Self Healing Tips

January Self-Healing Tips

Written by Karen Wright MTCM, L.Ac.

Ah, January, the month of promises. Those New Year resolutions we say we are not going to make, but then make them anyway, either quietly to ourselves or loud and proud to anyone who will listen to you or read your blog. No matter how you declare your resolutions, there is only one ingredient necessary to make them manifest. The ingredient is WILL POWER. In Chinese Medicine, every organ system has an emotion or spirit energy connected with it. The organ system that relates to will power are the Kidneys. Ironically, the season which corresponds to the Kidneys is in fact wintertime. So let’s address how to awaken the energy of the Kidneys to get us through winter, and through our resolutions, with strength in preparation for the upcoming Spring.

February Self-Healing Tips

Written by Julie Festa, L.Ac.

If there were one medicinal item I could take with me anywhere anytime and only one it would be some form of ginger.  Fresh ginger, Sheng Jiang to the Chinese, is a true phenomenon.  Warming, clearing, soothing, grounding, harmonizing – what else can you ask for from a medicinal food? 

May Self-Healing Tips

Written by Julie Festa, L.Ac

As Spring expands its way slowly into Summer, Wood energy builds.  Now more than ever it is high time to cleanse and fortify the Liver.  The Liver wants to be relaxed.  It wants to be the energy of ease while we meander towards our goals. 

The Liver, in its greatest health, is not overly ambitious.  It has plans, it has strategies, but its tactics even if direct, are very calm.  They include the obstacles that come along in life; the Liver does not resist, but it yields, in its greatest health.  In Chinese medicine, the Liver houses the soul, so remember that anything you do to nourish your Liver this month is also going to nourish your soul.

An excellent herb for the Liver that is readily available in almost any back yard or farmer’s market is fresh mint leaves.  To soothe the Liver, clear the eyes, improve digestion and vision, and to vent wind-heat, try some fresh mint herbal tea.  Gather the leaves from your garden or at the farmer’s market.  Close your eyes and take in their delicious scent.  Wash and boil mint leaves in filtered water for 5-10 minutes, depending on desired strength, for a delicious morning or afternoon spring drink. 

September Self-Healing Tips

Written by Julie Festa, L.Ac.

September is a time considered in some schools of Chinese medical thought to be the fifth season, Late Summer, ruled by the Earth element. Other theories designate the Earth element to the times between the seasons. Whatever your perspective, two basic underlying ideas are similar. One, this is a time of transition between summer and fall either way, and either way ruled by the Earth element. Two, the Earth element offers an embracing of change, and its bounty can help us through transitions and transformations.

November Self-Healing Tips

Written by Julie Festa, L.Ac.

November takes us deeper into autumn. It is time to organize and focus. We begin our process of contraction which keeps us focused inward throughout the coming winter. Sour foods resonate this contraction in the subtle energies of the body. It is also important for us, as we reflected on in last month's newsletter, to moisten and nourish the body's fluids. Autumn is called the dry season in Chinese medicine. So try this for a warming, focusing, cleansing, and moistening treat:

April Self-Healing Tips

Written by Julie Festa, L.Ac.

Chinese Nutritional

The ancient Chinese taoist sages were rumored to have eaten a small handful of Gou Qi Zi every day to ensure longevity and good health. Now in April 2006 these gems of good health have made a come back into our modern culture of well-being and prevention. Goji berries play an especially delicious role in an empowering and nourishing diet at this time of year, for Spring is the time to love, cleanse, and nourish your liver. One of the most important roles of a healthy liver is to fight off and protect against stress and nervous tension. Eating a small amount of Goji berries regularly is an excellent way to help you do just that. Tibetan Goji berries in particular are grown with care and without pesticides, so go ahead and step into your local health food store, walk on over to Dragon Herbs, or jump online to himalania.com and reach through the millennia for your handful right now.

June Self-Healing Tips

Written by Julie Festa, L.Ac.

As we transition into June, the key players of good- health switch out. Spring starred the Liver and Gallbladder; Summer, however, sets the Heart and Small Intestine center stage. In the five elements system of Chinese medicine, we are moving from Wood into Fire. Where Wood is expansive, Fire is light, bright, creative. Fire requests us to express our joy, to travel, to work, and to help others.

October Self-Healing Tips

Written by Julie Festa, L.Ac.

October brings most of us an increase of work, social get-togethers and other activities. As the days grow shorter and the weather grows cooler, our to-do lists grow longer, social obligations stack up, and immune systems falter. This can cause what’s known in Western culture as good-old-fashioned stress.

February Self-Healing Tips

Written by Julie Festa, L.Ac.

February is one day longer this year. That means, other than that the Summer Olympics happen and that we vote for President in November, that we have one extra day to practice our February self-healing. It also means that winter is 1 day longer this year. Extra time to go inward. Extra time to meditate. Extra time to cultivate the energy of the Kidneys.

June Self-Healing Tips

Written by Julie Festa, L.Ac.


I have noticed in the people around me lately the fragility of the human body. We so often forget that are not indestructible, and we are not super-human. Rather, we are spiritual beings in human form, and we have a duty to honor and care for our physical bodies as vehicles through which we can continually transform.

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