Healthspan Blog

Last weekend I attended a NIA workshop at the Kripalu Yoga Institute in Lenox, Massachusetts. Carlos Rosas, co-founder of the technique, led our “Dancing Through Life” workshop. NIA, an acronym for Neuromuscular Integrative Action, is an amazing mind, body and spirit approach to fitness.

You may think that a website devoted to acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an odd place to be discussing a fitness technique, but if you consider that TCM also focuses on keeping the body in balance to maintain health by addressing the mind, body and spirit of each individual, you will see that there is a definite correlation.

I was first introduced to NIA about fifteen years ago. Like it is for so many people, NIA was life changing for me. NIA incorporates moves from nine fitness disciplines, including tae kwon do, tai chi, yoga, jazz and modern dance. Each routine adds visualizations and vocalizations to enhance the workout. NIA is all about body awareness and appreciation. Specific moves are choreographed to promote strength, flexibility, mobility, agility and stability. NIA movements are designed to release emotions in a healthy way and cultivate personal power and self-confidence. For me, NIA was instrumental in my decision to change careers at the age of 50.

But it wasn’t until I was actually studying TCM in Albuquerque, NM several years later and found a NIA class out there, that I realized why NIA was so powerful. NIA is done in bare feet. Each NIA step is designed to activate the acupuncture point on the bottom of the foot (KI 1), taking in energy from the earth. Every movement that opens all of the energy pathways on the front of the body is followed by a movement that opens all of the energy pathways on the back of the body – balancing the yin and the yang energies. Finger flicks activate the jing well points on the hands. Visualizations often bring in the elements of wind, water, earth and fire – another integral part of Chinese medicine. And I could go on.

“The NIA Technique” book pictured here discusses all of the NIA moves and is a great reference for both the curious and the serious NIA student. Many testimonials are included from people who found relief from such conditions as arthritis, depression and fibromyalgia. But the book doesn’t compare to actually experiencing a NIA class. You can go to www.nia-now.com to find an instructor near you. You won’t be sorry!

About the author

Joyce Marley is a NYS licensed acupuncturist and is trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has practiced NIA for ten years and continues to attend classes and workshops.

I often give my patients homework to do between acupuncture treatments. This homework commonly involves acupressure. Sometimes small seeds are applied to the ear to stimulate corresponding parts of the body to relieve pain. Sometimes points are stimulated on the hand corresponding to Korean Hand acupuncture points. And sometimes pressure is applied directly to the meridian acupuncture points.

Acupressure can address acute symptoms between the acupuncture treatments which in turn focus on addressing the underlying imbalance in the body that is causing the pain, symptom or disease.

Here is a short video clip I found on YouTube demonstrating the use of acupressure to relief constipation. The narrator explains that this technique can be helpful for those incidences of constipation that many people experience while travelling.

The chops to the side of the hand are stimulating the small intestine meridian. The pats to the elbows are stimulating the large intestine meridian.

About the Author:
Joyce Marley is a licensed acupuncturist who provides acupuncture therapy in New Hartford, NY. She writes alternative health articles about acupuncture and Oriental medicine.

If I had to pick one event in the last six years that had the most impact on my career as an acupuncturist, I would have to say that it was in 2003 when I listened to a taped lecture by Susan Johnson on Master Tung’s Top Ten Points.

At the time, my training in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) had focused on the 365 points of the Fourteen Meridian System, a system that has been standardized in the People’s Republic of China. This is the system that is most often taught in the acupuncture schools of the U.S. It is the system upon which the national (NCCAOM) acupuncture board exam is based.

Master Tung’s system of acupuncture evolved in Taiwan. Just when I thought I had mastered all the points I needed to know, here was another system with several hundred more unique points! Some of his points are located on the meridians. Some are located between meridians. And for some of the traditional points, Master Tung had documented some completely new indications.

It was Susan’s enthusiasm and willingness to share her twenty plus years of experience with Master Tung’s points that captured my attention. Two weeks after listening to her lecture, I was in California attending one of her seminars. I just had to learn more!

Since that time, I have also studied Master Tung’s points with Dr. Palden Carson in Toronto, Canada. Dr. Carson is one if the few original disciples of Master Tung alive today. I have attended Dr. Richard Tan’s seminar on Master Tung’s points in conjunction with his Balance Method. I have purchased every book available on Master Tung as soon as it is published in English. I continue to attend seminars whenever I can. Because I see such amazing results with these points, I want to learn as much as I can from those who are willing to share their knowledge.

Here you can still get the audio lecture cassettes that first inspired me by Susan Johnson on Master Tung's points. Her recent lecture on Master Tung's points are available on cd. If you are an acupuncturist or a student of acupuncture, listening to her tapes will be the first step in the best investment you can make in your future practice. Other websites that may be helpful to you are www.tungspoints.com, www.drweichiehyoung.com, and www.worldtaa.org.

About the Author
Joyce Marley is a NYS licensed acupuncturist and is trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She incorporates many of Master Tung's acupuncture points in her treatments.

With the new year, come New Year’s resolutions, and several people have been asking me about using Chinese medicine to help them to quit smoking. Acupuncture has been used successfully to overcome addictions in this country for decades.

The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) was formed in 1988 and promotes the use of a specific ear acupuncture protocol to help with the anxiety and stress associated with hardcore drug addiction withdrawal. This protocol has been applied to smoking cessation. Four or five points are selected on the ear and stimulated either by hand or with electrical stimulation.

I also add an extra point on the lung channel called Tim Mee, an experience point for addictions. Additionally, I needle Master Tung points on each thigh called Four Horses. Master Tung believed that this was the reaction area for the liver and the lung. These points are used for many lung related issues. The acupuncture treatments target the lungs and trigger the release of natural chemicals in the body (endorphins), which reduce a smoker’s cravings, ease withdrawal symptoms and induce relaxation.

But smoking is a very complex addiction, and although acupuncture can help overcome the physical addiction, the patient must still address the social and psychological addiction. To be successful, the person must be aware of when they smoke and why. They must be motivated by a strong desire to quit for themselves. Not because someone else is pushing them to seek treatment.

In addition to the acupuncture treatments, I encourage my patients to stay hydrated, refrain from drinking coffee, cut back on sugar and have a plan for what they will do during a craving.

I recommend three treatments the first week (it takes 48 hours for nicotine to be flushed out of the body). Then an individualized treatment program may be suggested for a few weeks. They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. During this time, acupuncture points will be selected based on the individual’s constitution with an emphasis on relaxation, detoxifying the liver and nourishing the lungs.

There are a couple of herbal products specifically formulated to aid smoking withdrawal. One product is West Lake Tea (Smoking Quitter Support). Ingredients are Green tea, lotus seed, ginseng leaf, Chinese asparagus and licorice root. The tea helps eliminate nicotine from the body through the urine and the stool. Some people find that the tea makes the taste of a cigarette unpleasant. I ask that the patient substitute this tea for coffee normally drunk during the day.

The other product is called Miraculous Stop Smoking Perfume. This product is unique in that it is not ingested, but rather inhaled for 10-20 minutes a day for three days and then as needed for a week. It is used to stop the desire for cigarettes, aid in the detoxification of nicotine and to increase lung qi.

If you are having trouble quitting smoking on your own, or with other methods, it may be worth your while to try a new approach.

About the Author
Joyce Marley is a licensed acupuncturist located in New Hartford, NY. She helps patients quit smoking through acupuncture and chinese herbal medicine. Patients have found these treatments to be helpful with withdrawal symptoms and to be smoke free.