Now that we have gotten started, my husband and I have been faithful about our daily yoga practice. This is a good time of year to start new habits I think!
Today we did a yoga class for hip opening, that is specifically designed to focus on the 1st and 2nd chakras. As mentioned in past posts, the 2nd chakra in particular is the one that often seems to be an issue for those with fibroids.
Here is a link to it, check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SwZMQ4gREw
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
new herbal remedy
My acupuncturist switched me to a new pre-ovulation formula today, Gui Shao Di Huang Tang. It helps with liver stagnation and building the blood. If you click on the name, scroll down the site to find this formula name highlighted in yellow. (This site is an interesting one in general on fertility and Chinese medicine, very detailed.)
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Healing Fibroids: A Doctor's Guide to a Natural Cure
There's been some discussion on the Healing Fibroids Naturally Yahoo Group about the book
Healing Fibroids: A Doctor's Guide to a Natural Cure
and I'd just like to share with everyone the comments that I shared there.
This was one of the first books that I read when I found out I had fibroids. I think it's one of the better ones out there, so if you haven't yet I would suggest looking at it. However,
I'd like to mention that while I think this book is really helpful and better than most, I had some problems as a result of having it be my main guide when I first discovered I had fibroids.
1. Following his advice to eat more fish, I made it one of my main protein sources. But I ate too much esp. tuna and ended up with a mercury overload.
2. The author says eggs are a good source of protein, but I started relying on them as one of my main sources and this was not good (from a Chinese medicine perspective too phlegmy, I discovered). Also I didn't realize that eggs can have hormones too so you need to eat organic ones if you are going to eat them. My acupuncturist has said no more than 2-3 per week.
3. Same with soy, based on what this book said I started eating a lot of it, esp. soy milk, which I have later discovered is not necessarily good for you. My acupuncturist thinks that all the soy caused damp which aggravated the fibroids.
4. Based on what this book said I stopped eating meat. But the book didn't talk enough about how to avoid getting anemic, and other foods to substitute. I only learned later that if you are not eating meat you need to load up on iron rich foods and likely will need to take an iron supplement too. He also didn't talk enough about adding other protein sources like quinoa etc.
5. The author's emphasis is on Western herbs, and he doesn't talk much about Chinese ones. However, I have since discovered that the Chinese ones are the ones that have clinical evidence behind them, and I would have liked to have known about them sooner.
So while I like this book, it has some drawbacks, wanted to mention so others who are reading it will be aware.
Healing Fibroids: A Doctor's Guide to a Natural Cure
and I'd just like to share with everyone the comments that I shared there.This was one of the first books that I read when I found out I had fibroids. I think it's one of the better ones out there, so if you haven't yet I would suggest looking at it. However,
I'd like to mention that while I think this book is really helpful and better than most, I had some problems as a result of having it be my main guide when I first discovered I had fibroids.
1. Following his advice to eat more fish, I made it one of my main protein sources. But I ate too much esp. tuna and ended up with a mercury overload.
2. The author says eggs are a good source of protein, but I started relying on them as one of my main sources and this was not good (from a Chinese medicine perspective too phlegmy, I discovered). Also I didn't realize that eggs can have hormones too so you need to eat organic ones if you are going to eat them. My acupuncturist has said no more than 2-3 per week.
3. Same with soy, based on what this book said I started eating a lot of it, esp. soy milk, which I have later discovered is not necessarily good for you. My acupuncturist thinks that all the soy caused damp which aggravated the fibroids.
4. Based on what this book said I stopped eating meat. But the book didn't talk enough about how to avoid getting anemic, and other foods to substitute. I only learned later that if you are not eating meat you need to load up on iron rich foods and likely will need to take an iron supplement too. He also didn't talk enough about adding other protein sources like quinoa etc.
5. The author's emphasis is on Western herbs, and he doesn't talk much about Chinese ones. However, I have since discovered that the Chinese ones are the ones that have clinical evidence behind them, and I would have liked to have known about them sooner.
So while I like this book, it has some drawbacks, wanted to mention so others who are reading it will be aware.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
free Kundalini yoga (and other yoga) classes on the web!
As mentioned in my last post, I am going to try Kundalini yoga to help balance my chakras.
My husband's take on this is, "I told you so." When we first decided to start TTC six months ago, he said "we should go to Kundalini yoga." But it turned out he was looking at an outdated website and we went looking for a class that no longer existed, and then we got distracted with wedding planning etc. before we could find another. But now this idea of Kundalini resurfaces, in advice from my acupuncturist. Since my husband feels it was his idea in the first place, he is cooperating with this as a joint project, which I think is a really good thing.
I asked him the other day, so why Kundalini yoga in particular? He said he had once gone to a presentation on Kundalini yoga and it gave him the impression that it would be good for fertility. (When did he do that?! I am thinking. Maybe it was before I met him, when he was in grad school in Bloomington IN which is a place with lots of that kind of stuff...)
So, is Kundalini supposed to help fertility? I took a peek at the web and found information that yoga helps with fertility but not specific to Kundalini. (This page on Kundalini however does mention fertility, and also talks about releasing past emotional traumas and resentments, which is could be important for fibroid shrinkers.)
Anyhow, we are going to start trying to do a regular daily yoga practice with a focus on Kundalini. We were eager to try Kundalini but the DVDs I ordered did not arrive yet, so I thought of looking on the web. And lo and behold on YouTube I found this great full-length Kundalini yoga class: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnbzxMsjbIk
This is a really excellent class, well-taught. (However, a warning, if you are TTC and post-ovulation skip the move where they have you lift yourself up and drop your butt to the floor! You are not supposed to be jolting your torso while TTC.)
While trapped on a boring conference call I looked through all the other Kundalini yoga videos on YouTube and that was the only one longer than ten minutes (other than a clip of a 1/2 hour TV show about it). You could use some of the shorter ones to get a taste. My husband and I liked this one: http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2008/03/10/beginner-kundalini-yoga-video/
The full-length class said it was from a site called Yoga Today. So I checked it out and it turns out that this site offers a new free streaming yoga class every day, and the past week's worth are archived. What an amazing way to keep your yoga practice fresh without going to a class or buying a zillion DVD's! Not all the classes are Kundalini, but there is a good variety. One of the ones from the past week is on the Root Chakra so I am guessing that they throw in a fair amount of Kundalini. Definitely worth checking out!
My husband's take on this is, "I told you so." When we first decided to start TTC six months ago, he said "we should go to Kundalini yoga." But it turned out he was looking at an outdated website and we went looking for a class that no longer existed, and then we got distracted with wedding planning etc. before we could find another. But now this idea of Kundalini resurfaces, in advice from my acupuncturist. Since my husband feels it was his idea in the first place, he is cooperating with this as a joint project, which I think is a really good thing.
I asked him the other day, so why Kundalini yoga in particular? He said he had once gone to a presentation on Kundalini yoga and it gave him the impression that it would be good for fertility. (When did he do that?! I am thinking. Maybe it was before I met him, when he was in grad school in Bloomington IN which is a place with lots of that kind of stuff...)
So, is Kundalini supposed to help fertility? I took a peek at the web and found information that yoga helps with fertility but not specific to Kundalini. (This page on Kundalini however does mention fertility, and also talks about releasing past emotional traumas and resentments, which is could be important for fibroid shrinkers.)
Anyhow, we are going to start trying to do a regular daily yoga practice with a focus on Kundalini. We were eager to try Kundalini but the DVDs I ordered did not arrive yet, so I thought of looking on the web. And lo and behold on YouTube I found this great full-length Kundalini yoga class: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnbzxMsjbIk
This is a really excellent class, well-taught. (However, a warning, if you are TTC and post-ovulation skip the move where they have you lift yourself up and drop your butt to the floor! You are not supposed to be jolting your torso while TTC.)
While trapped on a boring conference call I looked through all the other Kundalini yoga videos on YouTube and that was the only one longer than ten minutes (other than a clip of a 1/2 hour TV show about it). You could use some of the shorter ones to get a taste. My husband and I liked this one: http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2008/03/10/beginner-kundalini-yoga-video/
The full-length class said it was from a site called Yoga Today. So I checked it out and it turns out that this site offers a new free streaming yoga class every day, and the past week's worth are archived. What an amazing way to keep your yoga practice fresh without going to a class or buying a zillion DVD's! Not all the classes are Kundalini, but there is a good variety. One of the ones from the past week is on the Root Chakra so I am guessing that they throw in a fair amount of Kundalini. Definitely worth checking out!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
chakra balancing
My acupuncturist has an interesting new diagnostic tool called the GDV that she used on me for the first time yesterday.
The upshot was that physically I am very well balanced except for a couple of minor things, such as my liver and gallbladder being rather tired from all the detoxing I have done, and my jaw is not in good shape (I do clench it a lot). But other than that my results looked great, esp. on things like adrenals which are deficient on most people. Good results from all the work I have been doing she said.
However, energetically, I am a mess. It prints out several reports, one of which shows the chakras, and boy mine are really out of whack, misplaced and many of them are showing up as too small. Another energy chart of the same info shows a bunch of deficient areas, particularly striking is a huge energy deficit in my abdominal area (not surprising since I have fibroids and am having trouble getting pregnant).
If you are not familiar with chakras you might want to read True Balance: A Commonsense Guide for Renewing Your Spirit by Sonia Choquette
. It's clear and easy to understand and is not overly new-agey. I read this a long time ago so am familiar with the concept, but obviously have not done very well with actually getting my chakras in balance.
See this printout made this very vivid to me, and is quite motivating. My homework is to get my chakras in better shape, she will retest me on my next visit 1/8.
So here is the plan we discussed.
1. Kundalini yoga. This form of yoga involves the chakras, and was strongly suggested by my acupuncturist. I have done lots of yoga before but never this kind. I bought Transformation Through Kundalini Yoga with April Bernardi
and also Kundalini Yoga - A Journey through the Chakras
. There are lots of others
that look good if I get bored of these two. Also my husband and I are going to see if we can find a class near here to do it in person.
2. Chakra balancing meditation. I already have been using this chakra clearing meditation CD
and I just bought another one called Journey Through The Chakras CD
-- it looks good also liked that it was much lower priced than the others. On this topic too, there is a large selection of options to choose from. I also am going to keep doing the Rainbow Meditation that I found in a book I have been reading lately, Spirit Babies.
3. Qi Gong. This is also great for balancing your energy. I took a Qi Gong this spring and loved the Wild Goose Qi Gong but I have to admit I have not been good about doing it. Need to get back on track! Also I am going to be better about doing the fertiliy Qi Gong exercises that I found in The Tao of Fertility
.
4. Chakra balancing stones. When my husband and I were in Hawaii on our honeymoon, we wandered into a funky crystal store and found a set of stones, one for each of the chakras. (I found this very similar one
online). You lay down and put one of them on each of the chakra points and then meditate for 20 minutes, and the crystal healing energy is supposed to help balance you out. Yes, sounds kind of way out but my feeling is hey why not, it was an inexpensive and fun souvenir. They were pretty much sitting in my drawer until my acupuncturist gave me this dictum to fix my chakras, so I thought I should start using them. I was feeling tired this afternoon and so I lay down and put the crystals on me, along with some warm spa booties. While laying there I did the Rainbow Meditation. I felt extraordinarily refreshed afterwards. Of course it was nice to lay down, but this was more refreshing than just laying down or taking a nap. Also I need to slow down more and once you get in position with the stones on you it's an incentive to stay put! Also I think I am more likely to let myself lay down if I am doing it for a "purpose."
What I'm not doing: reiki. Reiki is an energy medicine therapy that works directly with the chakras, so when my acupuncturist mentioned chakras that was the first thing that came to mind. I think reiki is great, and indeed reiki is often recommended for fibroid treatment. I used to go to a talented practitioner when I lived in Chicago, but have not found one here in CA. There should be a zillion here but I looked online and nothing I saw looked right. My acupuncturist said that reiki is good but that the results don't hold very long -- in other words the reiki person fixes you up but pretty soon you will go back into your usual energy pattern of disarray. Kind of like using a cleaning person for your house, at least in my case it's nice for awhile but soon it gets messy again. My acupuncturist said that she would rather have me work on it myself, have it come from within, with the qi gong and the kundalini etc. Actually I was kind of relieved because I'm a bit burned out seeing all sorts of different doctors and holistic specialists in this fibroid shrinking quest. I need to learn more about getting my body in balance using my own resources.
However for people reading this if you don't have access to the kind of diagnostic tool my acupuncturist used on me, then a reiki practitioner (or other energy medicine specialist) could give you good info about what is up with your chakras, as a baseline. Go to google and type in either "reiki" or "chakra balancing" and the name of your city to find a practioner. Or ask around!
Finally, here are some interesting links on fibroids and chakras:
1. http://books.google.com/books?id=pJ3w7NhiXbwC&pg=PA169&lpg=PA169&dq=fibroids+chakras&source=web&ots=jXXzSr7-XO&sig=hbS16x3ld3gJMe4RtN2cDKtZ4q0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA169,M1
2. http://www.innersource.net/energy_medicine_faq/energy_medicine_QA_fibroids.htm
3. http://www.colourtherapyhealing.com/colour_therapy/chakras/sacral_chakra.php
The upshot was that physically I am very well balanced except for a couple of minor things, such as my liver and gallbladder being rather tired from all the detoxing I have done, and my jaw is not in good shape (I do clench it a lot). But other than that my results looked great, esp. on things like adrenals which are deficient on most people. Good results from all the work I have been doing she said.
However, energetically, I am a mess. It prints out several reports, one of which shows the chakras, and boy mine are really out of whack, misplaced and many of them are showing up as too small. Another energy chart of the same info shows a bunch of deficient areas, particularly striking is a huge energy deficit in my abdominal area (not surprising since I have fibroids and am having trouble getting pregnant).
If you are not familiar with chakras you might want to read True Balance: A Commonsense Guide for Renewing Your Spirit by Sonia Choquette
. It's clear and easy to understand and is not overly new-agey. I read this a long time ago so am familiar with the concept, but obviously have not done very well with actually getting my chakras in balance.See this printout made this very vivid to me, and is quite motivating. My homework is to get my chakras in better shape, she will retest me on my next visit 1/8.
So here is the plan we discussed.
1. Kundalini yoga. This form of yoga involves the chakras, and was strongly suggested by my acupuncturist. I have done lots of yoga before but never this kind. I bought Transformation Through Kundalini Yoga with April Bernardi
and also Kundalini Yoga - A Journey through the Chakras. There are lots of othersthat look good if I get bored of these two. Also my husband and I are going to see if we can find a class near here to do it in person.2. Chakra balancing meditation. I already have been using this chakra clearing meditation CD
and I just bought another one called Journey Through The Chakras CD -- it looks good also liked that it was much lower priced than the others. On this topic too, there is a large selection of options to choose from. I also am going to keep doing the Rainbow Meditation that I found in a book I have been reading lately, Spirit Babies.3. Qi Gong. This is also great for balancing your energy. I took a Qi Gong this spring and loved the Wild Goose Qi Gong
but I have to admit I have not been good about doing it. Need to get back on track! Also I am going to be better about doing the fertiliy Qi Gong exercises that I found in The Tao of Fertility.4. Chakra balancing stones. When my husband and I were in Hawaii on our honeymoon, we wandered into a funky crystal store and found a set of stones, one for each of the chakras. (I found this very similar one
online). You lay down and put one of them on each of the chakra points and then meditate for 20 minutes, and the crystal healing energy is supposed to help balance you out. Yes, sounds kind of way out but my feeling is hey why not, it was an inexpensive and fun souvenir. They were pretty much sitting in my drawer until my acupuncturist gave me this dictum to fix my chakras, so I thought I should start using them. I was feeling tired this afternoon and so I lay down and put the crystals on me, along with some warm spa booties. While laying there I did the Rainbow Meditation. I felt extraordinarily refreshed afterwards. Of course it was nice to lay down, but this was more refreshing than just laying down or taking a nap. Also I need to slow down more and once you get in position with the stones on you it's an incentive to stay put! Also I think I am more likely to let myself lay down if I am doing it for a "purpose."What I'm not doing: reiki. Reiki is an energy medicine therapy that works directly with the chakras, so when my acupuncturist mentioned chakras that was the first thing that came to mind. I think reiki is great, and indeed reiki is often recommended for fibroid treatment. I used to go to a talented practitioner when I lived in Chicago, but have not found one here in CA. There should be a zillion here but I looked online and nothing I saw looked right. My acupuncturist said that reiki is good but that the results don't hold very long -- in other words the reiki person fixes you up but pretty soon you will go back into your usual energy pattern of disarray. Kind of like using a cleaning person for your house, at least in my case it's nice for awhile but soon it gets messy again. My acupuncturist said that she would rather have me work on it myself, have it come from within, with the qi gong and the kundalini etc. Actually I was kind of relieved because I'm a bit burned out seeing all sorts of different doctors and holistic specialists in this fibroid shrinking quest. I need to learn more about getting my body in balance using my own resources.
However for people reading this if you don't have access to the kind of diagnostic tool my acupuncturist used on me, then a reiki practitioner (or other energy medicine specialist) could give you good info about what is up with your chakras, as a baseline. Go to google and type in either "reiki" or "chakra balancing" and the name of your city to find a practioner. Or ask around!
Finally, here are some interesting links on fibroids and chakras:
1. http://books.google.com/books?id=pJ3w7NhiXbwC&pg=PA169&lpg=PA169&dq=fibroids+chakras&source=web&ots=jXXzSr7-XO&sig=hbS16x3ld3gJMe4RtN2cDKtZ4q0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA169,M1
2. http://www.innersource.net/energy_medicine_faq/energy_medicine_QA_fibroids.htm
3. http://www.colourtherapyhealing.com/colour_therapy/chakras/sacral_chakra.php
Friday, December 19, 2008
I was not making it up about the mercury
I've written before in this blog about how I ended up with high levels of mercury in my system, due primarily to high fish consumption. I already ate a lot of sushi (I work with Japanese for my job, and travel to Japan a lot, and just like it!) plus I started eating more fish when I found out I had fibroids and read that it's better to eat fish than meat or chicken if you have fibroids. But I wasn't careful about which fish I ate, and ended up with a mercury buildup that left me very fatigued.
Looks like something similar (without the fibroids element) has happened to Broadway actor Jeremy Piven, who had to drop out of a show as a result. Very sad for Jeremy, but hoping the resulting press will raise awareness of this problem.
Interestingly, evidently in addition to eating a lot of sushi, Piven was taking herbal medicines. It's possible the herbs could have contributed to the problem, indeed according to my acupuncturist there have been problems of herbs from China being contaminated. A reason to discuss with your acupuncturist where they get their herbs and how trustworthy they are.
Looks like something similar (without the fibroids element) has happened to Broadway actor Jeremy Piven, who had to drop out of a show as a result. Very sad for Jeremy, but hoping the resulting press will raise awareness of this problem.
Interestingly, evidently in addition to eating a lot of sushi, Piven was taking herbal medicines. It's possible the herbs could have contributed to the problem, indeed according to my acupuncturist there have been problems of herbs from China being contaminated. A reason to discuss with your acupuncturist where they get their herbs and how trustworthy they are.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
new Chinese herb formula
Switched to a new formula today, it contains the following, and according to my accupuncturist is good for both the fibroids and fertility during the luteal phase.
It contains:
Yu lin zhu (known as "fertility pearls", love the name!)
Dan Shen
Yu Jin
Jixue Tang
It contains:
Yu lin zhu (known as "fertility pearls", love the name!)
Dan Shen
Yu Jin
Jixue Tang
Monday, December 8, 2008
herb update
My acupuncturist just switched me back to Gui Zhi Fu Ling San for the pre-ovulation period, a classic anti-fibroid herb combo.
I didn't get pregnant last month, but my basal temperature chart is looking a lot better, which means I am making progress with my liver and spleen.
I didn't get pregnant last month, but my basal temperature chart is looking a lot better, which means I am making progress with my liver and spleen.
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