It’s that time of year again, where the craziness of the holidays start to take control of our lives! After an amazing event last year we have decided to make our Holiday Healing Happy Hour and annual event! If you missed out last year, this is your chance to slow down, de-stress, and relax during this hectic time of year!

    We will be offering mini sessions for all of your favorite services, or all the services you have always wanted to try! The session will be between 15 and 20 minutes and will be discounted between $15 and 20 dollars!!! Since they are quick mini sessions if you just can’t find enough time in your day, you can swing in for one session and then continue on your merry way, or you can book a few and make a whole spa day out of it!
    
    Appointments are recommend, because last year we were basically booked out! So here are the details:

     Sunday, December 9th from 10AM to 2pm 
At Denver Mind Body Essence
10526 W. Alameda Ave.
Lakewood, CO 80226


    The event will also have a free raffle with multiple drawings (for every service you receive, you get one entry), food and drinks, unique gifts and stocking stuffers, and as an added bonus for every gift certificate bought for Denver Mind Body Essence, you will receive a free ear seed treatment!


Services Offered:

Acupuncture or Cupping: With Jessie, L.Ac.
20 minutes for $20

Sound Therapy: With Robyn
20 minutes for $15

Aroma Touch: With Debi
15 minutes for $15

BEMER Physical Vascular Therapy: With Mary
20 minutes for $20

Percussor Therapy: With Lana
20 minutes for $20

Detox Footbaths: With Don and Laura
20 minutes for $15
            


For more information on Acupuncture or Cupping please click on the links to read more!


Vibrational Sound Therapy: combines powerful vibration and tones to induce an immediate relaxed state


Aroma Touch: uses 8 doTERRA essential oils applied to the back & uses several different techniques  to create a feeling of relaxation & overall wellness.


BEMER Physical Vascular Therapy: is a bio-physical application that activated the body’s own powers of self-healing. A unique biorhythmic impulse is sent to the body where it stimulates the microcirculation.


Percussor Therapy: is a safe treatment for a variety of soft tissue dysfunctions that is effective on releasing tension and restriction of tough connective tissue called fascia.


Detox Footbaths: is a revolutionary device that combines the life-giving properties of water with a specialized bioelectric charge, which enhances the body’s ability to heal itself.


    If you have any questions or would like to book you can contact me through email, or call or text: 720-593-8218!

It’s October! And that means it is the month for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Day! Otherwise known as AOM Day which lands on October 24th! So what is AOM Day? It’s a day where acupuncturists from all over get to spread the word about Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. It was designed increase public awareness of the progress, promise, and benefits of this ancient healing art of medicine!


    Did you know 1 in 10 adults have received acupuncture at least once in their lives, this statistic shows the increasing need and popularity of acupuncture and AOM Day is a way where we can really promote this, not that I don’t do that everyday :) But on October 24th the United States, Canada, Mexico, and even Pakistan all get to show our love for acupuncture together!


Some other Fun Facts about Acupuncture and AOM DAY:

1. Oriental medicine, such as acupuncture, is a health care system that has been used for more than 3,000 years to treat illness and improve quality of life. 
2. All Oriental medicine is based on the idea of bringing the body to balance and improving the the body’s natural energy flow, which is called qi. 
3. The World Health Organization has listed acupuncture as a useful treatment for more than 40 health conditions. 
4. Acupuncture is known to be helpful as a treatment on its own, as well as a complementary treatment. 
5. AOM day is comprised of international partnerships with professional associations, research organizations and educational institutions. 
6. The most common complementary and alternative medicines according to the NCCIH survey include acupuncture, acupressure, herbal medicine, tai chi and qigong. 
7. Activities on AOM Day include press releases, health fairs, open house tours of college clinics and facilities, and working with AOM professionals and alumni to host free treatments and talks. 
8. The 49 AOM colleges and programs in the U.S. are all part of The Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, which was established in 1982 for the goal of advancing acupuncture and oriental medicine and promoting education.


So you may be thinking thats great but what does that mean for me?

    This year to celebrate AOM DAY and to spread the benefits of Acupuncture Denver Mind Body Essence will be offering 20% OFF ALL ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENTS!


That includes- Auricular Acupuncture: Normally $30 but will be just $24
        Initial Acupuncture Treatments: Normally $110 but will be $88
        Returning Acupuncture Treatments: Normally $70 but will be $56


If your still not sure if Acupuncture is right for you and just want to learn more book a free initial consultation to get all your questions answered!​

Appointments will go quick at these prices so book today!

    At this point we all know some of the amazing benefits of acupuncture, but did you know acupuncture can also aid in weight loss? Yes you read that right. There have been more and more articles proving the reduction of BMI and weight with the continual treatments of acupuncture. 
    So how does acupuncture help with weight loss?
    First off, acupuncture can balance hormones. It stimulates the production of both serotonin and beta endorphins. These hormones suppress appetite, reduce cravings, and increase the breakdown of fat. Endorphins also make you feel more positive.
    Acupuncture also decreases the hormones that can tribute to weight gain, such as leptin and insulin. Both levels of these have been shown to decrease after acupuncture. Leptin is the hormone that makes us feel full, it regulates metabolism and fat storage. So why is it good if this is reduced if this is the hormone that makes us feel full? Because if leptin levels are too high other cells can become immune to the effects, and you can no longer tell when to stop eating. Leptin is often found to be excessively high in people with obesity. Insulin regulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism and the absorption of glucose from the blood.
    And last, acupuncture can of course aid in your weight loss by reducing stress. When you are stressed the hormone cortisol comes into play. Cortisol is our stress hormone, it escalates our “fight or flight” response, where acupuncture promotes “rest and digest.” When our body is in fight or flight our digestion is put on hold, because when a tiger is casing you the last thing you want your body to be trying to do is digest your food. But, our body is in “fight and flight” much more throughout a day, a tiger does not have to be chasing you for cortisol to be released, disruption or digestion and often leading to depression. This makes it more likely for binge meals to take place. 
    
    Some examples of points that can be used in acupuncture for weight loss often starts with points on the abdomen and also points on the ear. I will be doing another Blog post soon about the benefits of auricular acupuncture but for now I will just discuss the four I primarily use for weight loss. The hunger point, Shen Men, the stomach point, and the endocrine point. Often I will needle one side of the ear in these four points and then put ear seeds on the other side that are meant to be worn after the treatment for 3-5 days to help with cravings. I also use points on the abdomen, particularly around the navel, and often even hook up the points to electrical stimulation. These points can been seen in my blog post about digestion!


    But acupuncture isn’t the magic cure for weight loss, diet and exercise are also very important. And with finding which organs in TCM are out of balance and which patterns are present, a custom diet can be formed for each patient. This will make sure the right foods are being at the right time in the right ways. For example eating while working, driving, or even watching TV can make it harder for the digestion process to begin. And eating cold foods such as raw veggies, can be great for someone, and harmful for another, who has a cold body and already has trouble digesting, because raw cold veggies are often harder to digest and process. 
    Each season and through each step in the weight loss journey, the diet can continue to be refined to make it easiest on your body to maintain your goal weight!
    
Please feel free to reach out if you have any more questions about acupuncture and weight loss!

There is a saying in Traditional Chinese medicine that has been drilled into our heads during our schooling, “where there is stagnation, there is pain.” What this means in Chinese medicine is when Qi cannot flow freely through the body because of a physical blockage or a deficiency there will be pain. Pain can be an excess or deficient condition in TCM. The pain from a full or excess condition is usually a sharper more intense pain, where pain from an empty or deficient condition is more dull and less intense.
     The above statement though has stuck with me since I first started school, because unlike some of the other sayings we are taught, this one made sense right away! Of course when something is stuck there will be pain I thought, but the further I got into school the more I really understood what this statement meant.
    Pain comes in two forms acute and chronic. Acupuncture has been known especially for treating chronic pain when nothing else works. But, as the controversy of opioid pain meds is on the rise, acupuncture has been moved to the top of the list for alternative ways of pain management. It is no longer mainly looked at as a last ditch effort in relief when nothing has worked yet. 
    I have worked with patients who use acupuncture first for everything, and I have worked with patients who did use acupuncture as their last option and what I have learned from both is the same thing. Acupuncture works! And the ones who use it as their last resort are usually the most shocked and thankful that it does work!
    In general for acute injuries pain is decreased within the first session and then continues to decrease through the follow ups, often we do 6-8 treatments total and the spacing of the treatments depends on the severity of the injury. And for chronic pain, I have had a few patients even feel a slight decrease in pain within the first few days of the first treatment, but the relief doesn’t last as long as acute pain cases do. For chronic pain I recommend treatments every week for about 6 weeks, and if possible for the first three weeks two treatments a week. With this schedule there is greater pain relief and longer lasting results. 
    After the first initial treatments for both acute or chronic where we get the pain to either disappear or be greatly reduced the appointments can become more spaced out, and used more as needed, so we can take control of the pain so it never gets back to where it was when treatments first started.
    
    But what type of pain are we talking about? The first thing that most people think of when you say pain is usually physical pain, and I admit that was the first thing I thought about when I was told, “where there is stagnation, there is pain.” I thought, yes if you break your arm that stops the free flow of energy of the body, and of course there would be pain. Or if you twist your ankle, the swelling will block the flow, causing stagnation and of course there will be pain.
    What I didn’t realize at the time though was pain can come in many forms. Emotional pain for example. When we get angry and repress that anger in TCM, we can create Liver Qi Stagnation. But where is the pain in this case? Often it comes in the forms of headaches, the Liver energy cannot flow freely through the body so it rises causing headaches. 
    Or what about grief? When we feel sad, and we don’t let ourselves cry and grieve that emotion gets stuck. The Lungs are related to the chest, and with repressed grief and sadness, chest oppression is a common symptom.
    The common theme with both of these is not that an emotion caused pain, its that when we force ourselves to not freely feel an emotion it causes pain. That is because the energy of the emotion becomes stagnant when it doesn’t get to be expressed, and that is what causes the pain.
    Acupuncture works wonders with physical pain and there are many credible studies that have proven it. But what people often fail to realize is how incredible acupuncture can be for pain that feel physical but its root is connected to something more emotional or spiritual. They are all connected, and when one becomes out of balance the other two will follow. Pain, especially chronic pain can effect every aspect of our lives, and a pill may make you feel better for a few hours, but a needle, a needle can work on the root cause of the pain, so you can feel better everyday, and get back to the life you always wanted to live!
    
    For more questions about pain management, or even more information on root cause of pain in Traditional Chinese Medicine feel free to email me at [email protected] or book an appointment or free consultation.
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