it’s symbiotic. We are a microcosm of nature too. When we align with it, we are healthy on all levels.

I hope this concept of raising your vibration is more clear now! And I hope it’s inspired you to make some positive changes in your life. Please comment below if you’d like to share your experience of energy vibration. And feel free to reach out to me if you’d like my personal help!

Well wishes…

We’re at the end of summer, with Back-To-School around the corner.  Usually at this time I’m helping families boost their immune systems to prepare for viral illnesses that come up in the Fall and Winter.  However, we’re seeing a surge of sickness here in the Summer, while still dealing with Covid-19 and it’s variants.  I feel that right now people need reminders of how to treat themselves at home if they do get sick.  I’ve counseled families a few times this week about how to manage a fever at home, which is a main concern when sick.   So that’s what we’re going to be focusing on in this article.

My advice as a Chinese Medicine practitioner is likely different from what your doctor may advise because of my emphasis on natural solutions.  I do believe this is a safer and more effective way to deal with the situation and to help your body heal quicker.  Whatever you decide to listen to is up to you though!  Trust your gut.  Read on to learn how to manage a fever at home naturally with Chinese Medicine, acupressure, essential oils, and other natural health techniques.  

When To Reduce A Fever

First, consider not reducing the fever at all!

Fever is one of the body’s best defenses for dealing with infections. The heat kills microorganisms and prevents them from multiplying in the body. The heat also increases our circulation so that they are expelled quickly from the body through our elimination pathways. We need to keep this in mind when we get sick!

A strong fever response is indicative of a strong, healthy immune system, and we don’t want to diminish it. Reducing a fever and slow the body’s ability to heal and allow more time for the pathogen to replicate in the body.

The thing is, we’ve all heard scary stories about people experiencing febrile seizures, which are usually associated with viral infections (and even vaccinations!). No one wants to have a seizure and they fear that brain damage will occur from that (which isn’t even true). So they want to immediately bring the fever down or keep it below a certain temperature. But the fear around this in the medical world is diminishing as we dispel some myths and learn more about the benefits of fever.

Some doctors are saying that people shouldn’t even be concerned about the actual number indicated on the thermometer. And that the only reason someone should try to reduce their fever is if they’re extremely uncomfortable.

Why you should avoid using Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen

Now if you decide to reduce the fever, you can do it with medications or with natural alternatives.

I prefer managing fevers naturally because of the side effects of fever-reducing drugs like Tylenol (acetaminophen), Advil (Ibuprofen), and Alleve (Naproxen).

But there’s even more complications that can arise, especially around Covid-19 infections:

• Ibuprofen has been thought to increase ACE2 receptors that SARS-CoV-2 uses to infect cells. As a result, researchers theorize that it could make the virus spread faster.
• Acetaminophen reduces intracellular glutathione levels. Glutathione deficiency has been noted in people most susceptible to Covid-19. These people are likely to also have Type 2 Diabetes, Cancer, Obesity, Respiratory Diseases, or other chronic health issues. Reducing a fever with Tylenol can actually make it more challenging for you to heal and may actually worsen symptoms!

Fever is more serious when accompanied by a stiff neck, hallucinations, and confusions. Please seek emergency care if you encounter any of these symptoms.

Natural Ways To Manage A Fever

I have several methods of managing a fever naturally that I turn to when my son is sick. These have worked so well for my family, that not once have I bought any fever-reducing medications. I recommend these methods to my clients too, who always have great success.

It’s important to note that these natural methods work in the following ways, which is different from fever-reducing drugs. These natural remedies:

1. increase one’s comfort level while their body is feverish
2. actively fight the infection, thereby reducing the body’s need to spike a fever
3. support the body’s ability to heal

These methods do not prevent your body from doing what is natural, with mounting a fever to protect itself.

Peppermint Essential Oil & Cool Washcloth

This is my #1 go-to when I’m dealing with a fever. A cool washcloth on the forehead and/or on the back of the neck will help one feel cooler. I always do this to help my son relax enough to go back to sleep. Adding 1-2 drops of high-quality peppermint or spearmint essential oils will increase the cooling effect.

Acupressure

Several acupoints have the ability to regulate the body’s response to pathogens and manage fever. See the video above for a visual of the points.

Popular body acupoints to mange fever

LI4 – on outside of hand at the corner of the crease between thumb and 1st finger

LI11 – at the end of the elbow crease on outside of arm

Du14 – below the 7th cervical vertebra

UB11 – bilateral, in the center of the paraspinal muscles in line with the 1st thoracic vertebra.

Auriculotherapy (ear acupressure)

Auriculotherapy uses points mapped on the ear to help regulate body function. When dealing with a fever, you can use your fingers, a small probe, or ear seeds to stimulate these points a few times a day:

Ear apex – the upper most part of the ear

Hot – on the upper part of the antihelix in line with the ear apex.

Plant Medicine

Chinese Herbs

Chinese herbs actively work to weaken the pathogen while strengthening the body’s ability to expel it. It’s a complicated process that should be monitored by a Chinese Medical Practitioner, Herbalist, or Acupuncturist. The herbal formula needs to match your symptoms and constitution. Otherwise, minor side effects may arise or they just may not be as effective.

Note that sometimes you may feel temporarily worse before you get better. It’s important to stick with the course of herbs until symptoms are gone, otherwise. But usually fever is an early symptom that tends to resolve within a couple of days, depending on the illness.

Essential Oils For Immune Support

Many essential oils have antiviral function. You can choose a one or more to apply topically to the body. Diluting with a carrier oil keep the essential oil on the skin longer so it’s better able to be absorbed through the skin and into the bloodstream. Essential oils are able to penetrate into the lipid membrane of cells, helping to stop viral replication in our bodies.

My favorite blend to use on kids is the Stronger essential oil blend from doTERRA. It contains Frankincense, Rose, Litsea, and Cedarwood. You can roll it along the spine or place on the soles of the feet.

You can check out this Back To School Kit of essential oils that I’ve curated myself. It includes the Stronger blend as well as many other products to keep your kids healthy (includes wholesale account starter fee).

In Conclusion

I hope these pointers help you feel less afraid and more confident when one of you has a viral fever. The goal is to stay comfortable and rest while your body heals! You want to stay out of the hospital with secondary infections, so let the body heal completely the way nature intended to prevent any relapses!

Have you tried any of these natural remedies for fever? I’m interested to hear about how they worked for you, in the comments below. Well wishes to you and your family!

Are you caught in a cycle of unwellness? Are you constantly getting sick, unable to achieve optimum health, or have a chronic issue that’s keeping you down? Or is the unwellness more mental and emotional? Are you replaying dysfunctional stories, ending up in the same toxic relationships, unable to achieve success, or feel like you’re plagued with “bad luck”? Sometimes challenges to our body, heart, and mind occur over and over to get our attention. Let’s talk about how to stop the cycle of unwellness and truly heal.

Recognition Before You Can Heal

Of course the first step to stopping the cycle of unwellness is to realize that you’re not well! What you’re dealing with is not normal, just because it feels normal (you got used to it) or you see others with the same issue. You also need to acknowledge that healing is possible. Until you have that awareness, you might be saying things like:

“I was born this way”

“It’s my genetics”

“I just have bad luck”

“All the good ones are taken”

“There’s no cure for this; I just need to manage it”

“There’s something special about THEM and that’s why they have success and I don’t”

You might believe that things just happen to you and that you have no control. You may even have an underlying belief that you deserve to be unwell and unhappy! All of these examples are going to cloud your ability to understand your situation completely and know that you can heal.

It took me a long time to realize my chronic sinus and urinary tract infections were a problem I needed to deal with. Once I was aware, I was eager to make changes to improve my health. (And I was very successful in stopping those cycles for good – I haven’t had an infection in over 15 years!)

By the time I was diagnosed with a thyroid condition years later, I was already primed to know that I didn’t need to accept this. My doctor presented my condition and medication plan as a life sentence. But having the experience of healing so many other areas of my holistic health, I knew it was possible with this too! I found stories from other people with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis who were able to bring it into remission. I now have my situation under control, for the most part!

Partner With Healing Coaches & Practitioners

Though I love teaching all about self awareness and reliance, as I mentioned above, it can hard for us to see our situation objectively when we’re in the middle of it. It’s wise to partner with a health coach, energy worker, therapist, acupuncturist, or other practitioner who fits the need of the condition you’re trying to heal. They can create a safe space for you to explore self growth and healing.

When I was having one dysfunctional relationship after another, some loving friends suggested that I see a therapist to help me. Not only did this therapist help me break out of the cycle of bad relationships. But in that 5 year period, she also helped me:

• make life changing decisions to study TCM
• leave my biotech job
• build a functional relationship with my husband
• heal deep-seated family trauma
• support my mental/emotional health when pregnant & post-partum
• and so much more!

The time and money I spent on those therapy sessions were priceless.

She didn’t do the work to make shifts in my life – I did. But I needed her to support me as I moved through some very huge transformations. I needed to bounce ideas off of her. I needed her to assure me that I wasn’t crazy when I felt the world pushing back on me to remain the same when I wanted to bust out of all of it. And I needed her to tell me the truth when I was “the problem” and needed to change my outlook on life and my actions.

Of course how much the practitioner or coach does with you hands-on is dependent on the scope of their practice. But I feel like more work is done when practitioners have a hands-off approach and work through your emotional and mindset issues that may be at the root of your problems.

Be Open To Constructive Criticism And Reflection

If you’re receiving help to break your cycle of unwellness and heal, it’s important to stay open to criticism and be willing to change. As I mentioned before, that was one of the major roles of my therapist in our time together. And as an Acupuncturist and a Health Coach, I make sure that my clients understand that this is my role too – to reflect back how they’re caring for themselves and what their energy is that they’re putting out into the world. Sometimes that process doesn’t feel good, but it’s necessary.

This story will help illustrate what I mean:

A friend went to an acupuncturist for fertility treatments. The acupuncturist told her that she was “too intense” and that she needed to make major changes in her lifestyle & attitude to increase her chances of conceiving a baby naturally. The client left feeling really upset. She said the acupuncturist was too harsh on her. She wanted my opinion on whether she should keep seeing this acupuncturist or to find someone else.

I told her first that the #1 thing that’s important in a healing relationship with a practitioner is that she feels safe to share what’s on her heart and that the practitioner really cares about her. If there’s no rapport, then find someone else.

However…

In this situation I felt like the biggest problem was that the client was not open to criticism. As a practitioner myself, I don’t think the practitioner was harsh at all. I would have said the same thing if I felt her lifestyle habits were making it challenging to conceive!

That’s a super important point for people to realize when they’re breaking out of an unwellness cycle.

• Doing what you’re doing now is not working.
• You need to try a new approach or change something in your life that’s keeping you from being well.
• The practitioner is trying to help you with that!
• If you can’t see that, then it just feels like you’re being blamed and the practitioner is being mean.
• You need to take responsibility for how your life has unfolded and get out of a victim mentality if you’re to have any hope in healing.

In Conclusion

This information I’m sharing is not going to land well with everyone. And not everyone is ready to heal. There needs to be some self-motivation and a willingness to look at the situation honestly & then change.

If you have that inner drive to break out of your unwellness cycle, I hope this helps you move forward! Comment below if you have any questions, or want to share parts of your wellness journey. And if you need my personal help, know that I can work with you 1:1 with Holistic Health Coaching to really move the dial in your life!

Well wishes to you friend…

Do you have chronic pain in your body that just won’t go away? Or is your body prone to acute painful accidents? Have you considered that this is a physical manifestation of emotional pain? Let’s talk about the causes of pain from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and why you should consider intense emotions to be the likely cause. Better yet, I have a suggestion for the best therapy to process the emotional root of your pain so you experience it less often.

Before we get into it, you may want to pause and download this free guide that contains my favorite acupressure points to relieve stress.  If done consistently, this could be another way to relieve or even prevent pain.  Get it now, you’ll love it! 

Then, either watch the video or read the article below to learn more about how to recognize when physical pain has an emotional root, and my suggestions on how to release it.

Causes Of Pain

Pain can obviously be caused by outside influences such as getting in an accident, or someone hurting you. Most people also recognize that pain can have an internal cause – lack of activity, too much work, and most importantly (because it’s often overlooked) is intense emotions showing up as pain.

In Chinese Medicine, we acknowledge that pain is the sensation we feel when the body is telling us that our Qi – or vital energy – is blocked, stagnant, or deficient in an area. The quality of the pain can indicate an acute or chronic condition, and whether it’s just energy involved or also affecting blood circulation.

How Emotions Cause Physical Pain

It’s not necessary to know exactly which emotions are causing an energetic imbalance and why before you can release the emotions & pain. But it is interesting to note how our Qi is affected by certain emotions, especially if this is a habitual way of being for you. In Chinese Medicine, this is also related to the Yin Organs of the body, which we can then target with acupuncture, acupressure, Qigong energetics, and Yin Yoga.

The 5 Emotions and Their Energetic Imbalances:

• Anger: Liver (Wood Element) – Causes Qi to rise
• Excitement: Heart (Fire Element) – Slows down and relaxes Qi
• Worry: Spleen (Earth Element) – Causes Qi to stagnate
• Grief/Sorry: Lungs (Metal Element) – Obstructs the flow of Qi
• Fear: Kidneys (Water Element) – Causes Qi to descend

There are clues to the physical manifestation of these imbalances that are more obvious with some more than others. For example, Qi rising from Liver/Wood anger causes obvious headaches, red race, and neck tension. Also, certain emotions get held in the body along the organ channels. Like with Fear, this can cause Qi to become imbalanced in the Kidney channel, causing low back pain.

Having this knowledge is helpful, especially for TCM practitioner. But we can still release emotional and physical pain ourselves simply by being present in our bodies. My favorite way to do this is with Yin Yoga.

Yin Yoga For Physical and Emotional Pain

With Yin Yoga, we use long-held postures, breath, and intention to stimulate Qi flow. We’re not able to experience this depth of flow with other types of Yoga or movement practices. It’s basically like a self-administered acupuncture practice. But Yin Yoga weaves in mindfulness meditation that can completely alter the way we view ourselves and the world.

When spending time in the Yin shapes and encountering discomfort, I suggest you go through these steps. Do them over an over again until you can completely let go of the held physical and emotional tension:

1. Recognize the emotion is coming from inside you (stop blaming others and take responsibility)
2. Name the emotion
3. Release it with the exhalation
4. Infuse the space with more Qi as you inhale, bringing in more love and acceptance

You can seek out a Yin Yoga teacher in your area so help you move through this process. You can learn from me through my online courses. Or consider my 1:1 Holistic Health Coaching, where we can break down negative beliefs that may be contributing to your emotional and physical pain.

In Conclusion

I hope this gives you more to think about! You’re more in control that you may realize with the chronic or acute pain you’re experiencing. Hopefully you’re now determined to get to the root of it and seek help if needed to fully let it go.

Let me know if you have any questions in the comments! I would also love to hear if you’ve been able to release pain consciously, what that was like for you. Well wishes friend…

Do you feel betrayed by your body? Has an injury, trauma, chronic illness, or cancer scare left you feeling confused about how to take care of yourself and what your body can handle? Let’s talk about how to regain trust and begin to heal holistically, on all levels.

Did Your Body Fail You?

Many people have had experiences that threatened their belief in their body’s ability to stay strong and heal. I started thinking about this a few months ago when someone close to me was polling her friends on Facebook, asking them whether she should get the Covid-19 vaccine or not.

Instead of giving her this advice, I asked her why she wants her friends to tell her what to do. She answered that she’s had a few experiences that have left her unable to trust her body: 2 emergency C-sections and also has chronic asthma. She doesn’t understand how this all came to be and so needs a lot of help making medical decisions.

I had an emergency c-section too, which was fairly traumatic. Afterwards, I felt like a failure and was paranoid about building up my baby’s gut flora and immunity, knowing that a vaginal birth is what establishes it. I didn’t understand how I could be strong & flexible with Yoga, but not be able to birth a child. But there were many things that were in my power afterwards that helped me heal my body, heart, and mind around this experience.

How To Befriend Your Body Again

Have you had a similar experience like this too, where your body disappointed you? Did it lead you to stay in your power as you got help to heal? Or did it leave you feeling lost and confused about whether you could ever trust it again? If it’s the latter, I have a few steps you can consider (this is what I did!) to strengthen your relationship with your body so you can continue to make empowered decisions for yourself.

1. Accept That Your Body Needed Extra Support

First, it’s important that you accept what happened to your body. It’s likely that at the time, it wasn’t in your control. Or you may never really know exactly why it happened.

I was hard on myself initially when I had my C-section until someone reminded me that another being was involved who has his own karma. Perhaps my son really needed this birth. Or maybe he just needed more time, but our circumstances wouldn’t allow for that. These things were not in my control and it stopped my obsessive thinking about it.

2. Take Responsibility For Your Body’s Condition

On the flip-side though, there MAY a reason for what happened that you still need to work on. For example, if it’s being around a lot of toxic chemicals that may have caused cancer, or poor gut health that led to a chronic disease; your lifestyle does need to change in order to prevent another occurrence and to help your body heal. Your body may be desperately trying to communicate with you. Sometimes illness, injuries, and disease needs to happen for us to finally listen! Maybe it’s a wake up call to attend to your health better.

Going back to my birth experience, there were clues telling me that my hips may be misaligned which may have affected my son’s position and ability to descend. Even though I’ll never really know what happened, I’m now clued into the fact that my body is limited in this region and attending to it is helping to reduce back pain, digestion issues, and other things I have been experiencing. So I’m very thankful that I finally listened to my body’s message that it was off balance!

3. Recognize The Importance Of Your Wellness Journey

When we can accept the situation and take responsibility for it at the same time, we step into a powerful, aware state that can help you heal on a much deeper level. Recognize that this is the beginning of a wellness journey for you, and that there may be many layers to it.

4. Get Help To Befriend And Heal Your Body, Heart, Mind, and Spirit

The final step here would be to actually get the support you need to heal. Who you go to for help depends on the situation you’re dealing with, of course. Maybe you need a medical doctor or psychiatrist if it’s serious. For most situations, its most empowering to avoid drugs, so to seek a more natural or therapeutic approach. I recommend choosing a practitioner who gives advice while respecting your ability to make informed, independent decisions for yourself.

If you’re interested in working with me closer, I love helping women (especially moms) resolve stress, anxiety, and trauma with holistic wellness coaching and empowerment. I pull from many eastern healing traditions and can offer you energy medicine, yoga & meditation, natural health education, and intuitive guidance to help you find inner harmony again. Reach out to me if you have any questions!

In Conclusion

Hopefully this information reassures you that it’s possible to relate to your body well again in a more deep and meaningful way, and that you can fully heal. I would love to hear if this help you!

Let me know about it, and ask any questions, in the comments below. Well wishes!

Do you love to spend time on long hikes in the forest, sitting by a gentle stream among trees, or having picnics in beautiful meadows? Like me, you may enjoy the sounds of nature, the company of the fauna, and the clean air that you exchange with the flora. There is a huge positive impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health when we spend time in nature. This is true, especially with forest bathing. However, it’s not always possible to retreat to nature when we need it in our everyday stress-filled lives. There are many things you can do to bring forest bathing indoors, to replicate it at home.

Forest Bathing Benefits

Forest Bathing, or Shinrin Yoko as it’s called in Japan, is a very popular lifestyle practice in Asia and Europe. Many peer reviewed studies show the benefits of forest bathing. The results are so positive, that it’s actually prescribed to people who are overworked and dealing with stress and anxiety.

Regular forest bathing results in:

• reduced blood pressure
• elevated mood
• reduced stress hormones
• increased focus and concentration
• increased natural killer cells which boost immune health
• and much more…

As I’ve mentioned before, spending time in nature can deepen your spiritual connection and is even more potent in ancient forests!

Unfortunately, many of us are not able to go walk in a forest at the end of each workday. And for some, it’s hard to go at all because they don’t have access; are sick, disabled, or injured; or are afraid (seriously, this is the case with some people, and that’s okay). And for this reason, it’s a good idea to try to reproduce forest bathing at home, bringing nature indoors to promote holistic health.

How To Forest Bathe At Home

There are many aspects of forest bathing that you can do at home if you’re not able to engage in the real thing.

Whenever you’re feeling stressed out, or as often as you like to prevent anxious feelings, try one or more of the following:

Diffuse Essential Oils

The visual beauty of a forest is a major reason why so many people experience a greater relaxed state. However the aroma of the forest may be even more powerful in affecting one’s mood. That’s because when we smell, we’re stimulating the limbic area of the brain which processes emotions and holds memories. Inhaling the natural essential oils in the woods or the essential oils extracted from plant parts, are equally effective in enhancing your mood!

To experience the benefits of forest bathing, simply diffuse the essential oils of trees that are present there. Try using:

• Cypress
• Fir trees (Siberian, White, Douglas, Balsam)
• Juniper Berry
• Spruce
• Frankincense
• Cedarwood
• Eucalyptus
• Tea Tree
• Myrrh
• Sandalwood
• Copaiba
• Arborvitae

DoTERRA is my favorite brand of essential oils because of their commitment to quality and purity, their sustainability efforts, and their close relationship with indigenous farmers around the world. Learn more here.

Listen to Forest Sounds

Close your eyes and imagine you’re in the forest as you listen to tracks of birds, wind through trees, a bubbling stream, and other woodland sounds.

Watch Calming Nature Videos

Viewing scenes of nature is better than nothing! Soothing scenes can definitely relax you. Research shows however, that these effects are more temporary than real-life experiences. You’re also dealing with the effects of an electronic device, so I recommend this option the least.

Do Guided Meditations Set In A Forest

The mind is a powerful force! You can use guided meditations set in the forest to create a space for very deep healing. This is whatI often do with coaching clients to support their mental, emotional, and spiritual health. If you do an online search, you’re sure to find a few helpful audio or video tracks. Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like my personal help.

Communicate With Trees Near Your Home

You don’t need to explore a whole forest just to experience the benefits of this nature therapy. Opening up your senses and connecting to the trees around your home may be more convenient as is still very effective. I like to combine grounding with a meditation:

1. Find a comfortable space outside near a tree.
2. Take off your shoes & socks and allow your feet to sink into the earth.
3. Consciously relax your body, letting it sink further with gravity.
4. Imagine that you’re sending roots down through the center of each foot.
5. See these roots connecting with the tree(s) around you, like you’re holding hands/roots with them.
6. As you breathe fully & deeply recognize how you’re exchanging life energy with the tree and how you have a symbiotic relationship with it.

Bring More Plants Into Your Home

Adding lovely ferns, orchids, and other forest plants to your home can create the visual appeal of time in the woods. If you’re serious about stress management, it’s a good idea to surround yourself with plants, especially if you work from home.

In Conclusion

Of course it’s best to experience the forest in real life! I’ve had so many amazing downloads, breakthrough, and moments of deep peace among the trees. But the home lifestyle practices I mention here can still be transformational if you don’t have access to nature on a regular basis.

I’m curious, do you forest bathe? What do you think of these at-home substitutes? Let us know in the comments how these nature therapies support your holistic health!

There’s an epidemic happening right now that I feel needs to be talked about since it’s continuing to grow: Spiritual poverty.  Why is lack of spirituality bad? How do you rise up out of it? Here’s my thoughts about why you need to take care of your spiritual health right now.  I really believe everyone will benefit from this, especially if the words spirituality and religion leave a bad taste in your mouth.  

Recorded Live in my Falcon Healing Arts Holistic Lifestyle Community on Facebook.

What Does Spirituality Have To Do With Health?

We tend to forget in the natural health field, the word “holistic” means whole. It refers to the different layers of being: body, breath/energy, emotions, mind, and spirit/soul. It means that you’re acknowledging every aspect of life, the obvious and the mystical, the tangible and intangible, with equal importance.

With this larger experience of life comes an appreciation of death as well, where one can regard it without fear. There is comfort knowing that your spirit lives on to some degree (details depending on your belief system). And this constant reminder of how precious and temporary our physical life is here on this planet reinforces how passionately we live.

Does it feel like people are living passionately these days?

No, it doesn’t look like it to me. On the contrary, many people seem to be terrified of both dying and living.

The Coronavirus pandemic has been a big test of people’s faith and belief systems. While we’re seeing a lack in spiritual faith, there’s an increased faith in human ingenuity. People are looking to intellectuals, scientists, politicians, and doctors to help them make life decisions instead of trusting in themselves and their connection with nature and spirit. And as a result, they’re ruled by anxiety and self-doubt. This, of course, is very damaging to one’s emotional, mental, and physical health (it’s all related!).

Why is lack of spirituality in our communities a problem?

I first started pondering this last week, when I realized I hadn’t been doing one of my favorite spiritual practices. It was sad to me that I had let go of this mantra meditation with my mala beads. Was I just too busy to do it? Or, is it because I’m uncomfortable bringing it into my teaching practice? I know that not many of my students are interested in spiritual health – maybe fear of offering them more is holding me back to a degree.

This was very concerning since I actually find chanting and mantra repetition very valuable! And yet I was unconsciously letting it go and in doing so, losing an important aspect of myself.

The biggest consequence of spiritual disconnection is the loss of self guidance and security.

When you’re not connected to your inner knowing, guided by your soul & spirit, then you are vulnerable to being taken advantage of. The divisive techniques (by politicians, the media, and certain educational institutions) are only working on those who don’t really know themselves. They let these agencies bribe, coerce, and threaten them because they’re so dependent. But this seems to be more comfortable than spiritual and personal development.

Connection to spirit can help you see the problem and move beyond it to continue to evolve. Enlightenment is worth the effort find it! There’s no way I would have been able to see the little snag I’m in right now with my spiritual practice if I didn’t already have a strong connected root to it.

How Do You Reconnect With Your Soul And Develop Spiritual Health?

The sticky history of many religions forcing their beliefs on people has brewed a sense of distrust in spirituality. It requires a lot of maturity to look beyond that to the essence of religions and the bigger message they’re trying to teach. Still, you don’t need to go to church and adopt the practices of a certain religion to reconnect with your soul!

I have a very deep spiritual life even though I don’t have a particular religion. I chant Hindu mantras, practice Buddhist meditation, talk to Jesus in my Shamanic journeys, appreciate channeled messages from the spiritual community, and celebrate Pagan seasonal ceremonies.

Whatever way we make sense of the world through our spirit body should be developed. What you do and how you do it is completely up to you!

Here’s some ideas you can explore:

• go deeper with the essence of your religion
• explore other religious practices
• read ancient spiritual texts
• engage in spiritual practices like chanting, prayer, and meditation
• being open to spiritual guidance with mindfulness practices like Yoga & Qigong
• sitting with your “higher self” or evolved consciousness
• heal your “inner child” with meditation and journaling
• spend more time in nature, which is a wonderful way to see what your place is in the world
• write down your dreams and explore their meanings
• listen to and develop your intuition

Let me know if you have questions about anything from this list. I could go deeper with future posts and videos. If you love the idea of personal and spiritual development, then check out my course Yoga and Self-Healing Practices for Holistic Health.

I personally believe that we are all eternal spirits having a physical experience. So, I really hope that this post helps you to connect with your authentic, soulful self. Many blessings to you friend…