How To Know If You Need An Acupuncturist

Recently my friend Lisa started a “How-To” blog. She’s been encouraging me to demonstrate a “how-to” in her How-To Variety events, which I haven’t done. These are great open-mic style presentations by a variety of people. The last one I went to featured Mystic’s strong man, a well known local folk singer, advice from a Groton beauty consultant, a neighborhood chiropractor, and several other interesting people. I couldn’t think of what I would demonstrate!

When Lisa started her blog she insisted on my participation. After much consideration we decided on How To Know If You Need An Acupuncturist for my first blog on her forum.

People don’t necessarily know when they need an acupuncturist. It’s still a little known profession, and although acupuncture has  many advocates,  many still think of it with curiosity as an exotic medicine.

Here is the link to my piece on Lisa’s How-To blog. While you’re there, browse through the rest of her how-tos . What a great idea for a blog!

How To Know If You Need An Acupuncturist

GBA at MRA

On Thursday, May 19 Mystic River Acupuncture hosted the monthly meeting of the Groton Business Association, a division of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce. This group of business people works towards the interests of small business in Groton. Some of the events we sponsor each year are the Groton Fall Festival and The Holiday Lights Parade. At our meetings we network and keep up to date on what is happening in Groton that may affect small business. And when it’s at our place, we eat!

When Mystic River Acupuncture hosts this group it is an event. It’s a chance for our small business neighbors to see what an acupuncture clinic looks like and we love to show off dishes containing healthy herbs. This year we featured Eight Treasures breakfast congee , a delicious rice porridge made with red rice and a variety of Chinese “food herbs” from our herbal dispensary. Also on the menu was Chinese rose and albizzia tea and a “chai” made from pharmacy herbs, whole milk and roobios tea, an African caffeine-free herb known for it’s healing qualities. A mostly organic fruit salad and pastries by Pastry Chef Araminta Poole rounded up the fare.

Sarah Hartford, LMT was on hand to provide chair massage to willing attendees. Sarah is new to our staff and it was a great way for her to introduce herself to the business association. All takers went home happy and relaxed!

We look forward to hosting this group again. Stay tuned next year for a new and delicious menu.

Eight Treasures Congee for the GBA

Everyone loved the Eight Treasures Congee served at the Groton Business Association May meeting.

It was adapted from the recipe Eight Treasures Porridge from Daniel Eng’s book “Cooking With Chinese Herbs.

It’s so easy to make a healthful congee. Basically all you do is throw the ingredients into crockpotin the evening, set it on low, and go to bed.  When you wake up in the morning, Voila! There is your tasty breakfast congee waiting for you.

Here is the recipe.  I adapted it by using organic vegetable broth instead of water and organic Bhutanese red rice. I also used a crockpot. The herbs are available at any Chinese pharmacy or from Mystic River Acupuncture for 15¢/gram. Just tell us you want the eight treasures congee packet.

1/2 cup of purple or black rice (other kinds of rice are fine, too)

2 Tbsp walnuts

2 Tbsp Job’s tears

1 Tbsp hyacinth beans

12 pieces lotus seeds

6 pieces longan fruit, optionally chopped

6 pieces red dates, pits removed

4-6 cups of water

1 Tbsp goji berries

small amount of honey (optional)

Rinse all ingredients except the water, goji, and honey. and place in a slow cooker or a pot.  Add 4-6 cups of water, deppending on your cooking equipment and method (slow cookers generally require less, while stovetop cooking may require more).  If using a slow cooker, turn it on to “low” overnight or all day (8-10 hours).  Alrternatively, simmer in a covered pot over a low flame for about two hours or until everything is soft.  After the porridge is finished cooking, add goji and a small amount of honey.

Serves 2-3

Groton Business Association May Meeting

It’s May and our month to host the Groton Business Association. We’ll miss Andrea this year. She’s opened her own office in Hudson, New York.   Barbara, our receptionist, and Anne-Marie, our office manger, are off on vacations, but you can meet our new staff members Kelly Hunt, administrative staff, and Sara Hartford, Licensed Massage Therapist. It’s your chance to see what an acupuncture clinic and traditional herb dispensary look like.

A GBA meeting at Mystic River Acupuncture means good food. We’ll serve a variation of our famous Chinese breakfast congee (remember last year?) along with tasty  American-style treats made especially for us by Pastry Chef Araminta Poole. Fruit salad and yogurt are on the menu and, of course, coffee, tea, and juice.

While we network and catch up up on the business news in Groton, Sarah will be on hand for complimentary chair massage.

We welcome all Groton businesses to our clinic for the monthly meeting on Thursday May 19 at 7:30 am. RSVP to Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce at 860-572-9578 or triciawalsh@mysticchamber.org.

Come hungry!

Spring Wellness Fair

Mystic River Acupuncture and Everything Zen are collaborating once again to bring you a Spring Wellness Fair. Stop in to try a sampling of reflexology, massage, and acupuncture. Or come by just to chat with us about what we do and how it works. We’ll have some light snacks waiting for you. We hope the evening will be every bit as enjoyable as out last event was.

Spring Wellness Fair will take place at Everything Zen, 156 King’s Highway in Groton. RSVP to Holly Potter at 860-861-8978.

Everything Fun at Everything Zen

Last Friday Mystic River Acupuncture went to Everything Zen for an evening of “Radiant Beauty From the Inside Out”. I talked about the Chinese concept of beauty being the direct result of how we feel and how healthy we are. Beauty formulas and healthy eating are a part of radiance as much as cosmetics and facial care are.

Holly and I served up an “immune” promoting broth adapted from a recipe in “Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen: Recipes From the East for Health, Healing, and Long Life”. Organic chicken bones, herbs and vegetables were stewed for 24 hours to make this delicious stock that can be taken either as a broth or used as a base in any dish calling for chicken stock.  Bone marrow is rich in nutrients and stewing for a long period releases the essence of bones and their marrow into the soup. A crockpot makes the whole process easy.

Next we sampled a classic Chinese formula that is traditionally taken as a draught with wine. A gram of herbal granules was stirred into bit of warm water in our Dixie cups. We drank this down, then chased it with wine as I passed around a plate containing the same formula in raw form for everyone to see. Taking herbs to keep qi (energy) and blood circulation flowing is essential to a good beauty program, especially in cases of dry skin, acne, and other skin problems.

We finished the evening with a demonstration of wrinkle reducing acupuncture while Holly talked about the importance of using organic paraben free products on the skin. She and showed participants the special herbs I powder up for her to use in facial masks for her facials. Holly and I have been collaborating for the last year on different herbal face masks for various skin problems.

We were running out of time and didn’t get to drinking the special relaxing tea I mixed. Luckily, I had made little bag of these tea herbs for each person to bring home to make for their tea breaks during week. This tea was a relaxing blend that also “vents” or dissipates stress energy and is particularly good for tension in the body caused by stress. It’s a calming refreshing tea that taken with lemon, mint and honey.

By the time we were done, the class had renamed Everything Zen to “Everything FUN” and Holly and I were pleases and honored. It’s important to put some fun in our busy lives.

Check News and Events to learn about the Radiant Beauty specials Holly and I are offering so you can keep having Radiant Beauty and Everything Fun.

Kathleen Poole

Surprise Mom with Radiant Beauty

Mystic River Acupuncture and Everything Zen are collaborating to offer you a Radiant Skin Beauty Package just in time for Mother’s Day.

Holly Potter, LMT of Everything Zen will give your favorite mom an anti-aging Vitamin C facial peel and Kathleen Poole will provide a wrinkle reducing acupuncture treatment for only $115. Mom can make a day of it. Visit Everything Zen, then have a bite to eat at one of the areas many restaurants before your wrinkle reducing session at Mystic River Acupuncture. For best results, these treatments can be scheduled up to one week apart.

A full package of six of each is also available for $660, and the sampler pack can be applied towards the full package of twelve sessions. With the full package you can take advantage of special discounts on herbal consultation with Kathleen and an assortment of upgrades from Holly.

What more perfect and unique gift is there for that Special Mother in your life?

Relax With Chair Massage

We are pleased to announce that Chair Massage is once again available at Mystic River Acupuncture. Stop by for fifteen minutes of stress-draining body work and meet our new Licensed Massage Therapist, Sarah Hartford. We are excited about Sarah joining our staff. She has plenty of experience and worked at the Connecticut Center for Massage Therapy for many years.

Chair massage is most often available on Tuesdays, but please call to check the week’s schedule. You can make an appointment or come as a “walk-in” on Chair Massage days. It’s a wonderful followup to acupuncture, although you can come just for the massage. And at $1/minute it’s so affordable.

Stay tuned to learn more about Sarah Hartford, LMT. Meanwhile, pop in for a mid-day chair massage break or treat a friend to one.

Radiant Beauty at Everything Zen

Friday April 29 at 6:30 Kathleen will present a workshop about Chinese “beauty” formulas, herbal remedies that promote healthy skin. Beauty is more than skin deep, and beauty is best when it comes from the inside out.

We’ll talk about the factors contributing to healthy skin from a Chinese point of view and address problems such as dry skin, acne and premenstrual skin changes. Kathleen will bring a sample formula to show you and to try, and she’ll make a special tea for the Sin Ni San ladies’ (you’ll have to come to find out who you are). She will also demonstrate facial acupuncture for wrinkles.

Come have a fun evening at Holly Potter’s fabulous studio, Everything Zen, 156 King’s Highway in Groton. Call Holly 860-861-8978 to RSVP.

Alternative Medicine – How to Choose

On April 11, 2011 Kathleen will present ‘The Jungle of Chinese Medicine: Which to Use and How To Choose a Practitioner’ to the Mystic Rotary at its monthly luncheon at the Mystic Hilton.

She will discuss the various alternative medicines and therapies available in southeastern Connecticut, what they are used for, and how to find a practitioner. She’ll talk about which professions are licensed and which are unregulated and the educational requirements for each. Kathleen did extensive research of schools, programs, and the state statutes regarding the professions. Handouts outlining this research will be available and  she will accompany her lecture with a slide presentation.

All are invited to attend. If you’ve ever felt confused about alternative medicine, now is the time to get the facts.

Mystic Hilton is located at 20 Coogan Blvd, Mystic.

RSVP: Laureen Morley at 860-536-4140.

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