Self-Care Practices for Living a Healthy Life
My commitment to provide comprehensive holistic health care services drives the desire to provide my clients with resources beyond the services provided during a treatment. I believe in providing you with the tools necessary to maintain a healthy and happy life every day of the week. As I took a look at my own health practices, an important aspect come to the front of my mind.
Several years ago I was suffering from daily pain in my heel and in the nerve on the bottom of my feet, also known as Plantar Fasciitis, and it was so painful to put my feet down on the floor. I did not want to wear a bulky, rigid boot to bed each night, and thought to myself, "Well, I am an Acupuncturist, I should be able to fix this". The thought of placing anything into or under my feet was daunting. I read up on all of the treatments -- rolling your foot on a golf ball was my least favorite find -- and decided that I had all of the tools at my reach to deal with this. After some contemplation, I came up with needling distally (away from the foot) and doing Gua Sha. Up until this point, I had used Gua Sha minimally in my Acupuncture practice, and although it is historically known as the precursor to Acupuncture and as a powerful healing tool, I knew from my years of experience using tiny little Acupuncture needles, that they were the primary powerful healing source. But in this case, when considering the best self-care for myself, they were not my best option. It forced me to dig a little deeper into the wisdom of Chinese Medicine and experiment with this tool that fit in the palm of my hand.
Every day for 30 days I used my Gua Sha Tool on the bottom, side and top of my foot, on my ankle and part of my leg. And every day, it felt less and less painful and my flexibility and mobility improved. After 30 days, my plantar fasciitis was gone. And it hasn't come back! During this time I employed the knowledge that the foot doesn't operate in isolation, much like the instruments in our body orchestra work together, and began utilizing my knowledge of Acupuncture Channel Theory and anatomy to understand that I needed to work along certain Acupuncture channels, tissue, muscle and structures to create an optimally functioning musical section. This led me to understand how the use of this amazing tool was not unlike the process of placing tiny Acupuncture needles in just the right location to invoke a specific response and ultimately healing.
The traditional mode of using a Gua Sha Tool was to apply deep, vigorous pressure along an area or areas, creating significant markings (or Sha), that look like bruising. Using Gua Sha in this way creates "micro-trauma" to the area being treated, strongly invigorating Qi and blood, releasing stagnant energy and pain and in some cases old emotional history. Good, right? But, in my over 15 years of practicing Chinese Medicine, I had not found it be true in most cases that causing more trauma was a healing experience. In my mind, if tiny little needles could invoke healing in the nervous system, organs, brain and tissue, why would I want to create more trauma to my body? I realized that I could, in fact, provide my body with the opportunity to heal using the process of moving energy through the Acupuncture meridians, by rejuvenating and invigorating stagnant areas with intentional pressure on a daily basis and get amazing results. It's comparable to the practice of doing Yoga, or meditating, or boxed breathing, where sending in just the right messages to the body, the right energy allows the body to release and heal.
What if you could address things that crop up in your health immediately, so they don't become an issue?
What if you could wake up in the morning, drink your cup of coffee or tea, enjoy the sunrise and spend 5-10 minutes energizing your body and mind?
What if you could alleviate tight or painful muscles or joints, boost your immune system, and tune up all the instruments in your health orchestra each day so everything is in tune?
WHAT IF YOU COULD DO THIS WITH YOUR OWN TWO HANDS?
The journey with my own health is what lead me to present a series of live workshops and classes and share this updated approach to Gua Sha Therapy. Listening to questions in person and by phone from people around the U.S., I realized that it not only takes proper education to employ this therapy, but practice. I have created classes that are NCBTMB certified for CE's for massage therapists and also teach Gua Sha as part of workplace wellness programs, like Google, and at Phoenix College as an adjunct faculty instructor and other venues. It is truly an amazing tool, not only for health practitioners, but for anyone to use as a daily self-care techniques. It's simple and it works!
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