Written By Joshua Ralls
(Master's of Acupuncture Student at VUIM)

Happening, even today, is the eradication of culture and history around the world. Schools no longer teach medical history, other than in a single, short lecture. We are taught that the practices, and even thought processes, that brought us the knowledge of the healing properties of plants and minerals is mad talk of shamans and drug-induced practices. Now, it is replaced with scientific studies of compounds which have properties to alter or prevent an illness. We do not find the importance of the history behind it to be worth knowing, or even delving into more to see if we could find even more uses that are beyond our knowledge now. This is something that cannot happen within Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).                

As you begin reading this article, what position is your body in? Are you sitting down, standing up, lying down, or walking down the street perhaps? Whatever position you are in, stop and observe your posture. Would you consider this position “good posture”? If not, what would you change and how?

Chances are after reading these questions, you made an adjustment to your posture or at the very least thought about it. Here are two more questions for you.

1. Why do you think the posture changes you made are in fact positive adjustments?
2. How do you know?

As a health professional working in the industry for 20 years, I am stunned by the countless people suffering from the posture they are placing themselves in day after day. Of course, though, “bad posture” does not occur overnight, it takes time. Our bodies are built with protective mechanisms that help us unconsciously compensate through postural adjustment for injuries that make it difficult to place our bodies in certain static positions or move through normal ranges of motion. These mechanisms become learned responses that, if the injury requires a longer healing time, move towards becoming an unknown habit.

Take this patient, for example: Jennifer is a typical middle-aged office worker who spends the majority of her work week in a chair staring at a computer screen and sitting in back-to-back meetings. She decided to visit me for neck pain that comes and goes and ranges in severity from a 2 to an 8 out of 10. When she first arrived, I noticed that her head shifted off to one side just slightly, but I did not bring it to her attention right away. Interestingly, the direction her head shifted was towards the same side she was experiencing the neck pain. Later in our conversation, I brought this observation to her attention and she didn’t believe me, until I asked her to look in the mirror. She was absolutely shocked that she never noticed it before and even more shocked that all of the health practitioners she had been to for the pain had not seen it either. It was obviously too subtle for her to notice, and furthermore, it didn’t feel out of the ordinary.

Our posture determines not only what types of aches and pains develop, it also affects specific aspects of our physical and mental well-being, such as our breathing, our digestion, our balance, and not to mention, our mood. Emotionally, if you feel constantly depressed or upset, your posture will change to reflect this. And by holding on to this emotional stressor, you will find yourself letting go of “good posture”.

In Oriental Medicine, posture will determine the quality of Qi and Blood circulation throughout the body. In the example above, Jennifer experienced one-sided neck pain that began to radiate to other areas like her upper back and affected the big picture of her overall posture forcing her to reposition her body more so to one side rather than being balanced in the center. She allowed for weakness to develop on one side and severe regional tension on the other. Needless to say, the quality of Qi and Blood circulation easily transformed into stagnation and excess on one side with a deficiency on the opposite side. Had we not addressed it when we had, it might have reached the point of stasis or an even worse condition.

As an acupuncturist, I am always analyzing my patients’ posture every time they come for treatment. If something stands out, I tell them directly, and we work on it from head to toe. We look together at how they stand, how they sit, and how they walk. When they lie down on the treatment table, I observe what position they place themselves and also where they end up (on the table) by the end of the session, if the tools being used are not forcing them to remain in one position.

Understanding one’s posture is the key to understanding one’s health. And healthy posture is the gateway to good health in addition to providing you with more energy. Here are a few basic tips for examining posture from head to toe. You can easily do these yourself or prescribe them to your patients.

• HEAD: Raise the crown of your head (not your chin) as if a string is attached pulling your head upward.
• SHOULDERS: Regardless of where your shoulders rest, gently raise them up, push them back slightly, and rest them down comfortably in their new position.
• PELVIS: Roll your pelvis forward (from the bottom) as if someone is pulling your tailbone from back to front while you gently contract your abdominal muscles to lift the front of your pelvis.
• HIPS TO TOES: Relax your hips and rotate your feet until your toes point forward and your feet are parallel with each other.

How do you feel? If you feel slightly uncomfortable, that sounds about right. You probably need a little more practice to help your body adjust to this new “normal”. But over time, you will notice a significant difference in how you feel, the amount of energy you have, and maybe even how you look!

Don’t believe me? Go look in the mirror.

• If you are a caregiver by profession, or if you are taking care of a loved one, you can benefit from the stress reduction and self-care aspects of yoga therapy.
• Neurological conditions, like Parkinson’s, MS or brain injury, can benefit through our brain’s quality of neuroplasticity. Working with the body and with the nervous system can positively affect the symptoms of these conditions.
• Yoga therapy has been successfully used as a supporting therapy in mental health, benefiting people with anxiety, depression, and trauma.

Even if you are just dealing with everyday stresses and with life cycle events like pregnancy, or natural effects of aging, yoga therapy can be a great way to support yourself through those life transitions. To find a qualified yoga therapist near you go to: www.yogatherapy.health

About the Author

Asya Haikin is the Owner of Peaceful Mind Yoga Therapy in Falls Church, Virginia. She is a Certified Yoga Therapist working with people with persistent pain to improve wellbeing and quality of life. Her mission is to make yoga safe and accessible, and to raise awareness about the benefits of yoga therapy. Asya has been using mindful movement, breath and body awareness to help individuals move beyond pain for over fifteen years. She has a private yoga therapy practice in Falls Church, VA, and also teaches several public yoga classes in Arlington and Falls Church. Asya is also a Reiki Master, a Tibetan Tones (vibrational sound healing) practitioner, and has an MA from University of Pennsylvania.​

To learn more about Asya, visit her website at www.peacefulmindyogatherapy.com

If you’ve ever had an injury or aches and pains that just wouldn’t go away, (and who hasn’t, really?!), you know how much that can affect your life. You’re trying to be healthy, you’re eating better, and trying to go out for a run or to that yoga class you love, but the pain is so distracting and makes it hard to be present with what you’re doing. You used to love tying your shoes to go for a run or stepping into class, or even just getting down on the floor and playing with your kids. But now it’s not even fun anymore because all you’re thinking about is how to get into a position that doesn’t hurt.

You don’t have anything ‘major’ going on. It’s just the nagging knee pain or the pain in your heel every time you put your foot down. You feel like it’s not so serious that you need to go see someone for it. And really, who would you even see for such a thing? It’s just something you have to live with, right? I mean, you are getting older and that just goes along with it, doesn’t it?

As a holistic health physical therapist, I can tell you that the answer is  No.  More than likely, you don’t have to "just live with it!" These types of things are what we specialize in. If you are having a problem that has lasted more than a couple days, that isn’t going away on its own with rest, ice, heat, or exercises that you may have learned on Google, then you should schedule an appointment with a physical therapist.

More than likely, you have some soft tissue or joint restrictions going on that require specific manual therapy to fix the issue and start the healing process. You probably also need some help figuring out better ways to move your body or little tweaks to improve your posture. You could also benefit from a program of the right exercises for your specific problem, instead of just basic ones found on the internet. It’s commendable that you’ve tried so many things to help yourself, but sometimes those things just aren’t enough and require a little more specialized treatment.

​Five Ways a Life Coach Can Help You Achieve Lasting Change
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Identifying what needs to change. Most of us have a feeling that our lives can be more satisfying, but we sometimes find it hard to decide why that is, or what we can do about it. A life coach listens closely to hear what’s going on with you, asks questions to help you explore your feelings, and gives you honest feedback.

Casting a vision. It’s easier to make the decision to change, and to actually take action, if you’re clear about where you want to go. A life coach helps you explore your values, creates a safe space where you can imagine what’s possible, and encourages you to dream with no judgment.

Formulating a plan. It’s said a dream isn’t a goal until you make a workable plan to make it happen. That’s where a life coach comes in, to help you “put the pedal to the metal,” by working with you to identify steps you can take to make your dream a reality, and challenging you to dig deeper for answers instead of being satisfied with the obvious.

Helping you stick to it. Change can make us uncomfortable, even when we desire it, which is why it’s so hard to stay the course. A life coach will hold you accountable for doing what you say, cheer you on as you take baby steps in the right direction, and challenge you to keep going when you falter.

Dealing with what gets in the way. Sometimes we’re our own worst enemy, able to devise clever ways to sabotage our own best intentions, and sometimes the people closest to us become uncomfortable when we try to make changes. Your life coach knows this, and will help you to avoid self-sabotage, overcome obstacles that others might put in your path, and keep you moving toward the goal of having the life you want.


The experts are right—you can have a life that’s happier, more meaningful, and more satisfying! And a life coach can help you make it a reality.

It has been an interesting 2018 so far. Hasn't it? And the year is still just getting started it feels like. Especially now that spring has finally arrived. So, as you begin getting more active, I hope you remember the lessons from our podcasts and blogs this year that will guide you to a year of fulfillment and a year of doing what you absolutely love most. One word of caution though. Be aware of your expectations you have for yourself.

The old saying goes "expectations breed pain". This doesn't mean that you should have ZERO expectations. It simply means you should focus on raising your standards rather than your expectations. Your standards define who you are in life and are the foundation for all decisions that you make. Standards are completely in your control. Expectations, on the other hand, are typically in relation to other people and are not entirely under your control because of this. For example, you expect that your child will pick up after him or herself, or you expect your boss will give you enough time to complete a project on top of all the other work you have piling up on your desk. If you are familiar with either of these, then join me in saying good luck with these expectations! 

In a world where we spend the majority of our money paying our bills and a significant amount of time organizing our finances, we somehow manage to find ourselves with a clean bill of health. Strangely though, it is believed by many that the United States provides some of the best healthcare in the world even though we soar past everyone in terms of healthcare expenditure. It is also believed that we Americans are some of the unhealthiest people in the world even though we are a nation of immigrants which means that it is not one group of people who are the unhealthiest, it is the lifestyle of every person who lives here.

The phrase "a clean bill of health" is usually provided to someone who is recovering from an illness or injury and is finally able to function on their own without assistance or any apparent risks to his or her well-being. It is a phrase that has been adapted to fit every aspect of our society. Vehicles are given clean bills of health. Buildings are given clean bills of health. Even technology is given a clean bill of health. And, of course, humans are as well.

This process of routine inspection is often done by an outside professional, e.g. primary care physician, who is skilled in searching for potential problem areas that could place an entire system at risk. Essentially, they are on a mission to find what is wrong. But has anyone been hired to search for what is right or functioning well? Why is it that we don't spend time highlighting these parts and, as a result, take them for granted?

Think about it. What phrases do you most often hear in a workplace? Do any of these sound familiar?

"There's a crisis at work."
"I have too much on my plate right now."
"What issues [problems] should we focus on?"
"Come up with a resolution by the end of the week."
"We've been fighting with this for a long time now."

And then there is the frightening word "deadline", which connotates something different altogether.

It is very easy to see a system that is functioning well and put it aside until it reaches a state of dysfunction. By doing so, we can then put on our perfectionist glasses and work towards adding to this well-functioning system by diagnosing, and ultimately correcting, what is imperfect. Over the course of time, humans have successfully created a culture of fix-it mentalities. We are trained to look for problems, and we are just as determined to solve them. This approach has formed the idea that a "clean bill of health" is dependent upon the absence of negative influences and little to no risk to well-being.

So whose responsibility is it to determine and maintain this "clean bill of health"? Well, of course it is up to us all individually. So then, what if we started looking at our own "bills of health" from a different perspective? What would happen if we highlighted the accomplishments of our health and focused on enhancing them on a routine basis that would effectively remind us of the positive changes constantly occurring in our lives? Might this eventually reverse the negativity programmed into the standard approach to care; the constant need to fix things?

A "clean bill of health" is more than the erasure of harmful elements from one's physiology. It is a realization of one's individual responsibility to his or her state of being. It is a bill that needs neither paid no passed. It simply requires your attention one day at a time to remind you how to thrive rather than just survive.

A whole note is, according to the almighty Google, "a note having the time value of two half notes or four quarter notes, represented by a ring with no stem. It is the longest note now in common use."

For those of you who don't know me that well, I have a strong music background. I've played numerous instruments, written music, and practically made it my life by deciding to go to college and play piano professionally. During that last one though, my life took a sharp turn in a different direction, and to this day, I wonder what my life would have been like had I continued on that musical journey. Would I have become a professional musician? Would I have become a famous artist? Would I have become a music and song-writer like I had once dreamed of at a young age? Frequently, I ponder this alternate universe that I chose to leave behind nearly 20 years ago.

This does not mean though that my fingers don't hunger for the smooth glide across the steel strings of a guitar or yearn to fly up and down the ivory steps of a piano in an emotionally-driven whirlwind. I could not survive without immersing myself in the freeing experiences that music has blessed me with. It is an escape from all sense of time. Perhaps, even, it might be why I enjoy using my fingers to type this very blog; because my fingers yearn to dance again on the musical instruments they befriended many years ago.