Balanced Natural Health with Dr. Maz

In today’s episode, we are delving deeper into the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, a topic that is on many of our minds right now. In the last episode, I touched on some of the preventative practices and lifestyle measures we can be incorporating right now, and we will be reiterating some of these in light of new understanding around the novel coronavirus. There is so much that we can do each day to nurture our health, and now is a wonderful opportunity to prioritise our health and wellbeing - not just for our own sakes, but also for those of our community. I hope you find this information empowering and heartening! Show Notes Climate & COVID-19 https://www.inkstonenews.com/science/scientists-found-regions-hit-hard-coronavirus-share-similar-climate/article/3075085 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3550308 https://time.com/4888327/why-sunlight-is-so-good-for-you/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504358/ https://medium.com/@ra.hobday/coronavirus-and-the-sun-a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic-509151dc8065 https://theconversation.com/5-ways-nutrition-could-help-your-immune-system-fight-off-the-coronavirus-133356 https://academic.oup.com/icb/article/54/3/419/2797803 https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/covid-19-china-traditional-medicine/ https://www.functionalmedicineuniversity.com/public/937.cfm https://www.britannica.com/biography/Claude-Bernard https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4020-4425-0_9392 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246568#The-Microbiome https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3800632,00.html https://www.smh.com.au/national/chinese-solution-melbourne-s https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043661820307556 https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202002/27/WS5e5716f3a31012821727aa5f.html https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202003/13/WS5e6b7218a31012821727f03f.html Zhang, DH, Wu, KL, Zhang, X, Deng, SQ & Peng, B (2020). In silico screening of Chinese herbal medicines with the potential to directly inhibit 2019 novel coronavirus.Journal of Integrative Medicine, January 2020 Chen, Z & Nakamura, T (2004). Statistical evidence for the usefulness of Chinese medicine in the treatment of SARS. Phytotherapy Research, Volume 18, Issue 7, July 2004, Pages 592-594 Luo, H, Tang, QL, Shang, YX, Liang, SB, Yang, M, Robinson, N & Liu, JP (2020) Can Chinese Medicine Be Used for Prevention of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)? A Review of Historical Classics, Research Evidence and Current Prevention Programs. Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine Ren JL, Zhang AH & Wang XJ (2020) Traditional Chinese medicine for COVID-19 treatment, Letter to the Editor. Pharmacological Research 155. Chen JK & Hsu L (2020). How COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) is Currently Treated in China with TCM. Lotus Institute of Integrative Medicine Meditation https://balancedacupuncture.com.au/2019/12/19/bonus-episode-5-minute-guided-seated-meditation/ Triangle Breath https://balancedacupuncture.com.au/2019/12/05/a-simple-soothing-breath-to-release-stress-anxiety/ 54321 https://insighttimer.com/blog/54321-grounding-technique/ More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

This is a quick introduction to a longer episode coming next week, regarding Chinese Medicine and the novel coronavirus Covid-19. Since the outbreak of the virus, our Chinese Medicine colleagues in China have been using individualised Chinese herbal medicine to ease symptoms and support recovery from the disease. I’ll be going into more detail on case studies and treatment approaches next week, however in the interim, there is a lot of insight we can gain from a Chinese Medicine perspective on the virus, and how to best boost our immunity and vitality so that our bodies do not provide a favourable environment for the virus to get settled in. Join us as we look at simple ways to build our health and wellness at this time. More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

Right now, we find ourselves in the season of Late Summer – a time of humidity and dampness that can overwhelm the organ systems related to digestion and fluid metabolism, potentially resulting in digestive symptoms, weight changes, fluid retention, swelling, fatigue and foggy thinking. Luckily, Chinese Medicine has developed simple diet and lifestyle tweaks that help us flow in harmony with the seasons – including this time of dampness. Join us as we learn more about how to balance our bodies at this time for greater health and vitality! Episode Highlights • the current season of Late Summer affects the Earth element, linked to digestion, energy assimilation and fluid metabolism • the organs of digestion - the Spleen and Stomach - are easily overwhelmed by dampness and humidity, resulting in the common symptoms at this time of year of digestive upset, appetite changes, weight changes, bloating, nausea, diarrhoea / constipation, reflux • gut health is the foundation of good health, so other symptoms may arise at this time too, like fatigue, foggy thinking, flat moods and fluid metabolism issues like swelling and fluid retention • the associated emotion of the Earth season is Worry, so this may be popping up as over-thinking or anxiety • luckily, Chinese Medicine has identified simple diet and lifestyle tweaks that can support our bodies at this time, and help us to flow in harmony with the season! • these are things like caring for our digestion with warm, cooked foods and digestion-boosting herbs and spices • chewing well and creating boundaries around mealtimes • practicing gratitude and basking in the abundance of the season • starting to slow down as we head towards the cooler months • practicing a grounding breath to allow us to drop into "rest-and-digest" mode (parasympathetic mode) which can be so helpful at this time of year. More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

Today we continue our discussion about the Five Elements in Chinese Medicine - and how they relate to the five flavours of different foods and medicinal herbs. This knowledge forms the foundation of Chinese Herbal Medicine and dietary therapy – and it helps direct us in knowing how to use our pantry as a medicine cabinet. There’s lots to talk about, so let’s get into it! Show Notes & Links Five Elements - generation, support and containment Heirloom vs Cultivated Plants source: Bill Marsh/The New York Times; illustrations by Matt Curtius https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/26/sunday-review/26corn-ch.html https://www.urbanmoonshine.com/blogs/blog/bitters-and-digestive-juices https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/72/6/1424/4729430 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25051278 http://www.isnff-jfb.com/index.php/JFB/article/view/89/166 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6766813/ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/87559129.2018.1438470 https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/bioactive-compound https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/phytochemical https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6331972/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335903151_Bioactive_composition_and_promising_health_benefits_of_natural_food_flavors_and_colorants_potential_beyond_their_basic_functions https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-05-bitter-receptors-human-hearts.html https://www.jamesmarrnaturopathy.com.au/why-heirloom-fruit-and-veg-is-better-for-your-health/ More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

Today we demystify the 5 Elements - a central concept that we use in Chinese Medicine to classify things, symptoms, phenomena and the world around us. Stemming from Daoist philosophy, for the past several thousand years, 5 Element thought has informed Chinese science, technology and culture, influencing fields as diverse as military strategy, music, martial arts and of course, medicine! There is so much insight to be gained from an understanding of the 5 Elements concept, and how it applies to life, health and the world around us, so join me as we dive in deeper! Show Notes & Links Five Elements - generation, support and containment Show Notes & Links https://www.thoughtco.com/mandarin-meaning-of-yin-yang-2278446 https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/science/being-happy-could-cause-you-7480609 More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

It’s such an interesting time for us Doctors of Chinese Medicine right now, as we are seeing more and more of our fundamental medical concepts embraced as the foundation of the most progressive biomedicine, particularly in the spheres of functional & integrative medicine - and in medicine personalised to the individual. We also see it in the central importance of gut health to whole body health, in the mind-body connection, and in the interconnectedness of humans and their environment. Join us as we talk more about this intersection of new and old! More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

Can we have too much of a good thing? It's possible! Very often, I see patients who come in with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, disrupted hormones, autoimmune conditions or seeking to conceive, who are simultaneously asking a lot of their bodies with the exercise they choose. As always, it's important to strike a supportive balance with how we live, so if life is already demanding a lot from us, a greater focus on restorative exercise may be beneficial at that point in time. Join us as we learn how to choose exercise that best supports you where you are at. Show Notes Link to blog post Triangles are your friend! Ok - bear with me here! Shallow, rapid breaths are a message to the body that it should be prepared for fight or flight. They can perpetuate adrenaline release and keep us in SNS mode, even once stress or danger has passed. Conversely, breathing slowly, deeply and mindfully encourages the body to feel safe, allowing it to switch to PNS mode. A particularly effective way of signalling safety to the nervous system is by extending the length of your exhalation (in a dangerous situation, you wouldn't have time to leisurely and completely empty your lungs!). A wonderfully simple Pranayama* exercise uses the concept of a triangle to regulate your in- and out-breaths. 1. Sit or lay comfortably (preferably with a straight spine) 2. Take a few moments to allow your breath to settle into its natural rhythm, and note how long each inhale and exhale lasts (for most people this is somewhere between 3 and 6 counts) 3. The idea now is to lengthen the exhale so it is twice as long as your inhale. So, using our triangle friend, we inhale for the length of one side (for example, a count of 3), and then exhale for the length of the two remaining sides (3 + 3), drawing the exhale out nice and long. Keep the breathing gentle - don't force the breath, and if you find you are running out of exhale, try shortening the count. As your body relaxes, you may find that your inhales and exhales get naturally slower. 4. Once you return to the beginning point on the triangle, start again. Aim for a few minutes of triangle breathing as a daily practice, or whenever you are feeling the need to reduce stress. More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

The Chinese New Year of the Metal Rat is just around the corner, and it's a big party, with one quarter of the world's population getting ready to celebrate! Let's find out more about the Metal Rat Year, and ways that we can celebrate to bring in more luck, health and abundance in this coming year (hint: in may involve eating lots of dumplings!!) More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

They both use the same kind of needles, so you’d be forgiven for thinking they’re the same. In a way they are: dry needling is small subset of acupuncture - just one tool in a very big toolbox! But despite the fact that both modalities use the same tools (acupuncture needles), training, regulation, protection of the public, and evidence-based research greatly differs between the two. For example, acupuncturists study a 4 year Bachelor of Health Science, while a dry needling qualification can take as little as a weekend!! Join me as we discuss, and find out why it matters to your health. Show Notes Click here for transcript More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

People, please stop icing your injuries!! Today we are going to be busting the stubborn myth of icing. This is such an important one to raise awareness of, as it’s so entrenched in the mainstream medical field despite lack of any evidence of benefit and clear evidence of harm. So what do we do instead? Luckily Chinese Medicine has a tried and tested approach to healing, with thousands of years of clinic use. It's so effective that the latest biomedical guidelines for healing soft tissue injuries echo traditional wisdom. So join me to find out how to heal more completely and efficiently! Show Notes Transcript Today we're going to get into some health mythbusting, and we are going to be busting the stubborn myth of icing an injury. This is such an important one to raise awareness about, as it's so entrenched in the mainstream medical field - and it's often the first thing that many of us will think to do when we injure ourselves, or if we're recovering from certain surgeries. But despite it being so prevalent, unfortunately icing an injury not only lacks any evidence of benefit, but we are also seeing clear evidence of harm, in its delay and slowing of healing. Icing is directly contradicting our understanding of how the body heals, from both an Eastern and a Western perspective. It's really important to bust this myth apart, so let's get into it. When did the idea of icing become so common in the first place? Well, the widespread idea of icing an injury dates back to the 1970s ,and it was bedded down in the acronym (many of us who are a little older might remember) RICE, which was the standard first aid treatment for injuries. RICE stands for Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation, and itwas established as best practice back in the seventies and eighties. The term RICE was coined by the sports doctor and fitness guru, Dr. Gabe Mirkin, and the idea of RICE as the first-line treatment was further spread in his bestselling title Sportsmedicine. Now since then, Dr. Mirkin has realised that icing an injury is actually harmful - not helpful - and I really admire his openmindedness and ability to admit that he was wrong. This is the scientific method and a spirit of inquiry in action, which unfortunately doesn't always inform the advice and practice guidelines out there. So it's really awesome to see Dr. Mirkin being openminded and continually updating his knowledge and approach. As Dr. Mirkin says "RICE is something that just stuck and it's wrong". Meanwhile, in many traditional medicines, for thousands of years the standard treatment for injury is the opposite of icing. We use varying treatments that will promote circulation and the growth of new tissue, and we do this with modalities such as acupuncture, cupping therapy (which had its moment in the limelight a couple of years ago with a lot of the Olympic athletes sporting the big dark spots on their backs, and it's also been seen gracing the red carpet!), heat therapy - whether in the form of infrared heat lamp (which feels amazing!) or moxa. Moxa is also known as moxibustion: this is an ancient practice that involves the burning of mugwort and certain other herbs which release volatile oils - these are burnt near the skin and provide a gentle, warm feeling. It feels amazing and it speeds up recovery of topical injuries, even things like insect bites, and certainly feels really lovely for arthritis and pain conditions as well. So with all of these modalities, we're looking at improving circulation and promoting new tissue growth. We also do that with both topical and internal herbal medicines that promote recovery. Some of these herbal liniments in particular have been fine-tuned by Kung Fu fighting Shaolin monks in China. These guys have had ample opportunities over the centuries to observe the effects of herbal medicine for a vast array of training injuries, so these liniments have been tried and tested over millennia.

This time of year sees many of us in Australia able to enjoy some time off, and the beautiful weather makes for an additional encouragement to get outdoors. Most of us have observed how great we feel after a day at the beach, camping, going bush or hiking through forests – but the benefits are not limited to lifting our mood: time in nature has proven health benefits! Join me as we talk forest-bathing, earthing and beachtime. Show Notes Transcript Hi everyone and happy holidays - Happy New Year!! It's the summer holidays here in Australia, and it's a time of year that sees many of us able to enjoy some more time off - and we've got beautiful weather, which makes for additional encouragement to get outside. Most of us have observed how amazing we feel after a day at the beach, or camping, going bush or hiking through forests - but the benefits are not limited to just lifting our mood. Time in nature has proven health benefits, with lots of exciting research and the adoption of progressive medical practices around the world. So let's get into it! The past several hundred years or so have seen greater and greater technological advancements that have offered many undoubted benefits. But at the same time, these same advancements have created a greater degree of separation between us and the natural world around us - and its cycles and seasons. We humans evolved from a close relationship with nature, and despite the shiny, technologically-advanced modern lives that we lead, we still remain connected to - and affected by - Mother Nature and her cycles. For example, our biochemistry fluctuates with the diurnal rhythms of light, between night and day, and the weather has been shown to have an impact on pain levels. For example, a recent study by scientists at the University of Manchester looked at the impact of the weather on arthritis (and other pain conditions) with their excellently named app, "Cloudy with a chance of pain". On a side note, Chinese Medicine has long referred to arthritis and other similar pain conditions as "Damp Obstruction" or "Cold Obstruction", which relates with the contemporary findings of a greater incidence of these pain patterns in damp weather - or cold weather for some people. This understanding of our interdependence on, and our connectedness with, nature is at the foundation of Chinese Medicine philosophy. We're all connected and we impact each other. So it's exciting to see this recognized in research, and to see it carried through into prescribing practices. One place where this is happening is in Scotland, where GPs, since last year have been able to start prescribing time in nature to their patients. They do this in an effort to reduce blood pressure, anxiety and to increase happiness for those living with diabetes and mental illness, stress and heart disease and so on. What the doctors can actually do is issue patients with a little brochure that has some great connecting-with-nature practices: these are seasonal practices that encourage the patients to get out there and just connect with the seasons and cycles of nature, and the magic of nature that's all around us. I've included the link to the brochure in my show notes, but there's some really awesome seasonal activities like, making beach art from natural materials, or borrow a dog and take it for a walk, touch the sea, make a bug hotel, bury your face in the grass, lots of beautiful ideas! Appreciate a cloud, talk to a pony and feed the birds in your garden - all activities that encourage us to slow down, take a breath and just appreciate the natural beauty that surrounds us. This exciting directive builds on earlier work and studies throughout the world, for example, some work in America that showed that patients recovering from surgery recovered faster and went home quicker if they had a view of trees outside their window. Other similar studies showed that a reduction in pain was available...

Given that this episode is coming out the day after Christmas (and considering all of the feasting that often comes with this time of year!), I thought it was a timely opportunity to talk about digestion from a Chinese Medicine perspective, and to share some pearls of wisdom that have stood the test of time over millennia. Chinese Medicine has long understood, and almost revered, the role that the gut and digestion play as a foundation for all-round health of mind and body. As a result of this, in Chinese Medicine we have a whole pillar of practice that focuses on nutrition or dietary therapy, and which offers guidelines not only on what to eat, but how to eat it. Listen in to hear some simple, natural tips to boost digestion! Show Notes Transcript Hi everyone and Merry Christmas, happy holidays. Given that this episode is coming out on Boxing Day (and considering all of the feasting that often comes with this time of year!), I thought it was a timely opportunity to talk about digestion from a Chinese Medicine perspective - and to share some pearls of wisdom that have stood the test of time over millennia. Chinese Medicine has long understood - and almost revered - the role that the gut and digestion play, as a foundation for all-round health of the mind and body and emotions. In many of the traditional diagrams that outline the interconnectedness of the various organs and systems in the body, the digestion (which we also refer to as the Spleen and Stomach, or the Earth, because it forms the foundation for everything) is often placed at the center of these schematics, which highlights its central and fundamental role. And because of this in Chinese Medicine, we have a whole pillar of practice that is Chinese Medicine Nutrition or dietary therapy, which offers guidelines not only on what to eat, but also how to eat it. Also, many of our acupuncture points, and therapies like moxa (which is heat application) or infrared lamp and the herbs that we use - all of these modalities have been shown to have an impact on gut health as well, whether by raising certain bacterial populations in the gut, or by improving the efficacy of digestion. This perspective regarding the importance of gut health is something that biomedicine has recently come around to as well, with an ever-growing body of research into the role of the microbiome and gut bacteria. The microbiome is the sum total of all of the bacteria and microbes that live in and on our bodies, so when we consider the number of cells that make up our body or what we think of as our human body, the number of bacterial cells of vastly outnumbers the human cells by a factor of roughly 10 to 1 - which might prompt some musing on what it means to be human, and what our perception of ourselves is based on, if 90% of the cells that make up our whole being are actually bacterial cells! It's quite mind boggling, isn't it?! A healthy and balanced microbiome is fundamental to thriving, good health because the bacteria that live in and on us aren't just freeloading - they actually have many important roles in the function of our body. This includes important processes, like the metabolism and assimilation of nutrients... they're involved in immune regulation, And mood and brain regulation. Many of you might have heard the fact that 90% of serotonin, which is our happy feel good neurotransmitter, is made in the gut, so having a healthy, happy, balanced gut bacteria is truly essential to good health. Meanwhile, an imbalanced microbiome has been linked to a whole range of symptoms and conditions from diabetes to depression, anxiety, autism, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and a whole host of inflammatory bowel conditions. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! In an attempt to rebalance the microbiome, we're seeing all manner of interventions, from the relatively benign or simple probiotics (and probiotic foods),

Join Dr. Maz for a simple, guided meditation. Just 5 minutes out of your day can offer greater calm, clarity of mind and support your body towards a greater state of health. Join Dr. Maz for a simple, guided meditation. Just 5 minutes out of your day can offer greater calm, clarity of mind and support your body towards a greater state of health. More on Dr. Maz balancedacupuncture.com.au www.instagram.com/balancedacupuncture/ www.facebook.com/balancedbrisbane/ Disclaimer Chinese Medicine is a personalised, functional medicine that treats the individual and the root cause of their presenting imbalance (what conventional medicine would call the symptom, disease or condition). This means that your doctor of Chinese Medicine will work one-on-one with you to achieve a personalised treatment plan. As such, this podcast is for informational purposes and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe or substitute existing medical advice. © Copyright Balanced Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine and Dr. Maz Roginski 2020

Today I talk about a very simple and free health practice that is accessible to all of us.  You can do it anywhere, anytime and you don’t need any special tools or props to do it. It is such an important tool for maintaining health and is so effective, that not only has it stood the test of time in a range of Eastern health traditions, but we are now also seeing it prescribed by Western med practitioners, from GPs to orthopaedic surgeons and cardiologists. The magic health tool that I am talking about is meditation! In this episode, we will talk a little bit about meditation, and answer some of the common questions that I get asked about it. I’m going to share with you some exciting research that shows just how powerful this practice is – and the measurable physical outcomes that can be observed in our health as a result of integrating it into our lives. We will finish up with some easy guidelines and an intro to starting your meditation practice, which will lead up the accompanying bonus episode to this one, which is a short, guided 5 minute meditation to ease you into the benefits of the amazing practice! So let’s get into it! Show Notes Transcript Today, I'd like to talk about a very simple and free health practice that is accessible to all of us. You can do it anywhere, anytime, and you don't need any special tools or equipment to do it. It's such an important tool for maintaining health and is so effective that not only has this practice stood the test of time in a range of Eastern health traditions, but we are now also seeing it prescribed by Western medicine practitioners from GPs to orthopaedic surgeons and cardiologists. The magic health tool that I'm talking about here is meditation! Today I'd like to talk a little bit about meditation and answer some of the common questions that I get asked about it - I'll talk about why it's important and how we can benefit from it. I'm also going to share with you some exciting research that shows just how powerful this practice is, and talk about the measurable physical outcomes that can be observed in our health as a result of integrating this practice into our lives. We will finish up with some easy guidelines and an intro into starting your own meditation practice, which will lead us up to the accompanying bonus episode to this one - a short, guided five minute meditation that will ease you into the benefits of this amazing practice. So let's get into it. So what is meditation? There are many different schools and traditions of meditation, but if we are talking about it from an umbrella perspective, meditation is the act of bringing our awareness to the present moment, and gently observing what is going on for our mind and body in this moment - without getting attached to it. To assist in anchoring our attention in the present, we might choose to focus on various anchor points - this might be the breath, it might be a sound or a chant, it might be a body sensation or a feeling - and these are just some examples of different focus points that we can come back to. Part of being human is our active minds: you might have heard the term "monkey mind", or "mental chatter", and it's very normal for our minds to wander during a period of meditation. When it does go off on a wander, however, these focus points of breath, or sound or sensation, can help to remind us to bring our mind gently back to the task at hand. I like to imagine a curious puppy as our mind, and it keeps escaping it's basket. It's in the puppy's nature to go off and wander and explore and create adventures for itself. But we can also gently and repeatedly guide the puppy back to their resting place. And over time the puppy, like our mind, can develop the ability to stay in one place for longer. Meditation is a cumulative skill that develops with time and training. So in the same way that we wouldn't expect to be able to run a 10 kilometre run without any training,...

Continuing from episode 2, we look at the role of inflammation in imbalanced hormones and why managing inflammation is important for each and every one of us. Chronic inflammation is now being implicated in many, if not most diseases, from heart disease and cancer to depression and diabetes, so we then go on to discuss simple health hacks to tone down levels of inflammation in the body. Show Notes Transcript In today's episode, we're going to be building on our earlier discussion in episode two. In that episode, we looked at the role of relative estrogen excess with respect to hormone balance, and the various symptoms that can present as. Now today we're going to go on to look at the key relationship between hormones and inflammation. Inflammation is such an important topic to understand and address because it seems that each month - and each week almost - more research comes out to suggest that chronic inflammation is linked to many if not most diseases, ranging from heart disease to cancer, depression and diabetes. This is something that Chinese Medicine has long understood - that link between inflammation and health. In Chinese medicine we've outlined diet, stress management and lifestyle practices to mitigate inflammation and promote health. Let's start with a brief look at what inflammation actually is. In basic terms, inflammation is our body's innate protective response in the face of harm or hurt - such as a cut, a bruise, a sprained ankle, or an infection. In these situations, the body will mobilize cells, chemicals and processes that will help to clear out the muck of an injured or infected site, and to remove and break down damaged tissue; it will protect against further encroachment by bacteria or other infective agents and it will start to heal the affected area. Inflammation is classically characterized by four signs - redness, pain, heat and swelling. These four arise as byproducts of the various biochemicals and processes that the body activates in the process of healing an injury or infection. Anyone who's had a sore throat, a cut, a bruise, a swollen joint or a sprained ankle has experienced these four signs of inflammation and when they are limited by time - meaning that they are switched off once the healing and repair has occurred - this inflammation is a healthy and adaptive response. It feels like these days we hear a lot about inflammation. It's a term that's often thrown about, and it generally has negative connotations. So it's important to point out that inflammation is not all bad. These four classic signs of inflammation that we just mentioned - redness, pain, heat and swelling - they're byproducts of the body doing healing work, which is why shutting down inflammation with measures such as anti-inflammatories or cortisone injections will certainly limit pain, but at the same time, it will put a stop to any essential healing going on in that acute situation. And this is why we're now finally seeing research that bears out this fact: there's a study that I've attached in my show notes, and it talks about how putting cortisone shots into knees actually has poorer longterm health outcomes, both with respect to pain and mobility, and also with a greater deterioration of knee cartilage in those knees that had cortisone injected in them. And this is because it literally puts a blanket on any healing process and shuts it down. But that's a topic for another episode, because it is something that I'd love to get into on a deeper level! So, back to inflammation and hormones! As I mentioned, when occurring over a short, defined period, inflammation is an adaptive process, meaning that it's a positive process that facilitates healing and helps to restore our system to a state of balance. The problem arises when the inflammation becomes chronic or repeated, and this is the side of inflammation that gets the deservedly bad rap. Unlike acute inflammation,

This episode was inspired by the patients who come to see me with symptoms such as painful, heavy or irregular cycles, with growth such as cysts, fibroids and endometriosis - and also those who come to see me with imbalanced hormones (whether estrogen, testosterone, thyroid or stress hormones, and so on). Because Chinese Medicine is a functional medicine, each treatment is highly personalized and can differ greatly from person to person. But what often doesn't differ are the lifestyle and dietary tweaks that I recommend as supportive therapies. Join us as we discuss some common factors underlying imbalanced hormones, and simple health hacks we can use to restore balance. Show notes Transcript Today's episode was inspired by the various patients who come to see me with symptoms such as painful periods, heavy bleeding, irregular cycles, with growth such as cysts, fibroids and endometriosis - and also those patients who come to see me with imbalanced hormones (whether estrogen, or low testosterone and so on). Because Chinese Medicine is a functional medicine - and it views symptoms as the body's cry for help - it sees symptoms as the body's message about what is out of balance. Because it does so, it seeks out the root cause of the imbalance so that this can be corrected, rather than just masking the “cry for help” (or dialling down its volume). This means that the acupuncture and the Chinese herbal medicine that I give (for my patients with the symptoms I just mentioned) is highly personalized - it differs greatly from person to person. But what doesn't differ, is that the lifestyle and dietary tweaks that I recommend as supportive or adjunct therapies are very often common to all of the patients who come to see me for help with these symptoms. This is because in situations of changes to the menstrual cycle - or overgrowth of tissue (as in cysts or fibroids, or the growth of tissue outside it's physiologically-designated area, as in endometriosis), or various hormone imbalances - very often in these situations, there is an underlying foundation of inflammation, and / or of excess estrogen. Therefore, any lifestyle adjustments are going to aim to reduce inflammation, and / or rebalance the hormones as required. So before we go into these natural health hacks for happy, healthy hormones, let's briefly talk about sex hormones. All humans produce in varying amounts, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. There are various subtypes of each of these hormones, but for the purposes of this discussion, we'll just stick to the three main, overarching types. These hormones - estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone - affect not only our sexual and reproductive health, and the development of secondary sexual characteristics (such as the growth of breasts, or the deepening of the voice), but they also have wide-ranging effects on the body, beyond the reproductive system. This is because we know now in modern medicine - and Chinese Medicine has been talking about this for millennia - that all of the body's systems are integrated, and they're in a constant interplay of communication with each other. Therefore the balance and health of our sexual hormones is going to have knock-on effects throughout the body. The hormones mostly involved in the menstrual cycle are estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen governs the first half of the cycle, and it prompts ovulation, the release of mucus, the growth of breasts and uterine lining, whereas progesterone is released midway throughout the cycle, at ovulation, and it helps to regulate the cycle. It's important to prepare the uterus in pregnancy, but it is also important for the production of testosterone in people assigned male at birth. So it's important for everyone, and I love the shorthand that Chinese Medicine terminology offers us when we talk about sex hormones - it's really beautiful, because it enables us to talk about the many complex biologi...

As a doctor of Chinese Medicine, and a scientist interested in both ancient technologies and the latest biomedical research, this is one of the most common questions I'm asked. And it's a great question to kick off this podcast, as at this point in time, not only do we have thousands of years of continuous clinical practice of this modality and many documented clinical studies from those millennia, but we also have literally tens of thousands of research papers published in contemporary scientific journals that discuss the many mechanisms and many pathways through which acupuncture has an effect on the body. Join me as a I answer this question from both an Eastern and a Western perspective Transcript One of the main inspirations behind starting this podcast was the many amazing conversations that I have with my patients in clinic, and the awesome and insightful questions I get asked both in, and outside of, clinic throughout my daily life. One of the most common of these questions is “how does acupuncture work?” This is an important one to answer, as quite often I’ll be having a conversation with someone and they’ll say “oh, I love acupuncture and I’d love my husband / mother / co-worker to get acupuncture as they’d really benefit, but they don’t believe in it”. I find this to be an interesting statement, because acupuncture isn’t a religion - it’s not something that you believe in - it either does or it doesn’t work. And particularly at this point in time, not only do we have 5,000 years of continuous clinical practice of this modality and many documented clinical studies from those millennia, but we also have literally tens of thousands of research papers published in contemporary scientific journals that discuss the many mechanisms and many pathways through which acupuncture has an effect on the body. So, I thought this was a great question to kick of this podcast, as it can be answered on so many levels. There’s the short answer, long answer, the Chinese Medicine answer and the biomedical / scientific / contemporary research answer. So I’d like to get into all of those, but I think the best place to start is with the short answer. So, how does acupuncture work? The short answer is that acupuncture works by supporting the body’s innate healing mechanisms. These healing mechanisms are what allow our bodies to heal from cuts and to mend fractured bones, to bounce back from infections and colds, and even in outlying cases it might be what accounts for spontaneous remissions in serious diseases. We all have these superpowers, and in an ideal world, we’d be returning to a state of dynamic balance (or what we also call homeostasis) in the face of life’s various ups and downs. Say we have too many late nights and lots of stressors, and some dietary changes and maybe exposure to some pollutants and toxins: in an ideal world, our body would be able to recalibrate and return to a state of health. But unfortunately, modern life has quite a hectic pace and quite strong demands on us, so we are not always able to live in accordance with both our internal resources (that’s how much energy we have, our current state of emotion and our biochemical reserves, for example) and living in harmony with our external resources (that’s living in harmony with the outside world: harnessing access to sunlight, fresh air and movement). that’s not necessarily always happening – we might forego movement to sit at a desk 12 hours a day, and then drive home through traffic and get stressed, get stuck in a negative mindloop and then come home and have a fight with someone in our family, and have more stresses about money / mortgage / career / all sorts of concerns. So really, we are living in a constant state of constant stress. What this does is it overstimulates our sympathetic nervous system. This is a component of our body’s autonomic nervous system that is also termed the “fi...