Movement Archives - Mend Acupuncture

The Kidney and Root Chakra in Winter
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The Kidney and Root Chakra in Winter

Movement, Self-Care, Wellness

The Kidney and Root Chakra in Winter

By Alexandra|2023-01-24T15:26:11-05:00January 23rd, 2023|Categories: Movement, Self-Care, Wellness|Tags: grounding, Root chakra, The Kidneys, winter, yoga, Yoga with Adriene|

I recently came across a Yoga With Adriene video, Grounding Into Gratitude: Root Chakra Yoga, and it ended up being a nourishing delight. Even though the chakras are a whole different system than Chinese Medicine, there is certainly some overlap, and this video got me thinking about how the first chakra is similar to The Kidney in the season of winter (and its corresponding emotion of fear) in Chinese Medicine. The chakra system originated in ancient India. Chakras are ‘discs’ or ‘wheels’ of energy that ascend the spine and relate to different parts of our emotional and physical wellbeing. The [...]

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Me and Tai Chi
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Me and Tai Chi

Acupuncturists, Movement, Self-Care, Wellness

Me and Tai Chi

By Yan Jiang|2022-11-15T14:05:19-05:00September 22nd, 2021|Categories: Acupuncturists, Movement, Self-Care, Wellness|Tags: tai chi|

A lot of times in the treatment rooms, when I ask my patient, "where do you feel (certain emotions) in your body?" the answer was, "I don't feel it in my body, it's in my head!" After getting these kinds of answers so many times from many patients, I finally realized that the fact I can feel my emotions in my body was a gift. And my tai chi teacher Master Wang Dazhang gave me that gift 30 years ago. I was a young radiation oncologist suffering from myocarditis and was dealing with heart palpitations everyday. I had the [...]

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Ba Duan Jin: The Eight Brocades
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Ba Duan Jin: The Eight Brocades

Movement, Self-Care, Take Home TCM, Wellness

Ba Duan Jin: The Eight Brocades

By Alexandra|2022-11-15T14:05:37-05:00August 3rd, 2021|Categories: Movement, Self-Care, Take Home TCM, Wellness|Tags: ba duan jin, Chinese medicine, movement, qigong|

Medical Qi Gong for Health & Vitality I was recently digging through my things and found some old notes on the Ba Duan Jin (also known as The Eight Brocades) from my Qi Gong classes in acupuncture school. A set of eight exercises that my classmates and I often used in between classes, before exams, in an attempt to slow down and tune in. I have since gotten out of the practice of doing it, but would like to integrate it back into my life because it is such a simple and relatively quick set of gentle exercises/stretches that [...]

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Feel it in Your Bones
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Feel it in Your Bones

Movement, Pain, Seasonal Changes, Self-Care, Take Home TCM, Wellness

Feel it in Your Bones

By Dana Iscoe|2023-01-10T09:13:28-05:00January 25th, 2021|Categories: Movement, Pain, Seasonal Changes, Self-Care, Take Home TCM, Wellness|Tags: bones, exercises, movement, pain, prevention, TCM, tips, winter|

In the Traditional Chinese Medicine framework that underlies acupuncture, each season of the year has correspondences to different aspects of life. As you've already learned, Winter corresponds to the water element, the emotion of fear, and the organs of the Kidney and Bladder. Winter also corresponds with the bodily tissue of the bones and the importance of structure within the body, starting with the development of the embryo. Bone strength plays a big part in quality of life, though often gets passed over unless someone is actively worried about osteoporosis. Consider these ideas as you rest your weary bones [...]

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What a Pain in the Neck!
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What a Pain in the Neck!

Movement, Pain, Self-Care, Take Home TCM, Wellness

What a Pain in the Neck!

By Dana Iscoe|2022-11-15T14:06:19-05:00January 13th, 2021|Categories: Movement, Pain, Self-Care, Take Home TCM, Wellness|Tags: exercises, movement, neck, pain, prevention, tips|

For so many of our clients, neck pain (also called cervicalgia, named for pain in the cervical vertebrae of the spine) is a frequent companion. It's no surprise, because the human head is heavy and large, and our bodies only recently evolved to manage carrying around such weight. And it’s only in the last several generations that our industrialized society has more of us sitting in chairs at tables, using screens and books, and using much less diversity of movement than was required for labor, chores, and recreation than in the past. What follows are some suggestions for [...]

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Movement Your Gallbladder Will Love
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Movement Your Gallbladder Will Love

Movement, Organ, Self-Care, Wellness

Movement Your Gallbladder Will Love

By mca_sarah|2024-03-19T09:39:06-04:00September 10th, 2020|Categories: Movement, Organ, Self-Care, Wellness|Tags: Chinese medicine, five element, gallbladder, movement, stretching, TCM|

The Gallbladder meridian runs from the eyes, along the side of the head, down the side of the neck, through the shoulders, along the side of the ribs, to the hips, knees, ankles and then ends on the 4th toes. This meridian happens to be very prone to blockages. Due to its location, blocks in the Gallbladder meridian often play a role in the energetic cause of headaches, jaw tension, shoulder pain, sciatic pain, hip pain, knee pain, ankle pain, and foot pain. 3 simple movements to nurture your Gallbladder meridian: Raise [...]

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