Align Acupuncture

07/01/2025

This is a brilliant article! Many of these exact ideas are at the core of both the Tao Te Ching and Traditional Chinese Medical theory.

Part of our growing ecological awareness is a feeling of disgust that we are literally covered in and penetrated by nonhuman beings, not just by accident but in an irreducible way, a way that is crucial to our very existence. If you didn’t have a bacterial microbiome in your digestive system, you couldn’t eat. Maybe this feeling of disgust will diminish if we become used to our immersion in the biosphere, just like our neurotic feelings diminish as we become friendlier with our thoughts—perhaps through psychotherapy or meditation. There have indeed arisen forms of ecological psychotherapy, and a branch of psychological studies some call ecopsychology. And many Buddhist meditation teachers also write about ecology, as a glance at some of the readily available magazines such as Shambhala Sun will show you.

08/12/2021

A new study challenges assumptions about energy expenditure by people, including the idea that metabolism slows at middle age.

07/26/2021

05/14/2021

Vitamin C dazzles beneath a cross-polarized microscope. 🍊😍 This vitamin is crucial for our body's ability to produce collagen and heal wounds. As our bodies can't make it (unlike dogs who can produce it in their livers), we need to make sure we eat enough vitamin C containing foods like citrus. 🍋

📷 : Michael Much / Royal Microscopical Society

08/04/2020

🐉💪🏽

04/27/2020

"If you want to change the world, start by making your bed."

This was a really great quote from a commencement speech given by a Navy Seal Captain that made the rounds on the internet a few years ago.

What does this have to do with your health? Well, maybe sort of nothing, but also maybe sort of a lot.... Maintaining your health is both simple and complicated. We "know" that there are things that we can do to start improving our situation, but it can sometimes start to become overwhelming when we try to figure out where to start.

The first few pages of the US Army Survival Manual (FM 21-76) refers to the cultivation of a "survival attitude" as the most important factor in making it through a compromised situation. It further identifies the "desire for comfort" and the "passive outlook" as the two biggest general dangers one must overcome. Make note that the two most dangerous things they identify are NOT external factors.

Most of the things that we can control that poorly affect our health are a result of those exact same two internal dangers. If we find that there are habits that we want to change, it can be helpful to consider if we are engaged in one or both, possibly without even realizing it.

Back to making your bed... the importance of this is in cultivating a "survival attitude." When you can't control everything, you need to start with "something" and it can make sense for that to be the most immediate, simplest, and obvious thing you encounter. It's the assertion of will in a chaotic universe... the white dot in the black half of the yin/yang symbol.

Obviously it won't literally be your bed when we're talking about your health, but the principle remains the same. Start with a simple action that you can easily repeat every day and do that until you master it and can maintain it without much thought or effort... then apply what you learn to the next thing. Diet, exercise, sleep, stress, etc. can all be approached this way.
You don't need to move mountains, you just need to chip them away a little every day.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_f44O5gKpy/?igshid=1jqnwejbd88bc

04/09/2020

You've probably noticed that all of the sudden you've been getting emails and social media ads from every company under the sun with a deal on something. I don't want to miss out so here it is:

I want to sell you something.

It's not what you think, though... you're not going to be paying me anything for this. I want to sell you ON something. An idea, really.... Over the past few weeks, this has probably crossed your mind in one way or another, and it's not exactly a new or revolutionary idea, but it's become a lot more important recently as our world has been transformed in the matter of a few short weeks.

So here it is. Are you ready? This may shock you to hear, but... Your health matters.

It matters in a world where hospitals are overrun and supplies are short. It matters in a world where a trip to a medical facility is actually a little risky to you, your family, or your healthcare provider. It matters in a world where money is getting tighter and healthcare expenses that could be avoided could be a drain on necessary resources. It matters in a world where feeling bogged down can result in missing vital opportunities.

So what am I talking about here?

I'm taking about small, simple, habitual daily activities that supply necessary nutrients, maintain the structure and function of your body's tissues, and unburden you from the various stresses that life throws at you. There are lots of ways to do these things, and I certainly have ones that I like that I may throw out as ideas... but the most important thing about this is the reminder to prioritize it - because in a stressful world filled with constant updates and distractions it's the easiest thing in the world to lose track of.

So here is a reminder:
Your health is an asset to every aspect of your life.
Your health can be significantly improved through simple, incremental, accessible, and habitual changes.

A healthy lifestyle is efficient.
- For example, you have to eat every day. You can both fill your belly AND preserve your health by eating non-processed and nutrient dense foods.

If you've got time right now, consider spending it on your health.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-xmfBnge0r/?igshid=w76ft5yt8eif

03/12/2020

👍👍

09/27/2019

New research shows that apples may be the best probiotic aid on the market.

08/17/2019

It's a gorgeous Saturday here at the Brookfield Farmers Market talking to folks about acupuncture. Stop by and say hello. There's coffee if you're a morning person like me.

08/15/2019

Recent changes to Google's search algorithm have caused Examine.com, one of the best available resources evaluating the peer-reviewed research on nutrition and supplements, to be buried in the search results. This is an unfortunate development for the millions of monthly searches looking for quality evidence based information about nutrition.

The world of nutrition can sometimes be a confusing mess of contradictions and marketing jargon, but Examine.com has been an exceptional resource to navigate that maze. If you are trying to connect with well researched and unbiased information about nutrition, you'll know where to look.

Google is waging war on the peddling of magical pills and miracle cures by questionable health sites — and Examine.com seems to have been caught in the crossfire.