Happy New Year & Welcome Chinese New Year!

Happy 2017! It's a new year and most of us are definitely up for out with the old and in with the new! 2016 proved to be a rough year for a lot of people but change is in the air! 

If you haven't heard by now, resolutions often fail. Why? Well...

• People tend to know what it is they want to change but aren't often clear on why they want something to change. Be sure you know why it is you want something to change. It'll will keep your what in focus!
• Unfortunately, we've become an instant gratification society. Last time I checked, the easy way isn't always the quickest way or visa versa to achieve things. Change takes time and that's ok! You're in for the long haul, the marathon, not the sprint.
• People tend to over think their resolutions instead of putting it in to action! Each day take a step towards you're goals. Put the thinking in ahead of time so that when the clock strikes the time for your resolution to start, you're ready! Which leads into the next reason resolutions tend to fail.
• Resolutions generally aren't specific enough for measurable. What you're trying to accomplish needs to be clear to you! Each step needs to be something you can most definitely attain and measure. Otherwise, you're setting yourself up for failure. 
• Truly try to reach your resolution goal but don't over extend yourself. When we try too hard, too fast or set unrealistic goals, we all get burnt out. This can lead to losing momentum or completely hating your goal. Keep track of your goals so you can see the progress you do make and again, it's the marathon, not the sprint.
• Loosing interest or beginning to despise the resolution you set out is common. This often occurs because of the above stated actions, trying to hard, an unclear goal, etc. Take a breathe. You're in it to win it!
• Be sure you have good social support. For example, I often see patients whom's significant others, aren't willing to change their diets along side my patient. I've seen it time and time again, it's a recipe for failure. Now, the significant other doesn't necessarily have to change their diet as well but at least be supportive of their partners goal. Don't go eating pizza in front of someone you care about who is trying not to eat pizza. You will crush them. 
• Finally, believe in yourself! We've all failed at things. Don't let that discourage you. A positive mindset, especially about oneself, is powerful! If you take the time in really thinking through your resolution, create realistic steps that are achievable, keep track of your progress and find social support... You Got This!

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This year beginning January 28th, is the year of the Chinese Fire Rooster. Those born in 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993 and 2005 are Chinese Zodiac Roosters. So what does the year of the Fire Rooster mean for you and the rest of us?

Fire Rooster signs tend to have strong wills, are proactive, display leadership qualities, are flamboyant, well read, with good senses of humor. Unfortunately, they also can have a volatile nature, be unrealistic, self-centered and stubborn. Imagine a combination of all of these qualities manifesting and shaping every aspect of our lives in 2017.

Expect initiative, generosity, industriousness and honesty to be on your side helping you to succeed this year. If you tend towards egocentrsim, fanaticism and coarseness you will have an unlucky year. Unfortunately, when ones year of the Chinese Zodiac comes around, it is always considered an unfortunate year for those born in that sign. Chinese advise exercising caution in every aspect of your life as the year goes on. 

Now, none of what I've written above I have written as fact. It's for fun! Remember that every year, month, week, day, hour or minute can be an opportunity for you to improve your life, to take steps towards your goals! If you happen to need a little push in the right direction, you can call on me! Take care and grab 2017 by the roosters comb!

Thanks and Gratitude.

November has proved to be a difficult month for everyone for various reasons, therefore, with this letter I'd like to talk about being thankful and grateful. Two emotions that may be difficult to feel or express right now but especially given the season, are important to work on cultivating for your health. 

The Merriam-Webster definition of Thankful is: glad something has or has not happened, that something or someone exists, of, relating to or giving thanks, well pleased. Find time in the next few days to really take a good look at what you have in your life. It may not be everything you want but it very well may be more than many can say they have. You can be thankful for anything from people and pets to material possessions (By the way, that's ok! You probably worked hard for or created them!). Then slowly dig deeper into your surrounds, your past and present. You may be surprised by what you find that you can be deeply thankful for.

The Merriam-Webster definition of Grateful is: feeling or showing thanks, feeling or showing thanks to someone for some helpful act, appreciative benefits received, expressing gratitude (thanks), affording pleasure or contentment, pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated. Now, I think both of these two concepts are very similar. In your search to find what your thankful for you'll start to find that your also grateful. This is good! Gratitude is a powerful and healing emotion!

To help clear up any confusion, the Cambridge Dictionary explains that: we use the word grateful to talk about how we feel when someone is kind to us or does us a favor and we use the word thankful when we are relieved that something pleasant happen or something unpleasant or dangerous didn't happen. 

Research has time and again shown that thankfulness and gratitude have definite mental and physical health benefits! Psychology Today reports 7 scientifically proven benefits of feeling and expressing these two emotions. (Gratitude has been studied more but I believe thankfulness is it's close partner!)

• Gratitude opens the door to more quality relationships
• Gratitude improves physical health
• Gratitude improves psychological health
• Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression
• Gratitude improves self-esteem
• Gratitude increases mental strength
• Grateful people sleep better

You can find many more health benefits online or within yourself. The above listed are the ones proven to occur. Reflect on your life as it has been, is and where it's going to find what you are thankful and grateful for. If it's hard right now, that's ok! Keep trying! If we all continue to be more kind, love harder and instill thankfulness and gratitude daily, our list will grow and the world will be a better place for us all!

At the same time we are in the season of thanks and gratitude, we are in the season of giving. Show your thanks and gratitude to those you care about by giving them the gift of healthcare. You will also be showing me your thanks and gratitude as my patients are my livelihood!
Gift certificates can be purchased at: https://whole-healthacupuncture.com/store/ or by clicking on the word Store at the top right of your screen!
Much thanks, gratitude and love!

Sexual Health Foods Breakdown

Happy Fall Everyone!

In this addition of News, Updates & Education from WHA, let's start by breaking down some of the foods listed in a previous newsletter, that are good for men's sexual health, physical body and mind. The full list can be found below, under the entry for June is Men's Health Awareness Month.  Feel free to peruse the other entries for further enlightenment!

I bring up food again at this time because we're heading into the holidays which can crush anyone's healthy eating habits. We'll tackle that subject in itself, another time. For now, remember the healthy things you eat everyday, even if you blow it out by having a whole pizza for lunch, still count! What I also want to mention is that ladies, these foods are incredibly important for your sexual and overall health as well! So please, read on and consume right next to your guy, your Dad, brother or buddy!

Today, let's start with the top ten from the previous list. 

1. Spinach
Beautifully green, leafy and luscious! Spinach contains a lot of appetite-suppressing compounds. It is rich in the minerals magnesium and folate. Magnesium decreases inflammation in the blood vessels which improves overall circulation. Better blood flow increases circulation out to your extremities, this includes the penis and we know, better blood flow into the penis creates stronger, more sustainable erections. We can give note here too, to how much spinach can improve heart health. A concern for males and females alike! Folate, more directly increases blood flow to the genitals. Now, when thinking about only this one aspect (there are so many others) of how eating spinach can improve your health, imagine how good adding it to your diet daily will improve your over all well-being!

2. Coffee
For my Texas patients, family and friends... UT just did a study finding that guys who drink 2-3 cups of the good stuff a day (that is about 85-170 milligrams of caffeine and it can come from any source actually) are 42% less likely to develop erectile dysfunction compared to men who only have 7 milligrams daily. How does your daily stimulant help with preventing ED? Scientists think that caffeine triggers a series of reactions in that body that ultimately will increase blood flow down to the penis. Now here's where I begin to preach, more isn't't always better! If you tend to be an anxious person or have sleep issues, please, don't have more than 1-2 cups a day. Too much coffee or caffeine can have definite negative affects! And if you don't drink coffee, don't start! It's not as important to have in your diet as spinach or other items on this list are.

3. Bananas
Also, good for your heart and circulation is potassium and it's rich bananas! Potassium helps to keep sodium (salt) levels in the body, under control. It can stop your blood pressure from sky rocketing which reduces the risk of heart problems. Other great sources of potassium are oranges and coconut water, if your not one for bananas. It's circulatory benefits are why it made the list for healthy sexual function. Again, this is just as good for you girls as for the guys!

4. Tomatoes
It's been shown that there's an 18% lower risk of developing prostate cancer in men that eat at least 10 servings of tomatoes per week. Tomatoes contain lycopene, an antioxidant that fights against toxins that cause DNA and cell damage prevalent, in all cancers. Studies have also shown that tomatoes can improve the shape of sperm in men who eat higher amounts of them. Improving sperm shape, improves how well they can swim and hit their target!

5. Hot Sauce
A recent study that came out of France found that the boys who like it spicy, tend to have higher levels of testosterone. The researches found a clear correlation between men who use more or use hot sauce more frequently than the guys who didn't't. The thought is the capsaicin in chili peppers is what causes this increase. It's also been found in animal studies that capsaicin enlarges sexual organs and reduces stomach fat. Now, it's also know that too much hot sauce spikes blood pressure. I haven't personally found any information on how much hot sauce has the affect of increasing testosterone. So as always, everything in moderation!

6. Watermelon
L-citrulline is an amino acid that can help make erections harder and watermelon is chock full of it! In the body, L-citrulline converts to L-arginine (a popular over the counter supplement for ED, I won't go into it here) which stimulates nitric oxide, a major chemical player in the development and maintenance of a healthy erection. The short is, eating watermelon will increase blood flow to the penis by encouraging natural chemical processes in the body. 

7. Ginger
Ginger is another tasty way to increase your bodies circulation and improve the health of your arteries. It has also been shown to increase testosterone levels and sperm viability. Eating about a teaspoon of ginger a few times a week is all it takes! Another major benefit of consuming ginger is improvement to your entire digestive system. It'll help settle and balance your stomach whether your suffering cramping, diarrhea or constipation. 

8. Pomegranate
Pomegranate juice more specifically, is what keeps blood flowing due to it's richness in antioxidants. It provides good blood flow to the penis as well as the prostate. Pomegranate juice is also recommended at 4-8 oz. daily to help reduce the chances of developing prostate cancer.

9. Green Tea
Green Tea contains catechins which are known to aid in the liver's ability to burn fat for energy. Awesome! Additionally, catechins kill off free radicals that cause damage and inflammation to blood vessels in turn, increasing blood vessels ability to transport blood. Catechins are another compound that too, will stimulate nitric oxide, the chemical involve in getting erections. Catechins will actually increase the size of blood vessels as well again, good for full body and mental health! Green tea is also a benefit to prostate cancer prevention!

10. Dark Chocolate
This one may seem more appealing to my ladies reading this but guys check this out, the cacao in chocolate increases serotonin levels, one of your mood boosting hormones. Higher serotonin levels reduce stress, arouse you desires and make achieving orgasm easier and more pleasurable. This holds true for men and women. This is one of the reasons dark chocolate is an aphrodisiac. Cocoa will also relax blood vessels and increase arterial flow. Both of these benefits are also why you'll see dark chocolate included among things to eat if your depressed. Now, I don't want my guys or gals tearing through an entire chocolate bar though! The calories and sugar aren't't worth it! A little goes a long way!

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Finally, a few reminders. One, if you don't like one of the items on this list, that's ok! I'm giving your the information, you make the choices on consumption. That leads into two, don't over consume! Everything in moderation is a rule to stick too! Finally, these foods are truly good for every aspect of health for men, women and children!

Let's get and stay healthy everyone!

3,000 years later, Cupping is the latest rage!

Yes, cupping has been around that long and has been used by Oriental Medical Doctors, this includes Acupuncturists, all this time. And yes, it does work! We're currently seeing and hearing about it thanks to this years 2016 Summer Olympics!

Cupping is an extremely beneficial therapy. It serves to relieve aches and pains, improve circulation, release pathogenic heat and help regulate many of the bodies functions such as digestion, respiration, etc. A specialized "cup" commonly made of glass or plastic, is place on specific points throughout the body. Suction is then used to draw your skin up into the cups. Glass cups require fire, usually a lit cotton ball, to pull the oxygen out of the cup so that it creates suction against your skin. The plastic cups use a pump to do the same. You retain the cups anywhere from 2-5 minutes (some practitioners leave them up to 15 minutes).

Cupping doesn't hurt, it simply draws fresh blood into that area of your body, which facilitates cleansing and strengthening of your Qi (energy) and blood. Often, blood, lactic acid and other impurities or toxins, get stuck in certain areas of the body. This can happen in various ways from overuse of a muscle, injury, or sitting for long periods of time. The blood vessels in the skin are generally flowing freely so by pulling some stagnant blood and other components to the skin level, those impurities can now better be eliminated by the bodies circulatory system rather than continuing to cause problems at deeper levels.

The only draw back is that you'll have "cupping marks" or "hickey's" for a few days after cupping is done. You may see the word bruise used to describe these marks but this is not a proper term as the marks are not bruises. A bruise, by definition, is an injury appearing as an area of discolored skin on the body, caused by a blow or impact rupturing underlying blood vessels. No blow or impact occurs during cupping thus a bruise is not the result.

Cupping can be done alone or in conjunction with other therapies such as acupuncture, to have a deeper affect. It is a simple, painless method to help keep your body healthy and functioning at it's best. I absolutely advise that you only have it done by a licensed Acupuncturist or Oriental Medical Doctor! We are trained in cupping, we understand the uses and have a lot of practical experience with it even though it seems "easy to do". There's always inherent danger, especially when performing fire cupping. Your safest in the hands of a professional. You can come to me or look to me as a reference to find a qualified practitioner.

If the discoloration is bothersome, you can always apply arnica and take warm baths to help disperse the marks more quickly. Again, I strongly recommend you find a licensed Acupuncturist or Oriental Medical Doctor to do cupping for you. Contact me with any questions!

Please also, share the knowledge! It helps keep us all safe and healthy!