Acupuncture Los Angeles – Acupuncturist Los Angeles – Acupuncture Hollywood

Only time will tell if Los Angeles is having a “Meningitis Outbreak” or not but I ask that before you jump into panic, vaccinations and terror, slow down.  Only you and your healthcare provider should decide what pharmaceuticals you should be injecting into your body (not city council members, local news outlets, or much-politicized community fanfare.)  I don’t think “being afraid” or “well, everyone else is doing it” are great reasonings for making medical decisions. Do your research, consult your doctor or healthcare professional, think about YOUR body, and determine for yourself how much you want FEAR to be a motivating factor in your personal health.

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE.

Cold Press Juice cleanses seem to be all the rage again. I get asked about doing a juice cleanse constantly and here are my thoughts: I love a juice cleanse. I think for a few days, it’s a great way to stop putting crap in our bodies and hit the restart button on our digestive system. Also, its a nice way to break craving and get a grip on the all-consuming HUNGER-DESIRE-WORRY paradigm that rules the stomach.

That said, JUICE CLEANSES ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE. If you are constitutionally deficient, denying yourself caloric intake (which ultimately every cleanse does) is not going to improve your deficiency, its only going to make it worse. If you are experiencing fatigue, weakness, anemia, dizziness, long or heavy periods, cold limbs, you may be not a great candidate for juice cleansing.  Especially women, whose menstruation makes them more susceptible to anemia, should not jump into a cleanse willy-nilly.  Come get checked out before you think you should start one.  All it takes is a quick pulse diagnosis to determine the relative level of strength of the constitution.

I was reading in the LA Times yesterday that the flu is on it’s way to California….it hasn’t gotten here yet.

Apparently INFLUENZA gets held up at the State Line….something about its ‘papers not being in order.’  I can’t say for certain what the Dept. of Immigration’s beef with INFLUENZA is all about, but I am dubious of all this “WORST FLU EVER” terror the media is serving (they say it every year) and I similarly find the aggressiveness with which Flu Shots are getting pushed to be suspicious at best, particularly when you look closely at the label of the Flu Shot:

“there have been no controlled trials adequately demonstrating a decrease in influenza disease after vaccination with Flulaval.”

photo courtesy of Dr. Mike Carragher.

I wrote to Picasso once: I did not receive a reply. I saw Picasso at a party or an opening or something crowded and awful in New York. I spoke to him. I repeated what I had written in my letter: How do we do it? What do we do when the images and the words do not come forth? How do we survive? How do we remain artists? He looked at me with those glorious eyes, snapped back that shiny, bald head and told me that we are not artists; we do not concern ourselves with ‘art.’ We are workmen, day laborers–who happen to work with paints and clay and actors, and curtains part on occasion to display what we do. Tell the truth, he said. As you know it. Art may happen; it may not. We are not owed its presence. His point was made.

Tennessee Williams 1982

THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT YEAR

The holidays are here!

But winter comes with its own set of health concerns: colds, fatigue, joint pain, indigestion.  Take care of yourself this holiday season.

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried….

But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.

-Mary Oliver

Yes, acupuncture can help curb withdrawl and detox your lungs.  But here’s a little known fact that may be even more helpful! L. A. County Residents interested in quitting smoking can call the California Smokers’ Helpline to request a free four-week supply of nicotine patches. The toll-free phone number is: 1-800-NO-BUTTS (1-800-662-8887). The California Smokers’ Helpline will mail a four-week supply of nicotine patches to the L.A. County address provided by the caller. Baby steps!