by Kelley Black, Founder of Balancing the Executive Life

"Women start careers in business and other professions with the same level of intelligence, education and commitment as men. Yet comparatively few reach the top echelons." ~ McKinsey Leadership Project



Does the statement above make you cringe? When I first read it I felt my stomach turn and I realized I was holding my breath. Why? The biggest challenges in modern work, life and organizations need and respond to what are traditionally thought to be "female" strengths and styles. Here are some examples...

Managing and developing global teams - requires more sensitivity than traditional localized structures

Approaching cultural diversity as a strength - requires enhanced intuitional, projective and protective intelligences for greater perception, awareness and openness to possibilities

Creating inclusive, responsible plans and making ethical decisions - requires compassion, humanity and a spiritual connection

Again, these strengths and styles are all traditionally female.

Centered Leadership is a new approach to leadership that helps women gain confidence, optimal health. It is a model for thriving in business and life. 

Centered Leadership is about expanding your spiritual, mental, emotional and physical capacity so you can achieve peak performance without burning out in the process. Centered Leadership makes you a better strategic thinker, inspires others and positively impacts the bottom line at home & work.

Naam Coaching gives you the support you need to be a Centered Leader. Naam Coaching expands your capacity, connects you to your feminine spirit and the strength therein. It is a game changer for business and life.

Here are some best practices that we encourage you to integrate into each day to achieve Centered Leadership:

Establish a Collaborative Mindset - View your colleagues as potential allies rather than threats. The same with your spouses, partners and anyone else you may be having a conflict with. Ask for their opinions and listen to what they have to say. Work on inclusion and resist exclusion. Use collaboration and cooperation to remove tension.

Reach out to others - Find ways to connect on a personal level. Proactively look for opportunities to help others. Focus on what you can do to benefit the other person NOT vice versa.

Raise the bar on your health/wellbeing – Your health is more than an annual checkup. Commit to optimal health by taking care of your mental, emotional, spiritual and physical bodies. Do daily practices to alleviate stress. Build a true partnership with your healthcare providers and consider them to be “trusted advisors.” Understand your energetic imprint, karmic influences and ways of bringing self-healing and a permanent cure to symptoms that manifest in the physical body.

Develop and use your intuition - Trusting your intuition is a great way to enhance your decision-making skills. Listen to your instincts and debrief with a trusted advisor, colleague or mentor. Note the outcomes of your intuitive decision-making and capture them in writing. Doing so will help you develop your intuitive ability.

Meditate daily - Meditation is essentially a deeper state of thought and relaxation then we normally achieve. It is good for health, healing, de-stressing and will heighten your connection to your intuition. Naam Meditation will open your heart, awaken and enhance your feminine strengths. It makes you grounded, authentic and attuned to who you really are and your vision.

Build your confidence - Get comfortable in your own skin by valuing your inner worth. This helps you get rid of jealousy, pettiness and the tendency to gossip. You will be able to assess situations and people neutrally and objectively for mutually beneficial outcomes.

Put yourself out there - When it comes to connecting with others take a risk. Go out of your way to greet a colleague. Be the first to say hello. Don't wait to initiate contact and never ignore another person. Everyone longs for connection and it can simply be a big friendly smile.

And remember what Katherine Graham, the first female CEO of a Fortune 500 enterprise (the Washington Post Company) famously said, "To love what you do and feel that it matters - how could anything be more fun?"

Are you interested in being a Centered Leader? We have support and proven strategies for you raise your personal bar on Centered Leadership through our monthly Naam Coaching Group for Women @ Oriens beginning September 20th, 2011.

Visit www.balancingexec.com.

  by Elizabeth Carpenter, MS, L.Ac.

“There is absolutely a fundamental idea when it comes to weight & obesity - that the way you get fat is by taking in more calories than you expend. It is the gluttony & sloth hypothesis: We eat too much & exercise too little. It sounds undeniable, but this doesn’t tell us anything meaningful about why we get fat.” 

             -Stanford & Harvard University scientist-journalist, Gary Tobbs

As a health professional I first found this news shocking. And then, I looked at the research.

The good news / bad news is two-fold:
1. You absolutely can take charge of your weight, by addressing the right issue.
2. Obesity & Weight Loss Resistance and The New Millennium Diseases – cancers, autoimmune issues, Alzheimers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, the list goes on – share a root problem. Address it and you reduce your risks for all of them.

In 1990 the CDC informed us that 14% of Americans were obese, and warned us that if we didn’t change what we were doing, we would face an epidemic. 14% might not sound like a lot, until we think about 300 million people.

What did we do with that information as a nation? We did what we do best—we started selling. Suddenly lots of doctors and experts on TV appeared, telling us how to lose weight and be healthy. New books came out every month. New articles in magazines appeared weekly. New pills. Even Subway and Taco Bell came out with diets.

After millions and millions of dollars spent, 9 years later—by 1999 – the CDC told us that now 20% of Americans were obese. More diets, more pills, more experts, more books and articles. In 2008 the percentage of obese Americans leapt to 24-30%. The current projection is that by 2020, 75% of us will be obese.
75% is not a big number or even a huge number, it’s a ridiculous number. It points to a very sick nation.

So the question is, “Is our nutrition working?” Clearly, the answer is “No.”

So what is our real problem with our weight? (hint: it’s the same as with our health)

Our problem is we have bought into 3 Myths that make us fatter, not leaner, sicker, not healthier.

Myth #1: It’s About Calories IN vs. Calories OUT
It’s partially true, if you reduce your calories and exercise more, on average a woman will lose 15-20 pounds, a man 20-25. But most diet/exercise warriors will gain it back as the body adjusts to its new set point. It will require greater and greater restriction and increase in exercise to continue losing weight. It is also likely you will yo-yo the same pounds back on when uncontrollable urges hit in response to the next stressful event.

But worse, for most, the pound loss will be muscle rather than fat, because we have not taught the body to burn fat! So it burns muscle instead!

Myth #2: More exercise = More Weight Loss
But a review of research on exercise shows us there is no compelling evidence that exercise affects weight in a permanent way. Exercise is extremely important for our health—for many reasons! But it is not the crux of sustainable weight loss. To lose weight, exercise is the cherry on the top.

Myth #3: Fat Makes You Fat
Fat does not make you fat. It is the inability to burn fat that makes you fat! In fact, good fats HELP you burn fat! Fat has gotten a bad rap. We have grossly oversimplified the cholesterol issue, and thrown the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. Learning to use good fats effectively can turn us into fat-burning, lean muscle-building machines and balance our cholesterol and hormone picture for optimal health.

The unfortunate truth is, we have trained ourselves to be sugar-burners, not fat-burners. And as long as this remains true, we will not sustain our weight loss. And, we will lose our health.

Your body can only use 2 things for energy:
1. Sugar
2. Fat

Why Your Weight Issue Is Not Your “Fault”
Healthy people can burn both sugar and fat for energy. But most Americans can only burn sugar. The inability to burn fat for energy leads to uncontrollable cravings. And this undesirable situation pivots on a hormone called Leptin.

The hormone Leptin controls food cravings and fat burning instructions for your body.   The hormone Insulin controls sugar in and out of the cell.

Truth: To understand weight loss in the 21st century, you have to understand hormones. And to fix the hormone issue, you have to go deeper than hormones. To fix our weight and health problems, we must work at the cellular level.

“ Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them. “—Albert Einstein

We are throwing pills, diets, hormones, effort, information and a whole lot of money at symptoms, when the real problem lies at a deeper level – at the level of the cell. We need to understand and address the root cause, not the symptom that we see.

Obesity is a symptom. Weight Loss Resistance is a symptom. Diseases are symptoms. The pandemic / epidemic we really face is cellular inflammation.

And the cost of cellular inflammation is far greater than our appearance. Cellular inflammation drives cardiovascular disease and diabetes, cancers and other autoimmune issues, brain fog and attention issues, fatigue and sleep problems, depression, anxiety, thyroid and hormone imbalances of all kinds. In fact cellular inflammation is now understood to be the root of almost every health issue we face, as well as premature aging. It is the great plague of the 21st century. It is the heart and foundation of what we now call The New Millennium Diseases. And you can address it.

But what about people who are eating healthily and still can’t lose weight, still get sick?
Most of us who are health conscious are eating well and taking supplements. You can take the best supplements in the world. You can eat organic, vegan, raw and paleo. You can eat the Blood Type diet or take any other proven approach. But if you cannot get your nutrition into your cells, it doesn’t matter.

If your diet is good and your supplementation is good and you are still sick or overweight, you can be confident your problem is not your nutrition, it is your bionutrition. It’s about your nutrition getting into your cells. That is the purpose of food, it’s why we eat. And its how we command ourselves toward wellness or illness.

Would you like to overcome your problem with weight and reverse weight loss resistance? 

Are you ready to regain your health and solve chronic issues? 

Are you excited to stack the odds in your favor against serious illness? 

Or to slow down the aging clock?

To do so you need to: Understand, Plan, Execute.
1. Understand Your Issue – let’s test, not guess. Through important fact finding questions, and testing we’ll determine what’s wrong and what we need to address.

2. Plan – Once we know what’s going on, we’ll create a realistic plan you can follow to achieve your weight loss or health goal.

3. Execute & Empower– a combination of at-home steps, in-office care, and a support system will step you through to success.

How to Get Started:

Contact Oriens to set up an Evaluation or Re-Evaluation: 212-213-5785 or info@oriensliving.com

You are also invited to attend:

A Special Oriens Lecture: Why You Can’t Lose Weight and How You Can
Speaker: Elizabeth Carpenter, MS, L.Ac.

Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Time: 6:30-7:45pm
Where: Oriens Living Lounge

Cost:  Free

RSVP REQUIRED

  
Elizabeth Carpenter, MS, L.Ac. interviewing Jack Tips, N.D. Ph.D., C.Hom, C.C.N.


“. . . people soon drop unwanted pounds, experience better energy, mental clarity, fewer allergies, better sleep, fewer signs of aging, increased sexual satisfaction, and a host of internal benefits called disease prevention.”

The article below will help you understand why a Spring Detox is imperative! The article is in-depth and highly informative. As you read it, consider who you are—your lifestyle, your personality, your goals, your health concerns—and consider which of the two Oriens Spring Detox Programs outlined below will serve you best. 

2 Easy DETOX Options

1. The 5-Day RESET – Super Simple and Gentle Detox – A Cleanse in a Box -- this meal replacement program (Nutrition Shakes & Bars) is ideal for you if you want to initiate weight loss and get free of sugar and carbohydrate cravings AND your diet is less than perfect and you don’t have time or inclination to cook. If you'd like to make it fun and enjoy supportive community, let us know! REGISTER by Friday May 13, for Sugar Buster Boot Camp (May 23-27) -- a group RESET detox!  Dr. Deborah Kern will lead a tele-community in doing RESET together! Education, support and community!   Call or email Oriens to get set up or discuss your needs: 212-213-5785 or info@oriensliving.com.

2. The 2 Week Gentle Liver Cleanse – Highly Effective Combination Food & Herb Cleanse --guidelines for delicious eating that will help the liver and body cleanse itself (guidelines apply to take-out, restaurant dining or cooking) PLUS an herb protocol (capsules or tinctures) for highly effective detox. Should you desire support, Oriens Nutrition Counselor Kathryn Flynn will create menus (or select dishes off your favorite restaurant menus) and help you create a sustainable lifestyle routine that keeps your results going!  Call or email Oriens to get set up or discuss your needs: 212-213-5785 or info@oriensliving.com.


We all need to do a Spring Detox! But we need to be smart about it, and it needs to fit our lifestyle. Back by popular demand, this favorite Oriens article, my interview with one of the gurus of detox, gives you an in-depth grasp of the nuts and bolts of detox, and helps you choose the right program for you!

The Nuts & Bolts of DETOX

Spring is the time of the liver in Chinese medicine, and therefore the ideal time for detox.

Please join Dr. Tips and me as we explore the crux of this very serious issue facing all of us in the modern world. It has been my great privilege and pleasure to be mentored by Dr. Jack Tips over the last 12 years. He has consulted on many of your cases over that time, always providing invaluable insights and strategies. A brief bio of Dr. Tips is found at the end of this interview.

EC: In Chinese Medicine, Spring is the season in which the energies of the liver are highlighted. We know from both the eastern and the western perspective that the liver performs many vital functions. One of its main roles is to “detoxify.” Could you speak a bit about what that means? What is detoxification and why is it so important?

JT: In the context of the seasons, we can think of detoxification as spring cleaning. No matter what, it’s needed every year. In fact, Hippocrates, the renowned Father of Medicine, states, “ Disease is an expression of detoxification.” This means that all of our symptoms are 1) the body trying to detoxify: or 2) the body blocked from detoxification; 3) or both.

In natural health, every disease that is labeled by medicine as “no known cause, no known cure” is rooted in ineffective detoxification of pathogens, chemicals, and metabolic wastes which, in turn, is either the cause or effect of a lack of cellular energy. The only exception to this is genetic disorders and mechanical malfunctions. Thus every chronic degenerative disease and auto-immune disease is rooted in inflammatory patterns, which themselves have toxins as triggers.

The body’s chief detoxification organ is the liver. In the current phase of life on Earth, we all live in a chemically-oriented culture and this ignorance has made toxicity a major concern. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that Americans consume over four pounds of pesticides each year and have over 400 toxic substances stored in their tissues. More than 3,400 chemicals are found in our current food supply. This is literally a seminal, survival-threatening event that has a profound impact on our health.

Toxic diseases have increased, with cardiovascular disease and cancer being most prominent followed by arthritis, allergies, obesity, and various skin problems—all the result of toxicity. Early warning signs of the need to detoxify include the various mild symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, pains, hormonal imbalances, coughs, gastrointestinal problems.

Toxicity can occur on an internal and an external level. We are all exposed to toxins daily and can acquire them from our environment by breathing, eating, or touching them. Also, prescription drugs, food additives, and all allergens can create toxic elements in the body.

If the liver detoxifies all the xenobiotic (foreign chemicals) that it is responsible to eliminate, then a relative state of good health is maintained. If the liver fails to detoxify the onslaught of toxins, then they are stored in various tissues, especially adipose (fat) tissue resulting in weight gain.

Toxins that attach to the cell membrane cause that membrane to be less effective in receiving the oxygen necessary to produce ATP (adenosinetriphosphate)—the chemical energy of life. Additionally, a toxin-altered cell membrane is unable to receive the directives of hormones such as estrogen, thyroxin, and insulin. Thus cellular toxicity is the cause behind hormonal imbalances, metabolic ineffectiveness, and glucose metabolic functions. Thus, more specifically, menstrual problems, low thyroid function, and diabetes can be the result of toxins bothering the cellular membranes.

Further, toxins disrupt the cells’ communication with other cells, and that means that the core of the immune system is compromised. Thus, toxicity is a major concern of all auto-immune diseases, and detoxification is often a milestone on the pathway to cure.

EC. How much of people’s allergy complaints are related to toxins?

JT: Actually quite a bit. Toxicity is always a significant factor in allergies. With allergies, there is first the genetic code for the body to react against the allergen out of a self-preservation directive. Allergies are simply a beneficial immune feature turned against the body due to over exuberance.

But what causes the over exuberance? Here’s the pathway. Let’s say that a person has a genetic factor that reacts aggressively to the protein in wheat. So this person lives in a state of low level, chronic inflammatory activity in the small intestine because wheat a major factor in the diet. This inflammation is not enough to cause a diagnoses of celiac sprue, or irritable bowel syndrome, because of its low level. But this “small war” occupies the immune system and puts all the immune cells on “red alert.” Next, along comes a mold or pollen in the air and the immune system over reacts with histamine release and antibodies that take a toll on energy. Now the allergic person is miserable, weak, and susceptible to bronchitis. The person goes to the doctor and gets allergy shots for pollen, steroids, and antihistamines but this does nothing about the cause. In fact, suppressing the body’s expression of the allergy can further confuse the immune system and leave the body susceptible to free radical pathologies, e.g. cancer and cirrhosis of the liver.

EC: Thank you. I’d like to move on to a discussion of what it means to “cleanse and detoxify.” In both Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine, there is the understanding that a very intimate and important relationship exists between the liver and the colon. That is one reason why healthy bowel function is essential. Could you elaborate on this relationship?

JT: Toxins in the bowel can directly impact the liver when they are absorbed into the bloodstream or congest the portal pathway between the liver and the bowel. The bowel is often the source of chronic inflammation that deranges the immune system leaving a person susceptible to acute illnesses (colds, flu) as well as susceptible to chronic degenerative diseases and super-infection, like H.I.V.

This is why, for the past 80 years, acupuncturists and naturopaths advocate cleansing as an excellent place to start a detoxification program. Our bodies need help due to the onslaught of toxins acquired each and every day.

So if a person has frequent indigestion, fermentations, belching, flatus, constipation, diarrhea, etc., it’s a strong indicator that the liver is being overburdened with toxins such as ammonia and phenols that demand instant performance from the liver in addition to the liver’s massive daily workload.

Internally, our bodies produce toxins through normal cellular metabolism. These cellular, biochemical processes generate excessive free radical molecules associated with cancer and degenerative diseases. When these are not properly quenched by the body’s normal processes, they cause inflammation and alter normal tissue functions which then are diagnosed as diseases of certain tissues. Oxidized fats and partially-hydrogenated fats are primary causes of free radicals (free electrons that destroy cells).

Functionally, poor digestion, colon sluggishness and dysfunction, reduced liver function, and poor elimination through the kidneys, respiratory tract, and skin all add to increased toxicity.

The immune system generates free radicals as a method to eliminate bacteria, viruses, and fungi. But the additional free radical molecules that that occur from dietary sources and toxins become too much for the body’s anti-oxidants to handle and cellular destruction occurs resulting in diseases.

Pathogens such as intestinal bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and parasites, produce metabolic wastes that the liver must handle. Our emotions and stress generate increased biochemical toxicity by altering metabolism. A normal functioning body was created to handle certain levels of toxins; the concern today is with highly excessive exposure and production of toxins, and the inability to eliminate them.

Toxicity occurs in our body when we take in more than we can utilize and eliminate. Toxins can produce an immediate reaction (allergy) or cause long-term, degenerative diseases.

If our bodies are detoxifying well, exhibited by an effective immune and eliminative processes, we can handle our basic everyday toxin exposure. It’s not a hopeless situation. Through detoxification, we clear out the backlog of toxins and wastes, and allow our bodies to maintain a better degree of health. Thus doing an annual detoxification program is literally a new lease on life that keeps us healthy and energetic and youthful.


EC: “Cleansing” and “detoxification” programs that focus on increased bowel activity are hyped everywhere these days. Celebrities and experts are touting many kinds of products and methods. And unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there! What are the biggest dangers of these fad cleanses and detox programs?

JT: Public awareness of the dire need to help the body detoxify is a good thing. However, many of the cookie-cutter programs can be dangerous if they force the body to free up heavy metal toxins, e.g. aluminum accumulation from antiperspirants, mercury in vaccinations and teeth, lead from the air, cadmium from tobacco smoke, estrogenic compounds from plastic food cartons and water bottles-- and put them in circulation and stress the body’s already stressed detoxification pathways.

If the body does not have the detox pathways open (a concept called “drainage”), then these disease-causing metals can settle deeper in tissues such as the brain, kidneys, ovaries, etc. and be the root cause of death by disease. It really is essential to consult directly with an expert to have a detoxification program custom designed or to have them point you to a ready-made program that they know to be safe.

Detoxification should occur without the person becoming more ill on the road to better health. Thus when a detoxification program causes headaches, skin eruptions, greater fatigue—not bad per se, but it’s best to reduce the program and slow down the process.

Additional support of the cell membranes (anti-oxidants, glycoproteins), as well as the detoxification pathways (lymph, liver, kidneys, skin, gall bladder, etc.) are necessary as the person proceeds with the detoxification process.

EC: Knowing what NOT to do, and to be careful of, is so important. Now let’s discuss how to lighten our toxic load and support our organs properly. What are the essential missions and stages of this very important process?

JT: Our bodies innately handle toxins by transforming and eliminating them. Our cells themselves can combust toxins when there is adequate cellular energy (ATP).

The liver transforms toxic substances into harmless agents, and the blood carries wastes to the kidneys for excretion. The gall bladder is a companion to the liver as it eliminates wastes through the bile into the intestines for excretion.

Historically, Chinese Medicine reveres the gall bladder whereas Western Medicine has quick and easy methods to surgically remove gall bladders leaving people with an impaired detoxification system.  Detoxification is so important, the body has several methods to get it done such as through perspiration, but our culture abhors sweating and blocks the process with chemical antiperspirants that contain aluminum (a toxic element).

Other detoxification organs include the lungs (toxicity is the true source of bad breath), sinuses (via mucous drainage), and skin (often seen as acne, psoriasis, eczema, hives.)

Any time people take in fewer toxins and eliminate more, their bodies are more healthy, so dietary and lifestyle changes that reduce intake of toxins and improve elimination must be addressed.

Avoidance of chemicals (from food or other sources such as cosmetics and household products), refined food, sugar, excessive caffeine, tobacco, excessive alcohol, and drugs help to minimize the toxin load.

Drinking extra water and increasing dietary fiber by including more raw fruits and vegetables in the diet are positive steps in the detoxification process that anyone can do. In natural health practices, we detoxify to clear symptoms, counter disease processes, and prevent further problems. We also detoxify to rest our overloaded digestive organs.

The information in my book, The Pro-Vita! Plan For Optimal Nutrition, is an excellent place to start because it advocates a low stress approach (fewer toxins), good bowel elimination, and excellent liver support.

However, when we eat an average diet high in fats, non-organic meats, non-organic dairy products, refined foods, and chemicals, frequent detoxification becomes absolutely necessary. Today we find that virtually everyone needs to detoxify.

EC: I know you support the RESET Your Metabolism Gentle Detox we do a few times per year at Oriens. Kathryn leads a group of participants around New York and the country in this super simple cleanse. It’s a good starting point for a healthier lifestyle.

For those that are ready to do more in-depth detoxification, could you speak about safe and effective options such as homotoxicology and combinetic herbology? Who would benefit from one over the other?

JT: RESET is a wonderful start to getting blood sugar stabilized for healthy weight and getting people ready for a healthier diet. Shifting the diet toward organic produce reduces the body’s toxic burden.

Filtering your water is now a necessity considering that your body is 75% water. So food and water are two big steps toward avoiding toxin accumulation and staying healthy. Exercise helps the body detoxify though better blood circulation. But we still breathe the air, and inadvertently encounter numerous toxins daily.

I think it is best to combine the two sciences—homotoxicology and herbology, especially coupled with acupuncture —for effective detoxification therapies. The homeopathic remedy addresses the known toxins and opens the eliminative pathways (drainage). The herbs help neutralize the toxins (chelation) and strengthen the detox pathways. The acupuncture facilitates the bodies transitions for quicker and easier response. Together, they provide a comprehensive plan based on both bio-energy and biochemistry.

EC: When someone is doing a program safely, what can be expected?

JT: During a detoxificaton program, a person can experience some side effects as the toxins put a burden on the body while they are being cleansed. The natural health practitioner will help minimize this by custom designing the program. When designed by a natural health practitioner, most people have very few health issues during detoxification because that practitioner has the tools and experience to help the body detoxify itself. If too many symptoms are arising, the health practitioner can slow it down so the body goes along with the detox more easily.

On the positive side, even if there is some discomfort during the detox process, people soon experience better energy, mental clarity, fewer allergies, better sleep, fewer signs of aging, increased sexual satisfaction, and a host of internal benefits called disease prevention.

As the “terrain” is cleansed, the body no longer provides a breeding ground for pathogens. A great French physician, Beauchamp said, “The terrain is what predisposes a person to disease, not the pathogen.” His arch rival, Louis Pasteur, cried out on his deathbed, “Beauchamp is right, the terrain is everything.” A clean terrain does not support pathogens. A terrain tainted with toxins forms biomasses that support Lymes disease, amoebas, viruses, fungi, and other pathogens that ultimately weaken the immune system and cause disease.

Dr. Jack Tips, N.D. Ph.D., C.Hom, C.C.N. has been in clinical practice for over 35 years. He participates as a member of the scientific counsel of the International and American Associations of Clinical Nutritionists, and serves on the advisory board for the International Association of Naturopathy. In 1984, he developed a three-tiered approach to health: classical homeopathy to stimulate vitality, combinetic herbology to support specific tissues, and clinical nutrition for metabolic balance. He is the author of twelve books, including: The Pro-Vita! Plan For Optimal Nutrition, The Weight is Over, Your Liver, Your Lifeline, and Conquer Candida And Restore Your Immune System. In addition, Dr. Tips maintains a rigorous lecture schedule, speaking at a variety of naturopathic, medical, and secular schools around the world on nutrition, herbology, and homeopathy.

  by Valerie Graham


What’s the secret to healthy, radiant skin?? OXYGEN! Up to half the oxygen content in our skin can be lost by the age of 25. What does that mean? It means slower cell turnover, the reduction of collagen and elastin, and the appearance of fine lines and discolorations.

Skin cells need oxygen to survive, reproduce and regenerate. Today's environment, stress, poor diet, and sun exposure all rob precious oxygen from the skin. As oxygen levels diminish, the result is dull, dry, congested skin.

The biological renewal process needs assistance to compensate for the deficit of oxygen and vital nutrients. At Oriens, we’ve brought in Oxygen Botanical™ products to provide the fuel necessary to increase the production of new healthy cells resulting in younger, healthier, more hydrated skin. Increased oxygen in skin cells also aids in the elimination of toxins as well as inhibits bacterial growth which causes acne and blemishes.

Oxygen Botanicals™ product are infused with pure oxygen (most other lines utilize hydrogen peroxide, which can bleach and be drying to skin). Through a proprietary process, pure oxygen time-releases into the skin approximately every 40 minutes for 10 minutes over a 12 hour period.
The products are water-based, utilizing the most advanced natural botanicals and pharmaceutical grade ingredients available. All of these are combined in such a way as to invigorate, calm, soothe, and replenish your skin. Natural grapefruit absolute is used to lightly scent the line, a higher grade of essential oil.

The most effective anti-aging regime should contain both antioxidants to prevent free radical damage along with repairing agents such as oxygen to treat existing signs of aging. Oxygen facials consist of gently exfoliating the skin through a multi-step process of chemical, mechanical and enzyme exfoliators to remove the dull, dead uppermost layer of skin cells.

Skin is then masked to provide nutrients to your skin and massaged with a nourishing gel containing hyaluronic acid to help retain moisture (hyaluronic acid can retain 1,000 times it weight in water). Finally your skin is hydrated using a very fine mist of serums and activators to renew and rejuvenate itself. The results can be startling! Everyone leaves with a radiant, youthful glow which remains evident days, even weeks later.

The good news is the benefits are cumulative -- as collagen and elastin increase, you erase the fine lines and wrinkles, your skin is firmer and hydrated, while your complexion returns to its youthful glow. To continue the benefits of an oxygen facial, retail products are available. With twice daily applications, Oxygen Botanicals™ rejuvenates your skin 24 hours a day, providing oxygen to renew its youthful appearance and hydration to aid in the suppleness of your skin.

Call or email Oriens to book an Oxygen Facial, or have Valerie and her team assess and rejuvenate your skin!
 212-213-5785 or info@oriensliving.com

I am very excited to share with you the opportunities to benefit from Laser Therapy at Oriens. 

These are “cold” or “therapeutic” lasers. We use them every day for pain and injury…back, joints, discs, sprains, TMJ, chronic pain, you name it.

And we LOVE them in our Alternative-to-Facelift treatments.  The smoothing, tightening, lifting and collagen boosting is tremendous. 

Aging, accidents, inflammation, damage of another sort--the many ways cold  laser light is used yields the same result:  repair and rejuvenation!  P.S. Laser can be added to Acupuncture sessions. Or you can JUST do laser and be in and out in 15 minutes!


Why Low Level Lasers?

Most of us have heard of lasers for surgery or skin resurfacing, but have heard little, if anything, about the therapeutic use of lasers.  Both types of lasers use light for their healing purposes.

Hot lasers operate at high frequencies with great amounts of energy, burn and cut the skin. This is an amazing and very precise surgical application.

Low level laser therapy (LLLT), also known as “cold” laser, uses much lower frequencies and penetrates the skin at varying levels.  LLLT uses lower frequencies and fewer joules (a measure of energy output) to promote healing in tissues of all depths: from organs and bones to increasingly superficial systems, such as lymph, tendons, ligaments and muscles – and of course the largest organ in our bodies, the skin.


Over 3,000 clinical studies have been published worldwide, including over 120 randomized, double-blinded and controlled studies, on LLLT-- the type of therapeutic laser we now use at Oriens. European and American clinical scientific literature is packed with evidence of the effectiveness of LLLT, addressing “impossibles” such as spinal nerve regeneration. Peer-reviewed European journals chronicle their success with such difficulties as non-healing wounds.  Laser therapy has advanced solutions for injury and pain management, such as herniated discs  and TMJ disorders.  They have been widely used for collagen regeneration for wrinkles.

The incredibly broad range of applications around LLLT is based on their ability to treat inflammation, the base cause of most tissue degeneration in the body and to regenerate cells. Lasers are even being used in hospice care in Moscow as “an analgesic, antioxidant, desensitizing, bio-stimulating, immuno-stimulating, immuno-correcting, detoxifying, vasodilative, anti-arrythmic, antibacterial, anti-hypoxic, anti-edematous, and anti-inflammatory therapy.”

Advantages for Patients:

• Advanced Pain Solutions
• Accelerated healing and recovery times
• Options for needle-free acupuncture
• Painless and non-invasive therapy
• No need to stop or modify work and activities
• Short appointments (15 minutes) with abbreviated treatment cycles
• Option to include laser for special needs during regular appointment
• Long-lasting results
• Effective rate upwards of 80%

How LLLT Works

The particular LLLT laser we use at Oriens is the TerraQuant Cold Laser with Advanced Super Pulse Technology™.  The TerraQuant laser has been used in more than 30 countries over the last 15 years, and it is the only laser to offer the unique combination of four types of therapeutic technologies (described below under “Specialties of the TerraQuant”).
The Basic Science

LLLT, or cold laser, is the use of specific wavelengths of light to stimulate therapeutic effects on a cellular level.  This process is known as phototherapy, or photobiomodulation: it is the process by which exposure to light triggers a chain of chemical reactions.

Starting with the Greeks, and for centuries since,  light has been used as a therapy. Consider solariums, and the early recommendations to visit the seaside and take in the sun. If you reminisce back to high school physics, you’ll remember that photons are the units of energy of light – and that they are both wave-like and particle-like.

Laser therapy delivers a concentrated amount of photons into the tissue, where your cells can absorb and convert them from light energy into biochemical energy. The photons interact with your cells at the level of the mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell), stimulating increased production of ATP by up to 500% (ATP is the actual energy unit of your cells).

What’s amazing is not that one photon activates one enzyme molecule… but that one enzyme molecule, in turn, can process thousands of other substrate molecules. This is the mechanism by which a relatively small amount of energy produces very significant biological effects. Through initiating a variety of biochemical processes, laser therapy optimizes your own cells’ ability to naturally heal themselves. The end result of LLLT is pain reduction, improved healing times, decreased swelling, and increased circulation.

Specialties of The TerraQuant

The TerraQuant Cold Laser with Advanced Super Pulse Technology™ is the only laser to offer the unique combination of four different types of therapeutic technologies: low level super-pulsed laser, wide-based infrared radiation, red light, and a magnetic field generator. This combination helps to relieve pain, decrease inflammation, and optimize cellular conditions for natural healing.  

This laser:

• Stimulates cellular activity, growth, and metabolism
• Stimulates enzyme synthesis
• Increases cellular respiration (optimizes the intake of nutrition and the expulsion of waste)
• Increases the energy of the cell
• Enhances collagen synthesis
• Provides antioxidant effect
• Supports the immune system

The super-pulse technology of the TerraQuant is particularly remarkable.  By “super-pulsing”, the laser is able to provide a high amount of energy and photon density while maintaining a very low mean energy output. It provides a peak pulse of 25 watts, but sustains it for only 100–200 nanoseconds, resulting in a mean power output of only 1.5 milliwatts. This peak pulse allows for short treatment times at deep levels of penetration (for accessing deep structures such as discs, joints, tendons, ligaments, and organs not accessible by other lasers), while the low mean output prevents the generation of heat.

Research Highlights

•    Acute injuries: improves swelling and edema
•    Bone Fractures: stimulates osteoblasts for bone healing
•    Chronic Joint Disorders: pain reduction and improved health status
•    Immunosuppression, post-chemotherapy: in pediatric oncology patients, post-chemo, ↑ counts of mature
     T-lymphocytes, T-suppressors, and lymphocytes—“general improvement without any complications or side effects”
•    Ligament Injuries: improves ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and stiffness
•    Nerve Injuries: anti-inflammatory effect on damaged spinal cord and potential role in nerve regeneration
•    Peripheral Neuropathy, including diabetic and chemo-induced: ↓ pain, ↑ sensation
•    Post-Herpetic Neuralgia: reduction in pain intensity and distribution
•    Post-Operative Vomiting: reduced in children undergoing strabismus (eye) surgery
•    Post-Radiation Skin Reactions: shortens recovery time
•    Stroke (ischemic): accelerates healing
•    Wounds: accelerate wound healing and tissue repair, including necrosis, venous stasis ulcers, episiotomies and perenial
      tears from childbirth
•    Wrinkles:  increases collagen production

The Conditions Most Commonly Treated in the U.S. with LLLT

Laser therapy is a highly effective and pain-free means by which to treat a wide variety of pain and inflammatory conditions.  As skin issues are linked to and driven by inflammation, most skin conditions, including acne and wrinkles, can be addressed effectively.  Treatments are quick (usually less than 20 minutes) and typically provide immediate effects, which over the course of a treatment cycle yield cumulative and long-lasting or permanent results.    

If you do not see your concern on the “common conditions treated” list below, or to access more information on laser therapy, please ask.  We’d be happy to discuss how to integrate laser therapy into your overall care with us.  For additional technical and clinical information about laser therapy, check out these sites:

•    www.superpulsemypain.com
•    www.laser.nu

➢    Arthritis
➢    Back Pain: upper, middle and lower, including herniations
➢    Bone fractures
➢    Burns
➢    Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
➢    Chondromalacia Patellae
➢    Diabetic Neuropathy
➢    Fibromyalgia
➢    Joint Injuries: elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, wrists, fingers and toes
➢    Lower Back Pain
➢    Muscle Strains
➢    Neck Pain
➢    Nerve Regeneration
➢    Neuropathies
➢    Plantar Fascitis
➢    Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
➢    Repetitive Stress Injuries
➢    Shingles
➢    Shoulder Pain and Injury
➢    Strain, Sprain and other soft Tissue Injuries
➢    Swelling/Edema
➢    Tendonitis
➢    Tennis/Golfer’s Elbow
➢    Tinnitus
➢    Trigeminal Neuralgia
➢    TMJ Syndrome
➢    Trigger Points

Laser can be added to Acupuncture sessions. Or you can JUST do laser and be in and out in 15 minutes!  We hope you'll take advantage of what it can do for you!

Elizabeth Carpenter, MS, L.Ac., CEFP, Founder and Director of Oriens

*Very special thanks to our former intern, Ginny Wick, who helped prepare this article.

1. Get to the park! One of the best ways to get moving in New York City also happens to be absolutely free. And use it as an invitation to reconnect with friends.  Why not get a group together for a round of Frisbee golf? Rent or bring a bike to Central Park. Take a walk or run and catch up with a loved one. Now is the time to take advantage of the beauty that New York has to offer, right outside your door. And if you’re reading this and you’re not in New York, make use of the park in your area.
   
   
2. Midsummer Night Swing! Here in New York, Lincoln Center offers swing dance lessons followed by live swing and jazz performances. Bring a partner and come enjoy the summer night air with some fabulous music and lively dance! Take a risk and get out there – shake your body and feel the energy all around you.  Participate completely! Be fully present to be inspired by the moment – and the movement!
3. Come to a free Nia jam! Every month at the JCC in Manhattan, Nia teachers from all over the city get together to share the Joy of movement. It is an exciting, celebratory atmosphere where you can experience a variety of teaching styles in one evening. Contact the JCC in Manhattan for dates and times.  If you’re not in New York, invest some time to learn about Nia and find a class to experience it for yourself.  A simple Google search can get you started!
4. Free kayaking lessons! Enjoy the sunshine and the Hudson River at one of several piers in New York City, such as Pier 96 off of west 56th street. After a few lessons you can also join 3-hour guided tours down the river.

Whatever you do and wherever you are, use this season as an invitation to yourself to embrace life around you, literally.  Use your body to enjoy everything around you.  This is your one beautiful life and your amazing body. 

This summer, allow yourself to be inspired by movement and to be set on fire with a renewed passion toward health and energy through movement.   

Rachel Duvall, MFA - Nia Dance Instructor

Yes, we have officially ushered in High Summer, having long since moved through the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. This happens each year when the path of the Sun is at its highest point on June 21. The term Solstice comes from the Latin words sol, “sun” and sistit, “stands.”  For several days before and after each solstice, in fact, the sun appears to stand still in the sky – that is, its noontime elevation does not seem to change.

When I think of summertime, two images pop to mind immediately…sun worshiping on my lounge chair and sitting around late-night bonfires singing, storytelling, and solving the mysteries of the world.. I wisely stopped the baby-oil-sun-baking many years ago, and, though I may be a bit too busy to indulge in late-night bonfires, the symbolism of these two images is not lost on me. Interestingly, both of these activities have a great deal to say about my (our) spiritual life and understanding.

Let’s start with sun worshiping. The Sun has long been worshiped by ancient and indigenous cultures. To the Egyptians, the sun god, Ra, represented light, warmth, and growth. It was believed that Ra was the supreme deity and ruled all of creation. The Sun is associated with masculine energy in astrology and astrotheology. What is the basic nature of the masculine energy? What are its beauties? The great aspect of the masculine is that it is outwardly creative. The feminine creates within, receiving guidance and vision. The masculine takes action on this information. It wishes to explore, discover and build outwardly something that is an extension of itself.

Everyone has both masculine and feminine energy. With SuperWomen, it could be said that their masculine energy is well developed. This is a vital element in the desire to accomplish. Developing this strong drive to succeed can come at a price, however, where the feminine energies of softness, rejuvenation and stillness can, in the extreme, be considered weakness.  In fact, it’s not uncommon for the feminine to be dismissed as ineffectual. Knowing that we need both of these energies for optimum health and accomplishment, we need to stop and ask: How the masculine and feminine energies can become balanced?

This brings me to my fire pit.

“The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, gravitation, (masculine) we shall harness for God the energies of love (feminine). And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”  -T. De Chardin

From ancient times through the present, fire is a symbol of the light, love and Spirit within. We light candles in religious institutions, on alters, during meditations, all in celebration of this deep connection. Fire also represents purification and renewal, out of the ashes comes rebirth from the old into the new.

Fire speaks of passion. We typically think of passion as the fire within, that which excites us. Passion is often spoken of in sexual terms. We are told to follow our passion, but then are “told” to do this passively, quietly, sedately – living a life not quite fulfilled and not quite unfulfilled.

Passion is the Fire for Life.  It is the Fire for the experience of life. It is the desire to know yourself deeply. Our deep longing for something more, is our longing to reconnect to this FIRE. Sit with this for a few moments and then ask yourself this question: How often do I truly experience passion?

Take some time this summer to explore anew how you can connect to that deep fire within. How can you harness the energies of love, as De Chardin reminds us, and rediscover that FIRE WITHIN?

1. Light a candle and set aside time for quiet reflection. (Note: Can be done while sun worshipping)
2. Remember that journaling is an excellent way to discover your thoughts, desires, and internal yearnings. (Note: Can be done while sun worshiping)
3. Engage in counseling to get honest with yourself about the ways you may be restraining yourself, restraining your fire within.

Finally, remember that passion rises around what is most treasured and dear to us, and it propels us outward into compassionate action. It is internal guidance moving into inspired action. This is the balance of feminine and masculine energy.

Passion, the Fire Within, is our deepest wisdom and an experience of the sacred.

Passion is living life, your life, in its fullest expression.


Rev. Sandra Bargman, Spiritual Counseling
Meditation & Guided Imagery
Oriens Community Leader

The Syndrome

As successful women with busy lives, we often put ourselves, our health, our well being and our happiness far too low on our list of priorities. Faced with an endless list of loved ones, responsibilities, challenges, opportunities and passions, we sometimes square our shoulders and suffer through many things in life that we would do well to heal instead. When it comes to a condition like PMS, we often tell ourselves that we just have to “deal” with it – that it is just a part of life. In recent literature it is noted that as many as 80% of women experience some form of PMS at one time or another, and 30-40% of these women have PMS severe enough to interfere with their day-to-day lives.
 
Premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, is actually a group of symptoms that start one, or even two weeks before your period. Most women have at least some symptoms of PMS, and symptoms typically go away after menstruation begins. While the symptoms related to PMS are not life threatening (abdominal bloating and cramps, breast tenderness & swelling, mood changes irritability, frustration, depression, anxiety, acne, back pain, fatigue, food cravings, headaches, insomnia, joint pain, water retention, and dizziness), they can greatly diminish our quality of life and how effective we are in our lives.  And that is significant – for ourselves and for those we love, work for and associate with.

As a woman you do not have to experience this pain and discomfort every month – or even occasionally! When the symptoms of PMS are reduced or eliminated, we feel more energetic physically, mentally, emotionally and creatively.

The Opportunity

PMS is a symptom of menstrual cycle energy out of balance.

Chinese medicine is quite distinct from western medicine in its linkage of the physical, emotional and spiritual bodies.  In our monthly cycles we see all of the major Yin organ systems in coordination with one another.  And each system carries its spirit-emotion energy into the cycle.

The Heart rules our highest spiritual expression. The Spleen guides our nurturing of others and our contemplative and introspective nature.  The Lungs govern bonds and their dissolution. The Kidney energies are our deepest, most profound energies—our potential, our truth, fundamentally who we are. The Liver oversees our use of energy within our own bodies and personalities and our ability to move out into the world.

The menstrual cycle is a dance of these spiritual energies, as well as the physicality of the cycle we are more familiar with.  Sadly, many of us have been trained to resent or ignore our periods, or worse, to see them as shameful.  Consequently, we are missing out on one of our greatest teachers!

PMS is a twist on the natural fullness of the womb that then escalates with pregnancy or releases into menstruation.  Our bodies miraculously gather and layer nutrition in the uterus in anticipation of a child.  At this time we are at our peak fullness.  

With all of this collecting, our energy at this time is high! It is a powerful time.  We are “saturated” with Life!   It is the "summer" of the monthly cycle.  When we are in synch with our bodies, we can tap into that fullness to make PMS week a super-productive and positively expressive time. We can get stuff done! AND command it.  Alternatively, when we are out of balance, this fullness can get translated into a kind of stuckness.  Our enormous energy doubles back on us—we feel irritated, pressured, frustrated.  Our bodies feel burdensome.  Some of us feel weighed down while others of us feel so underfunded we just can’t do anything…we want to sleep, eat, lie down.

The menses themselves naturally feature a kind of emotional release. Once the bleeding starts, pressure lessens. Physical pain with PMS or flow time is a signal that things were not balanced going into it. 

Yet having a kind of sadness with the bleeding is normal.  This is Lung energy at work. While enzymatically the uterine lining dissolves, so our expectation of pregnancy dissolves.  Even if we are actively protecting against pregnancy, we were biologically gearing up for it, and now we say goodbye to that potential.  Goodbye’s are bittersweet.  We feel melancholy—nature’s invitation to intimacy with self. The early bleeding days 1-3 are for reflection, quiet, rest. It is a time of high intuition.

Moods tend to change around day 3 of the period—a shift out of sadness into hope.  It is about this time in the cycle that a new follicle is gaining attention for our next shot at pregnancy.  Our mood rises and Life gets back to business as usual.

So it is NORMAL to have emotional flux before and during your period!!!!

For those trying to conceive the PMS and period weeks can be very difficult indeed.  Hopes up, hopes dashed.  Feelings of failure can arise and wound the spirit.

Whatever you are experiencing, PMS week and your period invite you to LISTEN IN!  If you accept this time in your cycle as an opportunity, you may discover things about yourself—your deepest yearnings, your truest  feelings, surprises in your relationship with your past/present/future.  

Whether you want children, don’t want children, have them, have lost them (physically or spiritually)…your reproductive years and the menstrual dance are an opportunity Mother Nature provides you to experience yourself as Mother.

Every woman is called to motherhood – some with literal children, some with figurative children (career, service, creativity, and her other blessings out into the world).  As we mature, and move through our reproductive years, we learn that our cycles are opportunities to know and mother ourselves—that is, to gestate and give birth to who we are meant to be.  As the Oriens motto puts it, “more of who you are.”  That’s our Kidney energy (life mission) nurtured by our Spleen energy (self-understanding) and expressing as Heart energy (spiritual unfolding) – all orchestrated by the Liver energy (creative urge).

Relieving PMS



At Oriens, every woman is treated uniquely. We first listen, then tailor design her plan.  But we can definitively say we experience great success using a combined approach.

Some women will see a reduction in their symptoms right away while others may take a longer period of time. Anticipate three menstrual cycles of treatment for the root causes of your PMS to be well in hand.  Stress levels, lifestyle, and general health are variables in your personal response time.

Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine

                                                                                                          
Acupuncture works to physically correct disturbances in how your cycle is flowing. Acupuncture helps rebalance the energy relationships within your body, so that the dance of your menstrual cycle is one of harmonious celebration of your fertile, reproductive years…no pain, no symptoms. 

Check out this article in the British Journal of Obstetrics summarizing over 27 research studies of more than 3000 women demonstrating acupuncture’s effectiveness in reducing menstrual pain and other symptoms.

Chinese Herbal Medicine can quickly change a menstrual pattern from nightmare to healthy cycle.  Herbs invite your body to recover and replenish what has been lost, or to reconsider how to use and direct the resources it already has.  Unlike pharmaceuticals, herbs don’t contain hormones or replace hormones.  Instead, herbs prompt the self-healing switch to turn on, which helps the cueing system you already possess to resume more useful functioning.  Always work with a national board certified Chinese herbalist.  Herbs are natural, but powerful and need to be used safely.  Don’t fall for gimmicks and one-size solutions on the internet or what you heard worked for a friend.  You’re more complicated than that, and herbs are complicated too.

Elizabeth Carpenter, MS, L.Ac. has been helping women balance their cycles, restore their fertility and resolve their health issues since 1998.  Sharon Wyse, MS, L.Ac. leads the Oriens Chinese medicine practitioner team.  Her passion for women’s health and research helps keep Oriens abreast of the latest developments in science and reproductive medicine.


Nutrition                    
                   
Research on nutrition’s role in inflammation reduction, hormone modulation, digestive function, immune regulation helps us to understand how food and supplements can address all the symptoms and drivers of PMS. Kathryn Flynn, Oriens Nutrition Counselor and women’s health expert, provides individual menus, recipes, meal plans, snacks, dining-out and take-out tips to match your personal lifestyle.  She will also advise you on supplements and much more. Kathryn stays with you as a mentor as you follow her guidelines.


Maya Abdominal Massage

MAM is an external, non-invasive manipulation that repositions internal organs that have shifted and restricted the flow of blood, lymph and qi. The technique relieves congestion and blockages. Toxins are gently flushed and circulation is greatly enhanced, allowing nutrients to reach their targets to tone tissue and balance hormones. Simone Burgos is an extraordinary practitioner of MAM, standing in direct lineage to the originators of the Arvigo technique, which has brought MAM to the world. She brings healing touch and also teaches you how to honor and care for your womb.


 What is your cycle and PMS pattern saying to you, about you?

In the Oriens approach, Chinese medicine serves as the diagnostic cornerstone for understanding a woman’s PMS.  One reason our programs are so effective is that we get to the root of the problem.  Yes, we manage symptoms too.
    
You'll find the most common PMS symptom cluster categories below. Most women will recognize themselves in more than one.



We hope you will feel inspired to listen to your cycle and reconsider it! 

• Liver Qi Stagnation pattern: Emotional stress is one of the main contributors to the Liver Qi Stagnation pattern of PMS. Other clinical manifestations include headache, breast tenderness, depression, irritability, and a feeling of distention or pain under the rib cage, constipation before flow starts.

• Heart Blood deficiency pattern: Chronic illness or excessive menstrual blood loss contributes to Heart Blood Deficiency pattern of PMS. Other clinical symptoms include heart palpitations, dizziness, insomnia, emotional upset, speaking incoherently, sadness, fatigue/sluggishness, poor memory and dull-pale complexion.

• Spleen qi/ yang deficiency pattern: Poor diet and emotional stresses are the main causes for Spleen qi and yang deficiency pattern of PMS. Clinical manifestations include feeling weak and lethargic, water retention, bruising easily, bearing down sensation of the abdomen or uterus, pale face, shallow breathing, loose stools.

• Kidney qi/ yang deficiency pattern: A pattern of menstrual disorders with Kidney Yang Deficiency will often include lower back soreness before and during menstruation, sometimes with weak or sore knees, fatigue, watery menstrual blood, diarrhea just before menstruation, cramps after menstruation begins, ringing in the ears, or a feeling of cold in the body.

We feel privileged you have trusted us with your healing needs, and to be your portal to scientifically based information, other responsible resources, and to be your counselors and your mentors.

 
If you have questions, or would like to schedule with Elizabeth, Sharon, Kathryn or Simone please simply call 212.213.5785 or email. We also invite you to work with them through their Oriens Online Services.

Chocolate Mousse for Hormones & Fertility!  by Kathryn Flynn

The wisdom that what you eat is a direct reflection of your health is now widely accepted as science and continues to prove that certain foods do, in fact, improve reproductive function. For years, clients have requested more delicious tasting fertility-friendly recipes. 

From this desire emerged the idea for my cookbook: Cooking for Fertility: Foods to Nourish Your Fertile Soul – along with an instructional “Cooking for Fertility DVD ” for those wanting to learn how to cook to conceive. 

Cooking for Fertility is a simple approach to nourishing the reproductive function which combines modern science with the ancient wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

While enhancing your chances of conceiving, the bigger picture of living a fertile life includes learning lifestyle, exercise and food choices that are fertility promoting. For those experiencing infertility, there are specific meal plans that address common Western and Chinese Medicine imbalances with healing foods. One simple premise is that by optimizing your digestion, you naturally absorb more nutrients and prepare yourself for a healthy pregnancy. Above all else, the key to eating for fertility is pleasure: over 100 delicious recipes are included for your enjoyment, including a healthy chocolate mousse with fertility benefits!

Chocolate Mousse with Tofu and Avocado

Dark chocolate has numerous health benefits, including it’s arginine content, which encourages blood flow to the uterus and ovaries. Tofu is a healthful alternative to whip cream and eggs, and it preserves the creamy texture of this delicious mousse (along with the avocado). Using a low glycemic sweetener is important to stabilize blood sugar levels, and it is important for energy level, metabolism and balanced reproductive hormones.

Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Serves 4 to 6

10 ounces dark chocolate, melted
1 package silken tofu
(optional: 1/2 an avocado)
2 to 4 tablespoons agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a blender or food processor, puree the tofu (and optional avocado), along with the agave, vanilla and cinnamon until perfectly smooth. Add the melted chocolate and mix until fully combined.

Pour mixture in a bowl, and let sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

To YOUR health!

Kathryn Flynn, BEd, RYT
Nutrition Counseling
Weight Optimization
Detoxification

Contact Kathryn about the Oriens Weight Optimization program, Hormone Balance meal plans, or to develop your personal nutrition protocol. You will LOVE your food.

Laser therapy is a highly effective and pain-free means by which to treat a wide variety of pain and inflammatory conditions. 

As skin issues are linked to, and driven by inflammation, most skin conditions, including acne, wrinkles and signs of facial aging can be addressed effectively. 

Treatments are quick (usually less than 20 minutes) and typically provide immediate effects, which over the course of a treatment cycle (3-15 sessions) yield cumulative and long-lasting or permanent results.

Advantages for Patients

We Commonly use LLLT for . . .

Advanced Pain Solutions Advanced Cosmetic Applications:  collagen stimulation, wrinkle and sagging reduction, tightening Accelerated healing and recovery times Options for needle-free acupuncture Painless and non-invasive therapy No need to stop or modify work and activities Short appointments (15 minutes) with abbreviated treatment cycles Option to include laser for special needs during regular appointment Long-lasting results Effective rate upwards of 80%

Featured in the Oriens Signature Alternative-to-Facelift Treatment Arthritis Back Pain:  upper, middle and lower, including herniations Swelling/Edema Bone fractures Burns Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Chondromalacia Patellae Fibromyalgia Joint Injuries: elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, wrists, fingers and toes Lower Back Pain Muscle Strains Neck Pain Nerve Regeneration Neuropathies Plantar Fascitis Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Repetitive Stress Injuries Shingles Shoulder Pain and Injury Strain, Sprain and other soft Tissue Injuries Tendonitis Tennis/Golfer’s Elbow Tinnitus Trigeminal Neuralgia TMJ Syndrome Trigger Points

Why Lasers?

Most of us have heard of lasers for surgery or skin resurfacing, but have heard little, if anything, about therapeutic lasers. 

Both types of lasers use light for their purposes.  Hot lasers burn and cut the skin (operating at high frequencies with great amounts of energy), hence the surgical application.  In contrast, low level laser therapy (LLLT), also known as “cold” laser, penetrates to varying levels, using lower frequencies and fewer joules (a measure of energy output) to promote healing in tissues of all depths: from organs and bones to increasingly superficial systems such as lymph, tendons, ligaments and muscles, to skin.

Over 3,500 clinical studies published worldwide, including over 120 randomized, double-blind studies have been conducted on LLLT, the type of therapeutic laser we now use in this practice. 

Peer-reviewed European and American clinical scientific literature is packed with evidence of their effectiveness.  They have an incredibly broad range of application.  That is because of their ability to treat inflammation --the base cause of most tissue degeneration in the body-- and to regenerate cells.

Lasers are even being used in hospice care in Moscow as “an analgesic, antioxidant, desensitizing, bio-stimulating, immuno-stimulating, immuno-correcting, detoxifying, vasodilative, anti-arrythmic, antibacterial, anti-hypoxic, anti-edematous, and anti-inflammatory therapy.”

How LLLT Works

The particular LLLT laser we are using is the TerraQuant Cold Laser with Advanced Super Pulse Technology.  The TerraQuant laser is used in more than 30 countries.  It is the only laser to offer the unique combination of four different types of therapeutic technologies which are described below, under “Specialties of the TerraQuant.”

The Basic Science

LLLT, or cold laser, is the use of specific wavelengths of light to stimulate therapeutic effects on a cellular level.  This process is known as phototherapy, or photobiomodulation:  the process by which exposure to light triggers a chain of chemical reactions.  Starting with the Greeks, and for centuries since, light has been used as a therapy.  Think solariums, and the early recommendations to visit the seaside and take in the sun. 

If you hark back to high school physics, you’ll remember that photons are the units of energy of light that are both wave-like and particle-like.  Laser therapy delivers a concentrated amount of photons into the tissue, where the cells absorb them and convert them from light energy into biochemical energy. 

The photons interact with the cells at the level of the mitochondria (the power house of the cell), stimulating increased production of ATP (the energy unit of the cell) by up to 500%.  What’s amazing is that one photon activates one enzyme molecule… but that one enzyme molecule, in turn, can process thousands of other substrate molecules. 

This is the mechanism by which a relatively small amount of energy produces significant biological effects.  Through initiating a variety of biochemical processes, laser therapy optimizes cells’ ability to naturally heal themselves.  The end result is pain reduction, improved healing times, decreased swelling, and increased circulation.

Specialties of The TerraQuant

The TerraQuant Cold Laser with Advanced Super Pulse Technology is the only laser to offer the unique combination of four different types of therapeutic technologies:  low level super-pulsed laser, wide-based infrared radiation, red light, and a magnetic field generator.  This combination helps to relieve pain, decrease inflammation, and optimize cellular conditions for natural healing.  This laser:

• Stimulates cellular activity, growth, and metabolism
• Stimulates enzyme synthesis
• Increases cellular respiration (optimizes the intake of nutrition and the expulsion of waste)
• Increases the energy of the cell
• Enhances collagen synthesis
• Provides antioxidant effect
• Supports the immune system

The super-pulse technology of the TerraQuant is particularly remarkable.  By “superpulsing”, the laser is able to provide a high amount of energy and photon density while maintaining a very low mean energy output.  It provides a peak pulse of 25 Watts, but sustains it for only 100–200 nanoseconds, resulting in a mean power output of only 1.5 milliWatts.  This peak pulse allows for short treatment times at deep levels of penetration (for accessing deep structures such as discs, joints, tendons, ligaments, and organs not accessible by other lasers), while the low mean output prevents the generation of heat.

Research Highlights

The following is a summary of recent research findings.  Search the scientific literature for studies on LLLT and its applications for your interests.

• Acute injuries -- improves swelling and edema
• Bone Fractures -- stimulates osteoblasts for bone healing
• Chronic Joint Disorders -- pain reduction and improved health status
• Immunosuppression, post-chemotherapy --  in pediatric oncology patients, post-chemo, ↑ counts of mature T-lymphocytes, T-suppressors, and lymphocytes—“general improvement without any complications or side effects”
• Ligament Injuries -- improves ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and stiffness
• Nerve Injuries -- anti-inflammatory effect on damaged spinal cord and potential role in nerve regeneration
• Peripheral Neuropathy, including diabetic and chemo-induced --  ↓ pain, ↑ sensation (study soon to be published in JAMA)
• Post-Herpetic Neuralgia --  reduction in pain intensity and distribution
• Post-Operative Vomiting --  reduced in children undergoing strabismus (eye) surgery
• Post-Radiation Skin Reactions -- shortens recovery time
• Stroke (ischemic) -- accelerates healing
• Wounds -- accelerate wound healing and tissue repair, including necrosis, venous stasis ulcers, episiotomies and perineal tears from childbirth
• Wrinkles -- increases collagen production

 

Want More Info on LLLT?

To determine if LLLT could help you, please ask to speak with Elizabeth.  We’d be happy to discuss how to integrate laser therapy into your overall care with us. 

You may also follow the links in this article to specific information on the Terraquant and on LLLT technology and research.

*Many thanks to Ginny Mimms, L. Ac., our intern, who gathered information and helped draft this article.