Women's Health
Women’s health is something I am especially interested in, partly for the simple reason that I am a woman, because acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine has been used for thousands of years to help women feel their best and I am passionate about helping other women feel as good as I feel!
From the time of the first menstrual period, when a young woman begins to bloom, through child-bearing years, peri-menopausal and menopausal time, women experience an ongoing ebb and flow of hormonal changes, along with all the ups and downs of life. Sometimes things can feel out of balance and as women, we feel physical sensations more acutely when our emotional state is not at peace. Hormonal shifts and emotions tend to go hand in hand because the entire endocrine system, including the adrenal glands, pancreas and of course the ovaries (gonads in men) secretes chemicals to control our nervous systems. It’s no wonder that hormonal changes affect our emotional state, though it may be difficult sometimes for others to understand how we feel.
The good news is that Chinese medicine inherently has a different attitude towards women’s bodies in the first place. For instance, the time of life when a woman’s period ends, we call menopause, in ancient Taoist thinking it is called the Second Springtime, when a woman no longer has monthly cycles, nor does she have the concern of becoming pregnant. This Second Springtime is a time when a woman can renew her creative pursuits and dreams, which might have been on hold for many years, now having more personal time to do with as she pleases. Of course, our society tells us that when we can no longer bear children, we are old and frankly, women often feel old and tired at this new phase of life when they should be ready to start doing the things they’ve always dreamed of doing. On top of it all, women often work too hard, ignoring their needs and then they are given drugs to further push their tired bodies to keep working. There is a better way!
I discovered acupuncture and Chinese medicine many years ago, when I was still quite young, but I was physically and emotionally exhausted from my job as an ambulance paramedic. Shift work had thrown my entire system out of balance and not only was I not able to get a proper night’s sleep; my menstrual periods had stopped entirely and my digestion was a mess. Quite by accident I discovered acupuncture, while walking past a clinic in Victoria, where I lived. I don’t know what compelled me to go in, but I’m so happy I did because getting an acupuncture treatment that day, was the beginning of being back on the road to good health. Of course it had taken me fourteen years of working as a paramedic to run myself down so I didn’t get better over night, but even after the first treatment, I could feel changes in my body right away. After a few weeks I began sleeping better, feeling more relaxed, my periods returned, without the debilitating cramps I had so often experienced, no more bloating and stomach pains and I started to dream again of what I wanted to do with my life. One day it hit me, I would study acupuncture and Chinese medicine!
It was very clear that this was the right path for me to follow. Within a couple of months I had quit the ambulance service, took out a student loan and started a full time four year journey to study the art of classical Chinese medicine. I have never looked back, only forward and I feel blessed to have found a career that I love so much and that gives so much back to me. I’ve been practising acupuncture and Chinese medicine for seven years now and I am more excited than ever to share the joy and abundance of vibrant health with you!
