Winter 2023 The Wellness of Balance newsletter from Red Tree Wellness

The Wellness of Balance 

Winter 2023 News and Tips

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Winter transition & updates
• Tan Fave of the season
• News from the team
• Winter health reminder
• Clinic FYI’s…

Hello,

On November 8, 2023, the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar states that “Winter Stands Up” and takes its turn. This means, the cold (vs cool) and reducing in daylight trend begins. This is a Yin and nourishing time, akin to Water that nourishes a plan, and is an optimal time to turn inward and reflect. Are you feeling burnout from the year? What do you need in this time to renourish inward and yourself? Winter and the time of the Water phase is a time to reflect and meditate on what our inner soul wants and needs. Water being an intuitive and sensory element/phase, has a heightened awareness. Our task is to get out of our head, and listen to our gut, our senses. Listen to your wise mind and inner spirit. As we roll into January, this is the last stage of the CHinese year and that which no longer serves should be shed. Moreover, Winter and the colder months with less light, is a natural time for things to slow down…and refill your cup. It’s ok to feel a slowdown, less energy, and do less. It’s ok to downturn. It’s not natural in fact to always go at the same speed or higher, all the time. Chinese medicine believes optimal health is about following the natural ebbs and flows of nature. You have permission now to take 1 day out of your active life per week, pull on those warm socks and chillax. Do that now! 

My recent trip to Indonesia to see my family reminded me of how happy and peaceful we can be with simple things. I am grateful for that opportunity to re-ground, and to re-nourish. In North America, we have a hustle and a bustle, an expectation and standard, that may sometimes be unbalanced. I’ve witnessed such loving peace with much less, which reaffirms my next chapter in life. That is, a “simple and easy” theme as well as passing on the knowledge. As you know, we’ve restructured the clinic such that it runs at a more simple way, while still providing you support from the professional and amazing team here at Red Tree Wellness. We have fully transitioned over, so that means you should be familiar with managing your appointments with our online booking calendar (we can still help you out), submitting your receipts to insurance on your own, and securely pay each practitioner directly at the end of your appointment. Many health clinics already operate this way, and we hope you find this smooth.

Speaking of transitions, in my personal practice, I am replacing the Acupuncture packages with a Health Rewards system. This is also to be more inline with the industry standards and governing body recommendations. My RTW Health Rewards program will be… wait for it — simple and easy! Anyone can join, and after every 6th visit, you’ll receive a $15 RTW Gift Card! You may use this gift card right away or save it for later. You may also instead use it to purchase anything in the shop or herbal pharmacy. Ask about it next time you are in! 

One more note about transitions, I’ll be taking clinical time off between December 22, 2023 to January 17, 2024. You can always book online, email or call if you wish to book ahead. Our calendar will let you book 9 weeks ahead of time. If you are a planner, my teaching schedule next year entails 1 or 2 weeks away from the clinic in March, April and July thus far.  

With every newsletters that I wrote beginning 18 years ago, I always aimed to have a theme each of the 5 times I send out seasonal news. My reflection this time is introducing some of my favourite go-to external items I take with me while I travel and why. To kick things off, one of my airplane and EMF absorption favourites is Shungite. Travelling is tiring enough, so I aim to reduce anything that may zap my energy. I take earplugs or noise cancelling headphones, an eye mask and layers of clothes (comfort options). Besides all the navigation for the mind, EMF’s, airplane noise and time zone changes can drain energy. Shungite was introduced to me when I was teaching in Quebec several years ago, where the setup of the room was poor, and there was a lot of harmful Feng Shui energy directed at me, such as facing the door at the end of a long hallway, the bright lights, and lots of angles and pillars in the room. I had a very bad headache the first day of teaching and my acupoint stimulator was not strong enough. A student gave me a Shungite bracelet to wear, and it took my headache down to below 50%. I was grateful and made it through the rest of the weekend. Now I wear a Shungite bracelet and/or a necklace to help absorb all this extra energy from travelling, not just my normal in my life and notice how it reduces my drain and takes the edge off my senses of the environment and people. While I practice Qigong for this also, this has been a little extra help especially when I may be tired and have less capacity to build my own “Jade Curtain” from external stimuli. I also wear the bracelet to bed wherever I am staying, again to absorb differing and negative energy (including people) around. When I am home in Vancouver, I still sometimes wear this to bed, when I want to make sure I have less interference of energy while I am sleeping. If you don’t have Shungite, Tourmaline is also used for similar reasons, to absorb energy. Black is the colour of the Water element in Chinese medicine and metaphysics, which has a very adaptable and resonating energy. Look at how much a river can contain as it flows! If you are a sensory person, this may help calm things down for you and feel less drained.

News from the Red Tree Wellness Team – Suzanne Williams, RTCMP

Wellness Rewards from Suzanne Williams, R.TCM.P

An important part of taking care of your health is consistency! Reward yourself for being proactive in your healing and self-care by: 

• Following the recommended course of treatment outlined by your trusted health care provider. 
  • Full recovery from illness or injury doesn’t typically happen after one treatment (if only it would!), so following the recommended dose of acupuncture or Chinese medicine as prescribed is important. The treatment plan I craft for you is carefully considered, and it is based on your unique condition and constitution. There is no one-size-fits-all in Chinese medicine! Your care plan is dynamic, as I reassess and adjust it at each visit based on your progress. My goal is to have you graduate from more frequent symptom relief to occasional maintenance care. 
• Scheduling prevention and maintenance care throughout the year to stave off flares or recurrences of illness or injury. That is the true essence of health care, rather than sick care!  

As a bonus, I will reward you when you follow through on your self-care! For every ten visits (acupuncture, Chinese medicine or manual therapies), I will gift you a $10 credit on your account that you can put towards a future treatment. Managing your health care pays! 

Reward yourself by booking now at www.redtreewellness.ca 

News from the Red Tree Wellness Team – Kathleen Dang, ND, RAc

Seasonal Injection Boost Available – Special Winter pricing!

The season change is a great reminder to shift our attention to “winterizing” our health through good self-care. This is the time to put intent on supporting immunity, restoring energy, and lifting mood.

At your next acupuncture or ND appointment, inquire about adding a seasonal injection to bolster your immunity, energy and mood. It will only take a couple of minutes and is relatively pain-free!

Special Winter Pricing (while supplies last only)!

• B12 Injection

• 2500 mcg of Methylcobalamin
• $40.50 (value $54) – 25% off

• Vitamin D injection

• 10,000 iu
• $48 (value $64) – 25% off
• frequency depends on current levels, further inquiry may be needed.

This pricing is for add-on to an existing appointment only. Feel free to email me for further inquiry at drdang@redtreewellness.ca.

Be well and see you soon!

Dr. Kathy Dang ND, RAc

Naturopathic Physician & Registered Acupuncturist

Winter Health Reminder

A reminder now is the time to stew and soup! Warm and slow cooked foods are easier to digest, keep the digestive fire warm, and as a result, keep your Immunity strong. This is important now as the cold weather will constantly challenge our Yang/warming and Immunity Qi. Not only does our Wei-Defensive Qi need Yang Qi (warmth) to fight (action), it cultivates that Yang Qi partly from our Digestion. Thus, keeping our digestion warm is very important. I’m reminding you it is a hard stop to salads now! Raw vegetables are cold in action and hard to digest (which strains the digestive system). This will greatly reduce your digestive fire, leading to signs like bloating, gas, bowel problems, even nausea and vomiting on the extreme end. Keep that pilot light on and fire going, with gentle spices and warming foods now until the Spring!

 

Clinic FYI’s…

Lastly we finish off with our traditional quick clinic FYI’s:

• Travelling this Winter? Take along our essential oil Traveller Duo, to help you enjoy your vacation without worrying about your sleep. This pack contains Wake-Up Call to help you perk up in the morning and Sleep Well to promote deeper, more restful sleep. A must-have for travelling across time zones!
• We have new products in the RTW online shop and clinic to support your health and lifestyle: 
  • Shungite Bracelets – May help absorb EMFs and ground energy.
  • Shen Naturals Chinese herbal soap – We love how smooth our skin feels using this soap. Several patients with psoriasis have reported that it has helped clear their skin! 
  • Fascia Buddy Silicone Cups LITE – Easier to use solo than the original Fascia Buddies!

 

• When you buy from Red Tree, you’re supporting a local small businesses! Grab some of our favourite self-care items: Fascia Buddy cups, Argan Oil, Gua Sha tools, or our proprietary essential oil blends. Ask for them next time you are in the clinic, or buy them at our e-shop!
• Remember to check out our YouTube Channel for video tips – https://www.youtube.com/c/RedTreeWellnessCa

 

We wish you a nourishing winter! 

Yours in good health and happiness,

Dr. Sonia F. Tan, DAOM and the Red Tree Wellness team