Try Chinese Medicine for Allergies

For anyone who suffers from seasonal allergies, late summer and early fall mean only one thing: Hay fever season.

Just lately, the golden-yellow spikes of ragweed have been adding color to our summer landscape.

As beautiful as ragweed is to the local scenery, it’s the cause of misery for millions of people who are allergic to its pollen.

What Causes Allergies?

Allergies are essentially an immune response to airborne particles that normally don’t cause your body any trouble.

These particles can be anything from plant pollen to animal dander, dust, mold, and even insects and their feces. For most people inhaling these particles aren’t a problem.

For people with allergies, however, their bodies react as though they were being invaded by pathogens. The results can include a runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, headaches, and in some people, asthma.

Chinese Medicine and Allergies

Whether from pollen or pet dander, practitioners of Chinese medicine consider allergens external pathogens — invaders from the outside that can make you sick, especially if you’re susceptible to them.

You do have a defense system however, called Wei Qi that guards the exterior of your body like a protective bubble or shield.

When your Wei Qi is weak, all kinds of pathogens can get into your body and cause colds, flu, and allergies.

Usually, the first organ affected when outside pathogens attack are your lungs. You may have a cough, sore throat, or a runny nose — all associated with your lung organ system in Chinese medicine.

Your lungs are your most exterior organ because they are constantly in contact with the outside world through the air you breathe.

As your most exterior organ, your lungs also guard the exterior of your body, but weak lungs are not necessarily the cause of weak Wei Qi.

Qi, or energy in general, is made through the air you breathe, but also by eating good food and digesting it well.

Your spleen organ system is responsible for turning food into energy, nutrients, and blood. If you’re not eating well, have digestive problems, are stressed out, or just plain run down, chances are your energy (Qi) is weak, including your Wei Qi.

Do you suffer from allergies or seem to catch every cold that’s going around? That’s weak Wei Qi, which means your defense from all those external pathogens is not very strong.

Other Steps for Dealing with Allergies

The solution to dealing with allergies is two-fold.

On the superficial level, it’s important to deal with the pathogens (allergens) that are causing current symptoms. In the case of seasonal allergies, plant pollen is like a toxic dust that settles on your clothes, hair, carpet, and even your pets.

Some simple steps to reduce your exposure include:

• Change your clothes after you’ve been working or exercising outdoors.
• Shower in the evening to get the day’s pollen off your skin and out of your hair.Close your windows when the weather is especially dry and windy.
• Wash your hands after handling a pet that’s been outside.
• Get a really good vacuum, as pollen is extremely fine and will settle on your floors.
• Dust your home regularly.
• Get a Neti Pot and use it. It’s a small pot to help you cleanse your nasal passages, and can be found at most drug stores.

At the deeper level, strengthening your Wei Qi can help you avoid allergy meltdowns in the future.

You can do so by choosing and preparing foods that are healthy and easy to digest, getting enough restful sleep, and avoiding both physical and emotional stress.

A practitioner of Chinese medicine can help you build up your Wei Qi as an effective way to deal with your allergies.

You practitioner would likely combine acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and food therapy to help strengthen your spleen system, boost Wei Qi, and alleviate your current symptoms.

The best way to do this is to work with your acupuncturist before your allergies act up, if possible. By doing so, you can face the assault of allergy season armed with a stronger defense system.

It pretty much goes without saying that stress is a “normal” part of life today.

From pressures at work to financial hardship and family responsibilities, you could argue that stress management is more important today than ever before.

So what can you do to manage your own levels of stress?

And how can massage therapy help you?

Stress Management Techniques

The key to reducing stress is not to avoid it. Or the situations in life that cause stress.

Why? Because in many cases that simply is not possible. Or realistic.

What’s more the problem is not stress per se. Rather, we run into health problems with we do not manage stressful situations in our lives.

Constant or endless stress is the issue.

To deal with stress we have to manage it. And that means finding ways to get some “down time” to relax.

So what are some of the techniques to manage stress.

Well, keep in mind that for many of us it comes down to personal preferences.  Here is a short list of activities that many people find helpful for relaxing their mind and body.

1. Physical exercise
2. Yoga
3. Reading
4. Walking
5. Arts & Crafts
6. Hobbies
7. Listening to music
8. Massage therapy

Stress Management & Massage Therapy

Sometimes it is difficult to “make time” for ourselves. If that describes you, then visiting a massage therapist may be just the ticked you need to relax.

Massage therapy is a great way to counter stress and body aches while allowing yourself a half an hour or hour of relaxing time.

Massage effectively relieves the body from the effects of tension and stress. What’s more, it promotes overall health and allows you to experience a feeling of genuine well-being.

It is increasingly becoming popular among health enthusiasts because of the fact that it helps boost your metabolism and can heighten your energy level. Additionally, it is a proven and effective way to help keep the body, mind and spirit healthy.

Along with a number of additional benefits, it comes as no wonder why there appears to be an influx of massage therapy centers around the world.

To find a Licensed Massage Therapist near you, click on the link and visit the Massage Therapist directory.

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Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Tami MacDowell, a Reiki practitioner in Florida, about Energetics.

Tami uses the term “Energetics” to describe our entire energy system.  During our interview Tami described a “little experiment” that anyone can do to sense their own energies.

It should come as no surprise that one key for health and well being is maintaining balance.

And that’s why Tami’s Energetic Body Scan (TM) is so important, as it reveals where you energies are blocked, out of balance or disrupted.

To learn more, kindly click on the play button to listen to the interview — and to hear about Tami’s gift for you when you click on the link below to your website.

Enjoy!

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To learn more about this groundbreaking energetic body scan, kindly click on the link to learn more.

For more details, please contact Tami MacDowell by leaving a comment here.  Or you can also find her contact info by following the link to her listing under Florida Reiki.