The Teachings

The four-day event was meant to be taken as a bulk-package, but previous obligations (and a sold-out audience) limited my engagement with His Holiness to the first two sessions. The purpose of his visit was to breakdown the meaning and teachings behind two important texts on how to develop and cultivate an awakened (or, enlightened) mind: The Commentary on Bodhicitta and A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. The purpose of my attending, was out of sheer curiosity.

The Dalai Lama made it clear that his lectures were not meant as religious dogma for acquisition of more followers, but rather as a forum for philosophical debate surrounding these ancient texts. His first point of the session was on the abundance of religions present in his current homeland of India, including the second highest population of Muslim followers. He glowed while recounting the countless children growing up there with such a variety of religious hymns, chants, and colorful celebrations. In a world of many faiths, he noted that effort must be made to cultivate mutual religious understanding to  ensure harmony and keep conflict at bay. An important factor is the sharing of respective spiritual knowledge in cultivating this understanding, and he advised that unless a clear path points you into the direction of a particular faith, it is best to remain in the religious tradition of your upbringing.

As a woman brought up with many different faiths and no particular belief system to follow (yet, spiritually rooted), this made sense. To hear with my own ears one of the most recognized worldly teachers and a man of the highest order of the entire Buddhist faith tell a room full of New Yorkers to embrace our individual differences and love one another for it, was a very humbling moment.

Compassion and the Five Elements

“Non-Violent Action stems from Non-Violent Emotion – this is the practice of Compassion.” Reminds me of when my mother taught me “Actions Speak Louder Than Words,” and the profound truth that how we relate and interact with the world around us is a direct extension of who we are and what we wish to cultivate in this lifetime. We are the masters of our own destiny.

While compassion is a major foundational point in Buddhist Philosophy, the 5 Elements are the hub of Buddhist Science – a concept I am very familiar with as it is also a major player in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The law of the 5 elements reveal the cyclical nature of life, beginning and ending with what was translated as “Empty Space” (which can also be referred to as consciousness, and considered the 5th unseen element in Buddhist Science and Tibetan Medicine).

Empty Space (always present) –> gives rise to Energy (Wind) –> which gives rise to Heat (Fire) –> which melts to make Liquid (Water) –> that hardens to become Solid (Earth) –> and then Dissolves back into the Empty Space.

The above diagram (meant to be drawn in a connected circle) is the basic foundation for the macroscopic world. It is the law of how things work and came to be in many traditions, and therefore can be used as a model for healing and medical treatment. The theory states that if the nature of the world around us can be understood through the law of the 5 elements, then it is through them that it (and we) can also be mended. Resonating with my education and profession, I agreed whole-heartedly.

Tibetan Medicine

Similar to the principles of Chinese Medicine, I had the fortune of studying medicine of the Tibetan tradition first-hand in Lhasa, Tibet for a month of clinical rotation nearly ten years ago. A major difference in the TCM 5 Elemental Law is the inclusion on Metal and Wood, and the absence of Wind. Just as Western Science has their medical model of treatment, so does Buddhist Science and TCM. Treatment success and protocol can only be understood (and therefore validated) when properly evaluated through their respective models.  It is for this reason that I find traditional medicines so fascinating.

Tibetan Medicine has been passed down through the centuries by beautifully created Thangkas – detailed drawings of various aspects of physiology, pathology, diagnosis and treatment. Below is my favorite Thangka, explaining the process of human development, from embryo to birth.

Closing Statement

During my day with the Dalai Lama, I sat in the very last row of the very highest balcony in Radio City Music Hall – and I was captivated. How a man, seated cross-legged in a chair in the middle of a stage, speaking about religious texts I have never read, mostly in a language I cannot understand could captivate and fill such an expansive space as if it were an intimate gathering is incredible. Perhaps someday I will have the chance to see him again, perhaps to witness the rich religions cultures of India or visit is home-away-from-home in Dharm Sala…

As artist Jeremy Penn notes (contributor of the portrait at the top of this post), unlike Lama’s of the past, HH the Dalai Lama has the privilege to speak around the world, shrinking the gap between faith, politics and followers. I am thankful I had the opportunity to experience this privilege.

I offered complimentary Tongue & Pulse Readings with auricular acu-pressure for stress relief, along with herbal trailmix. Thanks to my handsome associate, Jason, we had a well-organized line formed throughout the night so that everyone could experience the benefits of Chinese medicine.

In the end, nearly 30 people came through our booth. I was delighted to see such an outright interest in our services and have the opportunity to connect with people about this healing modality. If you missed the event and would like more information about Chinese Medicine, please email me.

The lovely ladies hosting this event and enjoying the festivities: PURE’s General Manager, Laina Seplow and Regional Membership Manager, Elena Pezzo.

The central room in PURE’s lobby. As you can see, it is a beautiful space with a great turnout of yogi’s.

Plenty of room for learning about new modalities while sipping fresh squeezed juice from Monavie, enjoying Organic-Vegan Cookies and receiving a decadent chair massage from Equinox’s Spa.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get around and meet all the other practitioners formally, but Nicole Maggio of Biosyntonie and I had a chance to connect before the nights end. Biosyntonie, I learned, was founded by a French scientist and provides a non-invasive, powerful way to ignite the bodies own healing capabilities.

Here, a participant enjoys a relaxing Biosyntonie treatment. To learn more about this revolutionary healing method and set up a personal session with Nicole, please email her.

More Event Festivities.

Justin Schantz and friends made a special appearance for the event.

The beautiful PURE Waiting area.  Thanks again to everyone who made this night possible, and such a success!

In good health,

Erin

]]> http://www.erinhessel.com/2010/02/pure-wellness-event-a-great-success/feed/ 2 http://www.erinhessel.com/2010/02/a-night-of-health-wellness/ http://www.erinhessel.com/2010/02/a-night-of-health-wellness/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:56:10 +0000 Erin http://www.erinhessel.com/?p=509 I’d like to formally invite you to a Wellness Event hosted by PURE Yoga East tomorrow evening, Wednesday, February 24th 6:30-8:30pm. I will have a table at this event, offering complimentary herbal snacks, tongue and pulse readings, and ear acu-pressure for stress relief. Please stop by to learn more! If you already know the wonderful benefits of Chinese medicine, then come by to see the beautiful studio space PURE has to offer and meet other health practitioners. Yoga is a wonderful way to enhance the healing benefits of Chinese medicine, and I particularly endorse PURE for their variety and quantity of classes (over 100 classes per week, featuring 21 different styles of yoga).

This event is complimentary to both members and non-members alike, so please take advantage of this wonderful evening of health. For more information about taking a class at PURE, contact Shaun – one of PURE’s experienced Yoga Advisers (shaun.Bradley@pureyoga.com).

To RSVP for this event, please call 212.360. 1888.  To read more about this event, click here.

Hope to see you there!

Namaste,

Erin

PS: New Clinic Information for ESEMA Healing Arts at the Berkley Center Coming Soon!

This event is complimentary to both members and non-members alike, so please take advantage of this wonderful evening of health. For more information about taking a class at PURE, contact Shaun – one of PURE’s experienced Yoga Advisers (shaun.Bradley@pureyoga.com).

To RSVP for this event, please call 212.360. 1888.  To read more about this event, click here.

Hope to see you there!

Namaste,

Erin

PS: New Clinic Information for ESEMA Healing Arts at the Berkley Center Coming Soon!

As a practitioner of mind-body medicine, I understand the importance of addressing this connection in all areas of our lives. All to often is exercise seen as a “burden” or “cumbersome” – a necessary evil in life. Rather, movement is the foundation of life, and should cultivate gratitude, positivity and spiritual growth along with physical changes. The Intensati Method does this, beautifully. Not only transforming our bodies, but also our thoughts. Contrary to yoga, which is another form of exercise I often recommend, Patricia’s routines provide additional cardio training without harsh impact (such as running), an important health aspect for many individuals.

Check the Intensati website for class times. If you are unable to attend a class with her personally, she has trained a whole team of inspiring instructors who offer Intensati classes across the United States. With the release of her new book (in stores now!) and work-out DVD’s, anyone can practice this revolutionary program anywhere.

If you are ready to change your relationship to exercise, to yourself and the world around you, check out the important tips from Patricia Moreno. Her knowledge, experience, and magnetism will inspire you to truly “live a life you love, in a body you love.”

]]> http://www.erinhessel.com/2010/01/the-intensati-method-a-great-way-to-feel-and-look-your-best/feed/ 0 http://www.erinhessel.com/2010/01/chinese-food-therapy-herbal-trail-mix/ http://www.erinhessel.com/2010/01/chinese-food-therapy-herbal-trail-mix/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:20:59 +0000 Erin http://www.erinhessel.com/?p=450

Ever thought that your morning muffin or stir-fry lunch contained not just sustenance, but healing properties? Ancient Chinese medical theory has ascribed certain energetics and functions to many common foods, that still remain true today. Such properties are very different from nutritional values (vitamins, calories, fats, fiber, etc), which came later in the evolution of the nature of food. Let’s take watermelon (Xi Gua) as an example of this idea: our analytical mind knows that this delicious fruit is sweet, refreshing and nutritious with its high water content and fiber. The energetics of this food according to Chinese theory are cooling and damp draining, and therefore can prevent heat stroke on a hot summer day and promote healthy water metabolism by ridding edema. A more relevant example for the winter season would be lamb (Yang Rou), which is warming to the system and promotes optimum functioning. 

Food therapy is considered to be the number one treatment in preventative care and healing therapy. In modern China, there are special restaurants where one can go to receive tailored medicinal meals. After a visit with the Chinese medicine doctor, a pattern diagnosis is ascribed which can then be brought to the chef at such a restaurant. Food will then be prepared in accordance with individual needs – to nourish, eliminate or course any given imbalance. This notion contradicts the idea that one particular diet is best for everyone, but rather tailors nutritional choices based on individual need. What may help one person lose weight and feel energetic, may not be the right fit for someone else. I had the fortune of experiencing this model for myself at the medicinal food restaurant across from the hospital during my one-year clinical rotation in Hangzhou, China.  

Chinese herbal medicine utilizes the combination of roots, barks, leaves, stems and berries to promote health and vitality.  It only makes sense that Chinese Herbal Medicine and Food Therapy often overlap, with many herbal ingredients ending up on typical supermarket shelves. The following is a delicious trailmix you can make at home, as your own “herbal formula prescription.” In addition to curbing hunger between meals, or giving an energy boost before a work-out, this mix is high in antioxidents, essential fatty acids and protein. From the Chinese perspective, it is nourishing to the kidneys; promotes mental clarity, memory function; improves libido, energy and digestion. Enjoy!

Herbal Trail Mix – Common Names with Chinese Names and Functions           

Goji Berries/Wolfberries                                    

Gou Qi Zi -Nourishes the kidney energy, enhances fertility, memory, and sexual function

Walnut Halves                                                          

Hu Tao Ren -Promotes brain function, mental clarity

 Black Sesame Seeds                                                      

Huo Ma Ren -Nourishes blood, improves vision and sluggish digestion.  Black sesame has the additional benefit of promoting lactation in breast-feeding women.

*I like Mrs. May’s Black Sesame Crunch Squares, they are slightly sweetened with honey that provides a great flavor and also aids digestion.

This post is a proud participant in the Kathleen Show’s Prevention Not Prescriptions Blog - a great place for other resources to stay healthy.

Choose Your Support

So, what to do?  First off, find the resources around you and seek help.  Consulting with a health care professional is an important catalyst in transforming your blues into bliss.  It can also help combat the isolation that often accompanies mood changes. It is my experience that with chronic or severe emotional distress, there is no “one” help and calling on a variety of resources yields stronger, more lasting results.  Here are some tools you may want to try:

• Implementing an appropriate exercise routine (which will vary for each individual)
• Tap into your creative expression (such as journal writing, art/music/dance therapy)
• Dietary and lifestyle changes (such as increasing essential fatty acid intake, vitamins and minerals and decreasing sugar and refined food)
• Consulting with a professional psychologist or psychiatrist
• Nourishing constitutional patterns and reducing stress with a holistic modality (acupuncture, herbal medicine, reiki)
• Reduce your stress (yoga, meditation, massage, acupuncture)

How Acupuncture Can Help

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), does not treat “depression” per say, but rather the person who is experiencing depression. Different individuals can experience the discomforts of depression from a variety of causes – or, as we call them, patterns. In treating depression, your acupuncturist first must find your unique pattern diagnosis and from there, begin to strengthen your system and ease discomfort. Acupuncture can help to greatly reduce emotional and physical stress and the somatic pain that often accompanies emotional upset. Best of all, it will not interfere negatively with any other therapy or prescriptions you may be receiving, but complement them by tapping into the root of your constitutional nature.

Herbal remedies may also be a good option for occasional slumps or mood swings.  Unlike acupuncture, which must be administered by a licensed professional and usually done only 1-2 times per week, an herbal formula can follow you home and become a daily treatment.  When prescribed by a licensed practitioner, herbal formulas are completely safe, and can help the body harmonize from the inside out.

For more information on how to incorporate the benefits of acupuncture into your emotional wellness plan, please contact us.

(….and for the record, Borbay is a big fan of acupuncture!)

Press Release and Other Interesting Stuff

1.18.2010 | Huffington Post | Long Interview re: Art, Urbania, Life

1.19.2010 | TONY | Mention in “Own This City” – Slideshow of Work, launching 1.20.2010

1.18.2010 | Pieces Showcased | On my blog

1.16.2010 | Time Out New York | Print Mention on Page Four

12.18.2009 | Time Out New York | Voted Time Out New York’s Most Creative New Yorker

Reduce Cravings

Improve Energy

Alleviate Joint Pain

Reduce Muscle Fatigue

Regulate Blood Sugar Levels

Jump Start Your Metabolism

Regulate Hormone Function

Detoxify the System

Reduce Stress

It is that time of year again…for making those promises to ourselves that we have been putting off through the busy holidays. One of the most common New Years Resolutions is to lose weight, and it is also the least kept. Why? The culprit may be coming from a constitutional level. There are many factors that can cause excessive weight gain and an inability to lose weight such as undetected food allergies, stress, anxiety, depression, unstable glucose levels, or inflammatory responses such as arthritis, chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia. Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal medicine offer time-tested remedies to help strengthen your individual system at the root level so that you can lose weight efficiently, and keep it off for good. Reducing cravings, improving energy, alleviating joint pain and muscle fatigue, regulating metabolism and reducing stress are just some of the added benefits of incorporating acupuncture and herbal formulas into your weight loss resolution.

Reducing Cravings & Addressing Addictions

Food provides us with an enormous amount of nutritional benefits, but also emotional benefits. Over time, dietary habits can be hard to break (mostly due to emotional ties). For this reason, typical dieting tends to lead to a common feeling of insufficiency and can ignite cravings and addictions we didn’t even know were there in the first place. Taking away food that the body (and mind) is used to enjoying often engulfs a person in a cycle of binging and obsession. Acupuncture can help on a neurological level to reduce cravings and stop addictive behavior. In fact, acupuncture is so successful at resolving addictions, many rehabilitation clinics across the country train their staff in auricular acupuncture to alleviate a variety of addictions. Although on its surface weight gain may not seem like “addictive behavior,” it most certainly can be the result of a habitual diet that the system has now become accustomed to and even physically dependent on. Trying to change our diets can be difficult, frustrating and exhausting.  Acupuncture can work at the root level to make this process positive, easy and successful.

Detoxifying the System

Carrying excess weight is often a sign that your body is not processing things efficiently or correctly.  The cause for this could be from a number of reasons, but a good place to start is a simple detoxification to cleanse the body of unwanted toxins and debris. Such a regimen would include Acupuncture to detoxify the liver, herbs to facilitate digestion and reduce inflammation and a diet modification to stabilize blood sugars and eliminate potential allergens. Although this diet modification can initially feel too limiting to maintain, that is because it is!  Detoxification is meant to provide a deep clean so that equilibrium can then be achieved.  For this purpose, our recommendations include whole foods so you feel satiated and a time-frame that is manageable based on individual assessment.

Giving Your Metabolism a Re-Boot

After a simple detoxification, we will help you continue finding the appropriate support  so your digestion can continue working at its best. Our bodies were designed to appropriately digest, distribute and eliminitate the nutrition we take in. The “storage” process that happens is the result of an ineffecient system. Whatever the root cause, acupuncture and herbs will help your digestion and metabolism get back on track and stay there – eliminating the yo-yo effect. Treatments will also help reduce your stress, which is known to cause elevated hormones (like Cortisol) in the body that cause it to hold excess weight. Once your digestion is up and running at its best, frequent acupuncture and herbs will no longer be necessary – your system has been nourished from the root up, yielding lasting benefits.

Emotional Health

Trying to lose weight under any circumstance causes stress. People handle stress in all different ways, and Acupuncture can help release tension in the body, ease feelings of depression and regulate mood swings accompanied by -or preventing you from- losing weight. Exercise will also release important endorphins in the body to help it deal with stress. However, many of the same reasons mentioned in the first paragraph of this post also inhibit many people from working out. Acupuncture and herbs can help help increase energy, promote restful sleep, and alleviate chronic muscle and joint pains that may be preventing you from keeping up with consistent exercise so you can get back on track.

Erin Hessel L.Ac offers time-tested natural remedies to help you lose weight & provide lasting health benefits.  Private, tailored treatments take place in a serene environment for optimum rejuvenation and results.   Call our office today for our 2010 Weight Loss Packages and Specials.

This post is a proud participant in the Kathleen Show’s Prevention Not Prescriptions Blog - a great place for othe resources to start your New Year off right and keep it going.

A Winter Wonderland From My Home in Minnesota

Dad & Me Toasting the Season with a Holiday Sambuca

The Newlyweds! My Sister Kelsey & her Husband Jason

Mom & Me: Ready for our Traditional Potato Soup Christmas Eve Dinner

Grandpa Jo & Grandma Cheryl Celebrating with Chocolate

Our NYC Apartment Tree 2009

Cookies: A Christmas Favorite

Jason & I Warming Up Inside on a Snowy Day

A gift from our good friend Justin

Wishing you joy, health and happiness this season and always.

In good health,

Erin