All fun and free!  Let us help you start your 2012 with healthy habits.

Event Schedule (All Free Seminars)
1-1:40pm:       Katie Oberlin, “Anchor Your Intentions With Energy.”
1:45-2pm:       Dr. Casey Kelley, “Family Practice and Functional Medicine.”
2-2:40pm:      Dr. Larry Stoler, “Dragon’s Way QiGong.”
2:45-3pm:       Dr. Janet Chandler, “Family Systems.”
3-3:15:             Sujatha Mannal, “Homeopathic Treatments For Cold and Flu.”
3:20-3:55pm: Panel, “Integrative Medicine: The Team Approach to Care.” with Dr. Cliff Maurer, Mari Stecker, Cindy Kudelka, and Karen Meier.
3:55:                 Closing remarks by Dr. Paul Rubin.

Save the date: January 21st, 2012

Professional Membership
Members in the Professional Member category have had their credentials evaluated by the Admissions Committee through our rigorous Admissions Review Process. This level of membership is open to herbalists from all traditions. Applicants for the Registry must complete the AHG application, submit a personal and professional biography, meet the AHG minimum professional requirements of at least four years of training and clinical experience, provide three letters of reference from practitioners in the field of botanical medicine, and three comprehensive case histories. Upon acceptance, professional members may use the designation Herbalist, AHG or Registered Herbalist (R.H.).

http://americanherbalistsguild.com/membership
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Seanna is also state-certified in Clinical Herbal Medicine from Chicago College of Healing Arts, and has additional training in Flower Essence Therapy as well as Aromatherapy. In addition, Seanna enjoys giving lectures on herbal medicine to a diversity of organizations. She has presented at Oakton Community college (Emeritus program), North Shore Senior Center, Chicago College of Healing Arts, VIDA Health Clinic, and the Chicago Women’s Health Center (in-service) and she has also appeared on the local NBC evening news. For more info on Seanna, herbology, or our Natural Apothecary visit us http://www/wholehealthchicago.com.

In Chinese medicine, the Spleen isn’t exactly equivalent to the western physiological spleen, in that it plays a central role in digestive function and your body’s ability to convert food into energy and blood. When the Spleen Qi is deficient, the body’s inability to perform these functions leads to fatigue, bloating after eating, loose stools, weak limbs and low or no appetite.

The stomach and the spleen together help to transform the food into energy by removing the good stuff, (the foundation for qi, blood and body fluids) and separating the “pure from the impure” so that the unusable stuff is later excreted. To do this, however, the Spleen requires energy and warmth.

This is why we usually recommend that you eat foods that provide warmth and avoid foods that are cold. Classic chicken soup, beef stew, lentil soup are all great ways to strengthen the spleen (see chart below for more recommendations). It may be best if you cook your veggies and fruits for a time until you start feeling better, and limit the amount of raw fruits and veggies to 1-2 servings daily. Also avoid icy drinks where possible, until you begin to feel better.

The Chinese say that the Spleen abhors “damp” and that damp hinders the Spleen’s function. In some cases this goes back to what you are eating, avoiding foods that are damp-forming such as dairy products, excess refined sugars, alcohol and fried foods can be helpful in getting your digestion back on track (see also chart below).  Prolonged exposure to a damp environment can also weaken the Spleen. If you are living in a damp basement or spending a lot of time in one; if you live in Seattle, or both (I did!), you may want to consider a lifestyle change to enhance your recovery.

Eating to excess can also overwhelm and weaken Spleen function as well as eating at irregular times (such as late night eating). However, eating too little or eating a protein deficient diet can also be an underlying factor in Spleen Qi deficiency. Eating balanced meals, with protein, complex carbohydrates and vegetables every 3-5 hours, can do a lot for energy levels.  Western Science also supports this lifestyle change. Waiting too long between meals or snacks can lead to an excessive drop in blood sugar, and a sharp increase in cortisol levels, eventually leading to adrenal fatigue. 

Excess mental strain, studying, concentrating and memorizing over a long period of time can also weaken Spleen function. If you’re in school or have a job that requires a lot of mental work, take short break to do something physical. Take out the garbage, do a load of laundry. Or, exercise… new studies have shown one can receive the same benefits from exercise if it’s broken up into two 15 minute intervals or three 10 minute intervals during the day, rather than doing the whole 1/2 hour at once. 

Chronic sinusitis may be linked to a chronic Spleen qi deficiency or vice versa. If you have a condition with chronic mucus, consider making some of the lifestyle changes above, or addressing your condition with an Acupuncture, Asian Bodywork or Herbal Medicine treatment.

Using foods to address Spleen Qi Deficiency*

*Avoid obsessing over your food choices, as this list is meant to encourage you to emphasize or de-emphasize.  Worrying knots the Spleen qi, defeating our purposes here.

Seanna
WholeHealth Chicago Apothecary
2522 N. Lincoln Ave
Chicago IL  60614
phone 773 296 6700 X2001
fax      773 296 1131
http://shop.wholehealthchicago.com

Seanna sees patients for consultations on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Seanna is also available for speaking engagements to educate the community about the use of herbs for enhancing health and wellness.

FROM SEANNA…
“My intention is to serve by sharing both traditional and scientific knowledge about plants to my community as well as assisting one to open to the healer within.”

Turns out that most perpetrators of violence in violence saturated areas are not bad people. They’ve just been infected by violence.

Also, you can’t help noticing how much trauma and grief this violence causes, but the movie doesn’t offer much in the way of hope for those suffering from trauma. But there is hope. Energy psychology and Healing Touch both available at WholeHealth Chicago can help people overcome symptoms of trauma, like flashbacks, nightmares, avoidance, hypervigilance, and prolonged grief.

Links
ACEP for more information about energy psychology: http://www.energypsych.org/

Here is a link to the New York Times magazine article by Alex Kotlowitz that brought attention to the violence in Chicago: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/magazine/04health-t.html?pagewanted=all

A review of The Interrupters in Salon: http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/the_interrupters/index.html?story=/ent/movies/andrew_ohehir/2011/07/28/pick_of_the_week_the_interrupters

Larry

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, we should seek harmony. If we live in harmony, then we can be content and we can avoid many illnesses. One of the main things we can seek harmony with is the season.  And each season has its particular energy and message. In every season, a specific part of our body is sensitive to that season’s energy. Traditional Chinese Medicine tells us that fall is the season of the Lung and its partner the Large Intestine. Observe Nature. We see in the fall that it is time of letting go. Letting go means that we’ve harvested that which is most valuable and we can release the rest. You can see how letting go is vital to the Lung and Large Intestine, right?  And letting go is to be done freely, completely, gracefully, without holding back. Is there something in your life that you know you need to let go of? Is there something that you’re ready to let go of? Do you believe that you always keep that which is valuable to you even when you let go of what seemed precious once? The emotion of grief also is connected to the fall. Particularly, grief and sadness related to losses that you’re holding onto when it may be time to let go.

Fall can be a challenge to your Lungs.  Many people suffer allergies, colds and other problems of the Lungs in the fall. Fall can be quite dry and dryness is not a friend to your delicate Lungs. Your Lungs need to be moist.  You can support your Lungs by drinking warm liquids, adding honey and eating pears and kiwis.

The letting go and turning inward that occurs in fall prepares us for the important season of winter during which Nature turns inwards even further. To get the most out of winter, be sure to let go in fall, so you can polish that valuable jewel of knowledge, wisdom and experience you gained this year during the upcoming the winter. Then, you’ll be fully ready for the new possibilities sure to arise in the spring.

Want to learn more about Traditional Chinese Medicine?  Want to learn a recipe specific to the fall season?  Check out: http://bit.ly/TCM_WorldFoundation  

Larry Stoler, MSSA, PhD, DCEP
WholeHealth Chicago, 773-296-6700×2317
www.wholehealthchicago.com
Certified Tao of Medical Qigong Practitioner

Information on Medical Qigong: http://www.wholehealthchicago.com/patient-resources/medical-qigong/

I’ve introduced a number of my patients to the Dragon’s Way program (http://tcmworld.org/programs/dragons_way/) and everyone who has stuck with it found that it has been a life changing, transformative experience. This program is based on ancient Chinese healing practices and was developed by Master Nan Lu specifically to address challenges presented by our Western lifestyle. This is a program that strengthen’s your Qi, helps improve the functioning of your internal organs, and promotes inner and outer harmony. The core of this 6-week program is a series of 10 Wu Ming, Qigong exercises. These exercises help improve digestion, restore proper regulation of water in the body, and improve overall energy. Along with these exercises, you’ll be taught about foods for healing, foods that strengthen your organs. At the beginning of the program, to lower the energetic demands on the body, participants remove many common foods, like meat, chicken, fish, dairy and wheat. As participants develop their Qi through the Dragon’s Way exercises, they don’t feel deprived or hungry. Once internal Qi is strengthened and the organs are in better harmony, unneeded weight drops off automatically. As the journey through this practice continues, participants learn to listen to and trust what they feel in their body. Eating habits change in accordance with this inner knowledge and connection. At the end of the program, you can eat whatever you wish. But it is important to continue doing the Qigong exercises for lasting and continued improvement.

Master Nan Lu, photo courtesy of http://www.tcmworld.org

I’ve been a student of Master Lu’s since 2008, and have seen and heard many many moving examples of how this program has helped people lose weight, improve their ability to manage stress, and become healthier. One of the outcomes that many Dragon’s Way participants experience is that a variety of other health concerns they had, besides their weight, spontaneously improve when they do this program.

Here is a testimonial from the Dragon’s Way book:

When I retired from teaching last year, I expected that my anxiety and muscle tension would end.  Instead, I found that I had a stubborn case of high blood pressure. I decided that I didn’t want to take medication for my nervousness and my doctor thought if I lost weight, my blood pressure might go down as well. This was important to me because I also didn’t want to take blood pressure medication. I didn’t know anything about Traditional Chinese Medicine when I signed up for the The Dragon’s Way, but it sounded interesting.  For the very first time ever, I was able to adhere to a program for six weeks. Practicing the Wu Ming meridian therapy increased my Qi, or energy. I never realized that my inability to stick to a Western weight loss program, tension and anxiety were products of low energy.  I never recognized that I had low energy because I was so conditioned to push myself even when I was fatigued. The worst part of all is that I didn’t understand that I was ignoring my body’s own signals to slow down. I gave up twenty-three pounds and a whole slew of physical symptoms. My high blood pressure changed significantly as well.  I’m fifty-five and my life is just beginning! -Patricia B, 55-year-old college professor (pages 3-4).

(The book is available at Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/TCM-Natural-Traditional-Chinese-Medicine/dp/0380809052/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1315881180&sr=8-2, and also on Master Lu’s tcmworld.org site: http://tcmworld.org/programs/dragons_way/    NOTE: You can only purchase the instructional DVD from the tcmworld.org site)

This weekend, I’m beginning the Dragon’s Way instructor training program.  In a few months, I’ll start to off erpilot programs and then, most likely in the spring, I’ll start offering Dragon’s Way programs at WholeHealth Chicago.  Stay tuned!

Larry

Larry Stoler, MSSA, PhD, DCEP
WholeHealth Chicago, 773-296-6700×2317
www.wholehealthchicago.com
Certified Tao of Medical Qigong Practitioner

About Dr. Stoler: http://www.wholehealthchicago.com/about/larry-stoler/

Information on Medical Qigong: http://www.wholehealthchicago.com/patient-resources/medical-qigong/

I like vacations that involve journeys that are journeys of emptying rather than accumulating, journeys that help me remember who I am and who we are.

These journeys often involve surprise discoveries as in this trip when I have been reminded of the abiding Love that surrounds us in Nature and everywhere. So, it was in keeping with this theme that we encountered the iconic LOVE sculpture at the Farnsworth Museum.

Turns out, that this wasn’t the last time we were going to encounter Love.

My wife and I chose to end our vacation at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY to participate in a weekend of Kirtan, ecstatic chant, also known as call and response chanting.

Here is a link if you want to learn more about kirtan: http://jaiuttal.com/kirtan/

Listen to some of Jai Uttal’s newest album:  http://jaiuttal.com/queenofhearts/

Or check out one of kirtan’s best known singers, Krishna Das: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT1UI54YUZc&feature=related.

The reason that we attended this kirtan weekend, the reason that we enjoy kirtan is because it is truly joyful! The singing assists with the emptying process and helps to open the heart. It is so amazing to sing with 300 or more people. It is so freeing. So easy to release self-consciousness. So easy to sing from the heart. And once I learned that what we sing in kirtan are songs of praise or singing the names of God over and over, it made the experience only more sweet.

Now as I was saying vacations can involve journeys to empty oneself. Kirtan definitely assists in this process. But the idea that emptying oneself is a legitimate spiritual path has gained momentum in Western culture over the past 40 years due to the influence of Eastern spiritual practices. And these practices have been brought to us by many Westerners who journeyed to the East and usually under the guidance of a Guru or Master came to learn that despite the miles traveled the thing they most sought, the peace and serenity they were looking for, could be found right in their own hearts.

One of the people who led this movement from West to East and back to the West is Ram Dass. In fact, Ram Dass brought Krishna Das- and several others -to be with his Guru Neem Karoli Baba, also known as Maharajji. So one of the main sources of kirtan in America can be directly traced back to Ram Dass.

Ram Dass came to the Omega Institute many times over the past years to lead spiritual retreats. Now, after the stroke he suffered in 1997, he no longer travels. However, during this weekend at Omega, we participated in a video conference with Ram Dass moderated by Krishna Das. Ram Dass’ message was very clear: Love everyone. Love constantly. Be Love.

Here is a brief YouTube video of Ram Dass discussing his life and Love. You’ll note that he struggles with expressive difficulties following his stroke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJLyryAu_Cw&feature=related

So, once again, I’ve received the message of this vacation: to empty myself of everything except Love.

This is a vacation, an emptying, you can have too without going anywhere but inside your heart.

Larry

Larry Stoler, MSSA, PhD, DCEP
WholeHealth Chicago, 773-296-6700×2317
www.wholehealthchicago.com
Certified Tao of Medical Qigong Practitioner

About Larry: http://www.wholehealthchicago.com/about/larry-stoler/

About Medical Qigong: http://www.wholehealthchicago.com/patient-resources/medical-qigong/

This course is for the beginning and advanced Healing Touch Practitioner who is interested in refining their therapeutic communication skills and in recognizing the energetic patterns of interactions. In particular, issues and emotional discharge which often occur within the Healing Touch sessions will be addressed. Therapeutic interventions from an energetic perspective will be the main focus of this course, as well as skill building with the best communication approaches. Participants are encouraged to bring examples of situations which they have experienced with their clients. This course is a 24-hour program which blends the art of therapeutic communication with the energetic patterning that occurs within the Healing Touch interactions.

Instructor: Sharon Scandrett-Hibdon, RN, PhD, CS, FNP, HTCP/I has taught therapeutic communication at two major universities to graduate and undergraduate nursing students for the past 22 years. She brings this rich teaching background and blends it with her energetic and psychotherapy experience to provide a rich learning experience which has very useful tools for the practitioner.

Energetic Counseling is another tool which blends well with the core curriculum of the Healing Touch program.

Continuing Education Contact Hours: 24
Healing Touch Program is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s COA.
Prerequisite: Completion of Healing Touch Level 3 (Levels 1 or 2 require permission from instructor or coordinator)

Investment: $450.00

To register:
Name: _________________________________________________________
HT Level:______________
Address:________________________________________________________
Email address:_________________________________________
Phone #:________________________
Able to bring a massage table? (Yes/no)________________

Mail check, payable to Sharon Scandrett-Hibden, to the class coordinator:
Katie Oberlin
510 Thornwood Lane
Northfield, IL 60093

Questions? Contact Katie:
katie.oberlin@gmail.com
847-736-5911

Downloadable PDF of Flyer

This is an excellent and fair review of the exciting field of energy psychology. WholeHealth Chicago‘s Dr. Larry Stoler is an expert in energy psychology and was president of the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology from 2006-2008.

According to Dr. Stoler, energy psychology is incredibly important because for the first time we have a reliable bridge from conventional psychotherapy into the realm of energy therapy. Bridges into the energy healing have been built from other starting points too, Healing Touch is a good example.

But energy psychology is just a start. Dr. Stoler explains, “Through my advanced training in Medical Qigong, I have found that adding principles of healing from Chinese Medicine to the work I do can help people go beyond symptom relief to address the root psycho-spiritual causes of the problem. This approach helps people overcome their problem but goes beyond fixing the presenting condition to helping people decode the message about one’s life purpose that is hidden in the symptom.”

Dr. Stoler has just completed another component of his now 3 1/2 year program (and continuing) of advanced studies in Medical Qigong and Chinese Medicine under Master Nan Lu. This training focused on the conceptual and practical uses of Chinese herbs as part of a comprehensive healing plan. This training is an expression of Dr. Stoler’s lifelong professional pursuit of deeper and more comprehensive methods of helping heal the whole person.  He is one of the few professionals integrating advanced training in social work, clinical psychology, energy psychology and Chinese Medicine along with years of experience working alongside Western trained physicians.

Dr. Stoler is accepting patients seeking to experience medical qigong as a part of their healing journey.

More Information on Dr. Stoler and Medical Qigong: http://www.wholehealthchicago.com/patient-resources/medical-qigong/ 

Contact Info
Larry Stoler, MSSA, PhD, DCEP
WholeHealth Chicago, 773-296-6700 x2317
http://www.wholehealthchicago.com/about/larry-stoler
Certified Tao of Medical Qigong Practitioner