Week Three: The Health Code - Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine - Does it work? | Acne, Weight Loss & Stress
Summary of this week's podcast club pick: The Health Code - Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine - Does it work? | Acne, Weight Loss & Stress
Hosts: Sarah's Day founder + Kurt Tilse
Elizabeth Cullen, founder of The DAO in Australia gives us a great introduction to what it means to be a Chinese Traditional Medicine Practitioner + Acupuncturist.
Elizabeth believes in an integrative approach that involved respecting and looking into the western medicine diagnosis and test results and coming up with a holistic alternative approach.
Wouldn't it be amazing if all of our GPs worked as a team with alternative medicine practitioners?
Elizabeth states that her 3 Most Common Reasons for being consulted are:
Stress
Fertility
Musculoskeletal issues + Chronic Pain
What to expect when you go see a Chinese traditional medicine practitioner and acupuncturist:
Full assessment and a lot of questions about your body systems, they will look at your tongue, feel your pulse. She states that the character of the pulse can tell her a lot about your health.
Host, Sarah, speaks about her experience with amenorrhea and her journey from having no periods to getting pregnant with the help of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture.
why would the act of inserting a needle help in so many ways?
Traditional Chinese medicine is a 3000-year-old practice.
Insertion of needles into specific acupuncture points stems from the 5 element theory which explains how the body systems are connected. There are root points that relate to the ailment rather than the branches. I.e. if acne and skin issues on the face are the chief complaint, the acupuncture point would relate to the spleen, liver for dizziness. It is a complex network that takes so much expertise to understand how this is all connected. Each element connects to eachother.
Acupuncture also stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. That being said, she cautions to tell your practitioner if you are pregnant because some points can stimulate labour.
Yin - Dewy and wet, relaxing, quiet, meditation
Yang - activating, makes your body warm, HIIT classes, running
Stress and continual fight or flight - it is like poison to the body. In our society, we never turn off. Social media, work, cell phones and being reachable and stimulated all the time.
Top tips to reduce Stress:
1. Schedule downtime
2. Yin time - it's about balance, she does yoga as her yin activity.
3. "You can still be a nice person and say no"
4. Learn to Meditate - this is one of the best things you can learn how to do. Even if it is just 5 minutes a day, even if you don't have the meditation session in a day the fact that you are actively engaging counts! Elizabeth likes insight times app.
5. Acupuncture
Natural medicine approaches take time to work, so be patient with yourself. Results often take a few months so show.
Some reads that they spoke about in the podcast: Golden Month: Caring for the World's Mothers After Childbirth
This intro to Chinese Traditional Medicine and Acupuncture has peaked my curiosity into so many interesting topics such as Yin and Yang and the 5 element theory!
Hope you enjoyed this as much as we did.
Happy Listening :)