When our summer energy is in balance, we are able to share our heart with others, make choices true to ourselves, and be resilient when we take an emotional blow to the heart. We are warm and caring and able to connect, communicate, and partner with our loved ones.

Out of balance, we tend toward extremes of either cold/joyless or manic and obsessively happy. We cannot sort right from wrong, appropriate from inappropriate, ‘this’ or ‘that’. Our socializing doesn’t quite connect with others no matter how hard we try. And our heart is wounded out of proportion to the comment or arrow aimed at it. It’s a very lonely place to be.

If these symptoms/qualities tend to be your Achilles heel, consider acupuncture as a tool to help you navigate life more smoothly. If you’re not ready to see an acupuncturist, I’ll be posting recommendations on diet and activities to support you through the summer. So keep checking back!

Chinese Medicine has many treatment options for all stages of swine flu H1N1 and other types of influenza.

Ideally, treatment may be sought prior to exposure to Swine Flu.  This preventative treatment helps to strengthen your body’s immune system and protective energy (wei qi).  By strengthening your protective energy, the influenza pathogen is less able to penetrate your system and make you sick. Continue common sense precautions:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Avoid close contact with sick people.

Once you have been exposed to the virus, the aim of treatment is to kill the virus before it reaches its full strength and symptoms.  Most influenza viruses take 1-4 days from exposure to onset of symptoms.  This period of initial exposure is vitaly important, and treatment is primarily aimed at killing the virus.

According to “The Swine Flu and Chinese Herbal Medicine” by John Heuertz, OMD, ” Once the virus reaches the lung tissue, however, or symptoms do not abate within the first 24 hours…viral replication has reached peak production, and the body’s immune response is now occupying or even consuming all available qi.” At this stage, the aim of treatment is to disperse heat and regulate the body’s immune response.  This helps the body deal with the most common symptoms such as racing pulse, headache, body aches, low appetite, fatigue and weakness, fever, and chest symptoms. Use common sense precautions to limit the spread of the virus:

• Wash your hands often, especially after coughing, sneezing, and wiping or blowing the nose.
• Cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing.
• Use paper tissues when wiping or blowing your nose; throw tissues away after use.
• Stay away from crowded living and sleeping spaces, if possible.
• Stay home and avoid contact with other people to protect them from catching your illness.

One of the beauties of Chinese Medicine is that it works on its own or in conjunction with oseltamivir and zanamivir, the two antiviral drugs useful against H1N1.  (Remember that aspirin is not recommended due to the risk of Reye syndrome.)  As this is a novel strain of influenza, it is likely to spread especially in the Autumn and Winter months.  Luckily, the CDC expects that most people will recover from H1N1 without needing medical care.

Take Care and Stay Healthy!

Vegetables – bok choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, chives, cinnamon bark, clove, cranberries, dulse, fennel, ginger, green beans, hijiki, horseradish, kale, kelp, kidney beans, leeks, lentils, mung beans, onions, parsnips, peanuts, potatoes, seaweed, sesame seeds, soybeans (black), spinach, squash, sweet potato, tempeh, turnip, yam, wakame, water chestnuts

Grains – amaranth, barley, buckwheat, corn, kasha, millet, quinoa, rye

Meat/Proteins – beef kidney, egg yolk, lamb, smoked tofu

AVOID salting your food to excess, pungent foods, alcohol, artificial sweeteners, stimulants, and salty processed foods like potato chips, bacon, sausage and canned soups.

I love that there are different ways to nourish our bodies and spirits.  I often recommend foods to my clients to nourish a particular energy.  For example, I just saw a client the other day who injured his foot while running a 10k race.  He has several other symptoms that point to a kidney deficiency, like sore back and knees, fatigue, hair loss and urinary problems.  His chronic underlying deficiency laid the groundwork for this acute injury to occur.  During his appointment, I treated points to strengthen his kidney energy, as well as points to nourish his spirit so he could be more resilient and healthy in general.  I also recommended kidney strengthening foods such as miso, kelp, barley, kale, horseradish, parsnips, and sweet potatoes.  That way he’s giving himself mini-treatments whenever he eats!

CATHERINE’S CARROT GINGER SOUP
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil or 1 Tbsp organic butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
6 cups water or vegetable/chicken stock
3 pounds organic carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small potato, quartered
3 Tbsp lime juice
Sea salt and black pepper
Handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Add olive oil to (or melt butter) in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and ginger and saute until the onion is translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the water or stock and carrots and potato. Cover and simmer until the carrots and potato are tender, about 35 minutes. Working in batches, puree the mixture in a blender. Stir in the lime juice. Season to taste. Thin the soup with about 3/4 cup warm water if necessary. Sprinkle cilantro over each bowl of soup when serving.

FRESH GINGER TEA
Take an inch-long piece of fresh ginger and slice it up thinly, peel and all.  Simmer in 4 cups of water for 15 minutes.  Drain the pieces out (or not) and drink as hot as you can stand it for the greatest healing effect.

Ginger is peppery, so if the tea tastes too spicy for you, mix in a spoonful of local honey and a squeeze of lemon. Enjoy this anytime you feel chilled or have a cold or respiratory illness.  This flavorful, old-fashioned remedy has been used by East and West alike for centuries!

For more in-depth nutritional consultations, contact Catherine Varchaver at Body and Soul Nutrition.

POINTS TOWARD HEALTH
For symptomatic relief, use your thumb or forefinger to press on these acupoints for 30-60 seconds. Stimulate points on both sides of your face, several times per day to ease your symptoms.

B2 Collect Bamboo: In the depression at the inner end of the eyebrows, directly above the inner corner of the eye. Relieves colds, sinus congestion, frontal headaches, and tired eyes.

LI 20 Welcome Fragrance: On either cheek, just outside each nostril. Relieves nasal congestion, sinus pain, facial paralysis, and facial swelling.

ST3 Great Cheekbone: Located at the bottom of the cheekbone, directly below the pupil. Relieves stuffy nose, head congestion, burning eyes, eye fatigue, and eye pressure.

Emotional Symptoms of Imbalanced Spring Energy:
Aggressive behavior
Anger and angry outbursts
Bitterness/Depression
Emotional repression
Frustration
Impatience
Inability to plan or organize
Indecision
Irritability
Jealousy
Moodiness
Negative outlook
Nervous tension
Over-fastidious planning
Resentment
Rigid and inflexible attitude
Shouting
Timidity

Try venting your anger in a constructive way: punch a pillow, chop wood, shout, jump up and down, sprint, write a letter to your congressman…whatever it takes to get it out of your body without destroying anything.

• Make a list of your goals for today. Feel the satisfaction as you check off completed tasks.

• Think of something you are angry about. Vent your anger so that the emotion can move up and out of your body – yell, jump up and down, punch a pillow, sprint, crush cans.

• Practice saying “No.”

• Reorganize your work area. Remove anything you do not regularly use. Start in one corner or drawer and work your way through the task over time.

• Write a poem, make a collage, plant a tree, sing a song, paint a picture, do a dance – use your creative gifts.

• Practice your ability to bend physically and mentally. Stretch your body and mind. Do ten minutes of stretching and then put your mind to a task. Notice the difference in how you feel and how your mind works.