cotterkelsey

Arthritis of the Knee

Despite the physiological discrepancy, no condition is closer to my heart than knee pain. I found Eastern medicine by shredding the cartilage of my knee. I had surgery to repair the damage, but the physical therapy didn’t work out so well, and within a few weeks my knee was the size of a basketball. Months ofContinue reading “Arthritis of the Knee”

Acupuncture & Allergies

Allergy season is upon us, and there was recently an article on Time.com reporting on a study about acupuncture and allergies. The conclusion of the study was that “Acupuncture led to statistically significant improvements in disease-specific quality of life and antihistamine use measures after 8 weeks of treatment compared with sham acupunctureContinue reading “Acupuncture & Allergies”

Acupuncture & Chronic Pain

“Acupuncture provides more relief from various types of chronic pain than does usual care and should be considered a valid therapeutic option, the authors of a meta-analysis concluded.” A meta-analysis is when a group of researches read through many other studies and write up a research report that qualifies as its own study. Much ofContinue reading “Acupuncture & Chronic Pain”

Classes

Videos of the qigong forms can be viewed at: Online Curriculum Private qigong & tai chi lessons available by appointment.

Daoist Breathing

Daoist breathing is the basis for both qi gong and tai chi, as I enjoy practicing them. Both arts use the muscles of respiration to initiate and power their movements. As such, breathing is the foundation of practice, far more so than the prescribed order of the movements, or form. It is really quite simple, butContinue reading “Daoist Breathing”

Acupuncture

Acupuncture has a long, storied history, and is useful in treating a wide array of ailments. Unlike medications or cortizone injections, acupuncture does not have a specific function, per se, the way aspirin treats pain, calcium tablets treat excess stomach acid, and antihystamines treat inflammation. Acupuncture is a tool with which to practice Traditional EasternContinue reading “Acupuncture”

Six Division of Yin and Yang

Tai Yang / Greater Yang = big white part Shao Yang / Lesser Yang = small white part Yang Ming / Yang Brightness = white circle Tai Yin / Greater Yin = big black part Shao Yin / Lesser Yin = small black part Jue Yin / Reverting Yin = black circle ~ ~ ~Continue reading “Six Division of Yin and Yang”

Inner Gate fMRI

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22515798 I wouldn’t even make pretenses to being a neuroscientist by donning an Einstein wig and goggles, but I can generalize wildly at the distillations of actual neurobiologists with the best of them. This article is describing the areas of the brain that “light up” when subjects were needled at a specific acupuncture point, Nei Guan,Continue reading “Inner Gate fMRI”

Shen

Shen is the Chinese word for spirit. Unlike the western connotations of spirit, which may focus on the intangible and unknowable soul, shen incorporates the mind. The shen is rooted in the Heart, which incorporates the organ, but also has the ‘poetic’ elements of the heart as well. When there is a disorder of theContinue reading “Shen”

Migraines

The following is a study demonstrating acupuncture’s efficacy on acute migraines: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22536889 Verum (real) acupuncture demonstrated greater improvement in the migraine than did sham (fake) acupuncture. Sham acupuncture is when the needles are just pressed against the skin, or inserted into points that have no basis for treating a migraine using the Eastern diagnostic and treatmentContinue reading “Migraines”