Healthy Living

Balance, how elusive this can seem at times!  As I prepare for the upcoming year, I cannot ignore reflecting on the one just passed. Wow. What a year Selby Acupuncture has had! If you haven’t been in to the clinic lately, let me tell you, it has done some changing.  We have grown in many ways, new space, new people and more hours.

Many of you have asked me what it felt like to go through our expansion.  If you asked me before and during the change, I would have said, necessary, exciting, exhausting, and terribly scary.  Right now though, it feels right.

Change is scary, exciting, necessary, and just right.  As we enter into a new year, it is a time to focus on the potential that is ever present in our lives. Everything is fresh, the year is new, anything can happen.  These dark, cold days are a perfect time to allow the quiet space needed to bring something new into your life.  Many of you have heard me talk about yin and yang, the balance between the still and the active, the darkness and the light.  Everything we do in the clinic is based Read More

Let’s face it, at this time of year it’s easy to overload on sweets and holiday goodies, no matter how hard we try to be good. Even we acupuncturists are not immune to the temptations that surround us at every turn- cookies, fudge, candy, egg nog, maybe an extra glass of wine… But these delicious treats can lead to moments of regret as your tummy starts to bloat and feel a little upset.

One of the best remedies we have on hand for such occasions at this time of year is ginger. Ginger has been used medicinally in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years, and modern researchers are just beginning to discover the vast health benefits it offers, including relief of nausea and indigestion regardless of the cause. Motion sickness, morning sickness, food sensitivities, gastrointestinal disorders and just plain old overeating can all be relieved with ginger.

Ginger is also a warming herb, so a cup of ginger tea is a great way to warm up on a cold winter’s day. It’s simple to make- just add a few slices of raw ginger to a cup of hot water. We also recommend having a small box of crystallized ginger Read More

We are now offering goji berries in the clinic.  Goji berries are also commonly known as wolf berries.  They have been getting a lot of press lately as a superfood that is a very high antioxidant.  I have seen it produced in many forms including juice, powder and goji extract. Though this is the first time we are offering them here at Selby acupuncture as a stand alone product, we have been using them for years in our herbal pharmacy.   In Chinese medicine the goji berry is a very strong tonic. When in school our professors lightheartedly described goji berries as the fountian of youth.  Goji berries are said to be great for you skin, and can help keep your eyes and brain young. They are rich in vitamin A which may account for why they are known for their anti-aging benefits.

Clinically we use them for many issues, not just as an anti- aging supplement.  Goji berries is a strong yin and blood tonic, I recommend all women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant to add goji berries as a daily supplement.  Theses berries can help regulate the menstrual cycle and help to build a solid foundation

If you were to ask me who my favorite Marvel superhero was one week ago, I would have said Thor (I am of Norwegian descent), but a close second definitely was Ironman. He is smart, witty and wealthy, with a sense of decency most of the time.

Well, after hearing this latest news, I have had to switch that order. Just last week, Robert Downey Jr was honored for his Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) advocacy with the Robert Graham Visionary Award. He has become an advocate for our medicine after, as he says, the profound impact TCM has had in all areas of his life for many years.

“I confess, that I am as close to being a Chinese-American as any Caucasian ever could be in his life. I awoke to my Qi Gong practice this morning, Guarding the Eight Treasures, I did some Mook Jong wooden dummy drills in preparation for my black belt grading at the LA Wing Chung Kung Fu Academy, and then I took my, get ready, my herbal formula, and then ate a seasonally appropriate meal. And all before 1:30pm.”

Robert Downey Jr. credits TCM to helping him learn to become a more tolerable father, Read More