Intro to The Five Elements

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Intro to The Five Elements

Along with yin and yang theory, the core of Asian medicine revolves around the five natural elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Within the body, each element exists as a microcosm of its existence in the outside world. Each element is associated with an organ, an acupuncture meridian, a season, a body tissue, a smell, a flavor, and more. The elements interact with one another in predictable manners in nature as well as in the body. Acupuncturists learn how the elements interact and then apply this knowledge to each patient to determine why a particular symptom is present, how best to bring the body back into harmony with the elements to alleviate the symptom, and how to stabilize the elements to prevent future symptoms from arising. Five Element Theory has many layers; this post is meant to serve merely as an introduction to the five elements and one of the many ways they can interact in the body.

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Herbaceous Black Sesame & Honey "Truffles"

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Herbaceous Black Sesame & Honey "Truffles"

3pm slump got you down? Instead of reaching for a cup of coffee or that donut in the break room, try these rich, energy-boosting "truffles" to help carry you through the rest of your day. These sweet treats are loaded with black sesame seeds to give you a more sustained energy boost than coffee. With honey and maple syrup, you will also get the short term pick-me-up the brain seeks from sugar when facing fatigue.

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Equinox Cleanse: Reset Your Body for the Season

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Equinox Cleanse: Reset Your Body for the Season

Asian medicine treats the body in alignment with the natural world. When you come to see me for treatment, I not only look at you and your chief concern today, I also look at the weather outside, the season, the time of day, and more. When taking the reins on your own health care, aligning your body with seasonal energetics is a wonderful starting point. The spring and autumn equinoxes are of particular importance as they mark a shift between yin and yang energies, the two energies at the core of Asian medical theory. This makes the start of spring and fall an optimal time to make a shift within your own body. My favorite way to shift? A whole foods-based reset, or cleanse.

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Intro to Yin and Yang Theory

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Intro to Yin and Yang Theory

Yin and Yang are at the core of Asian medical theory. Asian medicine developed from Daoist theory. If you’ve been introduced to Daoism, you are probably aware that the essence of the Dao is that all things have a complementary aspect. That is, nothing exists as one, but as two. Yang and yin are the names for these complementary aspects. Yin does not exist without yang and yang does not exist without yin.

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