Interesting study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics finds acupuncture may be effective at reducing the pain and discomfort experienced by women who are going through their menstrual period. Researchers evaluated 27 studies that included over 3,000 participating women. From these, the they concluded that there is "promising evidence" concerning the viability of acupuncture in treating menstrual pain.

 “The Kyung Hee Medical Center research team that conducted the study found that patients who underwent acupuncture treatment experienced a greater reduction in pain than did those who relied on drug treatments. They were unable to verify, however, whether or not the treatment actually affects women's nervous systems when providing relief.”

Separately, research was published in the journal, Brain Research, verifying that acupuncture treatments legitimately work neurally to deactivate the portions of the brain that process feelings of pain. Their scientific analysis gives tangible credence to what many already recognize as a reality concerning the effectiveness of acupuncture. Their study will also likely increase the acceptance of acupuncture as a viable treatment among mainstream medical professionals.”

Try Acupuncture if you are experiencing painful periods. Or give us a call to explain your situation and learn if acupuncture could help!  212-213-5785

Premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, is a group of symptoms that start one to two weeks before your period. Most women have at least some symptoms of PMS, and the symptoms go away after their periods start. In recent literature it is noted that as many as 80% of women experience some form of PMS at some time or another. 30-40% of these women have PMS severe enough to interfere with their day to day lives!

One reason why Traditional Chinese medicine is so beneficial in treating symptoms of PMS is because the therapy involved focuses on treating the root of the problem rather then just the present symptoms. Because most of the symptoms related to PMS are subjective many Western practitioners are at a loss when it comes to treating PMS and are quick to prescribe medications or recommend over-the-counter pain relievers such as ibuprofen, aspirin or naproxen.

Please be aware that  you do not need to be experiencing this pain and discomfort every month! When the symptoms of PMS are reduced or eliminated, women feel more energetic -- physically, mentally, emotionally and creatively.

Some of the symptoms related to PMS include but are not limited to:
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, dizziness.

Please read an Oriens article we hope you'll find useful.

 Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment: Treating the Root

Acupuncture and Chinese herbs have been widely and successfully used to treat PMS.
The symptoms of PMS may defer from woman to woman; what is unique and special about TCM treatments are that the variations in each woman's condition are acknowledged. Most women respond very well to acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatment in combination with dietary changes, exercise, and working on their emotional well being.

In traditional Chinese medicine, groups of symptoms, or syndromes, are typically classified into patterns that involve the internal organs and/or energy pathways of the body. The major organ systems that are primarily involved in the PMS pattern differentiation are the Liver, Heart, Spleen and Kidney

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.

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 or 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, edema of the lower body, easily able to bruise, bearing down sensation of the abdomen/ uterus, pale face, shallow breathing, loose stools.

Kidney Qi or Yang Deficiency pattern:
A pattern of menstrual disorders with Kidney Yang Deficiency will often include back soreness before and during menstruation, fatigue, watery menstrual blood, diarrhea just before menstruation, cramps after menstruation begins, ringing in the ears, or a feeling of cold in the body.

*It is important to note that most women have more then one pattern diagnosis as the cause of their PMS symptoms, therefore you may have symptoms from one or all patterns described above.

Come into the clinic 1-2 times per week for acupuncture.  If you like, we  will also prescribe a  Chinese herbal formula for you to take as well. To effectively treat the root cause of the PMS, it takes approximately three menstrual cycles. Some women will see a reduction in their symptoms right away while others it may take a longer period of time. Stress levels, lifestyle, and general health are important factors involved in response time.

 

Oriens founder, Elizabeth Carpenter, MS, L.Ac. & and Oriens Community Leader, Rev. Sandra Bargman

We gather together during the Holiday Season, in celebration and with a sense of the sacred. It is these very things that we most desire for ourselves always -- a sense of joy that celebrates our life, a sense of the sacred. Each of us desires to know that life, our life, has meaning and purpose, that it is grounded in peace and possibilities.

We find that the key to experiencing this lasting hope, joy and sense of peace begins with GRATITUDE. Gratitude supports us in trusting life – as it is. Gratitude connects us to our deepest wisdom and opens the door to self understanding. Gratitude wakes us up and calls us into community.

Gratitude is the crux of the Winter Holidays. Indeed, gratitude for the miracle of life IS the story of Hanukkah, Christmas and the Winter Solstice. Our rituals around them tell us the stories and bring us together in awe and celebration—into community. For it is here, together, that we experience ourselves in a way that gives each one of us a sense of the greater, of purpose.

Though we all lament, and yet participate in, the distraction of commercialism around the holidays, we also all receive the call to this sense of wonder!

From small pangs of loneliness to heaps of glee, the holidays arouse in us the longing AND the possibility of connection, purpose and peace….which begins with gratitude, as our holiday stories teach us.

This season, we celebrate you. We are grateful for you. Thank you for choosing Oriens and being part of the wisdom and wellness community we create here.

Happy Holidays!
Elizabeth & Sandra and the entire Oriens Team

  Speak with Elizabeth about Your Menopause Transition 212-213-5785

When you’re a woman in your 30’s and 40’s, who wants to hear the M word—menopause?

Yet, the truth is that most women will experience a 5-13 year ramp toward it, with the average age of menopause being 51. These years leading up, are known as perimenopause or pre-menopause. The experience is different for every woman—just like her period is.

Could we just mention here that this is NORMAL? It’s not a health hazard or a disease! It’s a life stage that is ushering in what are often referred to as your “power years”—yep, the ones where Life gets really good! 

Menopause: when your period—meno, has stopped for a full year-- pause. Up until that one-year mark, pregnancy is still very much possible ---even if your periods are erratic—so be aware!

Menopause arrives in 3 flavors: natural, premature and induced

Natural ~ you gradually shift toward the end of menstruation and physical changes drift slowly.

Premature ~ the whole transition happens fast and early (before age 40) and instead of 5-13 years, the transition is just a couple years.

Induced ~ through hysterectomy, chemo/radiation, other drugs or illness.

For the natural and premature groups, the perimenopause transition doesn’t need to be difficult and uncomfortable.
Our experience notes that it often goes pretty smoothly for women who take great care of themselves. They often need no medical support in the form of hormones.

So what does “taking great care of yourself” look like?

You attend to your nutrition, and exercise, and clearly choose a lifestyle that reduces stress, entertains all the feelings and identity shifts of this time, and weeds relationships into “supportive-&-keep” and “makeover-or-terminate” categories.

And, you create a simple routine for energy fine-tuning, which can make a HUGE difference in your menopause transition experience! We find acupuncture & herbs and/or Maya Abdominal Massage to be “game changers.”

Because hormone balance is so linked in with other physical and emotional cueing systems, this makes perfect sense. Physically, mentally and spiritually you are literally metamorphosing! So when we build Suround & Support Programs for our 40’s ladies, we always feature the Big 4: Nutrition, Acupuncture, MAM, and Spiritual Counseling.

If you are a woman in your forties, you’re most likely at some point in your peri-menopause journey. How’s it going? Let us know what’s going on with you . . . we probably can help!

  Need to work something through?  Speak with Sandra!  212-213-5785


My husband and I were just visiting some old friends, whom we had not seen in quite a few years, in fact, long enough to be meeting their second child, now 5 years old, for the first time.

Stuffed from a lazy, delicious brunch together at their home, we were putting our coats on to leave, and said second child demanded to put on a performance for us…she was going to sing her new song and accompany herself on the standing banjo. Apparently she had been way too shy to do this before and now, completely emboldened and dripping with passion, she strummed on that banjo, singing her sultry lyrics about “having strange days”. Mesmerizing.
“She’ll grow out of her shyness”, says one parent. I say, “Maybe. Even if she doesn’t, I understand, I still am that way.”
Laughter. “YOU!? Shy!!? ”

Yes, me. I am at home onstage in front of large crowds, bold and outgoing, and at more intimate gatherings, I generally prefer one on one, the loner in the corner, shy and quiet. It took me a long time to embrace both of these aspects of myself, because it didn’t make sense for me to feel both. It just didn’t compute. More to the point, I made a judgment that one was better than the other.

The truth is I am both, the extroverted introvert. My boldness helps me to move forward with gusto. My introversion nourishes my inner landscape. Both express my deepest passions. I have come to understand that I have many of these paradoxes and contradictions. Madly organized Free Spirit, Nurturing Warrior, and Glamorous mountain dweller.

I no longer try to define myself in any direction. These are the distinctions of the ego, and as a spiritual being, I know that I am far vaster. If I allow myself to express the paradoxes, then I get to know much more of myself.

And Life, just like Humans (for we are Life) is no different. Life is full of contradictions. As much as we want life to be organized and to maintain distinctions, it does not flow that way. One of my favorites … “Life isn’t fair, but Life is good.” There are no absolutes in life, except, perhaps Absolute vodka. Cheers to Holy Paradox!

The sooner I can get on board with this deep spiritual understanding and find the sacred space within to hold these paradoxes, the quicker I can get on board with what is happening in my Life. It is all One after all, isn’t it?

Do you have the courage to hold your personal paradoxes? How about the paradoxes of Life?

 Speak with Elizabeth about your health  212-213-5785.

Thyroid issues are underlying so many women’s health concerns in peri-menopause (the decade leading up to menopause) and over 35. 

In my practice, it’s now my routine to send almost every woman straight back to her GYN or RE for FULL labs on thyroid – not just TSH!  It’s impossible to know what’s going on by looking at TSH in isolation.  More times than not it needs support in order to get traction in the more obvious issues showing up:  the symptoms she is complaining of (such as constipation, stubborn weight, wired-tired and insomnia), or for fertility patients, an embryo (natural conception or assisted reproduction) progressing to become a healthy pregnancy.  Thyroid is a key player in many systems, so eventually thyroid imbalance will most likely lead to other problems as well.

This link takes you to an abstract of some research indicating women in the highest 25 percentile range of having the chemical PFFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFFOS (perfluoroctane sulphonate) in their bodies were TWICE as likely as other women to have thyroid disease at the time of testing.  This stuff is found in the industrial compound used in non-stick cookware! (among other places)

What to do….

• Check out the new Thyroid Book In the Oriens waiting room (or click the book icon below) by one of my favorite teachers—Dr. Datis Kharrazian—whose courses in functional endocrinology, thyroid and more have revolutionized the east-west/natural-traditional integrative practice model. 
• 
  

• Have your GYN or RE run FULL labs on your thyroid—including thyroid antibodies check.  If you have values out of line in any panel, before you jump on synthetic replacement hormones, come see Sharon  or me to review options and discuss whether a natural support strategy makes sense for you or if indeed you’d be better served by the straight western route.

 

  Work with Sandra personally, in-office or by phone/Skype.

“Happiness is a choice.”

That is the quote I have as part of my email signature. It’s my quote; although I rest assured I am not the first person to utter those words. I wish I had a buck for every time someone commented on that quote.

I think happiness IS a choice. But I’m not talking about the Hallmark version of happiness. I know a lot of times we confuse happiness with pleasure. We focus on the externals in our life, such as “When I finish this project, then I will be happy. When I get my new car, then I will be happy. When I finish school, then I will be happy.” I know, I’ve said them all. These are the musings of the personality and the ego.

The problem is there is always something more to want, when the reality crashes in that what you thought was going to make you happy, only made you happy for a short amount of time.

So…what I’m really talking about is JOY. I think joy is similar to happiness, but is a deeper and broader experience.

Happiness feels a bit “me, me, me” – which is just fine, but keep in mind that “me, me, me” doesn’t take you through the tough times. And you can be sure that there are always going to be tough times in life. Happiness is emotional and is fleeting, joy is an attitude about life, your life, and can remain even when happiness seems elusive.

The experience of joy brings us out of Self and into other and a sense of something “Greater” than ourselves, God/Goddess/Source/Awareness, whatever you want to call it.

We know full well that chaos and spirit crushing events happen in life…and it is our internal reaction to these things that dictate whether we are having a joyful and peaceful life.

Therefore JOY is the deep abiding serenity and poise we experience when we are grounded in our willingness to know the good that we have and that we are, to know the Universe’s power for good.

It is our power  to choose how we feel. It is our choice to profoundly know that our Life is in complete support of us.  In making this choice, we open our hearts to Hope!

  Rachel teaches Nia dance every week.  Join the fun!


I recently began a course on Positive Psychology at New York University where I’m completing my Masters in Social Work. Positive psychology asks the question what is authentic happiness and how does one raise his or her level of well-being or life satisfaction?

The founder of Positive Psychology, Martin E. P. Seligman writes in his book, Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment , about an important element of a fulfilled and meaningful life called flow.

Flow is the state that a person experiences when they are doing an activity in which they are so engaged that time seems to stop. Seligman describes flow as a time when “our sense of self vanishes” and there is a “deep, effortless involvement.”

Seligman says one of the keys to a more fulfilling life is identifying your strengths or the experiences that bring the sense of flow and crafting your life in such a way to include more moments to utilize those strengths.

Taking it a step further, Seligman says you can find even more fulfillment by using your strengths and applying them to a cause that is greater than yourself.

Seligman is very vocal about the fact that Positive Psychology and the study of mental well-being, just like the study of mental illness, is backed by scientific research.

It is nice to know that there is a technique for increasing one’s happiness that has been backed by science, but regardless of this, I find the concept of flow and applying it to a higher purpose quite beautiful. It is also somewhat simple and relatable, I have to say.

I think many of us can identify times in our lives when we were so engaged, that time stopped. Even more beautiful is to be engaged in such an activity knowing that the results will be for the benefit of something greater than yourself.

If instead of seeking simple pleasures and instant gratifications we all sought moments of flow in service of others, how different would the world be?


Rachel teaches Nia dance every week.  Join the fun!

  Call (212.213.5785) or email Elizabeth to talk about your fertility challenge.

I have the special privilege of working closely, every day,  with the most incredible SuperWomen seeking to conceive a child in the midst of their SuperWoman lives.   Their challenge is not easy.  Among other things, they must re-direct some of their energy away from the behaviors that make them super successful in the world, toward behaviors that make them more fertile.  The hardest one is getting a handle on worry and control.  To enhance fertility, we want to induce the Relaxation Response. 

As mammals, we are biologically set up to not go into heat or reproduce when there is danger.  That's a hard wired safety mechanism Nature has brilliantly installed.  If your senses are reporting to your brain that you are safe, it sets the chemistry and messaging signals in play that permit reproduction.  If it receives input that you are in danger (i.e. on a daily basis you are telling yourself the story that things are not right--stressed out), it favors the chemistry of the stress response...ultimately competing with reproduction both by restricting blood flow to the reproductive organs and by allowing stress hormones to dock where reproductive hormones would.  Yikes.

You can imagine this is a snowball downhill. The more trouble you have with fertility, the more you want to control the situation and do everything you can and do it perfectly.  Yet, that worry-control-fear factor sends the internal message you are in danger, putting your goal further out of reach.

Below is an email response I sent to a SuperWoman worried and angry at herself today...because she unwittingly made a mistake. She went in for an IUI and found out she hadn't ovulated yet...meanwhile, she had taken the post-ovulation herb formula I prescribed, for just one day:

"Hi [Superwoman],

First, there is rarely a reason to be mad at oneself. Did you do your best? Did you use your very best reasoning to make your decision? Did you have your own and others' best interests at heart when you performed the action or decision? Would you be angry at someone else if they did the same thing? Treat yourself with the respect and kindness you accord others.

Second, you have nothing to worry about. Natural medicine is powerful, yet its intervention works differently than the way drugs work. Herbs are not pharmaceuticals, even though pharmaceuticals are often derived from herbs. Rather, herbs are invitations to the body to perform at a higher level. While each prescription is targeted to enhance the goals of that half of the cycle, they will not harm the other half. Simply use the follicular herbs until you clearly have ovulated.

Third, do your breathing. Find something to laugh at. Enjoy your weekend. And know that you are doing everything you need to be doing. Nothing more is required or possible....except to give your body the leg up it gets when you relax.

Fourth, buy this short, quick read of a book: The Four Agreements. That's your homework."

It’s August 27^th, 2010 and today is the anniversary of my beloved Mother’s passing. It’s not an easy day for me… and this could very easily be a real downer for the topic of my blog. But the truth is I see it a day to celebrate her life, and mine.  I have also come to realize that by sharing my (our) grief, by telling the story of my (our) grief, I can come to understand it’s power of transformation. This, too, is something to celebrate.

My mother passed away after a long battle with cancer. While her struggle with the disease and the attending pain was devastating, the drawn out nature of her passing offered the unexpected gift of time to make sure all had been said, shared, and tenderly held. When I received a call from my father giving me the news that mother had been given a prognosis of “3-6 months”, the inevitable screeched into my mind, and all fantasies of dramatic recoveries were over.  I was sitting on the back porch of a friends’ home.  At the precise minute that I hung up the phone with my father, frozen with disbelief, poised to explode into tears, a hummingbird arrived, buzzing right up next to me, mere inches from my face.

Native American wisdom, which is a part of my personal spiritual practice, speaks of the “medicine” of animals. According to this belief, each animal has great wisdom, or medicine, to impart. It is said that Hummingbird conjures love as no other medicine does, and that Hummingbird feathers can open the heart.  Without an open and loving heart, you can’t drink deeply of the ‘nectar of the flower’, the great joys of life.

My mother loved life. Like a Hummingbird darting from one beautiful flower to another, she tasted the many joys of life. She brought people together and brought out the very best in them.  Harmony and beauty were her gifts to all of us. She had loads of Hummingbird medicine to share.

In that split second when I received the call and the hummingbird came, I had this strange glimmer of recognition that there was going to be a gift of beauty and joy for me. And somewhere inside me, I could have clearly articulated that, even in that moment.

My mother did not see 6 months, or even 3. She died 24 days later. I was with her in that tremendously painful and overwhelmingly beautiful moment. A precious gift.  The grief that engulfed me after her death became my great teacher.  Wise, unyielding, paradisiacal. She was my best friend in life, and her death broke my heart – but a broken heart is an open heart. 

I descended into grief, but slowly, ever so slowly, I ascended, with a deeper appreciation for the joys of life, for the gifts she gave me, in life, through her illness, and in her death.

In honor of my Mother, and the Hummingbird medicine that we now both have, I’ve hung a hummingbird feeder on my back porch. As I write, there are 2 beautiful Hummingbirds feeding.

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


Need to talk or work something through? Rev. Sandra can help!