Whole Presence Osteopathy

05/26/2023

Check out my latest free guided meditations and lessons at www.DrFrancisYooDO.com/free-guided-meditations

Enjoy!

05/22/2023

Here is the first of many of new guided meditations that I will be presenting!

https://youtu.be/v49mKRv0bYw

This one is called Earthen gravity, Breathed levity, Heart conduit

This is an impromptu, intuitive, unprepared guided meditation.Please do not do if you feel uncomfortable.www.DrFrancisYooDO.com : NYC midtown osteopathic med...

05/03/2023

Last Wednesday, I went to my $0 cost stretching consultation session at Stretch Zone at its Union Square location. I would like to share my experience.

https://www.stretchzone.com/locations/union-square/

I first found out about via an advertisement on social media. Wanting to connect and collaborate with more people and to get some work done on my body I decided to give it a shot.

My 1-hour session was scheduled for 11 AM and I got there just before that time.

The location itself was very easy to find.

After taking the elevator up, there was a nice, clean welcoming area with some calming music.

I then had a relatively quick intake session with my stretcher; I expected the health-medical questions they asked. I then had my 20 minute introductory stretch-assisted session. He stretched out various muscles on my back, shoulders, and hips while getting feedback from me about the intensity of the stretch 3/10, 5/10, 7/10. I think he had a slightly harder time with me because I am hyperflexible in certain areas. At one point we could not get my hip abductors stretched out without putting a lot of pressure on my knees so we could not really do that one well.

I don't really know much about their Stretch zone Method or how they train their stretchers but I can say

1) It is probably safe for most people. If you are interested in trying it the most important thing to know is to be specific in telling them whether something is uncomfortable or not so they can adjust their intensity and technique.

2) Those would any musculoskeletal conditions or hypermobility should ask their physician first whether this would be good for them or not.

3) Is it better than stretching on your own? Yes and no. Yes because they can get a deeper stretch than you can get on your own (in general) AND it's less effort since someone else is doing it. No because it is possible they may go more intensely than you would really like and cause an injury; again it's important to give accurate, timely feedback.

4) Will it be helpful for my patients who get Osteopathic Manipulation, Acupuncture, and guided breathwork-movement? It depends. It's really person-specific. It's definitely NOT a replacement for seeing me and getting Osteopathy to recalibrate and rejuvenate your body-mind-spirit.

After my session I was offered different packages and offers to get future sessions and I signed up for some more so I could experience it again before.

Depending on my future experience with them I may decide to collaborate with them, so stay tuned.

Do you need help with restoration and address bodily pain, mental irritation, and spiritual restlessness?

Go to and schedule your visit with me at www.DrFrancisYooDO.com/new-patient today!

03/27/2023

Getting shock out of you.
Have you ever received a shock that really discombobulated you?

Maybe it was unexpected bad news.

Maybe a fall or accident.

Maybe a devastating life event, loss, or transition.

Maybe someone tried to scare you and you felt startled.

Whatever the form, the energy from that shock has to go somewhere and it can very easily get into your body and stay in there. It creeps into the connective tissue and the energy is stored as an abnormal configuration of the cells, tissues, fascia, joints, bones, fluids.

This is something I have increasingly been looking for in my patients especially after COVID times. Whether you had COVID, consider yourself having long-COVID or being a long-hauler, or simply feel like life is not the same since COVID you probably have shock, shock that I can help get out of your system.

I have learned different ways to treat this retained shock but I went to an official educational course on this topic. I've been surprised how many people have shock retained as energy that is now stored as misconfigured tissue.

If I had to describe what it feels like I would say it feels inflexible, resistant, and tired yet hyperexcited at the same time. I had one patient today who could not bend her back (thoracolumbar part of her spine) at all side to side. By the end of the visit she was able to bend side to side and felt more flexible and mobile.

If you're ready to get the shock out of your system especially COVID and COVID times related ones, go to www.DrFrancisYooDO.com/new-patient today.

Schedule your appointment online Dr. Francis Yoo DO, NYC Osteopathic Medical Practice

03/07/2023

The 2023 Integrative Healthcare Symposium took place on March 23-25 of 2023.

Here are my takeaways.

I attended several of the talks and workshops but there were two that were particularly good, one by Mark Hyman MD and Jeffrey Bland PhD (the "father" of functional medicine). Both spoke intelligently and coherently, expressing updates in recent news in Integrative Medicine / Healthcare.

I plan on getting and reading Mark Hyman's book "Young Forever." I did point out to him in a short conversation that I disagreed with the title of the book because it glorifies being young when another way to look at what he is talking about is aging better in a wonderful healthy way, living a long and healthful, meaningful life.

Also, he is quite tall.

The other talk that was good was by Jeffrey Bland. While I do not practice functional medicine, I have taken a few courses and understand/appreciate its significance. It's something that Jeffrey Bland really contributed to much over the years.

I took a photo of him getting a standing ovation at the end of his talk. I was quite far away as is evident in the photo.

Both Mark and Jeffrey mentioned Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat as a food with health benefits to look out for. It seems like it's been mentioned before and is not terribly new, but I find it worth mentioning at the very least. https://drhyman.com/blog/2021/08/19/a-bold-new-superfood-himalayan-tartary-buckwheat/

There were many, many booths at the exhibit hall. Though I had a goal to not take stuff with me, I took a few samples from Boiron (homeopathics) which I took to my office, which was a short walking distance away from the venue, and some magnesium for myself. Besides that I tried out a sauna and PEMF (ampcoil), and did a auricular acupuncture session.

I am heavily considering getting a PEMF device for myself and for my practice (www.DrFrancisYooDO.com) and a sauna for myself down the line.

I have taken hundreds of hours of acupuncture courses-training and I recognized all of the points they used but it has not been a large part of my practice. Perhaps it is time to bring it back.

I also spend some time speaking with the representatives at the Dr. Amen clinic booth and the Naturepedic bed folks.

Another item I was curious a bit about but I don't know much about is the health benefits of hyperbaric oxygen.

I also had fun speaking with fellow attendees about various health topics.

One of my attributes is that I have a wide fund of knowledge, having studied Clinical Homeopathy, Acupuncture, some Functional Medicine, and more. However, the best way for me to give value to my patients is through Osteopathy at my Midtown-NYC medical practice (www.DrFrancisYooDO.com). where I work with the Health of my patients to help resolve health concerns including back pain, neck pain, restlessness and excess-stress related conditions, Long COVID, traumas, shocks, headaches, brainfog, and more. While I don't focus too much on other modalities such as Functional Medicine, I can converse about them and make suggestions on whether people would benefit from it and make referrals when necessary.

If you're looking for a physician in New York City to help you with
- neck pain, back pain, structural issues, especially chronic
- headaches, brainfog, restlessness
- excess stress and stress related unease
- Long COVID

Start by going to https://drfrancisyoodo.as.me/

02/21/2023

Getting your "subway" matrix running smoothly.

Have you ever been delayed because the train you are on or waiting for is stalled because of an issue with a subway train somewhere else?

"The Q train is delayed because we were working on an issue at another stop."

People can't get where they need to go. Maybe they're irritated, nervous, agitated, unhappy. This atmosphere spreads and affects others in the area, the platform, the station, and the whole system!

I consider each person an interwoven, inter-related whole with various pathways and their related stations - arteries, veins, nerves, extracellular matrix / meridians, lymphatics, cerebral spinal fluid, thoughts, emotions, nutrients, air.

I consider pain, restlessness, trouble concentrating - any symptom - to be a restriction in the whole system.

Sometimes the area of restriction is where the symptom is and sometimes it is not.

My role, as your Osteopath, is to find the station, pathway, or train that is needs some help to get the whole system to function in a more Healthful way.

I check my patients head to toe, bones, joints, fascia, muscles, blood-flow, air/respiratory circulation, nerve flow, cerebrospinal fluid, cranium and face, "fluid body," qi, primary Meridians, extraordinary vessels, the 5 phases from the Chinese medicine perspective, and more.

I use my hands to find work with your "subway" system to take care of those delays so everything can flow better. With this comes resolution of bothersome symptoms.

If you would like me to help with your whole system and get things moving and flowing better make an appointment at

https://drfrancisyoodo.as.me

02/16/2023

"I'm currently the most fit and metabolically healthy I have ever been my entire (adult) life. And it's gonna get better."

I posted this on my personal social media account yesterday and I had one person comment:
"What do you credit it to?"
And another person commented:
"Do you have a routine of some kind."

It has been a 3 year journey that has started to yield evident fruit in my life and I have been adapting various actions, thoughts, and feelings through it all. I'll break it down to these three categories. I'll probably do separate posts about each of these in the future.

Actions
- I have been doing a brief exercise in the morning using the X3 bar at home as my primary modality of exercise. The focus is on high intensity interval training using variable resistance. - I have been seeing a Jungian psychoanalyst for 3 years. In these weekly ~1 hour sessions I get help from my psychoanalyst to explore my psyche via symbols in daily activities and my dreams.
- Sticking to a waking up / going to bed time most of the week; at least 4 days of the week I go to sleep and wake up at the same time.
- Cultivation: I have been doing various practices and routines to cultivate Health, Harmony, Presence, Wholeness. This includes
-- using magnets and cords on extraordinary vessel master-couple points.
-- QiGong / Inner Alchemy / KAP practices
- Going to see doctors and other health-care experts, especially getting Osteopathic treatments for myself.
- Nutrition and eating: I realized recently that I had an unhealthy relationship with food and eating and only recently started training myself to eat in a way that is nutritious for me.
-- I make sure I get enough protein to also go along with my muscle training. I supplement with Fortagen daily as well.
-- Daily Athletic Greens.
-- I avoid wheat because I have been told by trustworthy physicians that I am sensitive to it.
-- Minimal (digestible) carbohydrates (bread, rice, fruits) unless I am being really physically active.

Thoughts
- I've been feeding my head-mind-brain with useful, positively-transforming ideas and implementing the ones that are appropriate for me. This is a bit vague but it's partly because I've been reading so many books.
- Here is one example: "The Gap and The Gain" is a book I am listening to now and it is helping me self-observe and reframe negative perspectives and self-defeated/value-lowering thoughts.

Feelings
- I have been practicing tuning into my inner Integrity, Authenticity, Values and what my Body Center is asking of me. Being willing to face my feelings and be earnest with them has been valuable to me.
- Re-evaluating my values and whether my priorities matched my values and whether my actions matched my priorities.

My current morning routine:
1) Wake up.
2) Check my oura ring's data about my night's sleep.
3) Sometimes I do morning cultivation with magnets and cords for an extraordinary vessel.
4) Athletic Greens, Fortagen (I'm not sure if it's optimal to take them together but it works for me for now.)
5) Physical exercise with X3 bar. (During breaks between sets I study a few Japanese vocabulary words).
6) On days where I do not need to leave right away I journal while drinking Mud/Wtr.
I do plan on getting to the journaling on a more consistent basis.

My current bed-time routine
1) Computer and phone goes on "night mode" to reduce bright lights ~2 hours before bedtime.
2) I take "pass thru the night" herbal preparation in hot water. (I brush my teeth at some point after I drink this as a tea).
3) I sometimes turn off lights as well and use a candle indoors. I do realize I have a certain luxury to be able to do this and might be harder for others.
4) Stretching - sometimes I do it head to toe but I usually focus on specific muscle groups I need to stretch.
5) After lying down I do a cultivation "technique" (based on the biodynamic perspective of Osteopathy in the Cranial Field and Inner Alchemy) where I get my autonomics nervous system Neutral, still, and balanced. If I don't fall asleep right away (which is often) I extend this to other parts of my body.

As mentioned earlier, getting Osteopathic treatments for myself was instrumental in all of this. If you have any questions or want to set up an appointment with me go the link below.

Schedule your appointment online Dr. Francis Yoo DO, NYC Osteopathic Medical Practice

02/15/2023

Rest, relaxation, and calm are important elements for healing and wellness. However, many of us live our lives in a way that is not conducive to relaxation and healing. Things to do, overwhelm, staying up late, suboptimal sleep - nutrition - activity - meaningful relationships.

I often get patients tell me after their first Osteopathic treatment with me that "Wow! I havn't felt this relaxed in a long time!"

What my treatment did was
- Balance their autonomic nervous system,
- Help with their lymphatic drainage and flow
- Promoting better blood flow
- Allow their body to feel safe
- Resolve shocks and tensions
- Reduce excess-unnecessary nervousness and anxiety.

This is what Osteopathy does and more.
It expresses the Health and Harmony innate to the person.
It helps you rest, relax, and heal.

If you also want to say "I havn't felt this relaxed in a long time!" then go to this link:

Schedule your appointment online Dr. Francis Yoo DO, NYC Osteopathic Medical Practice

02/09/2023

I am currently listening to this book, The Gap and The Gain (on Libby). I have been back and forth with so called self-help books before and I am certified in the Enneagram and MBTI; I can say that this book is quite excellent. It has one solid concept explored from multiple perspectives to help with understanding and practice. It is very helpful for emotional and psychological health and is helping me help myself and be a better physician in my practice.

Make sure you sign up for my email list for health and wellness related insights, posts, and videos. I am also cooking up ideas for gifts, and more.

https://mailchi.mp/91d0647b5195/new-patient-email-sign-up

02/08/2023

As a faculty member at the Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine department the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harlem I have the privilege and delight to help teach future Osteopathic Physicians. I am with them weekly in small-group sessions where I help with palpation and treatments. I also occasionally lead these large group interactive didactic sessions.

I hope you can see I am excited.

The topic for this hour was the cranial membranes - anatomy, physiology, osteopathic concepts and approach. I have taken hundreds of hours of extra courses/training focusing on the head and the expanded focus of Osteopathy in the Cranial Field and it is large part of my approach to all of my patients.

I often get patients who have heard of "craniosacral therapy" but not that DOs/Osteopaths do cranial work! This is unfortunate since the DOs are the ones that the ones that were regularly talking about and working with the cranial motions, fascia, lymphatics, vagus nerve/parasympathetic nervous system and much more in the modern-western medical model before fascial workers, lymphatic massagers, and various other bodyworkers. More on those topics in future posts!

If you need help from someone who has a lot of training and experience using Osteopathy on the head and using various cranial models to help with brain fog, headache/migraine, fatigue, or feeling like your head is in a vice, I can help you.

Get started today by going to https://drfrancisyoodo.as.me/schedule.php

02/04/2023

FAQ: What is Osteopathy? What do you do? (Traffic Controller Answer)

A question I get asked a lot is: What is Osteopathy?
Another version of this question is: So what exactly are you doing with your hands during the treatment sessions?

I often give this answer as an analogy.

In New York City, there are a lot of cars. Plus, a lot of the roads, exits, and merging areas are not designed in a way to facilitate the flow of traffic.

Let's there is an accident, a blockage, too many cars - then you get more traffic, and you get more congestion, and you get more irritation and pain!

When everything is flowing there is no congestion and there is no irritation and pain.

The same goes for the health of the body: if there are restrictions in the tissue, bones, fascia, joints, fluid you get suboptimal flow and you get more traffic and congestion, and you get irritation and pain.

Tissue texture changes, asymmetry, restrictions cause increased traffic so that the blood, the nerves, the lymphatics, the piezoelectricity cannot flow optimally leading to irritation, pain, and more symptoms.

My work is to be the helpful traffic controller - I find the "accident" and "blockage" areas that are causing traffic and congestion and reducing proper flow and then I use my hands to aid your innate Healing capacity and forces to unwind the restrictions and the traffic. Or, in others, we get the restrictions decongested.

Less backed up traffic means less irritation and pain.

Proper flowing traffic means Health.

These restrictions and backed up traffic can cause all sorts of symptoms: musculoskeletal pain, breathing and digestive issues, fatigue and concentration problems.

If you are already a patient of mine I hope this helps you understand more about what I do; if someone asks you about what I do, send them the link to this post!

If you are not a patient of mine and need help resolving and clearing up blockages and restrictions causing traffic and congestion, get started by booking an appointment or call with me today!

Read blog post here: https://www.drfrancisyoodo.com/post/faq-what-is-osteopathy-what-do-you-do-traffic-controller-answer

01/28/2023

I am going to be posting new "health journey" content.

This post documents my recent Floating experience.

Intro snippet:

Have you heard of Float Therapy, also known as, Sensory Deprivation?

It's where you get into a Float Tank filled with a warm, dense solution of epsom salt water. You lie naked there, floating on this water in this room that is completely dark, without sounds. I've done 60 minute and 90 minute sessions in the past but there are other time duration options too.

What does it help with? According to HolosNYC's pamphlet the benefits include
intense relaxation, relieves stress & anxiety, aid for phobias & depression, boosts creativity, improves concentration, releases endorphins, lowers blood pressure, relieves joint pain & inflammation, and more. Now while I can't vouch for the benefits, I will describe my experience and how I benefit from it. But first, let's talk about where I went.

Click on the link to read more!

Have you heard of Float Therapy, also known as, Sensory Deprivation? It's where you get into a Float Tank filled with a warm, dense solution of epsom salt water. You lie naked there, floating on this water in this room that is completely dark, without sounds. I've done 60 minute and 90 minute sessio...