Man Health

I saw in interesting article today where star of the recent movie Cloverfield, Mike Vogel, and a group of pro cycling legends, veterans advocates and the Pentagon, are working to help wounded military heroes.

Vogel will serve as chairman of the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans and is participating in a series of "Road 2 Recovery" bike rides across the country to assist wounded veterans as they leave the military and begin rehabilitation.

Vogel's need to help those serving our country comes after the recent death of a relative in Iraq. Vogel solicited the help of his Los Angeles neighbor, John Wordin, who is a former pro cyclist and team owner. Wordin was already working on a plan to help the VA improve its cycling facilities for disabled vets.

I think this is a great way to bring attention to the rising rate of military personnel returning home from Iraq wounded with traumatic brain injuries. You can read more on this story here.

The National Resource Center for TBI is proud and pleased to join with other leading organizations in presenting a national conference for caregivers of persons with Brain Injury. The National TBI Caregiver's Conference will be held Saturday June 7, 2008 at the Hospitality House Hotel in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Family members and caregivers who play a crucial role in helping survivors recover after and before discharge from health care settings. With the needs of caregivers in mind, this one-day national conference is designed to provide extensive practical information on achieving recovery. Panel presentations, lectures, discussion sessions, and workshops will cover a wide range of topics including community and home-based rehabilitation, finding and accessing services, recovery, avoiding burnout, and how the brain works. Conference presenters will include experienced caregivers, survivors and nationally known rehabilitation professionals.

For more information please contact Linda Lee, at 703.451.8881 or by email at llee@braininjurysvcs.org.

Last weekend I attended a NIA workshop at the Kripalu Yoga Institute in Lenox, Massachusetts. Carlos Rosas, co-founder of the technique, led our “Dancing Through Life” workshop. NIA, an acronym for Neuromuscular Integrative Action, is an amazing mind, body and spirit approach to fitness.

You may think that a website devoted to acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an odd place to be discussing a fitness technique, but if you consider that TCM also focuses on keeping the body in balance to maintain health by addressing the mind, body and spirit of each individual, you will see that there is a definite correlation.

I was first introduced to NIA about fifteen years ago. Like it is for so many people, NIA was life changing for me. NIA incorporates moves from nine fitness disciplines, including tae kwon do, tai chi, yoga, jazz and modern dance. Each routine adds visualizations and vocalizations to enhance the workout. NIA is all about body awareness and appreciation. Specific moves are choreographed to promote strength, flexibility, mobility, agility and stability. NIA movements are designed to release emotions in a healthy way and cultivate personal power and self-confidence. For me, NIA was instrumental in my decision to change careers at the age of 50.

But it wasn’t until I was actually studying TCM in Albuquerque, NM several years later and found a NIA class out there, that I realized why NIA was so powerful. NIA is done in bare feet. Each NIA step is designed to activate the acupuncture point on the bottom of the foot (KI 1), taking in energy from the earth. Every movement that opens all of the energy pathways on the front of the body is followed by a movement that opens all of the energy pathways on the back of the body – balancing the yin and the yang energies. Finger flicks activate the jing well points on the hands. Visualizations often bring in the elements of wind, water, earth and fire – another integral part of Chinese medicine. And I could go on.

“The NIA Technique” book pictured here discusses all of the NIA moves and is a great reference for both the curious and the serious NIA student. Many testimonials are included from people who found relief from such conditions as arthritis, depression and fibromyalgia. But the book doesn’t compare to actually experiencing a NIA class. You can go to www.nia-now.com to find an instructor near you. You won’t be sorry!

About the author

Joyce Marley is a NYS licensed acupuncturist and is trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has practiced NIA for ten years and continues to attend classes and workshops.

I often give my patients homework to do between acupuncture treatments. This homework commonly involves acupressure. Sometimes small seeds are applied to the ear to stimulate corresponding parts of the body to relieve pain. Sometimes points are stimulated on the hand corresponding to Korean Hand acupuncture points. And sometimes pressure is applied directly to the meridian acupuncture points.

Acupressure can address acute symptoms between the acupuncture treatments which in turn focus on addressing the underlying imbalance in the body that is causing the pain, symptom or disease.

Here is a short video clip I found on YouTube demonstrating the use of acupressure to relief constipation. The narrator explains that this technique can be helpful for those incidences of constipation that many people experience while travelling.

The chops to the side of the hand are stimulating the small intestine meridian. The pats to the elbows are stimulating the large intestine meridian.

About the Author:
Joyce Marley is a licensed acupuncturist who provides acupuncture therapy in New Hartford, NY. She writes alternative health articles about acupuncture and Oriental medicine.

If I had to pick one event in the last six years that had the most impact on my career as an acupuncturist, I would have to say that it was in 2003 when I listened to a taped lecture by Susan Johnson on Master Tung’s Top Ten Points.

At the time, my training in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) had focused on the 365 points of the Fourteen Meridian System, a system that has been standardized in the People’s Republic of China. This is the system that is most often taught in the acupuncture schools of the U.S. It is the system upon which the national (NCCAOM) acupuncture board exam is based.

Master Tung’s system of acupuncture evolved in Taiwan. Just when I thought I had mastered all the points I needed to know, here was another system with several hundred more unique points! Some of his points are located on the meridians. Some are located between meridians. And for some of the traditional points, Master Tung had documented some completely new indications.

It was Susan’s enthusiasm and willingness to share her twenty plus years of experience with Master Tung’s points that captured my attention. Two weeks after listening to her lecture, I was in California attending one of her seminars. I just had to learn more!

Since that time, I have also studied Master Tung’s points with Dr. Palden Carson in Toronto, Canada. Dr. Carson is one if the few original disciples of Master Tung alive today. I have attended Dr. Richard Tan’s seminar on Master Tung’s points in conjunction with his Balance Method. I have purchased every book available on Master Tung as soon as it is published in English. I continue to attend seminars whenever I can. Because I see such amazing results with these points, I want to learn as much as I can from those who are willing to share their knowledge.

Here you can still get the audio lecture cassettes that first inspired me by Susan Johnson on Master Tung's points. Her recent lecture on Master Tung's points are available on cd. If you are an acupuncturist or a student of acupuncture, listening to her tapes will be the first step in the best investment you can make in your future practice. Other websites that may be helpful to you are www.tungspoints.com, www.drweichiehyoung.com, and www.worldtaa.org.

About the Author
Joyce Marley is a NYS licensed acupuncturist and is trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She incorporates many of Master Tung's acupuncture points in her treatments.

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