Black River Acupuncture & Integrative Wellness

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Black River Acupuncture & Integrative Wellness

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Black River Acupuncture & Integrative Wellness, Family medicine practice, 442 Century Lane, Suite 300, Holland, MI.

At Black River Acupuncture & Integrative Wellness
we combine the best of Acupuncture
& Chinese Herbal Medicine with the principles
of Western Integrative Medicine to make wellness care
simple, accessible and approachable
for you and your family.

07/27/2022

👋 Welcoming Dr. Jesse Ozimek to our practice!

✨ Jesse Ozimek, Doctor of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine joined Black River Acupuncture this July!

✨ Dr. Ozimek has 6 years of experience as a Licensed Acupuncturist and Board Certified Herbalist.

✨ Dr. Ozimek's interest in Chinese Medicine was rooted in her brother's battle with chronic Lyme disease. Observing the improvements he made with acupuncture and herbal treatment inspired Jesse to pursue a career in Chinese Medicine.

✨ Dr. Ozimek graduated with her Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine from East West College of Natural Medicine in Sarasota, FL. She continued her studies at Pacific College of Health & Science, graduating in 2021 with her Doctoral degree in Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine.

✨ Jesse's areas of speciality include metabolic disorders, digestive issues, and autoimmune dysfunction.

✨ Dr. Ozimek is pursuing certification in Functional Medicine, which she will complete in 2023.

✨ Raised in the Metro-Detroit Area, Jesse moved to West Side (the best side 😉) in 2020; she's settled in Grandville where she recently became a homeowner. When she's not practicing acupuncture, you can find Jesse in her garden with her fiancé , Matt, and their golden retriever, Stanley. She's a true "foodie" and loves being creative in the kitchen.

Want to learn more about Dr. Ozimek?
You can read her full bio on our website: blackriveracu.com/about-us

Dr. Ozimek is now booking appointments for Fall of 2022.
Call/text today to book:
616.416.0746

07/01/2021

🏖️🍋⛵🕶️☀️

Summer is the season of "Fire" in Chinese Medicine!

What attributes are associated with Fire / Summer?

❣️ Organs: Heart & Small Intestine
🚨 Color: Red
😂 Emotion: Joy
🔥 Temperature: Heat
🌅 Consciousness: Spirit (Shen)
👅 Opens in: The Tongue (Speech, taste)

What symptoms can occur due to the heat of Summer?

▪️ Insomnia, Palpitations
▪️ Red complexion, Excessive sweating
▪️ Irritability, anxiety, restlessness
▪️ Depression (too little joy) or mania (excess joy)
▪️Speech problems: Excessive talking, inappropriate laughter, rapid speech, aphasia, stuttering

Flavor is also an important component to each season. Bitter is the flavor of Summertime!

Bitterness is known in Chinese Medicine for its ability to drain heat from the Heart and Small Intestine and calm the spirit (Shen). Bitter foods can alleviate irritability and soothe symptoms of heat exposure (sweating, redness, restlessness).

▪️ Bitter foods to try this Summer: dandelion, green tea, romaine, endive, radicchio, asparagus, and bitter melon.

Cooling and Pungent flavors can also help alleviate heat! These flavors open the pores and induce gentle sweat from a Chinese Medicine perspective.

▪️ Consider these foods/spices: lemon balm, lavender, radish, mustard greens, arugula, gardenia, lily buds, peppermint or spearmint.

Adapted from: https://www.actcm.edu/blog/featured/summer

05/25/2021

Chinese Medicine & Nutrition

🍒🥬🍋🍅🍉🥒

Chinese Medicine is a highly personalized form of care. Each treatment is tailored to you! ...and your nutritional advice should be too.

How does Chinese Medicine approach nutrition?

Food suggestions are given based on a few different factors:

🛒 Your constitution (unique body type, personality, preferences, and tendencies)

🛒 Your health conditions / concerns (What are our goals? What symptoms would we like to resolve?)

🛒 Seasonal changes (What is in season? What's the weather been like lately?)

What are some characteristics of foods we take into consideration?

👅 Flavor (Sweet, salty, bitter, sour, or pungent)

🌈 Color (Each color has a unique meaning!)

🔄 Target Organs (Where does this food "travel to"; what organs does it effect?)

🌡️ Temperature (Is the food "hot" or "cold"?)

🍳 How was the food prepared? (Is it raw? Fried? Baked?)

Your Doctor of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine may suggest specific foods to incorporate into your diet, foods to avoid, and best forms of food preparation.

This advice can change with shifts in your symptoms or life situation.

Looking to learn more?
You may enjoy the book "Nutritional Healing with Chinese Medicine" by Ellen Goldsmith, LAc, MSOM.

05/03/2021

Featured Herb: Black Sesame Seed 🖤

Also known as "Hei Zhi Ma", Black Sesame is often a favorite bagel seasoning or salad topper! But there are some benefits to Black Sesame that you may be unfamiliar with ...

Much like our previous "featured herb", Goji Berry, Black Sesame is a "Yin" nourisher. This means that Black Sesame can be used to boost the bodily fluids that lubricate our hair, skin, nails, joints, eyes, intestines, and nose!

Black Sesame nourishes Yin to fight dryness.

We use "Hei Zhi Ma" in Chinese Herbal Medicine to:

▪️ Alleviate blurry vision and dry eyes

▪️ Aid in recovery from long-term illness (such as bronchitis or pneumonia)

▪️ Calm "windy" symptoms that can quickly "blow in" like dizziness and headaches; Black Sesame serves as an anchor!

▪️ Moisten the intestines to alleviate dry constipation

▪️ Promote sufficient lactation for nursing moms

▪️ Support the growth of nourished, healthy hair

🍯 Many cultures make sesame candy or brittle by combining sesame and honey! In Greece this is called "Pasteli".

04/09/2021

Featured Herb: Goji Berry ❤️⁠
⁠
"Gou Qi Zi" or Goji berry has become a popular "superfood" in recent years. But what are the benefits of this fruit from a Chinese Herbal Medicine perspective?⁠
⁠
"Gou Qi Zi" is categorized as an herb that supports Yin (substance) and Blood. Yin is nourishing, lubricating, and sweet.⁠
⁠
▪️ Gou Qi Zi directly targets the Yin or "substances" associated with the Kidneys, Lungs, and Liver.⁠
⁠
▪️When supporting "Kidney Yin" we can alleviate joint pain, strengthen the back & knees, and support reproductive health. ⁠
⁠
▪️ By nourishing "Lung Yin" Goji can be used to alleviate dry, chronic cough. ⁠
⁠
▪️When supporting "Liver Yin" Goji builds healthy blood and alleviates dry eyes or blurry vision. ⁠
⁠
We can remember the functions of Gou Qi Zi by looking at its color and shape!⁠
⁠
❤️ Red berries treat blood.⁠
⁠
💧 The dried fruit remind us of the need for hydration or "Yin" and Blood.⁠
⁠
👁️ When horizontal, Goji look like an eye.⁠
⁠
😷 When vertical, Goji look like a Lung or Kidney.⁠
⁠
Goji make a great oatmeal mix-in, salad topper, or addition to your trail mix!⁠

03/23/2021

Featured Herb: Peppermint 🌱

Also known as "Bo He", Peppermint is a familiar herb known for its ability to clear the sinuses!

Peppermint clears "Wind-Heat", meaning it functions to treat heat & inflammation caused by acute concerns such as cold/flu, seasonal allergies, rashes, strep throat, and other types of "hot" conditions.

What are the functions of "Bo He" within Chinese Herbal Medicine?

▪️ Disperses "Wind-Heat" to treat acute illness

▪️ Cools and clears the head to treat itchy eyes

▪️ Benefits the throat

▪️ Vents rashes to clear the skin

▪️ Alleviates "Stagnant Liver Qi" to alleviate frustration

▪️ Expels "Turbid Filth" to clear the sinuses and throat of sticky phlegm

Although Peppermint is often associated with Wintertime, Peppermint is used in the Summer to treat "heat" associated symptoms such as:

▪️Gas and bloating

▪️Nausea and lack of appetite

▪️Vomiting and diarrhea

What is your favorite way to use Peppermint?

12/31/2020

✨ New Year, New Space!⁠
⁠
Black River Acupuncture is excited to announce we have moved to a new practice location!⁠
⁠
🏡 Our new home ... ⁠
442 Century Lane⁠
Suite 300⁠
Holland, MI 49423⁠
⁠
We cannot wait to share this expanded space with you. ⁠
⁠
▪️ If you are existing patient, thank you for your continued support in 2020! This move would not have been possible without you. ⁠
⁠
▪️ If you are a prospective patient, we'd be happy to walk with you on your journey to wellness. We are now accepting new patients for 2021. ⁠
⁠
🎆 Wishing you a Safe & Healthy New Year!⁠
⁠
#2021 ⁠
⁠

12/24/2020

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas from Black River Acupuncture!

11/26/2020

Happy Thanksgiving from Black River Acupuncture!

◾◾◾

We are thankful for our patients.
Wishing you a restful and festive day!

11/18/2020

What is "Vitality" in Chinese Medicine?

◾◾◾◾

Merriam Webster defines "vitality" as:

1. lively and animated character, power of enduring

2 the peculiarity distinguishing the living from the nonliving; capacity to live and develop

also : physical or mental vigor especially when highly developed

◾◾◾◾

The concept of "vitality" in Chinese Medicine overlaps heavily with this definition.

In order to age gracefully, we need to preserve our lively energy, our mental vigor, and the life force (Qi) that distinguishes us from our neighbor, a tree, or a rock.

Having vitality as we age supports clarity of thought as well as physical energy.

◾◾◾◾

Our vitality is thought to stem from our Kidneys in Chinese Medicine.

The Kidneys are an important organ with regards to our growth and development. They are thought to hold our genetic information, reproductive energy, and our root of metabolism in Chinese Medicine. When our Kidneys are depleted, we feel sluggish and "low".

Although this concept may sound strange from a Western viewpoint, it may be worth considering that the adrenal glands which sit atop the Kidneys secrete vital hormones such as cortisol (stress hormone) and aldosterone (sexual hormones).

◾◾◾◾

How do we protect our Kidneys and our vitality in Chinese Medicine?

◾ Eating foods that nourish the Kidneys in Chinese Medicine such as:

Blackberries and raspberries
Kidney beans
Black beans
Walnuts
Black sesame seeds

◾ Getting plenty of rest (ideally 7-9 hours of sleep per night)

◾ Managing stress (manage your emotions with movement or mindfulness techniques)

◾ Avoiding extreme temperatures (especially cold exposure to your back, knees, or feet)

◾ Accessing care such as Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine

◾◾◾◾

It is never too early (or too late) in life to prioritize your wellness!

Would you like to learn more about vitality? Send Dr. De Jonge a direct message!

11/09/2020

Seasons of Life

🌱☀️🍂❄️

Much like how Chinese Medicine places emphasis on "seasonal living" throughout the year, there is also an importance placed on embracing the seasonality of our lives.

Each season of the year has its own themes and designated goals, and this is mirrored within our growth and development as people.

🌱 SPRING corresponds to YOUTH
Our early adolescence involves a significant amount of physical and mental growth in a short period of time.

☀️ SUMMER corresponds to EARLY ADULTHOOD
An exciting and dynamic time of life where things continue to shift as we settle into ourselves.

🍂 FALL corresponds to our MID-LIFE
A chapter where we reap the rewards of the seeds we have sown. We can settle into a slower pace and enjoy ourselves without as much "hustle and bustle".

❄️ WINTER corresponds to our SENIOR YEARS
A slower time to savor what we enjoy, hibernate from past worries, and simplify our responsibilities.

▪️▪️▪️

Why is important to embrace the slower pace that comes with retirement years?

The "winter" that comes with older age is an integral part of preserving wellness.

Although some may see "slowing down" as a negative, this change in pace can actually protect your health over time.

As we age, our energy levels may shift. It's important to keep a steady pace of life without overexerting oneself.

🚗 You can think of this as preserving "gas in the tank" as to not "go on empty". The less you deplete your storage of energy, the quicker it is to refuel.

🚙 At a younger age, we can refill our storage of energy more quickly and recover faster from various stressors.

🚕 As our body shifts into mid-life and beyond (Fall and Winter) this process may slow down. This doesn't mean we cannot enjoy an active lifestyle, but it does serve as a good reminder to embrace a less frantic pace of life.

The closer we get to an empty tank, the harder it can be to recover from illness or injury. Chronic health conditions, such as autoimmunity, also benefit from a more relaxed pace.

Just think of one of Aesop's famous fables ... 🐢🐇

Address

442 Century Lane, Suite 300
Holland, MI
49423

Website

https://www.blackriveracu.com/

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ancient medicine for modern lifestyles.

Black River Acupuncture & Integrative Wellness was established in 2019 by Dr. Madeline De Jonge, DACM, RAc, Dipl. OM.

By serving Holland, Michigan and its surrounding communities, Black River Acupuncture & Integrative Wellness seeks to provide accessible Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine to patients across the lifespan. As a family medicine practice with a speciality in pain management, Black River Acupuncture provides integrative wellness care through modalities such as Acupuncture, Chinese Herbal Medicine, cupping therapy, and more.

Our practice was founded with an emphasis on simplicity, accessibility, approachability, and quality. Black River Acupuncture invites people of all walks of life to create lasting patient-practitioner relationships that promote wellness.

By adapting ancient medicine for modern lifestyles we provide our patients with a dedicated space for stress reduction and healing.