Propolis back in stock just in time for fall immune boosting season!
Propolis and honey products back in stock, just in time for fall immune boosting season!
The Wellness of Balance
Spring-Summer transtion 2024 News and Tips
IN THIS ISSUE:
Hello,
It’s always a pleasure to reach out every season to you to offer Chinese medicine tips and news. I consider every patient a part of my village that I help promote wellness and health care. This is just like the doctors of ancient China where they were in charge of a village or town, and the health of all of its citizens. The physician was compensated as long as the people stayed healthy. Payment stopped if you were ill. Chinese medicine has a basis and strength in the ability to see when function is going sideways before it becomes a major problem and therefore may be more difficult to get back on track. In addition, Chinese medicine’s model of the body and health give us many tools on how to make choices that promote prevention and longevity. It’s always exciting for me when I am able to help a patient out of relief and corrective care (sick or regulation care), and get to the point of tune up or maintenance care (health care), because that is the ultimate goal of health care → self-sustaining wellness and longevity!
Every Earth Month is a transition month which happens 4 times a year in the Chinese lunisolar calendar. They are the transitions between seasons. April is one of those. Earth months are times to be aware of how the past couple months of that season has gone, and what changes you’d like to make for the next seasonal months. That’s really an opportunity 4 times a year to step back and look at the big picture, taking stock of your life. What are you grateful for and what would you like to create differently next?
As we have reached the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere in March in the Chinese lunisolar calendar, it is the midpoint of spring or warming trend. The trajectory will take a turn to even more warmth and sunlight. You may feel that Qi of the warmth sunlight brings a spring to your step. Spring and the Yang Qi of the sun gives us life, new life, new growth. This is a good time to slowly come out of hibernation, and get more movement, circulation to create growth. [Side note: If you need some motivation or something new, be on the look out for some new Taiji Qigong classes I’ll be offering. I’ve been going through Qigong Teacher Training for the last 3 years, and I am now Certified in Level 1 (of 4). Keep your eye out for some future Qigong classes run by me, or ask next time you are in. ;)]
The next in my series of my favourite go-to external items I take with me while I travel and why is essential oils. Time zone travel can be not easy with adjusting to new circadian rhythms, as well as those darn time changes! For those that have some insomnia to begin with, sometimes travelling can make things worse. I’ve been lucky to usually be a good sleeper (except for on airplanes). But I still always travel with single essential oils and also my Travel Pack Essential Oil (EO) blend. Being a teacher, I like to be well rested and energetic to be at my best for my students. Even if I was not teaching, essential oils and this travel pack are important to me to help me adjust quickly and smoothly. From the start as a student, I loved essential oils. They are the essential core cells, or “Jing” as we say in Chinese medicine, of the plant. A little goes a long way if you apply it topically. By inhaling them also, they are going directly to the limbic system through the olfactory senses, which is our emotional centre and mediates a physiological response. In Chinese medicine, inhaling them through our nose goes directly to our Brain or as we call it, the “Shen” or Spirit/Mind, thus regulating our Shen/Mind. You can use Lavender to help promote Sleep rest and relaxation (I always travel with Lavender also for any skin irritations or bruises besides sleep and calmness), and Lemon to wake up and clear the mind. Inhale if you don’t know what acupoints to use, and ask us for our acupoint card next time you are in. The Travel Pack is composed of 2 roll-on blends that you may already have heard me speak about in the clinic. One is the infamous Sleep Well EO which you may have received as part of your treatment plan. This improves the quality of your restorative sleep, even if the duration is short! Yes! Next in the pair is the Wake Up Call. This literally, wakes up your mind and brain and spirit, and clears those cobwebs. Yes! Gotta have it right!? Happy circadian rhythm flow!
A reminder now is the time to keep your scarf on. Another food tip is to eat more dates coupled with ginger and some cinnamon! This could be a tea, lightly sweetened with brown sugar. You could also substitute the dates with Goji berries and ginger with peppermint if you find ginger too hot. The reasons for this blend now is to help build our cellular foundation of “Blood” coupled with the protective Qi energy of our Defensive-Wei Qi, to fend off the Windy weather that can easily carry pathogens or allergens. When we make our Defensive-Wei Qi stronger, we make our outer Jade Curtain stronger. Moreover, when taken in a tea form, it focuses more on the Mind and mental health, so helps both ground us and give us some mental energy – a beautiful balance. 🙂
Originally, I was going to keep to my regular schedule of 5 newsletters a year. However with my most recent changes to the clinic to allow me to teach more, my mantra of simple + easy is speaking to me. As my teaching schedule increases, keeping my practice and clinic simple is important for me to devote energy to quality teaching and the future of the medicine. Thus, you may see less newsletters now, as we at Red Tree keep up the simple+easy way of flowing. In fact, I am sitting here writing this to you in an airport after teaching in Chile and on my way to a seminar for my own continued learning with a Master I’ve been following since 2004. It’s a treat to be able to see him in person as he too, also travels a lot to teach. I look forward to sharing my knowledge with you in future newsletters! I know the team here at Red Tree Wellness also does, so look for continued sprinkles of tips from all of us!
We wish you an energizing Spring & Summer!
Yours in good health and happiness,
Dr. Sonia F. Tan, DAOM (DAOM degree), RTCMP, and the Red Tree Wellness team of Dr. Kathleen Dang, ND, RAc & Suzanne Williams, MBA, RTCMP