In order to have a productive beginning to the year, it’s essential to keep anxiety at a minimum. Anxiety affects your thinking, health, mood … and just about everything else. There’s definitely “a lot to do,” but there’s help to ensure you’re not overloaded with stress in the process.

Acupuncture is a phenomenal way to alleviate anxiety — and stay balanced to you don’t have too much anxiety to begin with.

When you’re experiencing anxiety, that’s the body’s nervous system in overdrive. You’re in “fight or flight” mode, operating out of the sympathetic nervous system. Acupuncture balances the body’s systems, helping it switch back to the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the more relaxing, calming state. When your parasympathetic nervous system is engaged, you digest better, your immune system is stronger, you heal more effectively and reproduction works better, too.

In this life when we’re always on the go — especially to start a new year — you don’t relax your mind anymore. The ability to find relaxation and calm is crucial to effectiveness when you’re taking care of those million things on your list.

Quality of sleep is also key. When your nervous system is in balance, you sleep deeper, more soundly and more peacefully. Healing starts with the ability to sleep properly. That’s when your body detoxes and renews. You also experience less anxiety the next day because you awake refreshed and with the energy and clarity to get things done.

For really starting off 2010 right, take advantage of what a combination of acupuncture and acupressure treatments can do for you. Acupressure is that massage you dearly need while working the trigger points on the head and along the spine that allow you to completely relax and function better. Activate your body’s energy to heal itself! It is well worth your time, and will keep you healthy and strong throughout the year.

You might not be able to avoid the anxiety that comes with so much new and so much to do, but you have an outlet for relaxation, de-stressing and healing in Eastern Medical Center.

But it’s not “normal.”

No woman should have to suffer every month, and from the perspective of Chinese medicine, you shouldn’t have those difficult symptoms. “Normal” from an acupuncturist’s point of view is a body in balance — a body that’s not exhibiting signs of Qi stagnation. PMS as we known it is the result of blocked energy. That’s what causes the swelling, cramping, distention pain and imbalance (physical and emotional).

Different women regularly experience different kinds of pain. Pain before menstruation suggests energy blockage and blood stagnation together, along with other lifestyle and emotional factors. Pain now and after menstruation is likely a result of a deficiency from having lost so much Qi and blood during the cycle. Pain in a particular part of the body is a combination of energy and lifestyle: Some have low back pain, whereas others have breast distention or are emotionally distraught.

What acupuncture is able to do is replenish or free up the energy the body needs to function properly. We’ll open up the liver or gall bladder channel, strengthen and tonify kidney energy, remove blood stagnation — whatever the particular situation calls for. In doing so, we’ll eliminate much of the pain and allow you to get back onto a regular, far more comfortable cycle.

“Regular” can refer to the amount and the timing. Acupuncture and medicinal herbs well help balance both by balancing the body’s hormone levels.

How Long Will it Take to Get Relief?

As a general rule, I say to receive regular acupuncture treatment through the course of three menstrual cycles to enjoy all the potential benefits. When the body’s natural energy and blood is flowing and its hormones are nicely balanced, the change can be tremendously significant. For some women, one treatment is enough to feel very different; they just need that little boost to get back on track. Some women take longer, depending on the other lifestyle factors in play.

Anger, unhappiness and stress can put additional stress on the body and work against the treatment’s balancing benefits. Anything that brings a person farther out of balance will require more help to bring back. So, to avoid rocking back and forth from improvement and regression, it’s helpful to address the pain holistically. What lifestyle changes can be made that will complement the treatment and lead to lasting relief and improvement?

Good information is also key. Many women don’t realize that eating cold food and drinking ice-cold beverages at that time of the month has a “numbing” effect that slows down blood flow and works against a natural, comfortable cycle. Constricted blood vessels will not help menstruation flow. On the other side of the equation, drinking warm liquids and eating warm foods will increase circulation and help keep things open. Many women having extreme discomfort will drink ice water and other iced drinks simply because they don’t know it will make them feel worse.

At Eastern Medical Center, we hope to be a source of helpful information through this blog and private in-office consultations, as well as a source of healing and relief through acupuncture treatments. If you’re in intense (or even marginal) discomfort every month, it’s not to be expected. There are straightforward steps we can take to improve your health and comfort level.

Acupuncture is like opening up the dam and letting fresh water rush in.

Picture that rushing river of clean, fresh, fully moving energy. Cells are fully oxygenated. Blood is circulating. By just thinking about it you begin to feel better because our body and our Earth are the same. They need the same essential nourishment and conditions for prosperity. That’s why no matter what’s going on in your life, start “at the roots.” Start with your body.

When you’re feeling healthy and energetic and clear, only then can you really be of help to others in a sustainable way.

Emotions and Stuck Energy

When we have certain emotions, they cause our energy to go certain directions. When you’re regularly experiencing a range of different emotions, it all generally balances out. But when we stay with one emotion for a very long time (anger, jealousy, resentment, fearfulness, etc.) and keep the energy fixated in that emotional place, problems start to develop. With frustration or anger, for example, energy becomes trapped high in your head. That leads to high blood pressure, migraines, headaches, red eyes, neck pain and shoulder stiffness … it’s all energy that’s stuck up there because of a constant emotional state.

When you relax and release that energy through acupuncture or other means, the benefits are immediately noticeable. But one emotional break followed by weeks of anger and frustration won’t effect substantial change. It has to be consistent. Just like with nature, it took time to get there, and it will take time and consistency to get out of it.

This may sound more obvious when discussing something such as exercising. If you really want to build muscular strength, you can’t just work out once a month (and skip a month here and there) and expect a dramatic result. It takes persistence and time to see and feel a difference in your body.

You instinctively know when you’re “stuck” or something is out of balance. Whether it’s physical or emotional discomfort, you can use acupuncture as a support system to achieve balance, release and movement toward where (or who) you want to be.