Community Acupuncture

It's here. Economical acupuncture!

I am so excited. I am well aware firsthand that acupuncture is incredibly effective in treating a whole slew of conditions and imbalances. I am also keenly aware that most people I know can't afford ongoing treatments. It hurts my heart every time someone says they always wanted to try acupuncture or really need it and don't have the discretionary funds to pursue treatment. I trust that community acupuncture is the answer.

The group format for acupuncture is ideal – we participate as groups in yoga, meditation, and other restorative activities at low-cost rates. Plus, in community acupuncture you can share in the healing with your friends and family by coming together for treatments. There is also strength in numbers. Group or collective energy is more potent and effective in the healing process. So don't do this alone.

Here's how it works. You come in for your first scheduled appointment wearing loose and layered comfortable clothing. We chat for a brief time as you fill out forms. I continue the intake by performing pulse and tongue diagnosis. You enter the treatment room I prepared with five seats, soft lights and meditative music. You will sit in a chair while I place sterile single-use needles in specific locations in the ear and from the elbows to the hands and from the knees to the feet. I might also need access to your shoulders. Other participants will take a seat as frequently as every 15 minutes. Rest and meditate for 40 minutes. I will remove the needles and walk with you back out to the reception area. That's it.

So let's do this! Make your appointments now; treatments beginning January 6. Sessions range from $20-40 which makes ongoing treatment possible for everyone!

Tuesdays Allyu Spa 11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Wednesdays Elemental Health 9:30 am – 12 pm

Thursdays Elemental Health 4 pm – 7:30 pm

Stay tuned for neighborhood monthly offerings at community centers and yoga studios.

Third Week of Food Delivery

My computer was getting de-virused two weeks ago so I didn't post the recipes. And last week I was recuperating from my own virus so I didn't want to infect my friends by delivering food. So here what I made last time.

I barely remember the proportions of ingredients since these were from two weeks ago, but I will give it a try.

Curried Quinoa

1 ½ cups Quinoa

1 T each Turmeric and Mustard

1 – 2 tsp each Allspice and Nutmeg

Dash of Cayenne, Pepper and Salt

2 -3 cups stock

1 cup cooked beans, I used tiger eyes

4 Dates, chopped

2 cups collards, minced

Handful of pumpkin seeds

I placed the spices in an enameled pot; stirred them over a low flame until I could smell the aroma. I poured the quinoa into the spices and tossed that mixture for 3-5 minutes. I added 1 cup of stock, stirred briefly and covered. It is similar to making risotto. When the liquid is absorbed, add another cup. When that is absorbed. mix in the cooked beans, chopped dates, pumpkin seeds and another ½ cup of stock. When that is absorbed, add the minced collards and if you need more stock, add another ½ cup.

Veggie Pie

2 ish cups thickened broth

2 carrots, minced

½ medium onion, minced

1 cup broccoli, tiny pieces

Small package of baby portabellas, sliced

½ - 1 cup peas

Salt and Pepper

You can use prepared soups like potato leek or mushroom, or a vegetable stock. I made my own and thickened with potato starch. I don't remember all the vegetables I used but I minced them all, sautéed them with olive oil, added the sliced mushrooms and then the peas and then the broth. I poured it all into the unbaked pie crust and topped the filling with another crust.

Pie crust

Hm I'm not sure which I used for this one but let's go with

1 ½ cup quinoa flour

1 ½ cup sorghum (milo) flour

1 cup shortening

Cold water

Cut the shortening into the mixed flours until it resembles a coarse meal. My cuisinart is deceased so I cut this one by hand. Ah the good old days of elbow grease. Alternate adding drops of water and stirring until the dough holds. Separate into 2 balls. Place in refrigerator for a short time if the dough is soft. Either on parchment or plastic wrap, roll out one ball. It is best to either place a piece of plastic wrap between the dough and rolling pin or enclose the rolling pin with plastic wrap to keep the dough from adhering to the pin. Remove the top layer of plastic. Carefully secure your hand between the counter and the bottom layer of plastic. Quickly flip the rolled dough into a greased pie plate and carefully remove the plastic. Form the dough into the plate. Do the same for the top crust after you pour the filling.

Bake at 375 for about an hour.

Sweet mixed nuts

1 cup pecans

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup slivered almonds

Shortening

Brown rice syrup

I melted shortening in a saucepan over a low flame and tossed the nuts and seeds in it until the liquid mostly absorbed. Brown rice syrup is very thick and not as sweet as other liquid sweeteners. I added the brown rice syrup blop by blop since it is so thick. I think it was maybe 1/3 of a cup or maybe more. It thinned out and coated the nuts and seeds as I stirred it all together. I transferred it all to a large sheet of parchment paper to cool then wrapped it up in the paper.

CRAVE Holiday Shopping Party

I worked the CRAVE Party last night at the Cultural Center. The event touted as a green holiday event with 40+ locally owned businesses was teeming with after work holiday shoppers. My colleagues and I represented Allyu Spa. First, I love the Cultural Center – from the free events to the art to the architecture – it is hands-down one of my favorite places. Have you checked out the Tiffany Room? A beautiful Tiffany glass dome ceiling and decent acoustics.

Anyway, back to the CRAVE party. The week prior to the event the Allyu spa coordinators created holiday gift baskets at every price point from all the amazing retail we carry – from incense and accessories to Spa Ritual nail polish and accessories to Astara skin care products to various other good-for-you sundries. We took photos but I think you will find those on the Allyu Spa blog next week.

At the Allyu booth, we offered those holiday baskets and free mini-spa services. Three nail technicians, one esthetician and one acupuncturist (me) busily pampered and educated and balanced women while they festively shopped after work.

Of the women who sat in my chair last night, 90 plus percent experienced acupuncture for the first time. As each woman cleaned her ear with an alcohol swab, I informed them of what I was going to be doing and what it was for and then, amidst the din of holiday music and reveling shoppers, they relaxed for 15 minutes. I needled five acupuncture points in the ear – all organ energy and all body systems are mapped onto the ear. The five points I needled comprise a protocol which is effective for smoking cessation, cravings, addiction, weight management, and overall de-stressing and relaxation. I can also customize a treatment with an extra point for any specific concerns. Most of them were surprised and a few shocked that they felt "more chill". One even tested the treatment by calling up anxiety, frustration, and who knows what else, but, nope, none of the sensations could muster any response from her. Skeptics are the best marketing for acupuncture!

I saw a few familiar faces of clients from Allyu, my old Edgewater neighborhood (Metropolis Coffee!) and met a few new people as well. Check out Eva May. Her storefront is up in Andersonville. She sweetly traded a hand silkscreened t-shirt from her collection for the auricular acupuncture.

You can take a peek at those holiday gift baskets down at Allyu or try the auricular acupuncture for yourself. Allyu will offer $25 group treatments at noon on Tuesdays beginning January. And, the acupuncturists at Elemental Health (including me) will offer $25 sessions one evening each week, but the specifics are yet to be determined. Stay tuned.

Holiday Open House

All the practitioners at

Elemental Health

invite you to our

Open House

Sunday December 14

3 - 6 pm

We will offer

• Auricular Acupuncture 30 min for $10 (profits will benefit charity)
• Reflexology 15 min for $15
• Chair Massage 30 minutes for $30

We will have locally produced gifts available

Join us for refreshments and conversation

A Dose of Methyl Paraben?

I delivered week two of food to my friend last night. We got to catch up. Mom looks great! I had a perfect wintery night chatting in the kitchen; a cup of tea in one hand and a three week old sleeping on my chest for a few hours. My friend and I will always discuss health, healing and wellness and other silly things. I've not had my own child, yet have a wealth of information from my stint as a nanny, as a day care teacher, and always as a friend of a new mom. She had a doozy for me this time.

First, the little guy gained a half a pound his first week. According to the pediatrician that's unheard of for an exclusively breast fed baby but other healthy friends' MDs said the same thing. Next, the doctor shared that Vitamin D is missing from breast milk. That's not exactly true. Yes, I know it is winter and I know we live in that northern area most deficient of Vitamin D. My friend does give the little one daily sun baths which definitely compensates, and thanks to his fair skin tone he needs less than 2 hours each week of sun exposure. Regardless, the pediatrician prescribed infant Vitamin D drops. Vitamin D is sort of like the missing link in the body's absorption of calcium and phosphorus. The doctors are concerned about bone and heart health. The prescription remained unfilled, but when the now 3 week old started with a few sniffles Dad picked it up from the pharmacy.

When mom looked at the ingredients, she was shocked. Should I really knowingly give my child methylparaben, polysorbate 80, sodium hydroxide, red food dye, and caramel coloring just to get a dose of Vitamin D? Am I being a negligent mom by knowingly depriving my child of a vitamin or by knowingly feeding my child synthetics? Many of my friends have chosen to postpone or abstain from all vaccinations. That is a personal educated choice. Children's immune systems are fully intact by age two. My personal choice would be to keep their systems clean and pure of synthetics at least until that age. Most of my friends have chosen to use only glass bottles, natural cloth diapers, organic pesticide-free food, and all those other good things. Here blatantly on a label for all to see are chemicals preserving and coloring a vitamin easily sourced from the sun, oily fish and fish oils and fortified milk.

First of all, red food dye and caramel coloring is apparently to appease the parents' vision and palatability because a 3 week old isn't seeing much right now. Caramel coloring is an emulsifier as is Polysorbate 80 – keeps the ingredients combined. Polysorbate 80 is a common emulsifier in cosmetics, vitamins, vaccines and even ice cream and milk products and has been proven to damage fertility. Sodium hydroxide is a pH buffer. Hello, if you didn't use synthetic ingredients you wouldn't need to buffer the medication.

Then comes the methyl paraben. I understand medicine needs preservatives but there are natural alternatives like soy lecithin and beeswax. Parabens offer an inexpensive way to increase the shelf life of products and to inhibit the growth of bacteria, molds and yeasts even though they are known to be highly toxic. Scientific studies have found that parabens have the potential to cause cancer. The estrogen activity of this ingredient has been directly linked to the development of certain cancers, including breast, prostate, ovarian, and uterine.

Health conscious folk have been lobbying for years to have laureth sulfates, parabens, and phlatates removed from personal care products. Product ingredients can be searched on cosmeticdatabase.com and the site includes a risk ranking and the effects the ingredient has on the body. Cosmetic companies have made some changes but for the most part, consumers are absorbing chemicals with every use. Unfortunately, I found no resources for medications free of synthetics.