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COLOR ME HAPPY WITH ACUPUNCTURE BY SARAH KALB, LAC, MAOM, RTT

For me, it made the colors brighter. I stepped outside into a gray & wintery day in Vermont, and the colors were bright.

I had just had my very first acupuncture treatment, (actually, to treat some pretty bad asthma from bronchitis that I’d had for months), and it was already coloring my world.

Being a 3000 year old medicine, acupuncture has helped many people with many different conditions. It is well known to be effective for pain alleviation, less well known, yet just as effective at treating chronic diseases and symptoms, and the most studied and applied efficient medical treatment focusing on how women’s bodies function and flourish. The reason for Chinese medicine being credited for treating women so effectively goes back in history to the desire for Chinese people to have sons born into the family, in order to run their farmland. The Chinese studied women’s health; the reproductive cycles, their hormones, what altered their hormones, the mind-body-spiritual & emotional connection, at all stages of each woman’s lifetime.

Throughout my years of acupuncture practice, I can honestly say that acupuncture makes people feel better. It helps people to get healthier, and it strengthens from the inside out. Often, people feel a bit different after their very first treatment – more relaxed, usually. After a few consecutive acupuncture treatments, people notice a slight difference in the way they perceive things and react to people or situations – a slight internal shift is noticed. And, as the acupuncture treatments build on one another, a gradual strength builds within and people start feeling more accepting of them self, behave kinder toward them self, and they make better choices for themselves. Acupuncture helps to bring balance to the person on physical, mental-emotional, and spiritual levels.

And I have noticed what acupuncture has done for the people who have invested in their health with regular treatments: acupuncture nourishes confidence.

People usually seek acupuncture for a specific health problem (as I had with my asthma), and because acupuncture treats thewhole person, it is therefore, very effective at allowing the body to provide what the person is in need of. Whether it be pain relief, hormone balance, less stress & anxiety, and even brighter colors in their world.

Oh – and that first treatment for that debilitating (kind that takes a 4 mile a day runner at the age of 20, and makes her pause to grab the stair rail just to suck wind) asthma? Well, by the time I had walked to my car across the road, I noticed I was breathing 80% better than in when I had walked in to the acupuncture office.

Sarah practices Vitality Acupuncture at Signature Wellness, and is an advocate for gentle, natural, and whole healing for each individual to experience their best self and a better life. Sarah holds a dual master’s in Acupuncture & Chinese herbal medicine from the New England School of Acupuncture in Boston. Get in touch with Vitality @ (850)736-4325 or email: Sarah@VitalityAcupuncture.Net

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REFRESH IN YOUR NEW YEAR!

As we go into the new year 2018 together, Id like to share the top 3 most simple, favorite, nourishing tips that we give in our clinic to feel better and be better…
1. Speak kindly to yourself. Shift that voice inside your head to be supportive, gentle, encouraging, and non-judgmental. Talk to yourself as you would a friend. That running to-do list? -At the end of the day, pat yourself on the back for what you DID accomplish! When you look in the mirror- bypass the wrinkles and announce “It’s a GOOD-lookin’ day! (With extra enthusiasm if your young daughter is watching;) Tap into your inner dork, and discover your funny side again. We all have it.
2. Notice how you feel 20 minutes to 3 hours after you eat something. Full, and then hungry soon after? Nourished, comfortable and content? Did your food give you energy to support you through your day, or make you tired? Quality food nourishes our body and mind, giving us physical energy and strength and mental clarity and focus. Eat the colors of the rainbow – in nature, not from a Skittles packet!
3. Breathe. Best and most challenging tip I dish out ever, over and over. Really breathe. With a big HUGE exhale and let it all go… Then do it again, 3 more times. Did you know the tops of your lungs go up to your clavicles or collar bones? Most people barely belly breathe. Most people have a very uncomfortable time exhaling. Breathe out what you want to let go; Breathe in possibilities, opportunities, hope…whatever you want to let in, accept, become. Work it.
So, the thoughts that fire, wire. Meaning, our thoughts fire neurons in our brains which create or wire pathways: What we think changes our brains. What you believe to be true, is. Regarding the food- unless you are a baby cow, dairy is not the healthiest choice. (More on that to come;) And, even just 3 quality deep breathes can start tapping into your happy endorphins- serotonin, oxytocin…You know- the same feel good ones that you feel after an acupuncture treatment.
That’s it! Practice any 1 of those tips and things will start shifting for you. Adopt all 3 and you may just bust out with your happy-dance because you feel so good! Happy New Year to you!
-Sarah Newman Kalb, Acupuncture Physician @ Vitality Acupuncture LLC
VitalityAcupuncture.Net
(850)736-4325
913 Gulf Breeze Parkway #15A
Gulf Breeze, FL 32561

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VAGUS NERVE ACUPUNCTURE FOR DYSAUTONOMIA/ POTS RELIEF

Vagus Nerve Acupuncture for Dysautonomia / POTS Relief
The Vagus nerve point is one of the most potent acupuncture points to use when treating people who have the challenge of managing dysautonomia and is therefore included in our acupuncture POTS protocol. The Vagus nerve is the longest, cranial “wandering” nerve that covers the heart and innervates most major organs, impacting the cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, respiratory, and digestive systems. The Vagus nerve also impacts the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems.

Creating Homeostasis
In the case of dysautonomia, a few of the major complications are gastroparesis accompanied by intense pain and vomiting, bradycardia, syncope or fainting, and inability to sweat. Gastroparesis is the result of underactive vagus nerve activity, with delayed gastric emptying and inhibited peristalsis – or the inability to digest food and its’ nutrients, necessary to live. At the same time, an overactive vagus nerve can cause an abnormally low heart rate and fainting, or vasovagal syncope due to a sudden drop in cardiac output.

Whether the vagus nerve is hypo or hyper aroused, both in the case of dysautonomia, treating the vagus nerve acupuncture point encourages the body toward homeostasis and efficient function. Since the body has a natural tendency toward maintaining homeostasis and optimal functioning for survival, vagal nerve stimulation, via acupuncture, communicates the appropriate need for increasing or subduing vagal nerve function.

The Benefits of Acupuncture
Acupuncture, in particular, reminds the body how to heal itself. Acupuncture is clinical medicine that treats illness, disease, pain and inflammation and it encourages the maintenance of our homeostasis or balance. For example, the same acupoint can be treated for either high or low blood pressure and the body will adjust accordingly to establish that happy 120/80 range. Same with a fever or a hot flash – treating a certain acupuncture point can drop body temperature in order to recuperate our perfect 98.6-degree F.

Summary About the Vagus Nerve
Acupuncture can help to establish proper Vagal tone, which seems imperative when managing dysautonomia, POTS, and many of the debilitating side effects of the disease. People with dysautonomia have common symptoms from the disease, yet, are also navigating very individual complications. The beauty of acupuncture is that it is a catalyst for the body to do what it needs to do, according to each individual’s necessary health requirements. Including the Vagus nerve acupuncture point in a patient’s customized acupuncture treatment plan, should be of serious consideration – for the benefit of a person’s quality of life… Isn’t that the Point?:)
Written 3/25/18
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Sarah Newman Kalb, Acupuncture physician, MAOM @ Vitality Acupuncture LLC in Gulf Breeze, FL
VitalityAcupuncture.Net (850)736-4325

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DOES IT HURT?

Does It Hurt? ( See cute pic;)
The second most posed question when people come in for an acupuncture treatment is, “Does it hurt?”
My favorite response: My five year old daughter asks for it. She gets off the bus, chucks her backpack to
the ground, raises her little, exasperated hands to her head and says, “Mom! I had a SO, SO stressful day!” (In kindergarten;) “ I need my achoopunture! I want Yintang and my stomach points.” Which are
actually on her legs, as she point to them. She gets into her comfy spot, does her yoga breathing and after 3 teeny acupuncture needles, she usually falls asleep within minutes! Right away, the body starts producing the calming, feel-good endorphins, such as, serotonin and oxytocin, so people start relaxing. If there is pain, the anti-inflammatories that start getting released begin to soothe the pain. For example, the young babies that have been brought in by their parents for care, respond with curiosity when the teeny acupuncture needles get inserted, for such things as constipation. No tears, no crying! And, because children are amazingly efficient at healing, they have typically had a bowel movement within minutes to hours, after struggling from painful constipation for days. Happy little one = happy parent! If the little people stories didn’t convince you, that acupuncture is more relaxing than painful, our furry friends and actually even the bald ones;) love to get treatments. My golden chomped a bumblebee one time, out in the boonies, on a Sunday. Within a very few minutes her face started swelling up and she was gasping for breath, as I can only guess the bee probably stung her somewhere in her throat. Knowing I didn’t have access to a vet within miles on a Sunday, and only being a student of acupuncture at the time, I wasn’t yet experienced with the effects of acupuncture but I was too scared not to try. Two little needles in her paws to treat the face and throat and Yintang again, my daughter’s favorite point,
and within minutes my pup was breathing normally with her face swelling dissipating! Granted, golden retrievers are pretty chill in general but at no point did she try to get the needles out or off or even react in pain, so it must have hurt a lot less than that bee sting. I’m sharing these stories in hopes to alleviate some of the fear that people have around acupuncture because a lot of people could benefit from the efficacy of these treatments. Acupuncture is the oldest clinical medicine in the world & it reminds the body how to heal itself : It helps people to be pain-free, avoid surgery, and treat illness and disease. It restores calm balance. It’s very effective and efficient with the right prescription series for each person. So don’t let the fear of needles hold you back from getting what you need to be healthier! Find yourself a properly educated acupuncture physician (Google nccaom.Org); find someone that you feel comfortable with and trust, and go experience how strong & balanced you are truly able to feel. And
don’t forget to ask for Yintang;)