A House Divided...

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” –Abraham Lincoln

Pain killer…Check.  Anti-inflammatory…Check.  Anti-anxiety…Check.  Antidepressant…Check.
And that’s just breakfast!
For many, starting the day by downing a handful of pills has become the norm, a natural accompaniment to their eggs and toast.
You take pills because you are taught to, and that’s what most people are accustomed to.  Because somehow the drugs are supposed to wipe the slate clean and zero out your not so healthy lifestyle choices.  Inherently you know that the drugs are not the best thing for you, but you figure that you can settle for good enough if the pills can help you just get by.
There is a reason that every drug or pill that you are prescribed comes with a list of side effects and warnings.  Continually putting foreign/toxic substances into your body over the long run often creates more illness than health.
The reality is that the body is designed to heal from the inside out and express life through an inborn intelligent energy, and it is only when this energy is impeded that the body begins to break down.
Drugging an imbalanced body does nothing to bring it back into balance, and in fact while on the surface it may appear that the drugs are serving a positive purpose, underneath, the body is thrown farther into a state of stress and dis-ease.  In effect, you have created a house divided.
The natural, recuperative power of the body is now pitted against the drug’s toxic effects.  Even when drugs are designed as closely as possible to work in harmony with the human body, it simply is not feasible to introduce chemicals into the body without also inducing stress.
You are either working to support the body’s innate healing energies or you are working against it.  You can’t have it both ways and expect to see positive change over a lifetime.
The key to producing a lifetime of health and wellness is to develop a unified front; to unleash the full power of the body’s meridian systems and then to nurture it through exercise, good nutrition, adequate rest, and a positive mental outlook.
Acupuncture works in unison with the body and serves to optimize your innate healing potential.  It is the natural choice to replenish and maintain optimal health!

WHERE DO YOU FIT IN?

Fitness is one of the largest growing industries today. When choosing which program best fits your life and your desired outcome, it is important to look at these four aspects of a fitness routine:

Endurance:
These activities are designed to increase your heart rate and breathing for extended periods. Gradually build up endurance exercises over a period of time, initially starting out with as little as 5 minutes. Examples of endurance exercises include briskly walking, cycling, long-distance running, aerobics, and may even include mopping or scrubbing a floor, and mowing or raking the lawn.

Strength training:
Increasing your strength can improve and maintain your mobility, control your weight and sculpt a muscular body. Lifting weights is one of the easiest and fastest ways to build muscle. Martial arts are another form of strength training exercises.

Flexibility:
Increasing your flexibility will help “loosen” you up and allow you to move more freely. One great way to prevent injury and aid performance is to do stretching exercises before and after endurance and strength training. Yoga and gentle stretching fall within this category.

Balance:
More and more, people are seeking balance exercises to reduce stress and harmonize body, mind and spirit. Tai Chi, Qi Gong and certain forms of yoga are exercises designed to maintain balance in the body while cultivating Qi energy that can keep you strong and healthy.

Talk to a qualified professional before you start an exercise routine to best determine what exercises will be most effective in reaching your desired outcome of a healthy, balanced body.

Consider acupuncture for: Performance enhancement; identifying the underlying conditions that may predispose an individual to injuries; and for treating sport-related injuries effectively. Remember, acupuncture can be introduced at any phase of a treatment regimen for an injury. It is safe, effective and natural.

100 Years… And Counting

Would you like to live to be 100?  You would be surprised at how many people would answer “no” to that question.  Many people are in such poor health that it is a physical and emotional struggle to get through each day, let alone an entire century.  It doesn’t have to be that way.
Actually, if we are living properly, enjoying the rich quality of life that we are entitled to, we should all be thrilled to live to 100!  In fact, the hard part should be figuring out how to squeeze all of our goals and accomplishments into such a relatively short period of time.
It’s true that we are living longer than our ancestors, but while the medical profession is quick to point out that our lifespan is increasing, what remains hidden in the fine print is the atrocious quality of life that our senior population must endure.  Twinkies® have a long shelf life, but it would be a stretch to call them healthy.
A balanced meridian system is the foundation of health and longevity, and it is like a bright light glowing deep within.  Dim the light and your quality of life dims along with it.  Extinguish the light and you die.
The key to living a long, healthy life is to maximize the function of the meridian system as long as possible.  Acupuncture does exactly that.
Understand that longevity is built right now.  Today.  This very day is part of your 100 years.  Your state of health at this moment is a result of your actions yesterday and the days prior.  Your state of health tomorrow depends on what you do today.
Health is not black and white.  It is a continuum, with death at one end and complete wellness at the other end.  We are never stagnant, we are constantly moving back and forth along the scale.
Every action you take either moves you toward health or away from it, and the key to longevity is to habitually engage in those activities that drive you in the right direction.  Things like acupuncture treatments, daily exercise, proper nutrition, gratitude, a positive mental outlook, spiritual fulfillment, love, and so on.
It’s been said that success is a journey, not a destination.  The same can be said of longevity.  If a long, healthy life is a goal of yours, then don’t just let your life play out and hope for the best.  Longevity is not about dragging out an existence just to make it to a certain age.  Longevity is a byproduct of living the right way every single day until, before you know it, a hundred years have passed.

24 Hours to a Better Life

24 hours.  One day.

What if you only got one?  What would you do with it?  Who would you see?  How would you act?  Where would you go?
Fortunately most of us get more than one day to live out our lives.  But for too many of us there seems to be something wrong with every single day we are given.  It’s too long.  It’s too short. It’s cold.  It’s rainy. It’s boring.  It’s too busy.
If it were your last day, do you think you would give things like the weather a second thought?  If you had just one day to live, your focus would undoubtedly shift from complaining and complacency to productivity, love, and thankfulness.
Well, the truth of the matter is that every day is of equal value.  Today is no less important than your last day.  Each day is a brand new start and we are all given the same 24 hours to make of them what we will.
All of this may sound a little too cliché, but consider that billionaire powerhouses like Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett are given the same 24 hours every day that you are.  They are afforded no more time and no less time.  The difference comes in how they choose to utilize their hours.  And if you think they just somehow happened to arrive at their success by chance or privilege, read up on their life histories and you’ll find that this couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Now your goal might not be to become a billionaire, but most people are longing for something more out of life, but are either waiting around for it to come to them, or just don’t know how to go about getting it.
The good news is that it doesn’t take a genius to create an extraordinary life; just persistent focused action on a daily basis.
Maybe you would love to write a best-seller, but are intimidated by the whole process.  If you got to work and wrote just one page a day, in a year’s time you will have completed a 365 page book!  Even if it took you 2 days per page, you would still have a substantial 180 pages.
Advancing your life simply requires that you prioritize and change your focus.  Evaluate your typical day and find those “lost moments” or “voids” in which nothing meaningful seems to take place, and then plan the night before how you are going to better utilize that time.  Listen to educational programs during your commute. Instead of surfing the web, study your field of business.  Turn the TV off in favor of some quality family time.
You may not be destined to change the world, but by focusing 24 hours at a time it is easily within your power to change your life!

Are You Stuck in First Gear?

Are You Stuck in First Gear?

Imagine you are driving down the road with your gas pedal to the floor.  Your car runs great and gets you to where you need to be. All is good.
But then you look around and notice that everyone else is whizzing right by you.
Determined to keep up with those around you, you take your car into the shop and have the mechanic give it a good once-over.
The mechanic finds that while you have been getting to where you need to be, you have been doing so while driving in only one gear.  In actuality, he discovers that your car has an entire set of gears that have never even been utilized!
Many people live out their lives the same way; stuck in first gear and never living up to their full potential; not quite hurting, but definitely not at their best.  The problem is that while most people realize that they simply are not living up to par, they don’t know how to access their hidden gearbox to take their health to the next level.
These are the people that need to be under acupuncture care!
The old misconception that acupuncture care is just for those in pain or battling symptoms is quickly being exposed for the fallacy that it is.
Those who get the most out of their acupuncture treatments are the ones who take their care beyond the relief phase and work with their acupuncturist to maintain lifelong health and wellness.
The true essence of acupuncture actually has nothing to do with the treatment of pain and symptoms.  Acupuncture treatments remove meridian system blockages by detecting and correcting imbalances in the meridian system.  Symptoms are relieved as a byproduct of building a healthier body.
A blockage within the meridian system, ones that are continually out of balance, will never allow the body to run at maximum speed and efficiency.   The blockage and imbalance in effect acts as a governor on your body’s engine, limiting it to a certain speed that it can’t rise above.
You are not designed to sputter through life in first gear.  You are created to live all out at full throttle.  Settle for any less and you not only short-change yourself, but also those who depend upon you.
Your meridian system is housing a whole new set of gears that most of us never even tap into.  By unleashing the full scope of your body’s innate potential, acupuncture can help you take your health and your life to unparalleled heights.