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How Does Acupuncture Enhance Brain Activity?

How does acupuncture affect and enhance brain activity? Acupuncture has been shown to produce changes in brain wave activity, although the specific brain waves involved can vary depending on the type of acupuncture stimulation and the individual’s response to it.

During acupuncture, it is common to observe an increase in theta and alpha brain wave activity, which are associated with relaxation and a decrease in stress and anxiety.

Beta brain waves, which are associated with a state of alertness and cognitive processing, may also decrease during acupuncture.

In addition, studies have found that acupuncture can increase the production of neurotransmitters (such as endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine) that are involved in regulating pain and mood.

Reach out to us at 512-686-0777 to learn how acupuncture can enhance your brain.

Turn Off the News to Reduce Anxiety

Do you watch or read or listen to the news?

Do you feel anxious?

Do you commonly wonder “What if ______ happens?”

Do you hear bad news and allow it to change your mood?

If you’ve answered yes to any of the above, here’s a quick tip to reduce your anxiety level…

TURN OFF THE NEWS‼️

A 2015 study in the scientific journal Psychiatry found, “Increased frequency of viewing newscasts was associated with reported anxiety reflected in uncontrolled fear, physiological hyperarousal, sleeping difficulties, and fearful thoughts.”

Link to full study results here:
DOI:10.1080/00332747.2015.1069658

To replace your morning news habit, we recommend writing daily affirmations such as “I am safe, healthy, happy and pain-free” or “Something wonderful happens to me today” to set a positive mood for your day ahead.

Only you can control how you feel, so why allow negative news outside of your control to hijack your day? Protect your peace by turning off the news!

5 Ways to Build Your Resilience in 2021

 

If there’s anything 2020 taught us, it was how to quickly adapt and persevere. As the world seemed to close down, we stayed home striving to find the perfect balance between earning an income, teaching our children, caring for our loved ones at a distance, and trying to make the best out of an avalanche of less-than-desirable and some downright impossible situations.

What badge of honor did we earn for muddling through 2020? A super sparkly, glittery one hinting at a well-deserved reprieve in 2021. Now that we’re all here, this year is already demanding resilience, a capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.

Here are 5 ways to build your resilience in 2021:

Plan Ahead

Upon waking in the morning, before you turn on the news or check your phone or turn on your computer, find a small notebook or a scrap of paper and write down your order for the day as if it already happened. “I nailed the presentation.” “I scored the winning goal.” “I received a $25,000 raise.” “I made a difference in his life.” “I am the best mother.” Anything. Order it up in writing first thing in the morning and see how much better your day goes!

Control How You React

Actively look for opportunities in your life to feel how your reactions affect others. There is no one on this planet who has control over their life; the only thing you CAN control is how you react to life. If someone cuts you off in traffic, count to 5 and choose how to react (as opposed to setting an angry vibe by yelling and freaking out your kids). Life doesn’t always have to be hard, but it will undoubtedly throw challenging curveballs. Take notice and realize that it’s up to you to frame each challenge as an opportunity to learn from and grow.

Identify What Matters To You

At the end of each day, write down 5 things (big or small) that you were proud of or thankful for. Enjoyed that hot cup of coffee? Write it down. Found $5 in a pocket? Write it down! Squeezed in a revitalizing 20 minute workout? Write it down! Finished work on time? Write it down! Got a legit hug from your feisty teenager? Write it down!

After a few days, you’ll start seeing patterns and themes of what is truly important to you.

Invest In Yourself

Take care of your body, mind, and spirit. You only get one body in this lifetime and maintenance is required, just like the sweet ride parked in your garage. Acupuncture is an amazing holistic experience that allows your body to heal, your mind to rest, and your spirit to lift. The best part is all you have to do is show up and lie down in a comfortable room for a few minutes. Easy!

Look for Grace

Who do you need to forgive today? Yourself? Your husband? Your wife? Your child? No one is perfect. No one sees the world like you do. Extend grace and forgiveness. Holding onto anger or resentment towards someone or something only hurts you. You deserve better.

This Pandemic is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

In a TedTalk this morning, author Elizabeth Gilbert urged us to pace ourselves, because this pandemic is a marathon, not a sprint. What else is like a marathon?
✅ Maintaining a long-term relationship
✅ Raising a family
✅ Building a business
✅ Earning a degree
✅ Writing a book
Every human on Earth is a participant in this marathon. We are more connected and dependent on each other now than ever before. It’s already clear this pandemic is not going to last weeks. At best, it’s going to last months. And it is going to fundamentally change every aspect of our lives as we live in the new normal.

Some families will grow closer and some families will self-destruct. Some businesses will stay afloat, while others sink. On a personal level, we can gradually adapt to today or exhaust ourselves trying to live in yesterday.Today’s TedTalk was full of strategies to pace ourselves through this experience. The truth is we won’t be able to emotionally/financially/energetically/physically help each other if we prematurely exhaust all of our resources with 25 miles to go in a 26.2 mile trek.

Slow down. Practice self-compassion today so you can adapt and be stronger tomorrow.

5 Reasons to Try Acupuncture in 2020

Have you been thinking about trying acupuncture? Here are 5 reasons to get started:

Acupuncture is clinically-proven to reduce pain and inflammation. This means more pain-free days and ultimately the freedom to get off the sidelines and actively live your life.

For women, acupuncture is clinically proven to regulate menstrual cycles, boost fertility, balance hormones (puberty to post-menopause) and combat daily stress.

For men, acupuncture is clinically proven to boost libido, increase stamina, and improve sleep.

  1. For kids, acupuncture can help resolve “mystery ailments” that MDs and modern medicine can’t figure out. Children are generally fast responders to acupuncture and bounce back from allergies, digestive issues, asthma, sleep problems, mood disorders, and sports injuries.
  2. Acupuncture works when other treatments fail. Many (if not all) of our patients started acupuncture as a last resort for dealing with stubborn chonic pain or illness. Compared to physical therapy, surgery and pharmaceutical therapies, acupuncture is gentle and effective without negative side-effects. We often tell patients the most noticeable side-effect is better sleep!

Give us a call at 512-686-0777 to start off your new year with the benefits of acupuncture!
Or book online here to see us!

Parents: How To Know When To Ask For Help With Anxiety

As a parent, you’ve probably felt pangs of anxiety from time to time. It’s natural to feel anxious occasionally about your child. For example, when you’re about to board a 6 hour flight with a lap child or when it’s your child’s first day of school. However, when anxiety becomes a daily occurrence you need to take action for yourself and your family.

When anxiety spirals out the normal and into the excessive, even the best parents can feel like they’re not enough… not doing enough, not present in enough, not prepared enough, not patient enough, not loving enough… the list goes on and on. If left untreated, anxiety felt by parents can spillover and foster anxiety in their child(ren). A study in the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (2013) found “parent anxiety confers poorer treatment outcomes for childhood anxiety disorders.” Psychologists created a term for this condition: parental anxiety.

Parental anxiety is a serious condition because it not only affects you, it affects your entire family.

What are the symptoms of parental anxiety? It can manifest as…

  • difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep
  • waking up too early (4am is a common time)
  • loss of patience
  • feeling like you’re going through the daily motions just enough to keep your head above water
  • feeling like a failure at work
  • feeling like a failure at parenting
  • feeling like a failure at housekeeping
  • feeling like your marriage (or relationship) is failing
  • rapid (racing) heartbeat
  • shortness of breath
  • digestive issues like heartburn, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, alternating diarrhea & constipation
  • constantly comparing yourself to others
  • excessive worry about the future
  • sense of a lack of control
  • frequent crying or over-sensitivity
  • frequent sighing
  • inability to concentrate (aka brain fog, mommy-brain)
  • repetitive thoughts about worst case scenarios,
  • reliving guilt over past events
  • low or no libido
  • wanting to run away
  • inability to plan future events
  • mood swings/snaps
  • exacerbated menstrual issues

Do you feel more than two of these symptoms on a daily basis? Has it impacted your ability to parent? If you answered yes, now is the time to take action before it spirals out of control.

If you are experiencing parental anxiety, there is a solution waiting for you! A series of acupuncture treatments and customized Chinese herbs can effectively alleviate anxiety and bring you back to your best self within weeks.  Schedule a consultation today to get relief from your anxiety!

12 Ways Acupuncture Can Help During Pregnancy

If you’ve ever been pregnant, you know there is a long list of things to avoid: paint fumes, ibuprofen, dirty kitty litter, sushi, tobacco, aspirin, caffeine, hot tubs, raw cookie dough, scuba diving….the list goes on and on.  So what can you do to cope with the stress, aches, and pains of growing another human? The answer is…

​Acupuncture!

The great news is that acupuncture is effective at treating ailments in every trimester of pregnancy. The most common pregnancy-related conditions seen in the clinic include:

  • Morning Sickness
  • Back, Rib and Hip Pain
  • Headaches
  • Sciatica
  • Neck and Shoulder Tension
  • Heartburn
  • Hemorrhoids
  • Colds & Coughs
  • Fatigue
  • Seasonal Allergies
  • Anxiety
  • Breech Presentation

When performed by a Licensed Acupuncturist (not a Physical Therapist or Chiropractor)acupuncture is a safe option for mamas-to-be to consider when looking for gentle, natural help with pain or illness.

To find an acupuncturist skilled in pregnancy support, there are 3 important questions to ask:

  • Does the Acupuncturist have experience with your specific condition?
  • Does the clinic have treatment tables with adjustable backs to allow for reclined treatments?
  • Does the clinic have pregnancy pillows to ensure proper positioning and comfort?

To schedule a consultation at Indigo Healing Acupuncture and learn more about how acupuncture can benefit your pregnancy, click the button below.

5 Conditions Acupuncture Excels at Treating

Conventional medicine is great at some things, like emergency surgery. However, it often fails at treating more common problems, like frequent headaches or poor sleep.

Here are five common conditions that are poorly treated/managed by conventional medicine:

  1. Chronic Pain…Treated with over-the-counter pain relievers (aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, naproxen), opioids, physical therapy, surgery, tough-it-out mindset
  2. Insomnia…Treated with sleeping pills, anti-depressants
  3. Migraine Headaches…Treated with over-the-counter pain relievers (aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen), caffeine, beta-blockers, antidepressants, ergot, triptans, glucocorticoids, opioids
  4. Anxiety/Depression…Treated with  antidepressants, benzodiazepines, beta-blockers
  5. Vertigo (Dizziness)… Treated with diuretics, antihistamines, benzodiazepines, anti-nausea drugs

Acupuncture excels at treating these five conditions because it gets to the root of the problem. Conventional medicine only offers interventions (pharmaceutical or surgical) to relieve the symptoms of these condition, while acupuncture delivers long-term relief.

Often the quick-fix of drugs or surgery creates more health problems as the root cause of the condition is left untreated and/or undiagnosed. If you hear your doctor say the word “idiopathic” it means he/she does not know the cause of your condition. Not very comforting, right?

At your first acupuncture treatment, we’ll diagnose the root cause of your condition and get you on the road for long-term healing and relief. Acupuncture treatments not only prevent conditions from returning, it can prevent related conditions from arising.

Wanted: Emotional Wellness

​With the tragic loss of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade to suicide this week, I wanted to share my thoughts on emotional wellness and mental illness. It’s time to change the way we (as a society) view mental illness and shift our focus to achieving emotional wellness.
​According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness:
Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.—43.8 million, or 18.5%—experiences mental illness in a given year.
Approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S.—9.8 million, or 4.0%—experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.
Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. For children aged 8–15, the estimate is 13%.

What does this mean? As Americans, we are all touched by mental illness. It is prevalent in our families, our friends, and our communities.

Our conventional healthcare system simply does not know how to handle mental illness or promote emotional wellness.

Despite scientific advances in understanding brain chemistry, there is a shame-based social stigma attached to conditions like depression, anxiety, and bipolar syndrome. Some professions/societies go so far as to penalize those who have been diagnosed with a mental illness. As a result, millions of Americans suffer in secret because they are reluctant/scared to seek help.

As we’ve witnessed this week, social status, wealth, achievements, age, race, religion, and outward appearances do not protect anyone from suffering in secret from a mental illness. It can literally affect anyone at any time. There are not always outward signs of an impending mental crisis. Everyone we meet is fighting some type of battle that we know nothing about.

As a holistic practitioner, I treat patients as a whole person, mind-body-spirit. This approach is particularly helpful to de-stigmatizing mental illness and promoting emotional wellness. Acupuncture, Chinese herbs, exercise, nutrition, meditation, gua-sha and tui-na are all helpful tools to promote a health emotional balance.

If you know someone whom is suffering, please know that help is always available, often at no-cost or low-cost. Now here is the shift to a societal focus on emotional wellness… as their friend (and as a fellow human), realize that you (yes! YOU!) have a responsibility to step up and find help when they cannot ask for it themselves.

Here’s where you can find help for your friend/spouse//lover/ex-lover/brother/sister/cousin/mother/father/aunt/uncle/teacher/colleague:
Mental Health America
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1‑800‑273‑TALK (8255) or Live Online Chat. If you or someone you know is suicidal or in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Trained crisis workers are available to talk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your confidential and toll-free call goes to the nearest crisis center in the Lifeline national network. These centers provide crisis counseling and mental health referrals.
SAMHSA Treatment Referral Helpline, 1‑877‑SAMHSA7 (1‑877‑726‑4727). Get general information on mental health and locate treatment services in your area. Speak to a live person, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.
The Child-Help USA 1.800.4.A.CHILD (1.800.422.4453) crisis line assists both child and adult survivors of abuse, including sexual abuse. The hotline, staffed by mental health professionals, also provides treatment referrals.
If you know someone who is suffering, open your heart to them with love and understanding. If you are suffering, be kind to yourself and confide in someone to get you the help you deserve.

Introducing the Holistic Divorce Recovery Program

  • Have you recently ended your marriage?
  • Do you feel emotionally drained?
  • Are you holding onto anger and/or feelings of resentment towards your former spouse?
  • Are you grieving the loss of your marriage and your shared future?
  • Has divorce caused old patterns of anxiety and depression to resurface?
  • Are you ready to reclaim your new life?

Oriental medicine provides a holistic approach to healing from a broken heart. Symptoms of a “broken heart” can manifest as difficulty sleeping, depression, anxiety, poor appetite or overeating, inability to focus, acne, asthma, tight muscles and soreness, TMJ, sciatica, headaches, migraines, heartburn, constipation or diarrhea, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and more.

​Indigo Healing Acupuncture offers a comprehensive 12 week program to help you process the end of your marriage and reclaim a new vibrant life.

This customized package includes acupuncture, Chinese herbs, traditional fire cupping/gua sha, and self-care suggestions to boost your Qi and bring forgiveness & hope back into your life. This program is offered on a limited basis and a pre-consultation by phone is required.

Contact Michelle to learn more about this one-of-a-kind Holistic Divorce Recovery program.

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