Autumn and the Metal Element: Lungs

We are in the throes of fall! Cooler weather, windy days, beautiful leaves dropping off trees leaving bare branches.

At the Birch Center we are seeing lots of manifestations of the season: lung ailments.

In Chinese Medicine, the season autumn relates to the metal element, which corresponds in the body to the Lungs and Large Intestine. People are noticing:

• asthma flair-ups
• colds and flu
• increase in allergies
• pneumonia
• coughs and bronchitis
• eczema and skin ailments
• IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome) flair-ups
• constipation
• diarrhea

Fall is also a time of year when anything can make a comeback: old injuries, joint pain, sleeplessness, fatigue. It is a great time of year to come in for a treatment, whether for something specific or a tune-up! (We recommend acupuncture "tune-ups" at the change of seasons to clients who either have been in before and had their issue resolved as a way to maintain balance and optimal health, and also for people curious about acupuncture but who have no specific ailments.)

Thanks so much and we hope you are enjoying the beautiful autumn!

In health,

David and Melissa Sokulski

licensed acupuncturists

Menu Monday: Enjoy a Salad Today

It is the time of year for salads. As the weather heats up and up, no one wants to heat their house by cooking or baking. Salads are cooling and can be embellished by wild plants and flowers growing in your backyard like dandelion, red clover, even day lilies.

Here are some Birch Center suggestions for making a great salad. And make sure to read our homemade delicious salad dressing ideas!

For your salad:

• Start with your favorite salad greens, like Romaine lettuce, green bib, or whatever lettuce is in season or you love.

• Add darker greens (you can chop these up small at first) like spinach, kale, collards or chard.

• If you can identify wild plants like chickweed, dandelion, clover, lambsquarters or purslane, grab those. (For more information on using and identifying wild plants, visit Food Under Foot.)

• See what you have in your garden: lemon balm, mint, greens, radishes, Jerusalem artichokes etc.

• What's in the fridge or pantry? You can chop cucumber, tomatoes, grate carrots or beets, even sweet potatoes can be grated raw onto salad.

• Nuts and seeds add protein and give you a more satisfied feeling: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, pecans.

• How about edible flowers: nasturtium, dandelion, clover, day lily petals, kale flowers (last year's kale is currently flowering in our garden!)

Salads are the perfect way to get vitamins, minerals, enzymes and all sorts of vital energy into your life. They give us energy, leave us feeling light yet satisfied, clear complexion, strengthen teeth and nails, help heal your body.

The cooling energy of salad helps offset "hot" conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, headaches, overheating, hot flashes, feeling hot due to pregnancy, obesity, and many other conditions. This is definitely the time of year to start incorporating fresh salads into your lifestyle if you haven't already.

 In health,

David and Melissa Sokulski, L.Acs.

Seasons Are Changing, Spring Is On Its Way

In Chinese Medicine, spring is associated with the wood element. In our bodies the wood element relates to the liver and gallbladder. This is the season that if our liver is strained or out of balance, we may experience symptoms related to the liver:

• anger
• headaches
• dizziness
• aches and pains
• digestive complaints
• menstrual complaints
• insomnia
• depression
• mood swings
• jaundice
• hepatitis
• a feeling of "stuck-ness", not moving forward with life goals
• a groggy feeling in the morning

Acupuncture at the Birch Center is a wonderful way to balance the liver energy. There are powerful points such as Liver 3 on the foot and Liver 8 near the knee which move and smooth the energy of the body. Gall bladder points on the back of the head and neck can ease headaches and help us sleep more soundly.

There is also a wonderful point combination: Liver 3 on the foot and Large Instestine 4 on the hand, which when paired are called The Four Gates. This treatment gently yet powerfully allows the energy in the entire body to flow freely.

At the Birch Center we carry Chinese herbal formulas such as Xiao Yao San (Rambling Powder) which help move liver energy, easing menstrual complaints as well as elevating the mood. Western herbs such as dandelion, burdock, milk thistle and motherwort can also work on balancing the liver and often grow wild all around the United States. 
The spring has a lot of wonderful energy too: growth, green-ness, creativity, movement!

Spring is an excellent time to come in for acupuncture. Acupuncture helps keeps us strong and balanced, especially during the change of seasons when we are most vulnerable to finding ourselves off balance, run down, and coming down with something. 

In fact, I have heard the Stomach Flu is going around again. If you haven't seen it, check out What to Do if the Stomach Bug Gets You, which I wrote this past winter for ways to speed recovery from the stomach bug.

In health and joy,

David and Melissa Sokulski

Licensed Acupuncturists


Read these articles by Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac. in Natural News for more information:

• Cinnamon, Ginger, and Onions Strongly Protect Us From Cold and Flu

• Easy To Make Fermented Vegetables Boost Immunity and Improve Health 

• Rejuvenate Your Liver This Spring With Dandelions

5 Flavor Coleslaw

This delicious coleslaw is a great way to end cravings and balance health and emotions by balancing all five flavors (bitter, sweet, pungent/spicy, salty and sour) in your diet. Certainly you don't always have to eat a balance of flavors in every single dish, but here is one that balances all five flavors beautifully (especially with the apples added at the end!)

The dressing was made in the vitamix:

• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (sour)
• 2 Tbsp gluten-free tamari (salty)
• 1 Tbsp brown or deli style mustard (pungent, salty, bitter)
• 1/2 inch nub of ginger (pungent)
• 2 small cloves garlic (pungent)
• handful raw cashews (sweet)
• mustard (pungent, sour)
• water (enough to cover cashews, you can adjust water depending on how thick or thin you'd like the dressing.)

The salad consisted of:

• cabbage (bitter, pungent, sweet)
• beets (bitter, sweet)
• carrots (sweet)

Sliced apples (sweet) were added at the end.

Delicious!

In Health and Wellness,
~ Melissa and Dave Sokulski
Licensed Acupuncturists


Read these articles by Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac. in Natural News for more information:

• Cinnamon, Ginger, and Onions Strongly Protect Us From Cold and Flu

• Easy To Make Fermented Vegetables Boost Immunity and Improve Health 

• Keep Kidneys Strong All Winter Long With Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Rejuvenate Your Liver This Spring With Dandelions

Detox With Ear Acupuncture And Herbal Tea

In Chinese medicine, ear detox treatment consists of five points, which balance and support detox organs and systems of detox. We needle shen men, which balances the nervous system, sympathetic point, which balances the endocrine system, and then the 3 organs of detoxification; lungs, liver and kidneys.

These points can help when the body is detoxing from anything physical to emotional. These points are used in hospital detox clinics as part of the support for people detoxing from drugs and alcohol. They can also be used when people are detoxing from sugar, caffeine, nicotine, wheat, dairy, or even unhealthy relationships, lifestyle choices, or toxic thoughts and self-talk. Needling these points bring immediate and lasting balance and relief.

Another way to support the body with detox is with herbal tea. We can choose herbs which mirror and support the points and organ systems chosen:

• oatstraw for the nervous system
• cleavers for men and red raspberry leaves for women, to support the endocrine system
• nettles to support the kidneys
• dandelion to support liver
• mullein to support lungs

We can choose one at a time, mix and match, and add things like lemon balm, spearmint and peppermint for flavor.

Many of these plants can be found right outside most people's doors. They can be harvested, dried and stored to have available year round. We have a sister website, Food Under Foot, filled with information, pictures, videos and recipes for identifying and using wild plants. Cleavers, nettles, dandelions and mullein are easy spring weeds to find.

Be well,
~ Melissa and David Sokulski
Acupuncturists

Read these articles by Melissa Sokulski, L.Ac. in Natural News for more information:

• Safe Nutritious Purslane Proves To Be As Powerful As Western Drugs

• Wild Burdock Root Cleanses Blood, Clears Acne and Speeds Weight Loss

• Rejuvenate Your Liver This Spring With Dandelions