Yoga For Guys

The physical benefits of yoga are a wonderful way to compliment whatever sport or physical activity you love.  Yoga stretches, strengthens, and invigorates the entire body and internal organs.  It increases core strength, flexibility, range of motion, and improves balance.   Practicing yoga as a form of cross-training will increase your performance and reduce the risk of injury.

This class is designed to alleviate everything from stiff backs and sore muscles to low energy and work-related stress. Attending the weekly Yoga for Guys class can help correct the alignment of the spinal column, and improve your overall posture.  You will learn how to breathe deeper, which will give you extra endurance for exercise, sports, or just to have more energy throughout the day.

Additionally, when men do yoga in a men's yoga class, they are more relaxed, less guarded and more focused.  There is a completely different energy in the room.  When a man looks around and sees other men doing yoga, he feels more included and accepted: their bodies are similar to his body; their challenges are similar to his challenges.

The next 7 week series is starting soon. Check this link for dates.

Prenatal Yoga

Inside you is an innate wisdom that understands about the very natural process of birth.  Linking yoga postures with breath will lead you to new discoveries, bringing awareness to the mind, body and spirit.  The class conducted in a peaceful environment will promote strength and flexibility, improve circulation, aid digestion, exercise the spine and increase overall comfort.  An intimate class size allows you to freely discuss any issues, from discomforts and concerns, to the wonderful new changes your body and baby are experiencing.  This class will emphasize comfortable and safe yoga poses during pregnancy.

The next 7 week series is starting soon. Check this link for dates.

Yoga For Athletes

Yoga for athletes is a small group class designed specifically to meet the needs of active individuals.  It is led by Heather, a certified yoga instructor and licensed physical therapist who is an avid runner, cyclist and snowboarder with a background in team sports.  She understands the specific demands of athletic endeavors as well as common imbalances and injuries in athletes.

Yoga for athletes is designed to maximize athletic performance by balancing flexibility, strength, stability and endurance.  This class can help you recover from injury - or better yet, prevent it! It can also enhance awareness of and connection to your own body.  Yoga for athletes is designed for athletes of all abilities, no previous yoga experience necessary!  Experience support with:

· Flexibility
· Lung Capacity
· Core Strength
· Endurance
· Alignment
· Prevent or recover from injury

Casual and relaxed clothing recommended.  Wear a T-Shirt, Shorts, or Sweats that allow you to stretch comfortably.

The next 7 week series is starting soon. Check this link for dates.

Yamuna Body Rolling Class In October!!

How we take care of ourselves- physically, mentally, and emotionally play a significant role in how we engage in life, and connect with ourselves as well as others.  Yamuna Body Rolling is a great way to compliment any sport or physical activity that you love, by toning and elongating muscles, improving alignment and circulation, increasing core strength and metabolism, relaxing the nervous system, and increasing body awareness.

Yamuna Body Rolling begins with bone stimulation and systematically works muscles from origin toward insertion to lengthen and realign the body freeing fascia and other structural restriction to ultimately increase range of motion, improve posture and prevent injury.  The ultimate goal of practicing Yamuna Body Rolling is to remove as many physical restrictions from the body as possible, so that all body parts function as optimally as possible.   You can continue to enjoy running 5k races, playing with your kids, gardening, golfing or whatever you enjoy.

We are now offering individual or pairs Yamuna Body Rolling sessions and classes will begin in the fall.

The next 7 week series is starting soon. Check this link for dates.

Staying Well in the Summer Heat: Yoga and Breath Work

Taking a moment for yourself

Come summer time, with increased light, increased energy, and perhaps a fuller social calendar there is a longing to connect to that carefree, relaxed summer feeling, and perhaps to a deeper sense of balance.

With the extra hours of light in the summer, allow yourself to wake a little earlier to take your time transitioning throughout your day.

It can be easy to feel rushed or have the mentality that once we finish x, y, z, then we can relax. It's okay to slow down, and actually it's more than okay, it's healthy to slow down!

By getting outdoors for 30 minutes each day, you'll feel refreshed and it'll be a reminder of how good it feels to take care of yourself. Whether you're heading outside to run, walk, read a good book, take a nap on the beach or play Frisbee with some friends, be sure to stay hydrated by drinking water .

In honor of the sun, try a Sun Salutation outside...  being inverted in downward dog outdoors can be a great way to change your perception!

And help you to move from a place of balance, playfulness and enjoyment.

Maura Hintlian

Staying Well in the Summer Heat: Physical Therapy

Summer Exercise

If it's physical, it's therapy!  As we have finally met up with our warm weather and longer days, it's great to be outdoors again exercising.  Here are a few summer exercise tips:

1. On hot days, break up your workout into 2 sessions to avoid the heat.  Get outside in the early am and then do a follow up workout in the evening. You'll boost your metabolism twice during the day and can get in some variety. Bike in the AM followed by run in the PM anyone?
2. Stretch AFTER a brief warm up.  Warmed up muscles are more elastic so you will get more out of your stretching.
3. Hydrate and take cover! Signs of heat exhaustion include dizziness, weakness, nausea, muscle cramps, inability to sweat and the feeling of being cold.
4. On poor air quality days, take it inside.  Join a class, jump in a pool or go to the gym.
5. Want a refreshing, cool and easy summer beverage? Add a few slices of cucumber to your water and let it set for a few minutes.  Gulp, gulp....ahhh.

- Nancy Charlebois PT, MT

Staying Well in the Summer Heat: Traditional Chinese Medicine

Foods that Cool

Hopefully, this article arrives in the presence of sunshine and warmer weather. Summer temperatures will be here soon and I have some advice about foods to keep you cooler. In my studies of Traditional Chinese Medicine, food can play an important role in moderating the impact of heat or cold weather.

When the weather gets hot include some of these foods to cool the inside of your body, replenish fluids and replace electrolytes. Choose a diversity of foods ranging from snack to side dish to entree. Go to food websites that allow searches using these cooling foods. Nurturing against the intense heat makes an impact and allows greater enjoyment of these precious few months of summer.

Fruit

• All Citrus
• Apple
• Banana
• Cantaloupe
• Pear
• Persimmon
• Tomato
• Watermelon

Vegetables

• Alfalfa Sprouts
• Amaranth
• Asparagus
• Barley
• Bok Choy
• Broccoli
• Button Mushroom
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Cucumber
• Legumes & Grains
• Lettuce
• Eggplant
• Mung Bean & Mung Sprouts
• Millet
• Napa Cabbage
• Radish
• Soy Milk
• Soy Sprouts
• Spinach
• Summer Squash
• Sweet Corn
• Swiss Chard
• Tempeh
• Tofu
• Zucchini

Others

• Barley Grass
• Cilantro
• Dandelion Greens
• Kudzu
• Marjoram
• Micro-algae
• Nettles
• Peppermint
• Seaweeds
• White Peppercorn
• Yogurt

- John Charlebois L AC

Spring Cleanse #4 – 2011

Thanks for waiting.  Here’s my final blog post on the remainder of my fast/cleanse.

I personally enjoy juice fasting.  My body feels less dense and heavy. Organics are important to use at this point.  Some say use just clear juices but I enjoy vegetable juices for a “full” sensation that clear juices do not provide.  There were challenges during meal prep for my kids. Several times I would almost taste the food while cooking as a pattern of the process. Patterns such as that shape our choices, portions, and ritual around food.  At the juice fast portion all of those attachments have come to awareness.  Also the social implications within friend and family circles attracts a lot of attention.  People are fascinated and have great questions.

I chose not to water fast this year because the weather was too cold and my children needed their parents to be physically able to do things like play with them so I stayed on juices for another two days instead.  The fast makes you slow down.  I felt calm and clear in many ways.  I enjoyed greater happiness and great dreams at night.  All that nirvana was great but after five days with no solid food I wanted a banana worse than anything.  Chewing was wonderful and the texture was... well... texture. So until about Halloween my eating practices will have improved tremendously.  The family holidays and cooler weather/shorter days will undoubtedly resurrect my old ways but shortly after the beginning of Spring I will do this once again to begin anew.  Thanks for reading.

WCSH Fit at Five Video

Jade Integrated Health – 10th Anniversary Open House

In celebration of our 10th anniversary, we invite you to our open house, this Friday June 3rd from 4:30-6:30.  Bring a friend and come to enjoy music, laughter, tasty treats from the five flavors and a beverage or two.

In addition, we have new some beautiful new artwork gracing our walls lent to us by Ann Deutsch.  Ann enjoys working with colors and appreciates the relationship of sky and water changes brought by passing clouds and breezes across the water. Please take time to notice her collages and landscape oil paintings.

See you there!

Spring Cleanse #3 - 2011

A few days have past since my last “check in” and I feel quite different from the last time I blogged.  This cleanse is different for every individual.  Some people in poor health may not be able to go as far in the elimination stages as some others.  If anyone reading this is inclined to try the cleanse in Dr. Elson M. Haas’ book Staying Healthy Through the Seasons please seek a professional with experience in this area.  The cleanse essentially starts with me eliminating “building” foods such as meat and dairy over the course of two weeks.

Then last Friday, my diet went strictly vegan with the elimination of all eggs and dairy.  The key to remember is that there are a lot of choices at that time. Nuts and beans are very satisfying and the grain varieties available are nutritious and economical.  This is when I feel the physical ease.  I think some of the “foods” we consume put actual stress on the body.  This weekend the elimination continued with nuts and beans on one day then seeds next on Sunday.  The former is harder to loose than the latter.

Now is the point where I began a strict cleansing diet due to the percentage of fiber that is digested.  I am loosing weight in various ways.  Yes I am slimming, but I am eating as much as I want.  It helps to have referenced tasty things to eat and planned ahead to have sustenance within my reach at all times.  I’m lighter also because I feel much less “stuck” in my choices and attachments to food habits.  I feel free from foods that weigh me down.  Tomorrow is the last day of chewable foods I...just juices on Thursday, Friday & Saturday.  At Sunday’s transition things get real interesting.  Thanks for reading this.  I look forward to dialog.  Please ask any questions that come to mind.

Spring Cleanse #2 – 2011

Not a bad week all-in-all.  The day after my last entry was when sugars and bleached flowers were eliminated from the diet.  That practically eliminated the majority of processed or convenience foods. Essentially, the middle isles in the supermarket have food I cannot eat.  Fortunately, I have done this several times over the past ten years so diversity of food choices becomes the key to success.  The following day meat became the eliminated food category.

Protein now comes from dairy, nuts, beans and seeds as well as the grain quinoa.  Lastly, yesterday was elimination day for any dairy foods.  I do feel less tense over the pat few days but did experience some headaches apparently from a lack of caffeine.  Now the attachments I have about the standard/cultural ways of nurturing myself are the strongest.  These emotional patterns can be overcome.  I can eat, as much as I want of the types of food that are left so I am not deprived.  I’ll post on Tuesday so have a great weekend everyone.

Spring Cleanse #1 – 2011

Thanks for taking the time to read my fasting/cleansing first post.  Yesterday was the first day of about a two week dietary cleanse.  The first day is easy because the plan by Dr. Elson M. Haas requires you to eat your normal diet.  Not too difficult but is is a good day to look over the plan and visualize success.  Today is the first step in elimination.  Today I eliminate chemicals e.g. food additives alcohol, and caffeine to others this might also include recreational drugs and nicotine .  It is important to add that I have no medical reasons that permit me from taking this path.  My first elimination is seemingly my toughest.  I LOVE coffee and decaf, to me, does not taste the same.

This exercise is to increase my awareness of the attachments I have to what I put in my body.  I hope my transition from caffeine goes smoothly.

Jade Integrated Health Celebrates 10 years

Portland’s Jade Integrated Health to Host Open House June 3^rd – celebrating 10 years of creating wellness, raising families and encouraging health at.

PORTLAND, Maine May 26, 2011 – Jade Integrated Health, a provider of health and wellness services in Portland’s East End is celebrating its 10^th year anniversary with an Open House on the 1^st Friday in June. Experiment with a menu highlighting the flavors of salty, sweet, sour, pungent, and bitter.  This is a free and open to the public, rain or shine to celebrate wellness.

“We offer a full range of services including, rehabilitative services that incorporate acupuncture, physical therapy, massage therapy, Traditional Chinese Medicine and yoga. Our approach to the health and well-being of our patients is solution based,” says John Charlebois, who together with his wife Nancy is the owner and founder of the center.  John’s expertise is in acupuncture and Oriental medicine, while Nancy, who is a licensed physical therapist, provides physical therapy treatment and massage therapy services.

“I love my job! It is an opportunity to get to know people in our community,” says Nancy. “Our growth has been organic; Jade Integrated Health has added services according to what our clients have asked for over the years.”  They opened their doors in April 2001, offering acupuncture and Chinese herbology. Later, it expanded to include Nancy’s physical therapy practice. In the spring of 2008, they began offering a variety of yoga classes including: prenatal, gentle, and mom & baby. Over the past year they’ve added men’s yoga classes and Yamanu body rolling.

John and Nancy believe strongly in an interdisciplinary and integrated approach to achieve results.  This sometimes means coordinating care with acupuncture yoga, massage, pool therapy, Chinese Herbal Medicine or seeing practitioners outside their office such as an osteopath, chiropractor, naturopathic physician or nurse practitioner. Ultimately, it is up to individual patients as to the healthcare path that fits their needs.

“Not only are we committed to responding to our clients’ needs, we are also responding to a need in the community for an enhanced level of health and well-being that our combined services offer,” says John, “and that feels good.” Please join them for a celebration.

What: 10th Anniversary Open House
Where: 218 Washington Ave, Portland, Maine
When: June 3, 2011 from 4:30pm – 6:30pm

For more information call (207) 773-5778 or visit the Open House web page.

Greater Health and Better Morale

Nationwide Clinical Survey of Acupuncture Patients

• 91.5 % reported a disappearance or improvement of symptoms.

• 79% said they use fewer drugs.

• 70% avoided surgery.

• 63% said "I can work better most of the time."

• 58% said "I have more energy most of the time."

• 63% said "I have less pain most of the time."

• 68% said "I get along better with others most of the time"
  

source: Claire Cassidy, "Health Visions 2000"

Vitamin C, Zinc or Vitamin D ?

The answer might surprise you... Can vitamin C supplements help you avoid colds and flu this  season? In a word, no.  Clinical trials of approximately 10,000 participants, have failed to find that vitamin C supplements decreases the risk of catching cold or flu in ordinary people.  However, they did determine it might at least shorten the length of a cold. Vitamin C is essential in your diet so your body can form collagen in bones, cartilage, muscle, and blood vessels.  Vitamin C helps maintain healthy teeth and gums, and helps wounds heal. The best way to increase your vitamin C intake is to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, such as green or red peppers, kiwi, oranges, melon, and broccoli. Zinc is another nutrient that has not lived up to its promise of preventing colds. Experts disagree about whether  zinc lozenges might shorten the duration of a cold,  If you decide to try  using zinc to make your cold end sooner, you should know that gels or sprays that apply zinc to the inside of the nose should NOT be used. They have been taken off the market after many consumers reported losing their sense of smell.  To boost your intake of zinc naturally, choose rich food sources such as beef, poultry, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds. The most promising single nutrient in the quest to prevent colds and flu is vitamin D. Several studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency is linked with more colds and flu. It is too soon to know if taking vitamin D supplements can help prevent these upper respiratory infections. Still, people living in Maine may want to consider taking a vitamin D supplement. Unlike other nutrients, which can be consumed in food, your body must manufacture its own vitamin D; this only happens after you bare skin is exposed to strong sunlight. Since that is unlikely to happen during the fall, winter and spring at our latitude, a vitamin D supplement may be in order. Although the outdated Institute of Medicine guidelines still call for 400 IUs of Vitamin D per day for adults, most experts now agree that 1000 IU per day is probably closer to meeting the needs of most people. If you have a documented vitamin D deficiency, you may need even more vitamin D, but higher doses should only be consumed under the supervision of your health care provider. Patsy Catsos, MS, RD, LD is a medical nutrition therapist in private practice at Nutrition Works, LLC in Portland. She is the only dietitian in Maine with a practice focused on helping people with gastrointestinal diseases and disorders, and is the author of IBS--Free at Last!.  For a list of upcoming wellness and cooking classes or for information about booking an appointment, please visit Nutrition Works at www.nutritionworks.us

Defeating Cold & Flu with Chinese Medicine

In China, every school from grade school through college, offers herbs to the students during the flu season to prevent cold and flu. There are quite a few teas and herbal formulas available for prevention purposes.  These anti-cold and flu formulas will be found in every family's medicine cabinet. It would be almost impossible to find a person in China who has never taken one.

Using herbal formulas to prevent and treat colds and flu is one of the best-developed and most successful aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Specific treatment practices and formulas have been handed down unbroken from the earliest schools to the modern universities of China. Cold, cough and flu occur in stages.  Practitioners trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine learn to diagnose the progression and determine which herbs are most effective.

Top Antiviral Herbs

Woad Root (Ban Lan Gen) iWoad root tea is the most popular herbal tea to prevent and treat flu in China.  In a study of over 11,000 people who were exposed to mumps, the infectious manifestation was forestalled by using a decoction of woad root.

Woad Leaf (Da Qing Ye) shares similar properties with woad root. In a study of 100 people, only 10% of the treatment group that took a woad leaf decoction twice daily had upper respiratory infections during the study period, while 24% of the control group had infections.

Forsythia Fruit (Lian Qiao) is a pointed, oval-shaped capsule with a hard shell. Because of its anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and immunity-enhancing properties, forsythia fruit is widely used to treat common cold, influenza, swelling and pain in the throat, and skin inflammation.

Honeysuckle Flower (Jin Yin Hua) is named "gold-and-silver flower" in Chinese. Research indicates that this flower bud can deactivate the PR8 strain of influenza virus. The study also indicates that honeysuckle works wonderfully to treat other infectious diseases, including pneumonia and viral conjunctivitis.

Baical Skullcap Root (Huang Qin) is the dried root of scutellaria. It is an anti-viral agent, effective against influenza viruses. This herb and its active substance, baicalin, are used in the treatment of upper respiratory infections, either bacterial or viral.

In traditional Chinese medicine, patterns are differentiated according to the imbalances of the body and the causes and stages of the disease. Herbal formulas (combination of herbs) are always recommended by practitioners because they are customized and more effective than single herbs.   In future newsletters I will discuss three patterns of cold and flu symptoms, and the appropriate formulas for each type.

- John Charlebois L AC

Traditional Chinese Acupuncture, Cupping, Moxibustion

Often people ask, "Is Acupuncture helpful?" The World Health Organization, National institute of Health, and individuals, such as former Surgeon General E. Koop, recognize Acupuncture as an effective treatment for a variety of ailments. Pain and chronic pain are often relieved, as well as emotional difficulties and addictions.

The World Health Organization states Acupuncture is an effective treatment for:

• Allergies
• Neck, shoulder or temporomandibular pain
• Tennis Elbow / Golfer's Elbow
• Low back, hip, knee and ankle joint pain
• Sciatica
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Osteoarthritis
• Postoperative pain
• Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
• Dysmenorrhea, primary
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
• Headache
• Hypertension or Hypotension
• Malposition of fetus, correction of
• Induction of labor
• Morning sickness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Stroke
• Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy
• Leukopenia

Massage

Traditional Massage

Massage promotes healthy soft tissues by increasing circulation, improving delivery of nutrients to soft tissue for growth and repair, while facilitating the removal of metabolic waste. Benefits you may experience include: improved sleep, strengthened immunity, reduced blood pressure and heart rate, reduced anxiety, an increased sense of well-being, and beneficial stimulation to internal organs.

At Jade Integrated Health, we provide customized massage therapy performed by our licensed massage therapists, who have advanced training in all areas of massage including:

• Prenatal Massage
• Swedish
• Deep Tissue
• Sports
• Infant

Prenatal Massage

Not only is massage relaxing, but it also contributes to a healthy pregnancy. Bodywork has been shown to increase circulation, decrease prematurity, relieve aches due to pregnancy, promote a sense of well-being, and reduce labor complications. Nancy is certified in prenatal massage, ensuring that you have a relaxing, safe experience.

All sessions are tailored to address specific areas of concern. We also strive to educate you in caring for your physical health.

The Myth of Improper Alignment and Relief

Cranial Sacral Therapy Explained

Optimal health includes and resounds from proper alignment of all body tissues; adjustments in alignment is one of the many options to accomplish this goal. For those who work in the physical medicine field, D.O.'s chiropractors and physical therapists, to name a few, adjustments are one of the many treatment options to use where appropriate.

There are many ways to accomplish the relief that comes with neutral alignment. One very gentle way is through the hands on technique of Cranial Sacral Therapy. Through this very light touch approach, a therapist can use the body's own fluid and innate healing ability to release tissue strain and tension.

When strain is released from the tissues, the pull ( out of alignment) is resolved and thus, the bone return to their natural and neutral resting place. All of this, in turn, leads to comfort and relief and allows the body to regain balance, alignment and health.

- Sarah Wolf DPT