This Week's Presenter Is...

Shannon Larson, Registered Acupuncturist

Shannon Larson Acupuncture

Trained to work with a wide variety of conditions, Registered Acupuncturist Shannon Larson specializes in women's health, with a focus on fertility and pregnancy. Shannon's presentation centered on a well-known troublemaker from which no human being is immune: stress.

Banton Medical Dictionary defines stress as:

Any factor that threatens the health of the body or has an adverse effect on its functioning , such as injury, disease, or worry. The existence of one form of stress tends to diminish resistance to other forms. Constant stress bring about changes in the balance of hormones in the body.

To understand stress and its treatment from an acupuncture and Chinese Medicine perspective, it's worth beginning with Yin & Yang 101. Yin and Yang represent balance, with Yin referring to body fluid, blood and a generally cooling effect, while Yang is warm and maintains the smooth flow of Qi (essential vitality or energy) throughout the body's meridians (channels that may, in Western Medicine, correspond to fasciae, which are the many connective tissues surrounding muscles, blood vessels and nerves.)

The liver conducts Qi's movement throughout the body. When we're unusually anxious or out of sorts, this critical organ is unable to do its job properly and then ... Houston, we have a problem:

Liver Qi stagnation -- aka, STRESS.

Symptoms of liver Qi stagnation include pain along sides of the body, depression, mood swings, inappropriate anger, abdominal discomfort, churning sensation in stomach, and a host of others.

Acupuncture alleviates liver Qi stagnations not only by moving blood but also moving Qi (i.e. releasing the dam). Points are chosen based on the affected meridian pathways and tailored to each individual's physical response to stress. The goal? Balance the yin relative to the yang and move Qi, thus bringing the body back into balance.

Shannon stresses, however, that no ethical practitioner wants to keep her patients forever. The obective is to bring patients back to a state of balance and easy self-maintenance.Prevention works too, so Shannon encourages us to eat whole, organic food, regularly and in healthy quantities (i.e. 80% full). Exercise (20 minutes, 3 to 5 times a week), meditation/deep breathing (20 minutes a day), and sleep also help keep us balanced and thereby healthy.

Shannon practices Wednesdays and Thursdays at:
Alchemy and Elixir Health Group
#320 - 1026 Davie Street, Vancouver

On Tuesdays and Fridays:
Bonn Chiropractic
3-1238 Homer St, Vancouver

Contact Shannon today to find out how acupuncture can bring you relief from pain, discomfort or stress.
Shannon Larson Acupuncture: Using an age-old medicine to cure today's modern pains.


shannonlarsoshannonlarson@gmail.com
website: vancouvertcm.com
cel: 778 233 0074