Acupuncture for Allergies
 by Leslie Droege LAc, RN

"Achoo!"

This is a familiar sound in South Central Texas much of the year.  But nothing approaches the sheer misery caused by a ubiquitous shrubby tree known as "mountain cedar" or Juniper Ashei.  The obnoxiousness of cedar pollen makes it the most dreaded of all for those of us in this part of the country.  Not only do we sneeze, but our eyes itch and burn, and noses run like a faucet from November to February.  And the exhaustion that follows the incessant sneezing makes for a miserable winter. 

Allergy statistics show  that countrywide, 8% of adults have hay fever and allergies, while 10% of children do.  Meanwhile, 13% of adults experience sinusitis.(1)  Those numbers sure seem a lot higher in our neck of the woods, where many people have trouble with winter allergies! 

What's the best way to battle this formidable enemy, mountain cedar?  Most of us are familiar with the use of antihistamines, decongestants and nasal steroids.  Some people even opt for allergy shots which desensitize your body to the allergen over time.  Sometimes people need antibiotics if they have a sinus infection that isn't going away, including severe headache and a fever, or if the infection goes to the lungs as bronchitis.

There is another, more natural  way to get ready for cedar season, and that is through Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture and herbs.  As an acupuncturist,  I recommend seeing allergy sufferers about one month out from the offending allergy season.  November is a good time to get ready for the peak of cedar season in December and January.  For people with severe allergies, I may see them weekly during the height of the season in late December and January.  Together, we will work on your immune system to get you ready for the onslaught.  In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the immune system is seen like a suit of armor. If you have holes in your armor, things get in and bother you with allergy symptoms.  During the visits, we will also look at your digestion, since a healthy digestive tract is a key factor in being able to tolerate allergens in the environment.  There is a wonderful herbal formula known as "Jade Screen" which helps strengthen the immune system.  A German study showed after two months of treatment that 71 percent of the patients who received acupuncture reported improvement in their symptoms and used less antihistamines than those in the other two groups that received "sham" acupuncture or no acupuncture (2). 

If you do unfortunately get a sinus infection during cedar season, the focus will change with your treatment.  We will work on opening up your nasal passages, help decrease mucous production, and strengthen the lungs so the infection doesn't turn into bronchitis.  Herbal formulas are geared towards ridding your body of the infection.  Based on thorough evaluation of your signs and symptoms, your acupuncturist will know if you need to see a doctor if your infection is too severe for herbs alone. 

There are also numerous websites that give advice on getting through cedar season such as staying inside on days when the pollen count is very high  (pollen.com is a good place to check).  Also bathing your pets frequently, washing your hair just before bedtime if you've been outside in the wind, getting a HEPA air filter for your house, and removing the male cedar trees in your yard will all help.   

In addition to acupuncture and herbs, another excellent adjunct is the use of Cedar X®, a homeopathic immune systems to recognize cedar but not overreact to it.  Applied to the skin, this is a great addition to helping yourself stay healthy in the winter. 

Winter can be a trying time for those of us who suffer from allergy symptoms.  Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, and herbs can help make this time of year more tolerable by reducing the uncomfortable signs and symptoms.  All of us at the Integrative Healing Institute wish you a healthy winter in South Texas.  "Achoo!"  "Bless you..."

Resources

1:  http://www.strmc.com/south-texas-regional-medical-center/health-library/allergy-and-asthma-statistics-29703.aspx

2:  Benno Brinkhaus et al, "Acupuncture in Patients With Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis: A Randomized Trial," Annals of Internal Medicine, doi:10.7326/0003-4819-158-4-201302190-00002

About Leslie Droege

Leslie Droege, LAc, RN first became interested in Chinese Medicine after a trip to China during her 20 year Air Force career as a nurse. She has a BSN (Nursing) from the University of Kansas, MA from Webster University in St Louis, and a Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (MAcOM) from the Graduate School of Integrative Medicine at AOMA in Austin in 2008. She is currently working on the Applied Clinical Nutrition Certification from Parker University in Dallas.

Introduction to the Teachings of the Universal Council as interpreted by Mitzi Wood

In this article you will learn who the Universal Council is and how they work with physical beings on this earth.

The universal council is an energy that is non-physical that works with physical beings to help them better integrate their human experience with their spiritual counterparts.  The evolution of human beings is now moving into a place where a higher vibration is necessary for a better blending of spirit and body.  Human beings have evolved as far as they are going to evolve without allowing their spiritual nature to come forth and be more prominent on earth.  Non-physical energy such as the universal council is working with physical energy to help facilitate this process of evolution to a new state of being.  A perfect blending of physical and nonphysical on earth.  As the universal council begins its teachings here on earth, those that have agreed ahead of time to work with the council will identify themselves for the benefit of upgrading their energies in order to help other human beings evolve on this earth.  This is done through the process of vibrational healing.  Words are simply a vibration and when words are used vibrations are created.  The universal council exists in vibrational energy which is of a higher frequency than words.  Therefore, it is necessary to have interpreters here on earth to be able to translate and put into words the intent of the universal council for those of you on earth that need to have a clearer understanding of their teachings.  This process is being done all over the earth as interpreted by those who have chosen to do this as their life work.  The interpretation will vary according to the translator, but the message will be the same.  There is no longer a separation between physical and nonphysical, rather there is a greater integration occurring naturally as human beings evolve.  It is time to release the old interpretations of what nonphysical is and embrace a new evolved understanding of this relationship on earth.  We are here to help you in whatever capacity you need us to help.  We may take on whatever form you give us based on your own belief system.  We are not here to change beliefs, but to enhance the process of growth for each and every individual that has decided to work on evolving at this time on earth.  This is a glorious time for all physical and nonphysical beings and we are here to help in any way that we can.

To facilitate this new way of thinking, we are offering workshops to help you understand your own belief system and to help facilitate any healing that needs to take place in order to evolve your beliefs to where you would like to go.  If you are searching for something more, feel blocked in this process, or just want to enhance your already connected spiritual practice then this is the workshop for you.  We will take you through the lessons needed for human beings to have an understanding of who we are and how each and every one of you can connect with us regardless of whether you have an interpreter or not.  Also, how to use our energy to enhance your own for the benefit of growth in any aspect of your life here on earth.  We will be teaching you how to work with your own spiritual guidance and understand where you are vibrationally and how you may shift your vibration to better meet your human and spiritual needs.  This is a new way of thinking about your spiritual life and your relationship to your human experience.  It is something that is evolving all over your planet and you will find that once you begin this process with us that you will find others who are evolving in much the same way.

In the past, universal energy has been interpreted in ways that have both benefitted and harmed human beings.  As non-physical beings, we are watching your process and waiting to be able to assist in any way that we can, but we are not always utilized.  We will not intervene unless invited to do so.  And then we are only here to assist, not to take over your life.  We respect and honor the fact that you have chosen to become physical while we have remained non-physical.  We also want to help you understand your belief systems in relation to who we are.  We have been called many things in the past.  Angels, spirits, spirit guides, gods, etc.  We have been interpreted to be individual energies with names and human like qualities.  As long as the information is conveyed in a way that fits your belief system, we have allowed the identities to continue.  However, we have chosen for your benefit to not use an individual name, but to use a concept to convey who we are to you.  We chose the words universal council, but it is much vaster than that and there are not words to explain in detail who we are.  We can say that we are the energy connected to the One as you interpret that to be.  The energetic hierarchy includes you as human beings who are simply universal energy in human form.  Therefore, we are one in the same only you have made your energy so dense, that you have interpreted this as a separation from your spiritual selves.  You have chosen to forget who you are for the sake of your human experience.  It has given us much information on the universal level and has helped us to evolve from our singular existence into so much more.  Now is the time to reintegrate and remember who you are and use that knowledge to enhance your human experience.  We are putting all the pieces of the puzzle together with you so that you may understand why you are having this experience and how you may evolve your experience in the millennia to come. With this understanding, human beings may truly start to work with the energies created on earth and change them into something greater.  Heaven on earth as it is quoted.  This combining of human/spiritual knowledge will take all of us into a new era of learning and evolving.  The results benefiting all who partake in this evolution.

For more information about our the universal council or workshops please contact Mitzi Z. Wood at blended@mitziwood.com.

The workshop dates are as follows;

February 8th, 4PM - 6PM

 March 8th, 1PM - 3PM

 April 5th, 1pm - 3pm

 May 10th, 1pm - 3pm

Fee for the workshop is only $60.00.  Call 210-967-4400 to register or go to www.integrativehealingsa.com .Harmony Hypnosis and Meditation Center

When Thyself Heals

I’ve talked to several folks in the last many days who spent their recent holiday time in bed or on the sofa, feeling terrible, with ailments ranging from the flu to sciatica.  Invariably, the causes of these mysterious holiday illnesses are attributed to all manner of things beyond control – allergies, the weather, exposure, or just over-doing it in the rush of the season.

If we take a close look at how the body and mind heal, however, holiday illness loses its mysterious air, and is a predictable, perfectly normal response to the stress of the busy year end drama in which we often participate.

It’s easy to see how weeks or months of pushing ourselves beyond our physical limits to meet deadlines and make quotas, moving into old, draining social patterns and emotional triggers around family and money, and being plugged into the collective vibe of amorphous fear and separation can have profound effects.  If we carry stress around long enough, it depletes our energy and causes equal measures of imbalance.  In natural healing, this is called a “stress conflict” and turns into a “healing crisis” when the conflict is resolved – whether consciously by letting go, or through sheer exhaustion and collapse.

To understand why this is so, it’s important to get past the body-as-victim model.  The body is innately geared toward health, and everything it does is designed to bring us back into balance.  The body doesn’t weakly succumb to vicious attacks from malicious unseen bugs, nor does it randomly develop pain and inflammation.  Fever, inflammation, mucous proliferation, pain, and perhaps even viruses and bacteria, are used by the body in very focused, specific ways and, though uncomfortable, are signs that a stress conflict has been resolved and the body is on its way to repairing the damage.  This is also the body’s way of slowing us down, asking for attention, and pointing out the places where we tend to carry stress in the form of fear, anger, self-devaluation, or other negative emotions.

We can ease the body’s need to create healing crises by being mindful of our personal triggers, and managing our environment to reduce the impact of physical and emotional stress. Find a method, practice, therapeutic helper, or activity that appeals to your sense of calm, brings you joy, helps you feel balanced and on-purpose, and makes a little space in your life for just you.

Cultivating awareness about our stress patterns is the first step in taking responsibility for our own well-being.  When we honor the body’s wisdom and make daily conscious choices that support emotional and physical health, the holiday or vacation healing crisis is avoided, and we can actually enjoy our recreational time to do just that -- re-create.

-Debbie Littrell Ventura, Jan. 2014

Debbie is a NES Health Certified Practitioner. Read more about her services or schedule an appointment.