Spring is in the air, and so is allergy season!

So many of my patients are already feeling the shift in weather through allergy symptoms like itchy, watery eyes, sneezing, and even skin symptoms like itching, dry patches, redness and hives.

How can you manage these symptoms? Or prevent them if you’re prone to allergies but not experiencing them just yet?

My whole life I’ve been asked repeatedly: “Are you ok?” “What’s wrong?” “Are you mad?” “Are you mad at me?” “Smile!” Can YOU relate??

I’ve seriously considered having a shirt made that says: “I’m Fine!!!!! I’m not mad, or sad. Yes, I do like you. No, I’m not judging you….well maybe not this time…and by the way, I am smiling.”

As masks are starting to come off, and we are seeing everyone’s wonderful faces again I thought I would offer this list of perks for my RBF cohorts out there:

For most of you, I have used Chinese herbs for one thing or another over the years. Whether it be a cold or allergies, hot flashes, stress, and anxiety, cycle issues, etc., etc., I have probably tried herbal medicine to help your condition. Recently, I’ve been doing some really fun stuff with herbs and watched it work miracles, so I wanted to tell you about it!

After sharing my embarrassing story last week, I’ve had a number of people ask me if acupuncture can also help chronic knee pain too. In many cases, the answer is yes!

A lot of people think that chronic pain is just something they have to "get used to." Especially if the pain has been going on for a decade or more, they start to assume it's part of their life now.

But acupuncture can be incredibly helpful in reducing daily knee pain as well as flare-ups.

I have to tell you about my recent knee injury. It’s kind of an embarrassing story, but it turns out alright in the end.

On a beautiful winter day, I went skiing solo. I love being up there, just me and the great outdoors, with nothing to think about other than what fun run am I going to do next.

In the last newsletter, Sarah talked about our immune system, and I thought I’d share my two cents and more information on my biggest obsession…

When it comes to keeping our immune systems healthy, one of the most important factors is also one of the most overlooked: sleep. That was a big factor in my health back when we started sending the kiddo to daycare. Sure, he was bringing home bugs left and right, but admittedly, my biggest failure was not getting enough sleep to combat those meanies. And that is one place that I have certainly improved!

Well, it certainly has been a couple of years full of concern about our immune systems and external pathogens. After dealing with a sick kiddo last week, I thought I’d take a moment and dive into what that all means for us.

What is the immune system exactly? It’s not an organ or a meridian like we use in Chinese Medicine. So what is it?

What:

Following in the steps of many healthcare providers, we are moving to an updated 48 hour cancellation policy for all of our appointments.

Why:

This increased timeframe will make it more likely that we can fill canceled appointments.

We would rather be helping people than collecting missed appointment fees!

Collagen has been part of the wellness buzz for a little bit now. It comes in many forms: from bone broth to powders to gummies.

I have had several of my facial rejuvenation patients ask me what could they be doing at home to support anti-aging, and they’ve asked if collagen is worth taking. I can tell you YES it IS worth taking, and here are some of the benefits that can be backed scientifically.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that the days are getting shorter and colder. For some of us, we are starting our days before the sun is even up, and arriving home well after the sun has set. The shortest day of the year has crept up on us, and happens to be today. These short days can take their toll on us. The holidays can stir up feelings of anxiety, loneliness, overwhelm, and grief for many of us. We can feel like we are moving in slow motion, or downright stuck.

Are you feeling rested? No? Maybe it’s not just a simple sleep deficit. While sleep is the most obvious type of rest, there are additional types of rest that keep us going. Here’s a breakdown:

Physical Rest

This is the rest that we all know about, but there are two subtypes here - passive and active. Passive rest is sleeping and napping, while active rest is taking part in activities that rejuvenate us, like a restorative yoga class, massage, reflexology or acupuncture.

Here is one of those truths that always seems like a contradiction - in order to boost productivity we need to take breaks. I think that many of us have realized that vacations benefit us in this way - when you get back from a nice, restful holiday you have more energy and focus and feel interested in your work again. However, more and more research is showing that we need shorter breaks during the day as well.

Two years into the pandemic, we’re back here again… the holiday season! For some, this is a happy time of year and for others it can be difficult. In either scenario, lots of people use food to celebrate or cope accordingly. I’ll be doing my best not to eat my way from Thanksgiving through the New Year, so this list of dietary to-do’s is mostly a reminder to MYSELF on how to avoid overeating…

Someone wasn’t lying when they came up with the phrase “the days are long, but the years are short” in reference to having children. I woke up this week with a 5 month old baby and I’m not really sure how we got here! The truth is, this year has been incredibly busy for me. Between being pregnant, giving birth, keeping a newborn alive, back to work, eat/ sleep, rinse, and repeat, I’ve hardly been in the headspace to think about anything extra. However, to help slow time down, one thing I try to be diligent about is making gratitude a daily practice.

This fall, I have been thinking a lot about space. No, really. I know it sounds absurd, but there are so many ways that space manifests itself in our daily lives, and I am finding myself being uniquely thankful for each one of them…

The leaves are falling off the trees more each day. As we make the seasonal transition, everyone says more and more “Why am I getting so tired?” The energy for our body has just come out of its peak time of year of summer; a time full of connection and outward energy and activity. The natural course for our energy in Autumn is to start the hibernation process. So is it tiredness? It could be… but it is also the fact that we should be looking to that inward time of winter hibernation.

November is Gratitude Month at Alpenglow Acupuncture and Comprehensive Reflex Therapy. Every year, we put out our gratitude jar and invite everyone who comes in to write down what they are thankful for and add it to our jar. It is really fun to see that thing fill up!

We will also be running a daily gratitude challenge over on our facebook group, True Health Revolution so feel free to join us over there to keep your momentum going.

Headaches can be so stubborn… and oftentimes patients will just live with them assuming they’re an ordinary problem that people just live with. While they can be very common for people, they don’t have to be. Headaches are one of the conditions the World Health Organization recommends acupuncture for, because acupuncture has been proven through controlled trials to be an effective treatment. So why oh why do people continue to live with them?!

Hi Alpenglow fam!! I’m so excited to give you an update on how we’re doing...(with pictures of course!). Everyone is great! It was quite an unexpected start to parenthood; my birth story is something we’re still processing, but happy to report we are all healthy, happy and got lucky with an EASY baby after a bit of a rocky start. Long story short, labor lasted about 4 days and ended with some complications that transferred us over to the team at St. Joe’s where we received great care. It always works out the way it's supposed to. I’m still recovering, but feeling better and better everyday!

Are your allergies flaring right now? Whose aren’t! Between the dry climate and the plants, people are consistently prone to having sinus and respiratory irritation in Colorado. Here are some things you can do at home to help with allergies: