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In Health, Online

January, 2008 E-Newsletter

Welcome!

Happy New Year, 2008! As many of you know, we had a very sad end to 2007, when our beloved daughter Molly died. As you can imagine, it has been incredibly difficult on us all. Molly's wonderful loving energy and beautiful smile lives on with us forever. You can visit her memorial page.

Dave is back to work, and while Melissa is not back in the office yet, she is behind the scenes...working on newsletters, taking advanced energy mirroring classes and offering energy sessions from a distance (see below.) We have some exciting new things to unroll for you, especially in the spring when the wild plants start to come up (hint, hint), but for now, we'll focus on being as healthy as possible when the weather outside is blustery.

For Melissa's acupuncture and acu-massage clients: please consider seeing David Sokulski, L.Ac. at the Birch Center for Health until I get back. Dave does amazing acupuncture treatments, and routinely uses manual therapy techniques such as cupping, gua sha, and moxibustion to loosen knots and tight areas, and help the body recover from injuries. Especially if you're dealing with pain, please come in to see him. You will be so happy you did!

Article: Weighing In on Weight Loss

Here it is -- the new year -- and while I was going to avoid the cliche, still the most common question I get (email and otherwise) about acupuncture is "Can acupuncture help me lose weight?"

Perhaps this is because people don't quite know all the variety of things that acupuncture is useful for: from preventing colds and flus (and getting over them faster) to treating infertility, irritable bowel syndrome, menstrual cramping, hot flashes, and all kinds of aches, pains and injuries. (Here is a list of conditions that acupuncture has been proven useful for by the World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health.)

And yes, acupuncture can be incredibly helpful when people are trying to lose weight. Here is how:

Acupuncture is centering. Whenever we strive for our goals, or avoid our addictions, acupuncture can be helpful by simply bringing us back to our center; grounding us in a way that it becomes easier to make healthy choices for ourselves -- the choices we naturally make when we are more present.
Acupuncture helps strengthen and balance the digestive system. Some people feel hungry all the time, this is what we call "stomach fire" and acupuncture can treat this. Other people feel tired and sluggish and don't digest food well, so it sits around in our system, causing gas, bloating and extra weight; acupuncture can treat this. We assess each person individually, to find where the root cause of the problem is.
Acupuncture can help regulate the endocrine system, so if you are suffering from slow metabolism, acupuncture can help.
Acupuncture helps smooth and balance emotions. Many of us eat because of emotional reasons. Acupuncture is fantastic at helping balance out emotions, helping us feel more joyful.
Acupuncture treats the whole person. We will examine why you can't lose weight, how long you've been trying, and get to the root cause of the issue...just as we do with any issue people come in for. Once we treat the root -- which is specific for you -- all sorts of issues and symptoms will resolve.

Three Healthy Tips

Three simple things that you can do that will not only help you lose weight, but feel better all around. And while they do involve lifestyle changes, you can try them out one week at a time, taking the challenge we've set out below. Then you can decided if it helps you or not, and we think you'll be pleased with how you feel!

Stop eating at 7 pm. According to the Chinese theory of energy flow, energy is strongest in the digestive organs in the morning, and weakest in the evening, from 7 pm to 11 pm. It is best to avoid eating after 7 pm to avoid symptoms such as bloating, indigestion, insomnia and much more. Visit our weight loss page for more information.
Avoid white and brown sugar. Substitute honey and maple syrup if you really get desperate, and just try it for a week!
Add more raw fruits and veggies to your diet. Have fruit for breakfast. Add a big salad to lunch and dinner...in fact, make lunch and dinner big salads with the other foods as sides or toppings on your salad. Try it for a week and see how you feel.

Weight Loss Packages

At the Birch Center for Health, we have put together some packages to support you to help with weight loss. Nutritionist Ann Wigmore said, "Food can be our safest and most effective medicine or our slowest poison." During a nutritional consultation at the Birch Center, we will review your diet energetically, that is, from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine. We will discuss how your diet may be contributing to symptoms or diseases, and offer you practical solutions so that food can become your best ally for vibrant health.

Food Energetics/Weight Loss Consultation plus 10 acupuncture sessions...$650
Food Energetics/Weight Loss Consultation with 4 acupuncture sessions...$325
Six Acupuncture Treatments ...$360

Of course you are always welcome to come in for just a weight loss/food energetics consultation ($85), or single acupuncture treatments ($65). For more information on our services and prices, visit www.BirchCenter.com/services.

January Challenge and Give-Away

So here it is, our first challenge of 2008: Stop eating at 7 pm for one week.

Before you start: assess. Record all your current symptoms -- anything and everything from current weight to any aches and pains, headache (if you have one) a cold (if you have one), etc. Anything! (bloating, insomnia, arthritis from an old injury....) Make a list and write a word or two about it and rate it 0 - 10, 10 being the worst it could be. (e.g. Cough since beginning of December, 6 out of 10 during the day 8/10 at night.)
Take the challenge. Now put away your list in a safe place, and do not eat after 7 pm for one week. You don't need to change anything else about your eating habits except to stop eating at 7 pm. If you are really and truly painfully hungry at some point so that you cannot sleep it physically hurts, have a banana or other fruit to take the edge off and go to sleep.
Re-assess. At the end of the week write down how you feel. Then, pull out your list again and go back through rating symptoms. I think you will be very surprised!
Share your results. Or at least let me know you took the challenge. I'd love to hear how it went for you. Email them to BirchCenter@gmail.com and I will enter you in the drawing.

At the end of January I will pick one name at random and the winner will receive an energy mirroring session from me. (For more information about energy mirroring, see below.)

Have fun, and feel great!

Article: Energy Mirroring

Energy Mirroring is a process of energy healing that I have been practicing since 2002. It is an amazing process in which our presence clears the environment -- or space -- around our cells allowing healing to occur. Though the client may be in the same room or across the world, the process is always the same since it is a non-touch energy treatment.

The best way to describe what is happening scientifically can be found on the website, www.energymirrors.com. Below is a brief explanation taken from the website:

The human being is made up of over 100 trillion cells, all held together by connective tissue sheets that form highways for all forms of communication both to and from cells. This highway holds and supports the blood vessels, lymphatics and nerves, delivering nutrition, oxygen, and information.

All cells contain DNA, the information blocks that you inherited. The DNA tells the cells how to repair and replace themselves. This should be able to go on forever if the environment around the cell stayed clean and clear of the accumulated energy from trauma, thoughts, feelings, emotions and all the charges/frequencies that fill the space of our lives. Trauma may be physical, emotional, spiritual, environmental, inherited or other frequencies. When the trapped energy reaches a certain tension, the cells undergo a loss of the ability to balance pressure and tension.

The cell shape and the DNA locks up. The DNA can then go into a degenerative mode, which means it can't repair itself. Over time this results in diseases like arthritis, and all chronic degenerative diseases, from back pain to system failure. The second option is cell death, such as end stage heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's. The only other choice for the cell is to convert to a new cell line creating tumors and cancer. If the trapped energy in the connective tissue is removed, the cell reverts to normal, or shuts down to be cleared by the immune system, the DNA unlocks and healing occurs. Clearing and cleaning this extraneous energy is what energy mirrors allows the body to do.

Recently I have been taking advanced classes and participating in three hours worth of weekly update calls. On January 6 and 7, I will be taking the advanced Weight Loss and Metabolism class. As mentioned above, one person at random who participates in this month's challenge will receive a free energy mirroring treatment, and I am also offering greatly discounted treatments this winter: $50 per treatment (normally $85) through February 29, 2008. I hope you will take advantage of this and see what is possible for you!

Final Notes

The Birch Center is excited to participate in the national Don't Wait -- Meditate Challenge. The goal is to help 100,000 people develop the habit of meditation and truly live from the inside out. For more information about how waiting rooms in Pennsylvania and across the country are turning into meditation rooms, visit http://www.meditationchallenge.com/birch.

Thanks so much for reading. We're excited about the new year and all the new possibilities this year will bring, and we hope you are, too.

Happy New Year!

About The Birch Center

The Birch Center offers you the very best in complementary health care: acupuncture, massage, foot reflexology, herbal medicine, nutritional and lifestyle consultations. Visit our website at www.BirchCenter.com.

Our office is conveniently located on Pittsburgh's South Side, and we also offer phone consultations and distance energy healing for those outside the Pittsburgh area.

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