The Herbal Health Coach Health & Wellness Magazine - Spring 2020 Issue
Content
- What’s On
- Articles
- Feature: Aromatherapy -Part II: Mind and Emotions
- Feature: Acupuncture Stops Pain: Finding At Tufts University
- Introduction to Diet according to Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Are You Excited or Scared
- Feature: Aromatherapy -Part II: Mind and Emotions
- Did You Know?
- Interesting and fun facts…
What's On
Welcome to our first members-only edition of The Herbal Health Coach Magazine.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for joining us on this exiting journey.
The idea behind our membership sites is to be able to offer you much more than we can during a consultation, yoga class or workshop and give you more information, education and know-how that you can apply in your life every day.
We are in the process of adding lots of courses, workshops, intensive courses and retreats that will be held over the coming twelve months and beyond. These will take a range of forms, ranging from online courses to face-to-face intensive workshops, seminars and retreats.
In order to make it possible for anyone to attend a course, we decided to run some courses both as face-to-face intensives as well as online. This allows you to choose whether you want to attend a face-to-face class or course, or do it as an online course in your own time.
Online Yoga Classes:
⇒ Online Yoga on Wednesday Evening and Saturday Morning.
⇒ Face-to-Face Yoga is Back again (at least at this point) on Wednesday Evening, Friday Morning and Saturday Morning.
This will happen at the same time, so if you want to attend a class but want to do it from home, now you can using Zoom. Just let Susan know so she can send you the info you may need to join.
Herbal Medicine Course:
In January 2021 we will be launching our Herbs for the Home course.
The aims of the course are:
> You will learn to identify herbs in your garden and natural surroundings;
> Basic anatomy and physiology of the human body;
> How to use medicinal plants;
>Click HERE for more details.
Aromatherapy - Part II: Mind and Emotions
by
Susan L. O’Neill-Siegenthaler
The Way Essential Oils Effect the Mind and Emotions
The Mind and Emotions, or rather the way we think and feel, are effected by essential oils via our sense of smell, as are all the odours we consciously and UNCONSCIOUSLY detect.
The Sense of Smell forms the greater part of our Sense of Taste (note how your sense of taste and smell is affected when you have a head cold or blocked up nose. The sense of smell is also affected by pollution, smoking, trauma to the nose itself and a mucous forming diet).
The sense of smell of our ancient ancestors was far superior to ours. They identified one another by smell as well as sight, and could even detect the usefulness of a plant by its smell. They also tracked animals by smell.
The sense of smell helps us to distinguish between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ odours, which tell us if food is fit to be eaten or if there is disease or hygiene present.
ODOURS & DISEASE
A couple of hundred years ago, physicians would use the sense of smell as a diagnostic aid. Arthritis and rheumatism have an acid smell, a good midwife could tell a post-partum haemorrhage by the smell of blood passed, diabetes gives an acetone smell to the breathe and the urine, perspiration can give us clues as to the health of the kidneys and lymphatic system, the smell of faeces also can tell us the type of disease in the digestive tract. Natural medicine still uses this method of diagnosis.
The human nose has the ability to distinguish many thousands of different odours, and the memory of these odours is stored deep in our sub-conscious minds. (See R. Tisserand ‘The Art of Aromatherapy” pages 60-73).
When we inhale air molecules which, are carrying the ‘odoriferous’ molecules of an essential oil, these molecules adhere to our Olfactory nerve endings in the back of the nose, producing stimulation of these nerve endings.
Sensory stimulation of the Olfactory centre is by a relay of nerve impulses from the sensory nerve endings in the nose to the brain.
This is a very rapid and direct pathway to the part of the Brain which directs, controls, interprets and responds to sensory input.
This pathway is very different to sensory stimulation of the sensory nerves in the skin which is more complex, being transmitted from a sensory nerve ending to the spinal cord, to the brain, back down the spinal cord, down a motor nerve ending and then to the appropriate organ. For example when we touch a hot object, the heat affects the sensory nerve ending in say the finger. This nerve relays a message along the sensory nerve fiber to its root in the spinal cord. The impulse is carried to the brain. The brain says “ouch !!! that’s hot, take the finger off now”.
This message is relayed down the spinal cord to the motor nerve root, and then to the appropriate muscle(s) organ(s) etc. to remove the finger from the hot object. As you will know from your own experience of touching something hot, there is often a time lag between touching the hot object and recognition of pain.
With the Olfactory Nerve there is no relay station – stimuli goes straight to the part of Central Nervous System called the LIMBIC SYSTEM, and the response is instant. Furthermore, the message cannot be blocked by the conscious mind.
The interesting and exciting aspect of this use of Essential Oil Therapy is that different essential oils produce different responses. Some affect the higher thought processes in the Cerebral Cortex by altering the electrical activity of different Cortical areas, and some affect the Hormone Producing cells in the Limbic System. These ‘Brain Hormones’ will then either effect the mental and emotional responses of the Brain itself, or will be released into the blood stream from where they may be carried to distant organs to produce the desired effect on the body chemistry.
AROMATHERAPY & THE MIND
ANXIETY:
Benzoin, Chamomile, Cypress, Geranium, Jasmine, Lavender, Marjoram, Melissa, Neroli, rose, sandalwood, ylang-ylang.
DEPRESSION:
Basil, Bergamot, Chamomile, Frankincense, Geranium, Jasmine, Lavender, Neroli, Patchouli, peppermint, Rose, Sandalwood, Ylang-Ylang.
ANGER:
Chamomile, Melissa, Rose, Ylang-Ylang.
APATHY:
Jasmine, Juniper, Patchouli, Rosemary.
CONFUSION:
Basil, Cypress, Frankincense, Peppermint, Patchouli.
DWELLING ON THE PAST:
Benzoin, Frankincense.
FEAR:
Basil, Clary, Jasmine, Juniper.
GRIEF:
Hyssop, Marjoram, Rose.
HYPERSENSITIVE:
Chamomile, Jasmine, Melissa,
IMPATIENCE/IRRITABILITY:
Chamomile, Camphor, Marjoram, Frankincense.
JEALOUSY:
Rose, Ylang Ylang.
PANIC:
Chamomile, Clary, Jasmine, Lavender, Marjoram, Melissa, Neroli, ylang-ylang.
SHOCK:
Camphor, Melissa, Neroli.
SUSPICION:
Lavender, Rose
EUPHORICS:
These oils stimulate the secretion of ENKEPHALINS from the THALAMUS to produce a euphoric effect and to lift or enhance the mood.Clary Sage, Grapefruit, Jasmine, Rose Otto.
APHRODISIACS:
These oils stimulate the secretion of ENDORPHINS from the PITUITARY GLAND to produce emotional warmth, and sex hormone activity.
Clary Sage, Jasmine, Patchouli, Ylang-Ylang.
REGULATORS:
These oils stimulate the secretion of VARIOUS HORMONAL SUBSTANCES from the HYPOTHALAMUS to regulate ‘moods’ and hormonal secretions.
Bergamot, Frankincense, Geranium, Rosewood.
MEMORY/MENTAL STIMULANTS:
These oils stimulate the AMYGDALA AND HIPPOCAMPUS in the brain which are associated with ‘higher’ brain functions, of thought and memory.
Black Pepper, Lemon, Peppermint, Rosemary.
SEDATIVES:
These oils aid sleep, relax and lower hyperfunction in the body by stimulating the secretion of SERATONIN from the RAPHE NUCLEUS in the brain.
Chamomile, Lavender, Marjoram, Orange Blossom.
INVIGORATORS:
These oils increase energy and body functions by stimulating the secretion of NORADRENALINE from the LOCUS CERULEUS of the brain Cardamom, Juniper, Lemongrass, Rosemary.
Article - Feature Article
Acupuncture Stops Pain Finding At Tufts University
Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, low back pain, and fibromyalgia. Tufts University School of Medicine (Boston, Massachusetts) researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 16 medical reviews and 11 randomized controlled clinical trials and determined that acupuncture is safe and effective for the treatment of these conditions. They add that there is considerable evidence that acupuncture produces pain relieving effects by stimulating nerves that trigger the body’s natural opioid systems.
The Tufts University researchers also note that fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) studies “demonstrate that acupuncture has regionally specific, quantifiable effects on relevant structures and restoration of the balance in the connectivity of the human brain implicated in descending pain modulation, and altered pain-related attention and memory.” [1] The researchers note that acupuncture is a “safe and reasonable referral option” for patients with knee osteoarthritis and chronic lower back pain.” [2] They note that the scientific data also indicates that patients suffering from fibromyalgia experience relief from acupuncture treatments.
The Tufts University researchers looked at a variety of scientific investigations. They note that a 2019 study of “high-quality evidence” from 246 randomized controlled clinical trials and 12 systematic reviews indicates that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of pain due to knee osteoarthritis.
Significant evidence indicates that acupuncture benefits patients with fibromyalgia. The researchers note that when acupuncture is administered 1–2 times per week over a period of 4–13 weeks, there are significant improvements, including less pain and other symptoms associated with the disorder. One of studies in the meta-analysis found that “serum serotonin and substance p values” improved after eight acupuncture treatments. [6]
The researchers note that four additional placebo controlled studies
demonstrate that acupuncture significantly provides improvement in
functional capacity, quality of life scores, and depression levels for
fibromyalgia patients. They add that a 2019 meta-analysis of twelve
randomized controlled clinical trials confirms the results. That study
concludes that acupuncture is more effective than medications for the
relief of fibromyalgia related pain, both in the short-term and
long-term.
The greatest body of scientific evidence reviewed by the researchers was on the topic of lower back pain. The researchers reviewed a large number of studies completed over the last two decades. In the last five years, seven overviews of approximately 300 randomized controlled trials “consistently demonstrated that acupuncture provides short-term clinically relevant benefits for pain relief and functional improvement when compared with sham or placebo, standard care, or other types of controls.” [7] Not a single study reported any serious adverse effects associated with acupuncture treatment.
One study determined that acupuncture potentially reduces the need for opioids for back pain patients. [8] Another study determined that acupuncture is a cost-effective treatment modality for patients with chronic lower back pain. [9] The researchers note that the American College of Physicians formally recommends acupuncture as a first-line treatment modality for lower back pain. [10] They add that this recommendation and evidence based conclusions are consistent with the January 2020 inclusion of acupuncture for the treatment of lower back pain in the USA Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services coverage, which allows for 12–20 acupuncture treatments. [11]
References:
[1] Zhang, YuJuan, and Chenchen Wang. “Acupuncture and Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain.” Current Rheumatology Reports 22, no. 11 (2020): 1-11. Tufts University School of Medicine (Boston, Massachusetts).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Li J, Li YX, Luo LJ, Ye J, Zhong DL, Xiao QW, et al. The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: an overview of systematic reviews. Medicine. 2019;98(28):e16301.
[4] Zhang Q, Yue J, Golianu B, Sun Z, Lu Y. Updated systematic review and meta-analysis of acupuncture for chronic knee pain. Acupunct Med. 2017;35(6):392–403.
[5] Zhang, YuJuan, and Chenchen Wang. “Acupuncture and Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain.” Current Rheumatology Reports 22, no. 11 (2020): 1-11.
[6] Karatay S, Okur SC, Uzkeser H, Yildirim K, Akcay F. Effects of acupuncture treatment on fibromyalgia symptoms, serotonin, and substance P levels: a randomized sham and placebo-controlled clin- ical trial. Pain Med. 2018;19(3):615–28.
[7] Zhang, YuJuan, and Chenchen Wang. “Acupuncture and Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain.” Current Rheumatology Reports 22, no. 11 (2020): 1-11.
[8] Zheng Z, Gibson S, Helme RD, Wang Y, Lu DS, Arnold C, et al. Effects of electroacupuncture on opioid consumption in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Pain Med. 2019;20(2):397–410.
[9] Lorenc A, Feder G, MacPherson H, Little P, Mercer SW, Sharp D. Scoping review of systematic reviews of complementary medicine for musculoskeletal and mental health conditions. BMJ Open. 2018;8(10):e020222.
[10] Qaseem A, Wilt TJ, McLean RM, Forciea MA. Noninvasive treatments for acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain: a clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2017;166(7):514–30.
[11] CMS finalizes decision to cover acupuncture for chronic low back pain for Medicare beneficiaries. Decision Memo for Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain (CAG-00452N).
Article
Introduction to Diet according to Traditional Chinese Medicine
With so many healthy diet theories flying around these days, it can be hard to know what is actually good for our bodies. Here’s a completely different view of food, one that’s been established for thousands of years.
Living in a world with countless healthy diet theories are flying around, it’s sometimes hard to know what is really good for our bodies. Butter is bad, butter is good; diet coke is good, diet coke is bad; raw food is bad, raw food is good.
Our views on healthy food change all the time, often depending on the newest clinical research findings. We know all about fat, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins, but no matter how advanced our knowledge on food is, there are always studies that introduce something new and diet theories that get debunked. What do our bodies really need? That’s a question to which we could never seem to find an answer.
The Chinese have their own answer to healthy eating, with concepts strongly related to traditional Chinese medicine. They are probably the most hard-core supporters of the saying “You are what you eat,” regardless of whether they really follow that advice.
In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) food and medicine are related, and these concepts applicable to places outside China.
1. Food is medicine, medicine is food
In contrast with western medicine, the role of food and medicine in traditional Chinese medicine overlap. For example, a water melon is food, but it can also have a medical effect during hot days because of its hydrating properties.
The ancient clans of China, dating back to 2200 BC, started to discover the different medical values of herbs while they were still hunting and gathering. Some foods relieved their illness, some caused death. Over time, and in concourse with the growth of Chinese philosophy, medical theories were developed.
However, there are also some foods that are considered more “medicine” than “food,” for example, ginseng. When it comes to this “medicine,” a person should consult a practitioner, since eating it could make your body worse. Why? Foods have different natures, and all of us have different bodies that interact differently with different foods.
2. The four natures of food
In traditional Chinese medicine, food is divided into five natures, called “siqi”: cold, cool, neutral, warm and hot. The nature of food is not determined by their actual temperature, but rather by what effects they have on a person’s body after consumption. When a person continually eats one type of food, it creates an imbalance in their body, and affects their immune system. Thus, one of the keys in Chinese medicine is to keep our body “neutral.”
Foods that are warm and hot bring heat to our bodies — e.g. beef, coffee, ginger, hot chilies and fried foods — while cold and cool foods cool down our bodies– think of salad, cheese, green tea, and beer. Neutral foods are foods like oil, rice, pork and most kinds of fishes.
3. It’s more than just a taste
Similarly in the western world, the Chinese divide tastes into five different kinds (Wuwei): sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and salty. But for the Chinese, these are more than just senses. In traditional Chinese medicine, each bite of foods sends the nutrition to corresponding organs: sour food enters liver and helps stop sweating, eases coughing; salt enters the kidneys, and can drain, purge and soften masses; bitter food enters the heart and the small intestine and helps cool heat and dry any dampness; spicy food enters the lungs and large intestine and helps stimulate appetite; sweet food enters the stomach and spleen and helps lubricate the body. Thus, it is important to have each flavour in the diet.
Does that mean to be healthy we just eat just neutral food in all flavours? Not necessarily. Food choices are affected by your body’s construction, the season and the place where you live. The condition of the body could also be affected by age and sex. In other words, Chinese medical practitioners adapt their recommendations to different conditions.
4. One size does not fit all
Just like we all have different personalities, we also all have different body constitutions (tizhi). And just like you cannot communicate with all people in the same way, we also cannot feed our bodies with the same food in the same way.
What is a “constitution”? The categorisations have been in constant flux ever since traditional Chinese medicine first began. Currently, one of the most popular divisions is developed by Huang Qi, who introduced nine types of bodies in 1978.
A person with a lot of “dampness and phlegm” (tanshi) in their body tends to be overweight, might sweat a lot and might have an oily face. These people are usually more mild-tempered.
However, a person with a lot of “dampness and heat” (Shi-Re) is usually short-tempered and often presents with an oily and acned face. Both of these people need different food to take away their dampness, which means sweets, which “lubricate” the body, might worsen the situation.
Each type of food, depending on its nature, might better or worsen the situation. There is no substance which is good for anybody. Many consider ginger to be healthy, but when you are already a very dry person and you have so much heat in your body, the more ginger tea you drink, the drier you get.
5. Eat according to season
The season and time of year is another factor when it comes to food choices. For instance, spring is often wet and sticky in China, which means we need food that can take away the dampness in our body, such as corn, white beans and onion.
Summer is hot, so we need food to cool us down, such as watermelon and cucumber. Autumn is dry, which means we need food to “lubricate” us, such as snow peas and honey. Winter is cold, so we need food which warms up the body, such as beef or shrimps.
In the globalised world, one can easily buy foods that are not in season. But traditional Chinese practices suggest that this might not be the best way to feed ourselves, since seasonal foods bring us the nutrition that we need in that particular season. A similar concept also exists generally in the western world.
6. Climate also matters
The climate of a place can also affect our food choices. For example the Sichuan province in China, which is a province where the climate is very wet and cold, people love to eat spicy food since spicy food makes us sweat and thus removes the dampness in our body. On the other hand, if people from temperate areas eat too much spicy food, the body will be too hot, which is not very healthy.
7. Finding the golden mean
At the end of the day, what is considered to be healthy, what should be avoided? In traditional Chinese medicine, every food is nutritious, and as long as a healthy person doesn’t eat too much of any one food, nothing is unhealthy. Chinese philosophers tell us always to take the “golden means”; never take extremes. In traditional Chinese medicine, it’s also important not to eat too much (only up to seventy-percent of your capacity), and have food that is in a moderate temperature, so as to avoid overstraining the digestive organs.
This also applies to food. After all, it’s all about balance.
There’s a saying in Chinese: “The five grains provide nourishment. The five vegetables provide filling. The five domestic animals provide enrichment. The five fruits provide support.” It means a balanced diet, where foods are consumed in appropriate combinations according to their natures and flavours, serves to supplement the essence that human body needs.
Article
Are You Excited or Scared?
Sometimes the feelings of being scared and excited can elicit the same physical response in our bodies.
When new challenges and opportunities show up in our lives, we may diagnose ourselves as feeling scared when what we really feel is excited. Often we have not been taught how to welcome the thrill of a new opportunity, and so we opt to back off, indulging our anxiety instead of awakening our courage. One way to inspire ourselves to embrace the opportunities that come our way is to look more deeply into our feelings and see that butterflies in our stomach or a rapidly beating heart are not necessarily a sign that we are afraid. Those very same feelings can be translated as excitement, curiosity, passion, and even love.
There is nothing wrong with being afraid as long as we do not let it stop us from doing the things that excite us. Most of us assume that brave people are fearless, but the truth is that they are simply more comfortable with fear because they face it on a regular basis. The more we do this, the more we feel excitement in the face of challenges rather than anxiety. The more we cultivate our ability to move forward instead of backing off, the more we trust ourselves to be able to handle the new opportunity, whether it’s a new job, an exciting move, or a relationship.
When we feel our fear, we can remind ourselves that maybe we are actually just excited. We can assure ourselves that this opportunity has come our way because we are meant to take it.
Framing things just a little differently can dramatically shift our mental state from one of resistance to one of openness. We can practice this new way of seeing things by saying aloud: I am really excited about this job interview. I am really looking forward to going on a date with this amazing person. I am excited to have the opportunity to do something I have never done before. As we do this, we will feel our energy shift from fear, which paralyzes, to excitement, which empowers us to direct all that energy in the service of moving forward, growing, and learning.
Did You Know?
Did You Know?
Did you know you burn more calories sleeping than watching TV?
Did you know an average person will spend 25 years asleep?
Did you know your most sensitive finger is your index finger?
Did you know the word 'testify' derived from a time when men were required to swear on their testicles?
Did you know your foot and your forearm are the same length?
Did you know your liver has over 500 known functions?
We hope you enjoyed our this Edition of our Wellness Magazine. We are always open to constructive feedback and ideas for future articles. If you have a particular topic you would like us to cover relating to yoga, alternative medicine, meditation, etc., please let us know and we will include it in an up coming Magazine
Namaste.
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Page last updated: 26th June 2019
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