Turning Point Acupuncture Newsletter
Vol. 2 Number 5
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
SEASON'S GREETINGS!
The Holiday Season is in full swing and we are all busy juggling our schedules: shopping, planning visits with family, attending
parties, as well as carrying on with the demands of our daily lives. This Season finds Turning Point at a moment of transition as we
say good-bye to Hong Su . In this newsletter we will look at the new staff hours for the holiday and beyond. We will also revisit some
strategies for getting through the holidays with your health intact. Remember that acupuncture is very helpful for maintaining one's
balance through it all!
Newsletter Contents:
1. How to Survive the Holiday...
2 Surviving Egg Nog
3. Farewell to Hong Su (for now)
4. Turning Point Acupuncture Holiday Hours
1. How to Survive the Holiday ...
This year it seems harder to participate in the spirit of the Season than in more innocent times. Shopping for trinkets and attending
festivities can feel uncomfortable. Here are some suggestions to make the season more meaningful and relevant to the current
world experience.
Gift Giving:
Give a gift to yourself. When we talk about doing work that has an effect on improving the life of another person we call it
heartwarming. Chinese medicine articulates this. We describe the heart organ as housing the shen, an aspect of spirit. The
element associated with the heart is fire. When the shen (spirit) is in residence, the heart is active in housing it, hence the heart is
warm. The shen takes rest in the heart. So the shen and the organ support each other. In turn, the settled, resting shen allows the
body to rest and the qi to balance. Doing heartwarming work facilitates this healing.
The lung organ is the residence of grief. Ever notice how a heavy sigh is an expression of sadness? Doing heartwarming work at
first distracts the body from the heaviness of grieving lungs. Then the energy created in the heartwarming transmutes the
weightiness of the lungs and triggers a transformation into exhalation and release. Any activity that precipitates the drawing of fresh
breath and air will support the lungs in the release of grief. A nice walk in the park will help lighten the spirit.
For more about the internal organs in Traditional Chinese Medicine as they relate to emotions, visit our website:
http://www.nycacupuncture.com/trauma.html
Supporting your favorite arts or health care charity is vital now for the very survival of those organizations. Charitable giving, outside
of 9/11 funds, is way down this year and money from governmental agencies is also more scarce. Your friends and loved ones
might prefer supporting good work with donations in their name to such groups rather then yet another sweater.
One group that I especially like which helps people help themselves is Heifer International. Here is how they describe themselves:
"Heifer International is a nonprofit that alleviates hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation through gifts of food and income
producing farm animals and training. These animals provide a source of protein, such as eggs and milk, for children and generate
income for families through the sale of animal products. Since 1944 Heifer has helped over 4 million families in 125 countries
become self-reliant. Each family "passes on the gift" by giving one or more of its animal's offspring to another family in need."
You can give online and email cards to your recipients at:
http://www.heifer.org/
Another suggestion is to give to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Online Store. Here is what they say about their Care Cards:
"Our Care Cards gift series offers warm and thoughtful giving opportunities for every budget. We will print your card to order and will
always indicate that "a contribution has been made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS" in each card. We will print and mail the
cards for you. Call the Care Cards Department at 212-840-0770 ext. 251 to order."
http://store.yahoo.com/broadwaycares/openingnights.html
To locate other organizations you can consult Idealist, a project of Action Without Borders. In this site you will find over 24,000
nonprofit and community organizations in 153 countries, which you can search or browse by name, location or mission. Also listed
are links to thousands of volunteer opportunities in your community and around the world and a list of organizations that can help you
volunteer abroad.
http://www.idealist.org/index.html
You can donate on the web to the New York Times neediest cases fund at
http://prodpub.wavesys.com/cw/charitydetails.asp?catid=96
Finally, move into action and get directly involved in good works. Volunteer in a soup kitchen or at the charity of your choice
In any case, allow the true joyful spirit of the holidays to supercede the human-created mayhem.
Party going:
Eat slowly. Savor each bite. Your body will be able to give you a more accurate measure of fullness so you can spare yourself the
urge for second or third servings and save room for desert.
Drink lots of water, especially at parties. Try flavored seltzer or fancy waters.
Skip the dip. Why waste your calories on chips and dips?
Eat Veggies. Filling up on high fiber, high water content vegetables will help you avoid the fat laden snacks.
Don't go to a party with an empty stomach. You will make better choices if you don't face party snacks hungry.
Relax. Don't criticize yourself for indulging in occasional Holiday treats. Try instead to pick judiciously. You are not obliged to taste
every cookie, sweet, etc. that passes your way. Pick the best treat.
If you are doing the cooking here are some recipe substitutions-
Use non-stick cookware instead of greasy pans.
Eggs: use one egg white plus 2 tsp. vegetable oil per egg, or three egg whites for every two eggs.
Sugar: reduce the amount in any cookie or cake recipe by one-fourth.
Butter: substitute an equal amount of applesauce or prune puree for half of the butter called for.
Cream cheese: use low-fat instead of regular.
Heavy cream: use evaporated skim milk.
Sour cream: use low-fat sour cream or yogurt, especially if preparing dips and sauces.
Try to maintain a regular exercise schedule. Even an abbreviated work-out is better than none.
Even in a hotel or stranded in an airport you can get some aerobic exercise in. Stash your bags and walk briskly through the
terminals or up the hotel steps. Call ahead when visiting relatives. There may be a gym or health club you can use while away.
Watch the alcohol intake:
Never drink on an empty stomach. Have your glass with dinner rather than before or after. Dilute wine with club soda.
A few glasses of wine or beer can mean hundreds of extra calories. Egg Nog, which is full of saturated fat and high proof alcohol,
aggravates that issue. Try to find (or bring to a party) Silk Nog -a non alcoholic, low fat, lactose and cholesterol free alternative to
Egg Nog .
2 How to Survive Egg Nog
Here is what E. Shane Hoffman has to say about Sequelae of Egg Nog....
It's that time again. Bells are ringing. "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life" are making their annual appearance on the
TV movie line up*. The holidays goad us to take stock of life, celebrate our fortune and then promise to make changes the first of
January.
Taking stock. The weather people tell us the parade of Latin-named weather effects has come and gone. I am suspicious. We've
had el nino and la nina. But who have we got now? Summer garb is safely stowed deep in the far reaches of my closet. Yet the
clement weather persists. It's odd. But what isn't of late? Time ignores our state of mind or mood and so the Holiday Season
arrives despite our ability or interest in making merry. The Season provides an invitation to gather and find cause to celebrate.
Thankfully the habit of traditions and company provide comfort in their predictability. Candles of Hanukah are symbols of light, yes,
but also of the willingness to trust. The Hanukah lamps rose to the occasion beyond all logic. The lights were needed and they
outshone what was expected. They met the challenge that faced them. As each of us does now.
My favorite holiday celebrational drink is egg nog. However, its ingredients - with or without alcohol - are guaranteed to insult your
organs and leave a trail of headache, nausea and that weighty sensation of the brow and limbs if taken to wanton excess. Which is
not a such a bad idea as part of a mirth and merriment holiday programme. Should you zealously appreciate its merits, here are
some tools to help you recover from the aftermath. Drink lots of water. Filling your body with any syrupy beverage serum will
necessitate some prime dilution. What they told you in grade school is still true. We are 65% water. Water is the quintessential
cure. If you've got a red nose to match Rudolf's and are free of tummy troubles, take an ibuprofen at bedtime with a large glass of
water. During dream time your body can be busily detoxing. You won't sleep as well as you might have, but the sedative effect of
alcohol will likely compensate. Egg nog, in Traditional Chinese Medicinal terms, is cold, sweet and damp in nature. To reduce its
cloying effect, add something aromatic to it, like cinnamon or cardamom or balance it with a warm savory appetizer. For herbal
support, take a dose of Quiet Digestion (on sale though the Holidays at the office). It's a combination of two formulas designed to
treat the woes of excess, be they of food or drink. (They are the Chinese pharmacopoeia's answer to the Roman vomitorium. And
you thought better living through chemistry was a phenomenon of the 60's!) The process of digesting alcohol depletes the body of
potassium. A nice banana first thing in the morning will help restore potassium levels. If you wake up feeling awful, take a small bit
of water with a dose of Quiet Digestion. Hold off of eating for at least an hour so that you get a true sense of how your organs are
coping before you challenge them with the task of taking food. If you plan to venture out, pack yourself a multivitamin to take with
lunch. Grab sunglasses and make for the big world.
I look forward to seeing you at a painfully early hour tromping away excess on a treadmill at the gym. I'll be there too. Happy
Holidays, Shane.
* Confirm your local listing on http://www.tvguide.com
"Miracle" airs nine times between now and Dec 24. " It's a Wonderful Life" airs four times.
3. Hong Su's leave of absence
Hong Su will be taking an extended leave of absence to spend more time with her children. We are hoping that she will return to her
usual hours when they no longer need her at home. She will work all the Wednesdays and Saturdays in December including
December 22nd and 29th.
We will miss Hong very much and wish her well!
So that there will be minimal loss of continuity of care, Shane Hoffman will be taking over Hong's Wednesday afternoon hours.
Massage and Reiki will be available on Saturdays, but no acupuncture for now.
Deep muscle massage with John T. Smith (For appointment call 212 579-4754)
Reiki with Reiki master Lourdes Guzman (For appointment call 212 580-9803)
4. Turning Point Acupuncture Holiday Hours
We will be open our usual hours six days a week during the Holiday Season with the following exceptions:
Tuesday, December 25th (Christmas Day)
Monday December 31st, Tuesday, January 1st (New Year's Day) and Wednesday January 2nd, 2002
We will reopen Thursday morning January 3rd, 2002
To review our usual hours and staffing click here:
http://www.nycacupuncture.com/patientinfo.html
We all at Turning Point Acupuncture wish you ...
A Happy and Healthy New Year
Naomi Rabinowitz, MD
11 December 2001
copyright 2001 Naomi Rabinowitz and Shane Hoffman
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