Sesame-Kale POW (this recipe will turn your kids into kale lovers!)
When most people think “Chinese medicine”, they think “acupuncture” or “those funny-tasting herbs”. Yes, these are part of it, but traditional Chinese medicine treats the whole person — hence the term “holistic”. Nutrition is a huge part of our health. Although eating better sounds like it’s too simple, it’s an incredibly impactful way to improve all aspects of our health. You might say that good food is the original “alternative medicine”!
The easiest way to improve your diet is not to completely overhaul it from day one. It’s all about adding foods you enjoy, instead of depriving yourself of foods that you love but maybe aren’t as healthy. Over time, your body will naturally gravitate toward those dishes that are both delicious and wholesome — like this one!
This recipe combines delicious kale with mineral-loaded sesame seeds. Kale is a health classic. Not only is a great source of fiber and easily absorbed calcium, it's also one of the best sources available for beta-carotene. This makes kale a major player in the prevention of cancer and other age-related chronic diseases.
Here in Santa Cruz, fresh kale is easy to find at your local grocery store or — better yet — at the farmers’ market. Pick a bunch that is uniformly colored (no yellow spots) and crisp (stems snap when you bend them). This recipe will work with any kale variety, but dinosaur kale (the dark green kind that looks like dinosaur skin, also called Tuscan kale) is best.
As a mother and acupuncturist, this is one of my favorite recipes — an absolute hit among professed kale-haters. In fact, if you ask my kids what their favorite veggie is, they say kale every time thanks to this recipe!
Mo’s Sesame-Kale POW!
1 bunch Dino kale
2 Tbs. Olive oil
2 Tbs. BROWN rice vinegar
2 Tbs. Braggs liquid aminos
1/2 cup sesame seeds (can also use pumpkin seeds)
Rise kale. Cutting perpendicular to the stem, finely slice the kale into thin ribbons. (This eliminates the need to de-stem the kale).
In a dry pan, fry sesame or pumpkin seeds until they are lightly roasted and start to pop (2-3 minutes).
Throw the kale, seeds, amino acids and rice vinegar together in a large bowl and toss. Let stand 1 hour to overnight to marinate the kale. Yum!
On Living in Harmony with Nature During the Winter Months
Winter is the most quiet time in nature but what most of us do during this season is the exact opposite! We holiday shop until we drop. We work hard to end the fiscal year on a high note. And we attempt new exercise and diet plans come January 1.
All of that energy is very active and creates a vibration contrary to what our souls need to stay in harmony with nature. And when we go against nature, we create a discord that we don’t often identify as the source of our anxiety or melancholy.
What we really need to do is to harmonize our actions with the natural energetic cycle of life. This is the foundation of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine and I’ve spent years helping people get back into balance with this cycle. Acupuncture definitely helps with bringing you back in balance, but you can also reinforce your energy with a little awareness.
Winter is the time when we have completed a full life cycle and the energy now calls on us to reflect. Look at the trees with their fallen leaves - there is a stillness in growth and a deep energy keeping the tree alive from its roots. Winter also calls on us to rest — the darkness during this time encourages us to be less active. Everywhere you look, nature is calling us to be still and rely on your deeper self.
So let’s follow the cues of the winter.
Give yourself time to reflect. Reflect on what’s working. Reflect on what’s not. Go deep. Take time to identify and be specific about what you may superficially call stress. Most often there is a deeper emotion. When you allow for time to be specific, then you can identify what your soul is really asking for in this lifetime. For example, if our stress is really about the fact that we feel lonely, then that is just shining a light on the fact our soul needs more intimacy and connection. We can bring that in to create more peace in our soul.
Let your body and soul rejuvenate in stillness. Give yourself permission to sleep more. Don’t feel pressured to do anything just yet. January 1st is not the end of this season so just relish in the delight of being vs. doing. Spring is around the corner and holds the energy of new life and new beginnings. We will get to that soon enough! Right now just dive into that winter energy and I promise you will feel more harmony and ease.
Strengthen your own harmony with nature by being the observer— take a quiet walk or sit for a minute in your back yard — what is happening right now? What is reflecting the energy of Winter back to you? This seems like a simple task but it is a very powerful and inspiring exercise. You can get a lot of cues for your own harmony by taking just a few minutes! If you still find yourself unable to quell your winter blues, contact me — I can help you get started on your journey to harmony!
Get Pain Off Your Back
You’re out on an epic road ride in the Santa Cruz mountains when you go over a rock, your back arches the wrong way, and suddenly you’re in a world of hurt.
Or maybe you just had a long week at the office, and by Sunday night, your shoulders still have not unwound.
Too many people people — even in a happy place like Santa Cruz — accept that they should just “live with” this kind of pain, or restrict our activities to avoid it.
“I must be getting old,” is the refrain I hear too often when people tell me their back is bothering them — as if by simply having birthdays we are inviting chronic back pain. In fact, 8 out of 10 of adults in America will experience back pain at some point in their lives, most of which, from an acupuncture point of view, is avoidable.
Our backs are the #1 place most of us carry our stress, and that stress often takes the form of muscle tension. When muscles are tense, they can’t function properly, and that’s when injuries can happen from seemingly innocuous activities like sitting too long, riding our bikes, or picking up toys from the floor at the end of the day!
Another source of back pain I see a lot of here in Santa Cruz is an exercise regimen that isn’t quite right for one’s body. This place is an athlete’s dream — we have a paradise to run, bike, swim and climb, right outside our door! Unfortunately, some activities can trigger the same back, shoulder or neck pain again and again, a pattern we usually refer to as a sports injury.
Why is acupuncture so great for pain related to sports injuries and other back issues? It works on multiple levels. First, I travel along the body's meridians to target the muscles of the back from multiple, strategic points. Most people feel a sense of relaxation immediately, and over the course of several treatments, their bodies can reset themselves and learn to function normally again.
As a sports injury and movement specialist, I can help you troubleshoot your routines and get you back to doing the things you love, safely. I look at posture and overall health as contributing factors, and make recommendations that will have you moving more easily after your very first visit.
Are you ready to live a pain-free life and heal your lumbar spine, mid-back, shoulders or neck? Come see me for a fun and relaxing treatment. My goal is to give you both immediate relief and long-term solutions so that you don’t have to fear your next birthday.
Sleeping When the Moon is Full
Good sleep is key to productivity, vitality, and happiness, and when we don’t get it, we feel it!
In my acupuncture practice, I’ve found that many of us experience restlessness and difficulty sleeping around the time of the full moon. For most people, even if they don’t consider themselves sensitive, the full moon brings energy and a heightened sense of awareness. This can be a blessing — as long as we can also sleep and wake up feeling rested and rejuvenated! Any time of the month (or moon), holistic acupuncture care can address insomnia — and the resulting depression, anxiety and other health issues — on a few different levels.
First is information. For some, simply being aware that the moon is full and being ready to handle the increased flow of energy, is enough. The rush to get to bed at a reasonable hour leads us to skip self-care to prepare for a good night’s sleep: A warm bath, a cup of relaxing bedtime tea, and staying away from caffeine in the latter part of the day.
For all of human history, the moon has been a friendly presence, a way to keep time and — when the moon is out — to have some much-needed light after the sun goes down. By acknowledging the full moon’s presence, we can take charge of the day with improved focus, clarity and energy, and gently ask her to guide us into sleep as well (even if that sounds a little “woo-woo” to you — just try it).
Another way holistic acupuncture addresses chronic or patterned sleeplessness is through herbs. Santa Cruz grocery stores carry an abundance of capsules, tinctures and teas — all are great ways to consume safe, low doses of herbs that have powerful sleep-boosting properties. The classics chamomile and valerian are often blended with skullcap, lavender, tulsi, and kava to quiet both the mind and body in preparation for sleep. If you’ve tried this and it’s still not helping, come talk to me about Chinese herbs that can help.
Yes, acupuncture can directly address insomnia as well, through precise needle points that balance the meridians that have become unbalanced. Don’t be afraid to make an appointment for something as “small” as trouble sleeping! Sleep is one of the foundational aspects of health that traditional Chinese medicine practitioners look at as an indicator of whole body health. Your sleeping/waking cycle says a whole lot about what’s happening for you physically, mentally, and emotionally, from your organs to your nervous system.
If you find yourself awake tonight, gazing at that beautiful full moon, take note of what forms your sleeplessness is taking. Perhaps it’s your body that’s restless, or maybe it’s just that intense thoughts keep coming into your head, activating your nervous system. Take note of what direction your mind is going — past or future? Worried or excited? All of these are clues as to what is “off” in your system, and how I can help when you come in for your next acupuncture appointment.
Three Ways Acupuncture Improves Fertility
Santa Cruz is a great place to raise kids, but if you want children and are having trouble conceiving, it can also be a tough place to be!
Over 15 years serving women’s health through acupuncture, I have learned that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for fertility: Just as every body is different, every fertility challenge is different.
Acupuncture is a process-oriented treatment, sort of like physical therapy. We don't expect the body to change instantly, but the results are long-lasting and transformative. My holistic approach to fertility is to learn as much your body, lifestyle, and history as possible, then create a tailored plan to help you achieve your fertility goals. I look at your labs. I look at your diet. I comb through just about everything until we figure out what we can do to bring YOUR fertility back to life.
Can acupuncture actually succeed where western medicine has failed? Absolutely, and there’s been an outpouring of scientific data in the past few years to back this up. Here are three key areas in which acupuncture works to improve pregnancy outcomes:
Acupuncture to beat PCOS and balance hormones: A summary of research published in the Shanghai Journal of Acupuncture shows over and over again that patients receiving acupuncture treatment for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (a common health issue for women) show significant improvement in a number of key fertility areas. These studies looked at everything from menstrual regularity and ovulation frequency to the success of in-vitro fertilization. In every result cited, outcomes for the women studied had improved. In one study that looked specifically at electroacupuncture, the success rate was nearly 90% for treating PCOS symptoms!
Holistic traditional Chinese medicine to manage stress: This sounds like a simple one, especially in a relaxed place like Santa Cruz, but I can’t over-emphasize the importance of calming down in improving conception rates. A 2012 study by Tel Aviv University backs me up: They found that using traditional Chinese medicine focused on overall well being (including acupuncture and herbs), 65% of women were able to conceive, compared to just 39% in a test group that did not receive the Chinese medicine treatments. What I love most about this study is that the group with the higher conception rate (the group that received traditional Chinese medicine) actually had an older average age (39) than the women in the control group!
Balancing Yin and Yang for long-term health. Western fertility specialists like to point to specific causes that women can’t get pregnant, but the truth is that there are many moving parts. Instead of addressing each “problem” individually, Chinese medicine looks at the whole body. Issues like over- or under-active thyroid are caused by an imbalance of the Yin and Yang energetic forces. When these are off, it can affect everything from sleep to digestion — and that’s where acupuncture is great. In fact, I see infertility not so much as a women’s health “issue” as a gateway to improving overall health. If you’ve never had acupuncture before, it’s a great place to start because the results for fertility can be so dramatic and gratifying.
It’s exciting for me to use my acupuncture knowledge and experience to build families here in Santa Cruz. And, I love that traditional Chinese medicine goes beyond pregnancy — pediatric care is one of the most rewarding parts of my practice.
In your fertility journey, choosing the right healthcare partner(s) is the most important thing you can do. Relationships are everything, and they’re part of what makes the alternative healthcare fields, especially acupuncture, unique and effective. Contact me for a free 10-minute consultation, and let’s start making babies!
Accessing Your Most Fertile Self
Being challenged with fertility issues can overwhelm even the strongest, most joyful and grounded individual. It can take us from feeling like life is going our way to the worst feelings of self-doubt and hopelessness. Even women who feel like they have a successful life can suddenly feel empty and incomplete.
As an acupuncturist with a sub-specialty in fertility for 18 years, I’ve been on this path with hundreds of women and I’d really like to provide you with some hope. Please read slowly… many infertility issues can be overcome. Yes- this is true. But everyone is unique - there are so many variables that can cause infertility — mood, diet, age, lifestyle, pre-existing health issues — all of these factors combined make each case highly complex. Here are my top 3 recommendations to get you on the right track.
1. Get help! Fertility issues are very unique and it’s hard to figure it out on your own. Recently a 38-year-old woman came into my practice who had been trying to get pregnant on and off for 8 years. She had already seen a reproductive endocrinologist as well as an acupuncturist and was given the all too common diagnosis of unexplained infertility. After digging into her case, I suspected she had a very mild blood sugar instability that affected the development of her follicles (eggs). This is not a widely understood/acknowledged phenomenon and most likely why it was missed.
We worked to stabilize her blood sugars and I gave her acupuncture and herbs to help nourish her follicles. After 5 short months (and 8 long years), she was pregnant. I often bring up her case when training other fertility acupuncturists because without understanding those subtle nuances, she could have easily continued on and missed the opportunity of having a child.
2. Stress management and breathing are at the core of revitalizing fertility. Cortisol, your main stress hormone, has a direct impact on your reproductive hormones. If you are constantly in the “fight or flight” or sympathetic mode, your body's biochemistry opens blood flow to your chest (lungs and heart) and constricts blood flow to secondary organs like your ovaries/uterus (yikes!). When revitalizing your fertility, we want as much blood flow to your ovaries as possible! If you cannot quell the anxiety yourself, breath deeply into your abdomen for a minute or two a few times throughout the day. Certainly don’t stress about stressing - just do your best! The good news is that if the right acupuncture points are chosen, you can also re-establish the blood flow to your ovaries and developing follicles.
3. When choosing foods, think nutrient-dense, easily absorbable. When revitalizing your fertility, the most effective diet is tailored-made to your body’s specific needs. There are also a few foods that can help anyone’s fertility. Focus on eating the most colorful fruits and veggies - the color holds most of the nutrients and antioxidants to nourish the developing follicles. So dark berries and dark greens are on the top of the list! If you can’t get those veggies, I highly suggest spirulina, green juices, and bone broths - all are easily absorbable, highly nutrient-dense, and go right into your blood stream to feed the ovaries!