Carly-
Usually when I sit down to write these blogs, I do so within
24 hours of the session so everything is crystal clear, and I can share every
pertinent moment with the utmost clarity and to the best of my ability. But I’m
not getting to this entry until nearly a week later, because this week
flattened me. And it started with this session with Erica.
Understand that it’s not that Erica did anything wrong –
quite the contrary. She did everything right. She helped to open me so I could
release things I’d been hanging on to for far too long – things that had been
stopping me from really living, which is exactly what I entered into this
experience wanting to let go of.
Anyway. Let me get to the appointment.
Our catch-up started with an admission on my part – that I
was broke enough to be surviving on water and nuts, and that’s it. I’ve been
supremely broke before – I spent last fall sleeping in my car, and battled my
way back to some semblance of security by working my butt off. But the thing
that I found interesting about sharing this with Erica was that I didn’t feel
all oh-poor-me about it. In a way I knew this would have to happen at some
point, because it was something I was so afraid of happening that I was
practically calling it in for myself. And now that I was finally there, it was
like… like I could deal. Not the most ideal situation to be sure, but I was
handling it.
“How do you feel?” she asked me. “Physically, mentally,
emotionally?”
“Physically, fine,” I told her honestly. “I’ve not been
working out much – been going for some walks and hikes here and there, but
nothing intense. There are days where I have energy dips, and sometimes I feel
a bit emotional about that, but on the whole I’ve been okay. And the weird thing
is, I’m not insanely hungry. I’m doing okay.”
“You’re getting fats, you’re getting protein, are you
getting any greens?”
I nodded. “I have some spirulina and alfalfa grass powder
left over, so I’ve been spiking my water with it a couple times a day.”
“Where you are is pretty intense,” she said. “You’re
processing through so much all at once.”
I nodded. “By the way, no period yet,” I told her.
She made a note of it in my folder, and then it was time to
hit the table. She checked my tongue, which apparently is doing well, and
checked my pulse. I forget what we talked about other than that. I remember feeling
like my mind was already in a blur – that I was already processing what was
going to happen when she inserted the needles in me. It’s like things were
moving fast and slow simultaneously, which I know makes absolutely no sense, but…
it’s more a feeling or a sensation than something you can accurately describe.
After running through some orthopedic releases, Erica did
the claw in my shoulder knots again, did some needles up my legs, and then we
did something new – she put some needles in my sacrum.
“I’m hoping this will start stimulating things so we can get
your period moving,” she said as she tweaked her handiwork. When she finished,
she positioned the heat lamp over my feet, and left me to marinate.
And I went out – hard. But it was a strange kind of “out”
this time, in that I felt like I was in limbo, and I felt really heavy – like I
was sinking deeper and deeper and deeper into the table. When Erica came back
in to check on me, it felt comforting – like I wasn’t alone and there was someone
taking care of me. She made sure the needles are exactly where they need to be,
then stepped out of the room again and let me release even further.
When she came back to take out the needles, I felt like I
didn’t know where I was, really. And it wasn’t in a “lost my mind” kind of way –
it was oddly comforting, like something huge was gone and I was seeing things
in a new way. I felt a bit wonky. There was something going on in me that I
didn’t know how to put words to, and it left me feeling somewhat
discombobulated.
“I know you have another appointment,” I told Erica, “But I
think I need to sit for a bit before I head home.”
“Take your time,” she said, and guided me to the waiting
room.
I plunked myself down on the couch and regained my bearings.
I made some phone calls, answered some e-mails, and generally chilled out while
I found some semblance of self. I started to feel a little more even. After a
while, Erica came into the waiting room to check on me.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m good, thanks.”
“Okay, good,” she said, and waved on her way out the door
again.
It took me a little more time, but when I felt ready, I
started packing up my things and getting ready to roll. But even as I did, I knew
I was in for something – that something big was getting ready to release, and
it might get intense. Scratch that – it will
get intense.
I feel it necessary to tell you that I asked for this. I
mean, I didn’t ask for the emotionality and all of that, but… that seems to be
part of the process, to come through everything you went through on the way
down as you’re going on your way back up again. I asked to be clear – to heal
completely once and for all, without the nonsense of the merry-go-round, the
detox to retox approach. On one hand, I understand why people don’t go to this
length for their health… and on the other, I don’t get why they don’t. Because
even with all this happening, even with the moments of feeling disoriented and
overwhelmed, more and more I see what’s on the other side of this… and that
feels like the ultimate gift.
Christmas morning is within reach. I can feel it. And I’m
readying my cookies for Santa as we speak (or rather, as I write and you read.)
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
ON PINS & NEEDLES: blogger series #4
Erica Docimo L.Ac-
We introduce a couple new techniques is Carly's 4th session.
Over the years, I’ve worked pretty hard to clear the mental and emotional clutter in my life so that I can be cognizant not just of what I’m doing and where I’m going, but also so I can be clear and focused during my healing process. I find that what’s sunk me in the past is not being aware of my patterns – the moments where the hint of a backslide comes in, where the devil on my shoulder suggests that eating a box of cookies will nurture the emotional roller coaster I might be feeling, the temptation to shut down and run in the opposite direction. I knew that I’d have to work hard to be able to hear all those things this time out so I didn’t fall for it again, and wind up on a never-ending merry-go-round of detoxing just to retox.
To date, I feel that I’ve been pretty successful. When the emotions have gotten incredibly intense, I’ve talked myself out of the cookie binge so I didn’t just stuff those feelings back down again. I’ve realized what my backslide triggers are, the moments where I want to shut down. It’s all been pretty illuminating, and has helped me work through some really major stuff. But even so, with all this awareness and hard work to maintain clarity, I have a healing experience that knocks me on my ass and seems to flush my brain so clean that I have trouble expressing exactly what it was I experienced. I had one of those moments in my fourth session with Erica. So my recap of the experience might not be as detailed or verbose as past entries, but I’ll try to recount it as best I can.
Our session started as per usual – with a catch up. I shared all the usual stuff about how my energy feels, what my body is doing, how my emotional state is, and I told her a story about how the night before I’d been overcome by some really intense emotion. I could hear all the things that always threatened to shut me down in that state – all the commentary telling me I’m a shitty writer and should give up, how I’m wasting my time, I’m going to wind up destitute and alone, unloveable and unworthy. But I sat with it and managed to simultaneously acknowledge it and ignore it – like I could hear it, but wasn’t going to give it the time of day. I was just giving it enough attention for it to release. And about an hour later, while I was working on an article for an outlet I’d recently pitched, I noticed it was gone.
I’d recounted a similar experience from the day before when I’d taken a minor spill on the scooter I’ve been riding around town. I was taking a left turn and something just… happened. I lost my balance and went down, scraping my knee and the side of the scooter as it hit the ground. I think the shock of it happening was worse than anything, but the thing that shocked me the most was I got up, a couple people helped me lift the scooter off the ground, I took a deep breath, got back on, and continued on to my destination. And there was no mind chatter about how I could’ve died or someone is going to mow me down with their car or anything like that.
You might be wondering what this has to do with acupuncture, and I get that – it seems to be unrelated, but I don’t think it is. What I’ve come to understand about myself is that my system is super sensitive – I’ve recounted before how I can taste things I put on my skin, or the smell of something I’m allergic to can send me into gut-wrenching convulsions. And I find that when I’m tense, wound up and panicky, I respond to life that way – and life responds to me in kind. Acupuncture has helped me to settle in to my body more and release those panicky tendencies so that I can be more open, more capable and more aware of my surroundings, and that empowers me to help deal with things as they come up. And I find that more and more, the things I’m dealing with are on the pleasant end of the scale instead of the sky-is-falling end of things.
Anyway. I got up on the table and Erica checked my pulse and tongue (noting that in addition to my skin, my tongue condition has improved as well), we did the orthopedic releases, then for a change, I was needled face up.
“No cups?” I said almost mournfully. I’d become accustomed to the back hickeys.
Erica laughed. “No, we’re going to balance things out a bit.”
I barely remember the points she worked on me. I know there were some in my stomach, on my legs, at the webbing of my big toes… but the points that really knocked me on my socks were the ones she worked in the knotty rocks that have been holding court in my shoulders.
“I’m going to use this technique called the dragon’s claw,” she explained to me after she’d inserted the first needle. “So I’m going to add a few more needles into that area, which will make it look a little like this.” And she fashioned her hand into a claw.
“That’s interesting,” I told her. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“Well, I’m getting impatient with those points. Time to get things going,” she told me.
I laughed. A healer after my own heart – let’s stop effing around, let’s start getting things done. I love it.
I went out hard when she left the room, well aware of my surroundings and the fact that I was in a state of healing, but also being sucked under into a deep, powerful relaxation that was opening me to a level I’d never experienced before. By the time Erica came back in to remove the needles, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to speak, I was so relaxed.
“Have I talked to you about bleeding before?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I believe so,” I said to her, feeling like my mouth was working through molasses to be able to speak.
“Okay, so I’m going to bleed some points in your ears,” she said as she sat near my head. “This will help to release heat in your system.”
As she leaned over me and pricked a point in my upper ear, I laughed and shared that it reminded me of how I’d gotten my ears pierced all the way up and around when I was in grade school, using the classic piercing gun at Claire’s in the mall. This prompted a discussion of things we remembered from growing up, and how different everything is now – including how sexist shows like Jem are by today’s standards, and how distasteful the whole Betty/Veronica/Archie love triangle is (which is something I discussed with Fatima, too. Clearly something needs to be done about that.)
But what I remember most about my fourth treatment with Erica is the energy that was coming off of her as she was working with me: peaceful, serene, and nurturing, it allowed me to reach a deeper level of my healing just by her willingness to share that with me. I’ve worked with many healers in the past who have good intentions of being able to go there, but their own personal issues are blocking them from being able to. I think it takes a tremendous amount of courage to be able to bring that through in a healing session, and I’m seeing and feeling that more and more with everyone I’ve been working with. Erica is knowledgeable, supportive and highly skilled at what she does, but it’s her openness and willingness to share herself as a part of the experience that helps give me the support I need to go to that depth, too. It’s really quite an amazing partnership, and one I think we should all be striving for – not just in our healing journeys, but in every aspect of our lives.
Well look at that – I guess I had more to say about the experience than I expected. See what she does to me? Openness. It’s such an awesome thing. I can’t wait to experience more.
We introduce a couple new techniques is Carly's 4th session.
<><><>
Carly- Over the years, I’ve worked pretty hard to clear the mental and emotional clutter in my life so that I can be cognizant not just of what I’m doing and where I’m going, but also so I can be clear and focused during my healing process. I find that what’s sunk me in the past is not being aware of my patterns – the moments where the hint of a backslide comes in, where the devil on my shoulder suggests that eating a box of cookies will nurture the emotional roller coaster I might be feeling, the temptation to shut down and run in the opposite direction. I knew that I’d have to work hard to be able to hear all those things this time out so I didn’t fall for it again, and wind up on a never-ending merry-go-round of detoxing just to retox.
To date, I feel that I’ve been pretty successful. When the emotions have gotten incredibly intense, I’ve talked myself out of the cookie binge so I didn’t just stuff those feelings back down again. I’ve realized what my backslide triggers are, the moments where I want to shut down. It’s all been pretty illuminating, and has helped me work through some really major stuff. But even so, with all this awareness and hard work to maintain clarity, I have a healing experience that knocks me on my ass and seems to flush my brain so clean that I have trouble expressing exactly what it was I experienced. I had one of those moments in my fourth session with Erica. So my recap of the experience might not be as detailed or verbose as past entries, but I’ll try to recount it as best I can.
Our session started as per usual – with a catch up. I shared all the usual stuff about how my energy feels, what my body is doing, how my emotional state is, and I told her a story about how the night before I’d been overcome by some really intense emotion. I could hear all the things that always threatened to shut me down in that state – all the commentary telling me I’m a shitty writer and should give up, how I’m wasting my time, I’m going to wind up destitute and alone, unloveable and unworthy. But I sat with it and managed to simultaneously acknowledge it and ignore it – like I could hear it, but wasn’t going to give it the time of day. I was just giving it enough attention for it to release. And about an hour later, while I was working on an article for an outlet I’d recently pitched, I noticed it was gone.
I’d recounted a similar experience from the day before when I’d taken a minor spill on the scooter I’ve been riding around town. I was taking a left turn and something just… happened. I lost my balance and went down, scraping my knee and the side of the scooter as it hit the ground. I think the shock of it happening was worse than anything, but the thing that shocked me the most was I got up, a couple people helped me lift the scooter off the ground, I took a deep breath, got back on, and continued on to my destination. And there was no mind chatter about how I could’ve died or someone is going to mow me down with their car or anything like that.
You might be wondering what this has to do with acupuncture, and I get that – it seems to be unrelated, but I don’t think it is. What I’ve come to understand about myself is that my system is super sensitive – I’ve recounted before how I can taste things I put on my skin, or the smell of something I’m allergic to can send me into gut-wrenching convulsions. And I find that when I’m tense, wound up and panicky, I respond to life that way – and life responds to me in kind. Acupuncture has helped me to settle in to my body more and release those panicky tendencies so that I can be more open, more capable and more aware of my surroundings, and that empowers me to help deal with things as they come up. And I find that more and more, the things I’m dealing with are on the pleasant end of the scale instead of the sky-is-falling end of things.
Anyway. I got up on the table and Erica checked my pulse and tongue (noting that in addition to my skin, my tongue condition has improved as well), we did the orthopedic releases, then for a change, I was needled face up.
“No cups?” I said almost mournfully. I’d become accustomed to the back hickeys.
Erica laughed. “No, we’re going to balance things out a bit.”
I barely remember the points she worked on me. I know there were some in my stomach, on my legs, at the webbing of my big toes… but the points that really knocked me on my socks were the ones she worked in the knotty rocks that have been holding court in my shoulders.
“I’m going to use this technique called the dragon’s claw,” she explained to me after she’d inserted the first needle. “So I’m going to add a few more needles into that area, which will make it look a little like this.” And she fashioned her hand into a claw.
“That’s interesting,” I told her. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“Well, I’m getting impatient with those points. Time to get things going,” she told me.
I laughed. A healer after my own heart – let’s stop effing around, let’s start getting things done. I love it.
I went out hard when she left the room, well aware of my surroundings and the fact that I was in a state of healing, but also being sucked under into a deep, powerful relaxation that was opening me to a level I’d never experienced before. By the time Erica came back in to remove the needles, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to speak, I was so relaxed.
“Have I talked to you about bleeding before?” she asked me.
“Yeah, I believe so,” I said to her, feeling like my mouth was working through molasses to be able to speak.
“Okay, so I’m going to bleed some points in your ears,” she said as she sat near my head. “This will help to release heat in your system.”
As she leaned over me and pricked a point in my upper ear, I laughed and shared that it reminded me of how I’d gotten my ears pierced all the way up and around when I was in grade school, using the classic piercing gun at Claire’s in the mall. This prompted a discussion of things we remembered from growing up, and how different everything is now – including how sexist shows like Jem are by today’s standards, and how distasteful the whole Betty/Veronica/Archie love triangle is (which is something I discussed with Fatima, too. Clearly something needs to be done about that.)
But what I remember most about my fourth treatment with Erica is the energy that was coming off of her as she was working with me: peaceful, serene, and nurturing, it allowed me to reach a deeper level of my healing just by her willingness to share that with me. I’ve worked with many healers in the past who have good intentions of being able to go there, but their own personal issues are blocking them from being able to. I think it takes a tremendous amount of courage to be able to bring that through in a healing session, and I’m seeing and feeling that more and more with everyone I’ve been working with. Erica is knowledgeable, supportive and highly skilled at what she does, but it’s her openness and willingness to share herself as a part of the experience that helps give me the support I need to go to that depth, too. It’s really quite an amazing partnership, and one I think we should all be striving for – not just in our healing journeys, but in every aspect of our lives.
Well look at that – I guess I had more to say about the experience than I expected. See what she does to me? Openness. It’s such an awesome thing. I can’t wait to experience more.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
ON PINS & NEEDLES: blogger series #3
It's been far too long since I've posted the next chapter of Miss Carly's TCM saga. No time like the present!
One of the things I love about working with Erica is how our sessions start with a catch-up. I know this is pretty much standard when you’re working with a health practitioner and you’re on a planned course of healing, but what’s wonderful about the way Erica does them is they’re so all inclusive. She doesn’t just want to know what’s going on with you physically – she wants the whole picture. How you’re doing mentally, emotionally and spiritually has just as much going on with your well being as the physical stuff, with each little bit intertwined and informing the other. It’s kind of neat to see how they all play into one another.
A side note to all of this: I’ve been working through different juice cleanse protocols throughout the course of this healing journey. During my first two sessions with Erica, I was in the midst of a five-day cleanse from Pressed Juicery. I’d opted for the most intense cleanse they had – called “Refine” – which focuses more on green veggies for maximum results. And results I got, giving a much needed kick start to my system while flushing out some stuff I definitely didn't need in my intestinal tract. That, and I'm officially hooked on their chocolate almond milk.
After five days of that, I transitioned into a five-day nutritional cleanse through Hollywood raw foodery Life Food Organics. This cleanse experience has been completely different, as it incorporates one delicious green juice with a selection of fantastic smoothies, raw soups and almond milk, plus a special pack of vitamins on each day that includes MSM, pycnogenol and magnesium - all inflammatory fighters, among other wonderful benefits. There’s also a daily dose of a gentle laxative called Oxy Oxc, which reportedly helps to oxygenate the colon, and on the fourth day of the cleanse, you do a special liver and gallstone flush.
“How is the juicing going?” Erica asked me.
“Really well, actually,” I told her. “I’ve had some of those moments where I feel my energy dip and I know I’m working some things through, but today I’ve been feeling a surge. In fact, I was up til three in the morning writing, and the only reason why I stopped is because I figured I should – not necessarily because I had to.”
“And have you been trying the new writing positions?”
I nodded. “Sitting with the pillow under my knees for a while helps a lot, and I’ve been practicing doing the standing work, but I find my back gets so sore and I’m gripping in the lower area.”
“Sounds like you need more core strength,” she explained. “Because your back is taking on the job of everything, and it needs support from the front and your core. Practice tilting your pelvis in a little bit of a tuck, and engaging your core.”
“I’ve been doing sit ups,” I said with exasperation. “And I know those muscles are strong, but I feel like I don’t know what to do with them.”
“Sit ups are great for your abdominal muscles, but what you really want to be working is your core. Your core is everything – and when it’s strong, your posture is different, you’re more graceful, and you’re more solid in yourself.”
Erica then proceeded to show me a couple exercises I can try – one being pike position from the pilates frame of mind, the other being plank. And then she whipped out her little prescription pad and wrote out my plan: for the next little while: holding plank for as long as I can, taking a 30-second break and then doing the same thing over again, five times a go, three times a day.
“As for how long to hold it, that’s up to you,” she instructed. “You know your body.”
From there, it was time to get up on the table. We started face up for the orthopedic releases, then I was back down again with my shirt off, getting needled. There were a couple new points on the inside of my legs toward my ankles, and when Erica left the room, I felt this profound feeling of peace and calm come over me. Is this what it is I’ve been searching for? Funny how it used to make me run for the hills, as the feeling was so foreign I used to think that something was deathly wrong with me and immediately started hunting through Web M.D trying to match symptoms… and we all know what an anxiety-ridden rabbit hole that endeavor can be.
An interesting thing that’s been happening in my sessions is there’s been this feeling of unwinding. Sometimes it’s like my body is undulating, other times it feels like there’s something that’s working its way through me to be released – like I’m unspooling a coil that had been too tightly wound. It’s sort of this gentle wave that has been rippling through my body as I settle into the needle work, and the gentle movement has become comforting, even though it’s something new. New sensations used to fill me with fear. Now they fill me with wonderment about what my body is capable of doing.
When Erica came back in to check on me, it was cupping time once again – and yes, I still had hickey-like tracks on my back from the last time. This time, she used a different formation: two at my low back, then three on my upper back – one at the base of my neck, then one on either side of it. I asked her why that particular formation, and she explained she was working to help me release heat, as well as to melt the rocks that had somehow made a home in my shoulders.
Newly hickeyed and feeling serene, I pulled my shirt back on and readied myself for my next appointment. And as I stepped back out into the street, I marveled at how interesting it felt to hear the traffic, see the busy-ness of commuters and walkers and people on their phones, and still feel completely at ease. How novel.
<><><>
One of the things I love about working with Erica is how our sessions start with a catch-up. I know this is pretty much standard when you’re working with a health practitioner and you’re on a planned course of healing, but what’s wonderful about the way Erica does them is they’re so all inclusive. She doesn’t just want to know what’s going on with you physically – she wants the whole picture. How you’re doing mentally, emotionally and spiritually has just as much going on with your well being as the physical stuff, with each little bit intertwined and informing the other. It’s kind of neat to see how they all play into one another.
A side note to all of this: I’ve been working through different juice cleanse protocols throughout the course of this healing journey. During my first two sessions with Erica, I was in the midst of a five-day cleanse from Pressed Juicery. I’d opted for the most intense cleanse they had – called “Refine” – which focuses more on green veggies for maximum results. And results I got, giving a much needed kick start to my system while flushing out some stuff I definitely didn't need in my intestinal tract. That, and I'm officially hooked on their chocolate almond milk.
After five days of that, I transitioned into a five-day nutritional cleanse through Hollywood raw foodery Life Food Organics. This cleanse experience has been completely different, as it incorporates one delicious green juice with a selection of fantastic smoothies, raw soups and almond milk, plus a special pack of vitamins on each day that includes MSM, pycnogenol and magnesium - all inflammatory fighters, among other wonderful benefits. There’s also a daily dose of a gentle laxative called Oxy Oxc, which reportedly helps to oxygenate the colon, and on the fourth day of the cleanse, you do a special liver and gallstone flush.
“How is the juicing going?” Erica asked me.
“Really well, actually,” I told her. “I’ve had some of those moments where I feel my energy dip and I know I’m working some things through, but today I’ve been feeling a surge. In fact, I was up til three in the morning writing, and the only reason why I stopped is because I figured I should – not necessarily because I had to.”
“And have you been trying the new writing positions?”
I nodded. “Sitting with the pillow under my knees for a while helps a lot, and I’ve been practicing doing the standing work, but I find my back gets so sore and I’m gripping in the lower area.”
“Sounds like you need more core strength,” she explained. “Because your back is taking on the job of everything, and it needs support from the front and your core. Practice tilting your pelvis in a little bit of a tuck, and engaging your core.”
“I’ve been doing sit ups,” I said with exasperation. “And I know those muscles are strong, but I feel like I don’t know what to do with them.”
“Sit ups are great for your abdominal muscles, but what you really want to be working is your core. Your core is everything – and when it’s strong, your posture is different, you’re more graceful, and you’re more solid in yourself.”
Erica then proceeded to show me a couple exercises I can try – one being pike position from the pilates frame of mind, the other being plank. And then she whipped out her little prescription pad and wrote out my plan: for the next little while: holding plank for as long as I can, taking a 30-second break and then doing the same thing over again, five times a go, three times a day.
“As for how long to hold it, that’s up to you,” she instructed. “You know your body.”
From there, it was time to get up on the table. We started face up for the orthopedic releases, then I was back down again with my shirt off, getting needled. There were a couple new points on the inside of my legs toward my ankles, and when Erica left the room, I felt this profound feeling of peace and calm come over me. Is this what it is I’ve been searching for? Funny how it used to make me run for the hills, as the feeling was so foreign I used to think that something was deathly wrong with me and immediately started hunting through Web M.D trying to match symptoms… and we all know what an anxiety-ridden rabbit hole that endeavor can be.
An interesting thing that’s been happening in my sessions is there’s been this feeling of unwinding. Sometimes it’s like my body is undulating, other times it feels like there’s something that’s working its way through me to be released – like I’m unspooling a coil that had been too tightly wound. It’s sort of this gentle wave that has been rippling through my body as I settle into the needle work, and the gentle movement has become comforting, even though it’s something new. New sensations used to fill me with fear. Now they fill me with wonderment about what my body is capable of doing.
When Erica came back in to check on me, it was cupping time once again – and yes, I still had hickey-like tracks on my back from the last time. This time, she used a different formation: two at my low back, then three on my upper back – one at the base of my neck, then one on either side of it. I asked her why that particular formation, and she explained she was working to help me release heat, as well as to melt the rocks that had somehow made a home in my shoulders.
Newly hickeyed and feeling serene, I pulled my shirt back on and readied myself for my next appointment. And as I stepped back out into the street, I marveled at how interesting it felt to hear the traffic, see the busy-ness of commuters and walkers and people on their phones, and still feel completely at ease. How novel.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Black Bean Brownies – The Next Chocolaty Frontier!
Ingredients - makes 12 brownies
·
1 ¾ cup of soft, well-cooked black beans (or
15oz. canned black beans)
·
2 flax eggs (2.5 T flaxseed meal mixed with 6 Tbs.
water)
·
3 Tbs. unrefined coconut oil, melted
·
¾ cup cocoa powder
·
½
cup vegan sugar
·
¼ tsp. sea salt
·
1-2 tsp. vanilla extract
·
5 drops of liquid stevia (optional)
·
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
·
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
·
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
·
Optional toppings: crush walnuts, pecans, or
almonds.
Instruction
·
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
·
Lightly grease a 12-slot standard size muffin
pan.
·
Prepare flax eggs by combining flax meal and
water in the bowl of a food processor and pulsing a couple times. Let sit for a
few minutes to emulsify. Or just beat in a bowl with a fork.
·
Add remaining ingredients (except toppings) and
puree for about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed, until the mixture
is mostly smooth. If the batter is too
thick add 1-2 T water and puree again. The batter should be fairly thick but
less so than frosting.
·
Spoon batter evenly into the muffin tins,
smoothing the tops as you go.
·
Add optional toppings if desired and bake for
20-25 minutes. *I tend to error on the side of under cooking them,
and letting them be a little gooey in the
center
since I love a
soft brownie.
*per brownie: 114 kcal; 4.8g fat; 17g carbs; 8g sugar; 3.5g protein; 4.5g fiber
Monday, October 28, 2013
ON PINS & NEEDLES: blogger series #2
Erica
Docimo L.Ac-
Below is Carly’s first follow-up
treatment, and fist cupping session at Mind & Body! Her treatments are off
to a great start and there’s visible progress with her psoriasis… not to
mention visible evidence of today’s cupping.
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Carly-
I
have a cat – a 14-pound keg on legs named Cupid. One of the things that’s
entertaining about him is how he suddenly decides that something we’ve done
once is now routine. For example, if he gets tuna for dinner as a treat, he’s
disgruntled if it doesn’t happen every night. Or when I cuddle him a certain
way and he likes it, he gets snippy if it doesn’t happen every time we cuddle.
Such is the joy of living with a cat.
I
share this because after just one session, I feel like Erica and I have settled
into a routine… and much like my cat, I’m down with that. It’s not routine in
the rut-like, boring sense of the word – more the comfortable yet evolutionary
way. I feel like Erica knows my body and what works for it, and also recognizes
that I’m in a constant state of evolution – that I’m not the same every day,
and as such, neither should my treatments be.
But
before we got started, we did a quick rundown of what had been going on for me
in the three days since we’d seen each other. I’d been through two colonic
treatments with Fatima, both of which were powerful experiences on different
levels for each day. One of the things I noticed was how much the psoriasis on
my legs was starting to clear, and I rolled up the leg of my jeans to show her.
“Wow
– that’s really a marked difference,” Erica said, her eyes surprised and
pleased. “I wish I’d have taken a picture when we first started. I’ll have to
get one from Fatima.”
We
moved on to talking about how my energy has been shifting over the past week –
how I’d been feeling more and more of the old falling away, and that a new
opening was happening both internally and externally. It’s hard to explain when
it’s something that’s a feeling. Putting it into words almost feels like I’m
diminishing the experience, and on top of that, I know everyone experiences
things differently… but still. One treatment in, and I feel there’s change
afoot.
“Okay,
so today we’re going to do more work on your back, and then we’re going to do
some cupping,” Erica told me.
“Ooh,
cupping!” I said before I realized the words were coming out of my mouth.
Erica
smiled. “Oh, so you’re a fan?”
I
nodded. “I’ve done it before, yes.” But something told me Erica did things a
little differently.
And
I was right. After we got through the needling portion of our session – which
once again, was super gentle and relaxing – she started in on cupping me. I
could hear the sounds of flame igniting and then going out, followed by the
feeling of something suction cupping to my back. There were four placed on me –
two on my lower back, and two on my upper back.
“So
what’s going on?” I asked Erica.
“Well,
first there’s an amazing pyrotechnic display that you don’t get to see, where I
fire up the inside of the cup to remove oxygen and create more of a vacuum,”
she explained. “Then I quickly place it on your back. I’m going to start moving
them around now, so if it feels too intense, just let me know.”
Now,
a word about my threshold for pain: there’s no rhyme or reason to it. The things
that should make me drop with agony don’t do so as much as the little things
that should have no effect. For example, I can sit through a tattoo with no
issue. Take a vial of blood from me at the doctor’s office? I pass out within
seconds. I fail to understand why this happens the way it does, but there it
is.
That
said, when Erica was moving the cups around my back, there was definite
discomfort. It wasn’t in an agonizing, OMG-I’m-gonna-die kind of way – more
like a must-find-my-happy-place kind of way. But the predominant thought I had
as she was working me over was, “I can sit through a few minutes of discomfort
if it means assisting my health in a profound way.” After all, it had taken me
years of discomfort to get to the point of wanting to heal to this degree.
What’s another couple of minutes?
“You’re
probably going to look like you have round sucker marks on your back for the
next little while,” Erica warned me, and that was true too – I did indeed look
like I’d been attacked by a giant octopus. But at the same time, I was starting
to feel like there were knots in my back that were melting, and helping to open
things up even more. If the time between our first and second session was any
indication, the time between our second and third session was sure to mean some
big changes.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
ON PINS AND NEEDLES: guest blogger series #1
Erica Docimo L.Ac-
Every patient brings something valuable and unique with them when they come in for acupuncture. I’ve been fortunate to cross paths with so many warm-hearted, inspiring individuals through this practice who have enriched my life on both a professional and human level. Once in a while I encounter a patient with such enthusiasm for personal transformation, that I’m given the opportunity to assist in a major health and lifestyle overhaul. These are the patients who’s sole focus is to do away with everything holding them back, from poor eating habits, to stressful jobs, to deep rooted emotional blockages. There are no short cuts through the healing process because it’s just that - a process. However... I never said there isn’t a fast track.
Carly is one of these ‘no time like the present’ patients. She came in pistols blazing having already begun chiropractic and hydro-colon therapies, a pressed juice cleanse, and was in the process of peeling back layers of psycho-emotional pain burdening her since childhood. Yes, I was impressed. Not simply because she was dedicated to reaching her goals and pushing beyond what most would deem healthy, but because she was doing it all with a level head. It’s easy to get swept up in a nearly dogmatic view of healthy living when you layer on so much in such a short period of time, but Carly was on a venture of discovery. She was, and continues to be a scientist, thoroughly documenting her observations in search of what combination will yield a future of increasing wellness. Carly has been kind enough to share her experiences as a guest blogger for Mind & Body Acupuncture. Look for more of her entries to follow!
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Carly-
So before I get into the nitty gritty of what it’s like to work with Erica on this journey I’m on, I figure it best to start with a little background on what this journey is.
Basically, I’ve had a host of nagging health issues for as long as I can remember – constipation, digestive trouble, emotional issues, brain fog, back pain, inexplicable weight gain (and yo-yoing up and down anywhere from 10 to 50 pounds), and most annoyingly and chronically, psoriasis. I first started dabbling in alternative therapies back in 1997 or so when I was introduced to homeopathy, and since then I’ve dibbled and dabbled in a number of different modalities to see what each did for me. Things would clear up here and there, certain issues would become more manageable and tolerable, but I wouldn’t say I’ve ever experienced optimal health.
I can pinpoint the moment where I knew optimal health was not only something that was important to me, but something I would stop at nothing to find. It was the night of my 37th birthday party. It was a lovely celebration, filled with friends and drink and an incredible vegan chocolate cake… but in the moment that I found myself crouched next to the toilet with the illness of too much alcohol stirring inside of me, I knew that I needed to change – that everything needed to change. Because while I’d reached a reasonable point of living, I also knew there was more… and I wanted to discover it.
It took me another three or so months for things to kick in, but come January 2012, I was well on my way. I changed my exercise regimen and went to see a naturopath, who immediately ran a number of tests on me and put me on a liquid vegan diet. I left a toxic job and wound up living like a monk while I reworked my understanding of who I was and what I believed, continuing my vegan ways while seeing a highly-skilled chiropractor that specialized in Network Spinal Analysis (Dr. Michael Whelan in Laguna Woods), and continuing to work on transforming my body through exercise. That sustained me through to the beginning of this year, where I finally realized I needed more help to cleanse my insides – and that led me to colon hydrotherapy. And it was through colon hydrotherapy – specifically, Fatima Lowe of Holistic Life – that I was introduced to Erica.
My first experience with acupuncture came in early 2000, when I was living in San Francisco and a colleague suggested I try it to heal my psoriasis. I went for a handful of sessions and drank the stinky herb tea I was prescribed, but a number of factors prevented me from returning – namely, finances and the fact that I didn’t really feel like I clicked with the practitioner. I returned to acupuncture again in 2004, when a random Yelp search led me to one in the Valley that I worked with for several years -- and I did indeed see and feel benefits from that experience. But as life shifted for me and took me in a different direction, I moved and shifted practitioners after a year’s break, working with another acupuncturist in Beverly Hills. Once again, finances shut down my experimentation there, and I dabbled in other healing modalities off and on until this current stretch of intense healing, which is seeing me through a 15-day colonic intensive, twice-weekly visits to an incredibly talented chiropractor (Dr. Nicholas Johnson, who mixes traditional chiropractic healing with NSA and energy clearing), a juice cleanse, infrared sauna therapy and now, acupuncture.
I initially met Erica in the waiting room when I was about to go into session with Fatima, and was immediately struck by her demeanor. She has a calming, nurturing presence about her, and when we introduced ourselves to one another, I noticed how attentive she was when I was sharing a bit about myself, but also how open she was about sharing herself through our conversation, too. The exchange intrigued me enough to inquire with Fatima – who had worked with her extensively – as to what it was like to work with Erica.
“Oh, she’s wonderful – you’ll love her,” Fatima enthused. “She’s really gentle and knowledgeable, and her treatments are outstanding.”
That coupled with intuition told me that contacting Erica would be a good move. It’s interesting, though – even though I’m pretty deep into this aspect of my healing journey, and even though I’ve done acupuncture before, there was something about getting in touch that was bringing up fear in me. I think each step of a healing journey comes with a considerable amount of courage, from determining you have something that needs healing, to deciding on a course of action, to reaching out to the practitioners you want to work with, to actually working with them. I acknowledged what I was feeling and reached out to her anyway, reminding myself of how it felt just to have a simple conversation with her in the waiting room. If talking about biking around L.A. felt nurturing and supportive, surely working with her would be even more so.
And so began my return to acupuncture.
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Roughly a week later, I came in for my first two-hour session with Erica – timed as such because the first half was a thorough examination of my health history, covering everything from dietary shifts to chronic physical and emotional experiences that have popped up throughout my life, and everything in between. And that same sensation I experienced in our waiting room chat was present at our session – not once did I feel like she wasn’t interested or invested in what I was sharing with her.
One of the things Fatima had told me was that she and Erica often stacked clients in something they called an “acu-lonic” – where a client would come to Erica and get acupuncture, and then go to Fatima for a colonic. I told Erica of my interest in trying the acu-lonic treatment, and she agreed that it was a good course of action to take. “You don’t have to stack your treatments, but the benefits do definitely build when you come at it from multiple arenas,” she said.
“You know, I’ve never thought about it that way, but I realize that’s what I’m doing,” I told her. “In the past I’ve always kind of done one thing at a time… and this time, I’m doing the colonics with the chiropractor with the acupuncturist. And I see how they all help one another.”
She nodded. “It can be hard for people to do it intensely, but yes – they all do compliment each other, and employing them as maintenance tools in your overall health can be of huge benefit.”
Before we moved over to the table, she wrote me a “prescription” of sorts – namely, a reminder to try a couple different things to help with some postural, lower back and hip issues. The first, to change how I work – namely, the position in which I work.
“I tend to sit up in bed with pillows behind my back for support, because I don’t have a desk,” I told her. “But I sit cross-legged.”
“That’s fine, but I recommend also adding a pillow under your knees,” she said. “And trade off every couple of hours – see if you can work standing, with you computer on a surface that allows you to keep your arms at your sides and your elbows bent, and then wear shoes with good support. For example, I wear running shoes with custom orthotics in them.”
“I have custom orthotics!” I said excitedly, like I’d just won the lottery.
She laughed, and then wrote out her next suggestion – to stop crossing my legs at the knee, because that was aggravating the imbalance in my hip. This, I knew… and old habits are hard to break. But I was willing to give it a try.
From there, we moved to the table where Erica put me through a series of orthopedic muscle releases to start the acupuncture portion of our setting. The idea behind them is that Erica uses your own biomechanics to help your body align, and there are different movements for each type of alignment you’re looking to achieve. We went through my whole body and did a series of these exercises. I stretched my arms out while she worked on my feet, I popped my arm into her waiting hands when we worked on my shoulder, and stretched out my lower back as she helped me cross one leg over the other in a twist. (It's more involved than that, of course, but this gives you a general idea of what it's like.)
Soon, I was face down on the table with my shirt off, awaiting my first round of needles in at least five years. She swabbed areas all over my back, ears and legs, and started gently inserting at each of those points.
Then she moved to the bottom of my feet. “This point may be tender,” she warned, and indeed, it was a little sharp going in. But once I settled in, I could feel this pathway open up all the way from my feet to my head, and this feeling of relaxation set in.
And so I was left to marinate for 45 minutes or so, a heat lamp on my feet, drifting into a state of consciousness where I was out, but totally aware that I was out. It just felt like an overall opening – that everything in me was converging to release some old patterns and pathways in order for new ones to emerge. By the time Erica came back into the room to remove the needles, I was like jello. I felt good – not spent or the kind of jello that makes you wonder how you’re going to drive home, but the kind where you feel like you’ve let something go.
We sat at her desk and talked about a recommended course of treatments. “With where you’re at, I’d recommend twice a week,” she said, and I agreed, making an appointment for three days later. I can’t wait to see what our next session brings.
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