Putting My Oxygen Mask On First – Children & Your Health

By Amy Landolt | Published July 14, 2019

As many of you know, my kids turned 18 a few months ago. I remember a time when I desperately needed a break from being around young children for my health. But as my kids have gotten older, my interactions with young children are less frequent. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve spent more time with young kids and it reminded me of how important that is for my health.

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Putting My Oxygen Mask on First – Farmers’ Market

By Amy Landolt | Published June 30, 2019

Now, that we have finally had a few nice days, it’s time to enjoy one of the best things about summer – the Farmers’ Market.

  1. FRESH – Remember when your food had a scent and was flavorful and colorful? Food from the farmers’ market will remind you of the food from your childhood. Most food at the farmers’ market was ripened in the field and brought directly to you. As a result, it tastes better and is more nutritious. It also looks and smells more appealing.
  2. EAT WITH THE SEASONS – In Chinese medicine, we believe it is important to live in synch with the seasons which includes eating for the seasons. If you eat food that grows locally in season, you are eating foods that keep you in harmony with your environment and supports your health. Selecting food at the farmers’ market will also give you access to a greater variety of colors and flavors than at the grocery store – today at the farmers’ market, I saw purple cauliflower and three different types of cherries grown locally.
  3. ENVIRONMENT – Purchasing your food at the farmers’ market is better for the environment. Our food travels an average of over 1,000 miles to get to us. Have you noticed that even cucumbers and peppers are wrapped in plastic at the grocery store? Purchasing locally cuts down on fuel usage and packaging.
  4. SMALL FARMERS – Support local farmers by purchasing food directly from them. It is difficult for small farmers to compete with the factory farms. Selling their produce locally helps them get a better return on their produce.
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3 AcuPoints for Anxiety

By admin | Published July 15, 2019

One of the most wonderful things about being an acupuncturist is the ability to stimulate points on my own body when I need to. If I get a headache, or feel a cold coming on, I can always hop up on my table for a quick tune-up with some needles. Even when I’m not at the office, the magic of acupuncture can still work for me – as long as I know where the points are and what they do, I can press on them and get results. continue reading »

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Seven Ways to Set and Achieve Your Goals

By admin | Published July 1, 2019

No matter what you’re trying to accomplish, setting goals is one way to help you get there. Often, when people have no goals, they lack motivation, focus and direction.  Setting goals also provides a benchmark to determine whether or not you are succeeding. But how do you set goals if you’ve never done so before? Or what if you have set goals in the past, but you didn’t achieve them? Do you just give up and tell yourself that goal setting doesn’t work? That’s one option, but let’s put things into perspective. continue reading »

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4 Tips for an Energizing, Joyful Summer

By admin | Published June 17, 2019

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, each season is associated with one of the elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Perhaps unsurprisingly, summertime is associated with the element fire. Fire represents maximum activity. In nature, everything is at its peak growth during the summer, so TCM sees our energy as its most active and exuberant. Summer is the time of year with the most yang energy, which is all about excitement and assertiveness. continue reading »

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Healthy Eating from Early to Late Summer

By admin | Published June 3, 2019

Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM is all about balance. In this ancient system, the key to health is to move through the world in such a way that our bodies can remain in homeostasis, in balance. This idea connects to sleep patterns, what we eat and ultimately the flow of Qi, or energy, throughout the body. For that reason, healthy eating in summertime, according to TCM, is all about using cooling foods to balance out how hot it is outside. In other words, we can find homeostasis from the inside out. continue reading »

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Intro: Northshore Acupuncture Tribe of Mentors – Sleep Edition

By Amy Landolt | Published April 1, 2019

Getting a good night’s sleep is critical for good health. Many experts now recognize sleep as being as important for good health (if not more) as nutrition and movement. So many things factor into whether or not we get high quality sleep – our emotional and spiritual health; what we consume – food, drinks, substances, music, news, social media; our lifestyle and daily habits; our physical health; our sleep environment. continue reading »

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Extraordinary Vessels – Dai Mai

By admin | Published May 6, 2019

In addition to the 12 main acupuncture meridians that flow along the surface of the body, there are also deeper channels of energy in the body called the Extraordinary Vessels. You can understand the relationship between the primary acupuncture channels and the Extraordinary Vessels by thinking about what happens when it rains: first, small ditches become full – these are the collateral vessels that break off of the 12 main channels. Next, the reservoirs become full, which are the 12 primary channels. When they are full, they overflow into the Extraordinary Vessels, which are deep and vast lakes of energy within the body. continue reading »

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Extraordinary Vessels – Chong Mai

By admin | Published May 20, 2019

Most acupuncture points are located on the 12 primary channels that flow along the surface of the body. However, there are eight Extraordinary Vessels that flow more deeply in the body, and are perhaps even more powerful that the 12 primary channels. The Extraordinary Vessels regulate the 12 channels, and are deep lakes of energy, which can feed the 12 primary channels when they are depleted. continue reading »

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Putting My Oxygen Mask on First – Life is in the Ordinary

By Amy Landolt | Published April 28, 2019

“I get so busy sometimes chasing the extraordinary moments that I don’t pay attention to the ordinary moments – the moments that if taken away I would miss more than anything.” Brené Brown in her Netflix special “The Call to Courage”.

When I was watching Brené Brown’s Netflix special this weekend, this statement stopped me in my tracks and I had to listen to it a few more times. I’ve had some beautiful extraordinary moments recently – and they get addicting. This was a wake up call to remember to be present with the beautiful ordinary moments as well – because that is what makes up our lives and what we miss the most when it changes.

Nate and Zoe turn 18 on Wednesday and will be moving forward with their lives (away from home) this fall. Since I know some of the ordinary moments will be ending for me, I can focus on being present and fully experiencing them as they happen. The moments like walking to CVS to feed Zoe’s chocolate fix, listening to Nate and Zoe argue about something that they are actually in agreement on but just aren’t listening closely enough to catch it, driving them to Howard Auto to pick up the Buick after yet another repair, Nate excitedly sharing what he learned from a podcast, another rainy softball game.

It reminds me of the question Muneeb Ali asks himself “When I’m old, how much would I be willing to pay to travel back in time and relive the moment that I’m experiencing right now?” That question always reminds me of the value of the little things.

 

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