January 10, 2022 
Winter is upon us and for many of us, especially those in the northern climates, this means preparing for winter, the right way. Historically, one of the most important ways to prepare for the winter was to preserve food and one of the oldest ways to preserve food is by pickling.
The word pickle comes from the Dutch word Pikel, meaning salt or brine. Salt has been an important tool used for food preservation throughout history. In places that had large deposits of salt, like ancient Mesopotamia, people cured meat with salt. Pickling was also used all over the ancient world, either with a salt brine or through a fermentation process. People in India are credited with the pickling of the first cucumbers over 3,000 years ago, while the ancient Chinese used vinegar brines for pickling much of their meat.
Today, pickles continue to be a beloved worldwide treat, with many delicious variations and flavor innovations. Whether pickled in salt and/or vinegar or fermented (which imparts the extra probiotic benefits), there are many healthy reasons to indulge!
Before sharing an easy at-home pickling recipe, let's take a look at some of the Chinese Medicinal aspects to the 2 basic pickling components: salt and vinegar
*Salt is a flavor that is associated with the kidneys, and in moderation can help with kidney function. It is known to help regulate water in the body, dissolve masses, counter toxins, and balance acidic food.
Speaking of acidic food…
*Vinegar is endowed with the ability to regulate blood, in that it both moves stagnant blood and helps to stop bleeding. And like salt, it helps to resolve toxins in the body.
Recipe:
Pickled Daikon Radish with Chinese Peppercorn & Garlic
Ingredients:
1 small daikon
1 Tbsp salt
1 clove garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon Chinese peppercorn
½ cup rice vinegar
½ cup sugar
½ cup water
Glass jar
Directions:
1) Wash and peel the daikon
2) Cut the daikon radish into bite-size shapes of your choice
3) Massage the salt into the freshly cut radish.
4) Let them sit for 15-30 minutes while it draws out the bitter water. Rinse after 15 minutes.
5) Arrange radish in a jar with some sliced garlic and Chinese peppercorn dispersed in layers.
6) Place the salt, sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil
7) Pour the hot mixture carefully into the jar until all the radishes are covered
8) When cool, put on the lid and refrigerate
*you can eat them as soon as the next day, and they will last in the fridge for about 2-4 weeks.
While your mouth waters anticipating the flavor explosion you have just set yourself up for, take a moment to delight in the health benefits of the additional ingredients.
*Daikons reduce food stagnation and break up phlegm.
*Garlic is often used as an anti-pathogenic agent as it can help kill harmful bacteria, viruses, parasitic and fungal infections.
*Chinese Peppercorn is in the medicinal category of “warming the middle” meaning it supports the digestive fire.
Both the garlic and peppercorn are known to tonify yang in Chinese medicine. The combined warming qualities of the garlic and peppercorn are balanced by the cooling nature of the radish, making it safe for even hot constitutions. All in all, it's balanced, healthy and tasty.
December 26, 2021 Stress and the Acupuncture Oasis
According to the Oxford dictionary, stress is “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.” At this point in our cultural (d)evolution, I think we can all agree that simply the requirements of survival, of ‘keeping up’ in our very complex world, constitute “very demanding circumstances”. The past 20 months of living through a pandemic certainly qualify humanity on a whole as worthy of some much-needed stress relief.
In Acupuncture terms, stress can be thought of as a traffic jam, a blockage in the free flow of energy. This can be caused by external or internal forces. The Liver is the main organ in charge of processing stress and maintaining the healthy circulation of qi and blood in the body. Other Organs are also involved in the stress response in part because they hold emotional energies. While the Liver is mostly associated with the feeling of anger and frustration, the Spleen holds worry, and the Kidneys fear. These emotions are all natural and expected in certain amounts, but if healthy expression is restricted by stagnation, it can stir up or exacerbate stress.
Acupuncture is a powerful tool that serves to redirect traffic. Point locations are chosen based on each person’s unique pattern in order to bring their individual system back into an open flowing state. From a Western medicine standpoint, Acupuncture can help us shift from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state (from fight or flight to rest and digest). It has been shown to increase our natural painkillers and other happy hormones such as serotonin and dopamine while decreasing cortisol, our main stress hormone. It is also associated with enhanced reception of GABA, a neurotransmitter in the brain that tells our mind and body to relax. The other major stress-relieving power of acupuncture is its ability to increase heart rate variability, which is basically our flexibility in responding to and recovering from stress.
What kind of stress-relief you can expect from acupuncture:
While it won’t necessarily solve the world’s problems (at least not immediately), it will:
● Decrease the severity of the stress response
● Shorten the recovery time from stress
● Provide an opportunity to rest, sleep or meditate comfortably, usually in a peaceful environment
● Occasionally stimulate the release of previously obstructed emotions which often results in a feeling of ‘lightening the load’
● Help to relieve physical pain that contributes to stress levels
● Generate a sense of well-being
It is very common to leave the acupuncture office feeling much more at ease and at peace than when you arrived.
In between acupuncture sessions, it is important to find ways to limit exposure to environmental toxins and external sources of stress while developing better coping skills through healthy communication and practices such as breathwork and meditation. Exercises like tai chi and qi gong can help to keep energy pathways open and flowing to reduce internal tendencies toward stagnation. A point commonly used to support the Liver function of maintaining a smooth flow of qi is known as Tai Chong (LV 3) which translates to ‘great surge’. You can find it on the top of the foot in the depression between the meeting place of the first 2 toe bones. When feeling stressed, try to remember to take a moment to breathe into the abdomen, and massage this point if accessible until you feel a sense of calm begin to replace the tension.
November 14, 2021 
From a Speech By Angeles Arrien
Fact: With each flap of a wing, a goose creates an “uplift” for others to follow. When you see geese fly in a “V” formation it allows the geese to fly 71% further than if each bird flew alone.
Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier when they are working together.
Fact: One of the reasons geese honk is to encourage those in front to keep up speed.
Lesson: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. When we are working with others, encouragement is often helpful to get the job done smoothly and quickly.
Fact: If a goose happens to fall out of formation, it will suddenly feel the resistance and drag of flying alone and fall back into place.
Lesson: If we are on a certain path, and we attempt to go at it alone without help or support, our efforts may be reduced. It is easier to accept the help of those who are going in the same direction, and give help to others along our route.
Fact: When the lead goose tires, it will fall out of formation and move to the back of the flock, allowing another to fly in the point position.
Lesson: Everyone has different skills, resources, and unique gifts to offer. It is important to take turns and share the hard tasks.
Fact: When a goose is wounded, shot or sick, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help protect it. They stay until it is able to regain strength enough to fly. Then they catch up with their flock or join another formation.
Lesson: If we have enough sense as the geese do, we stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.
Transcribed from a speech given by Angeles Arrien at the 1991 Organizational Development Network.
October 11, 2021 Picture Of Wellness Is Thrilled to Offer Microneedling & Nanoneedling
What Can Microneedling Treat?
* Hair Growth
* Wrinkles, Scars, Age Spots, Acne Reduction
* Stretch Marks
* 3,000% Increased Serum And Topical Absorption
Micro-Needling creates micro channels in the skin. When those channels are created the skins own repair response is to start producing collagen and elastin, this is to heal that controlled injury that was just created. That in turn make our skin tighter
and smoother. This treatment can be done once a month.
Nanoneedling allows up to 97% product absorption.It is great for fine lines & wrinkles, swelling, or sagging skin. It uses 81 silicone tips, no needles :)
Nano-Needling only affects the epidermis, treating within the upper .15 mm of the skin. The benefits of this serum infusion treatment include pigmentation reduction,
increased cell turnover, skin rejuvenation and an immediate glow with no downtime. This treatment can be done weekly.
As with most therapies, micro or nanoneedling takes at least 4 treatments to see changes.
Average Cost Per Treatment:
Los Angeles Pricing: $455 (Acupuncturist)
New York Pricing: $699 (Acupuncturist)
San Francisco Pricing: $775 (Acupuncturist)
Beverly Hills Pricing: $1,000 (Skin Care Clinic)
San Diego Pricing: $300-$600 (Med Spa, Skin Care, Acupuncturists)
Average Nationwide Cost: $650/Treatment
Picture Of Wellness LLC : $300/treatment
Red LED light increases collagen reproduction by 200% and can be added to your treatment for $30.
We also incorporate ancient holistic, vegan Chinese Medicine topicals as well as apple stem cells to improve your results.
Call Today For An Appointment! (315) 643-2013
September 12, 2021 
AmpCoil Appointments
The AmpCoil incorporates a voice-guided biofeedback system that analyzes the tonal qualities of the voice, using extensive mathematical algorithms. Allowing for personalized results, the BetterGuide app contains intelligently designed programs that deliver customized tonal frequencies through a powerful PEMF delivery system, with the ability to go deeply into the cells of the body.
This system improves circulation and cellular metabolism, neutralizing vibrational interference caused by microbes, metals and toxins, supporting a return to healthy balance, harmony and enhanced wellness.
The AmpCoil includes several proven technologies all rolled into one modern device: Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF)
Voice Analysis (or Voice Guided) Biofeedback
Bioresonance
Tone Generator
Amplifier
Modified Tesla Coil
Combined, these produce silent but powerful, customized Magnetic Wave Vibrations allowing frequencies to:
a) penetrate deep into the cell, reaching the quantum level and being able to reach intracellular, b) cross the blood-brain barrier, c) break through biofilms, d) and neutralize vibrational interferences caused by microbes, metals, toxins, Lyme, co-infections, and more throughout the entire body.
An analogy that we like to use is that of two tuning forks. When you strike a tuning fork near another fork, the two will vibrate in unison.
When you hit Play to begin a session, the modified Tesla coil acts like a tuning fork, and through entrainment, your body synchronizes with it.
When a frequency is delivered to a pathogen your body has been holding onto (such as a parasite), it will vibrate it at such high amplitude, the cell wall will disable. The result is that the body’s natural immune system experiences less interference and is able to begin working as nature intended.
By addressing the root causes of bio-energetic imbalance, all while minimizing detox reactions, the human biology quickly begins to return to the balanced and harmonized state that nature intended...
Blood cells are regenerated
Circulation is improved
Oxygen carrying capacity is increased
The nervous system relaxes
Bones and joints become stronger
Vital organs, such as the liver, kidneys and colon, are able to rid themselves of impurities
Immune system becomes healthier
Definitions:
Bioresonance - built-in tone generator programmed with Rife, Hulda Clark, and proprietary frequency sets called Journeys related to organs, nutrition, microbes, metals, toxins and more.
Biofeedback - Voice Analysis Biofeedback via the BetterGuide app utilizes extensive mathematical algorithms to play back your personalized vibrational tones. This is a significant improvement over existing systems that use a trial and error approach.
PEMF - Pulsed electromagnetic field delivery system through a modified Tesla Coil for intracellular penetration. This is a significant improvement over electrical systems, which stop at bones, muscles, and nerves.
Tesla - Modified Tesla coil emits a 10 Hz magnetic wave, enveloping the body in earth-based, harmonizing and cleansing frequencies while being able to focus on specific areas.
Sound - high-quality amplifier for a powerful transmission
Contraindication for use:
Avoid use if you are pregnant, nursing, have a pacemaker, defibrillators or any electrical or battery operated implants, suffer from non-pathogenic related seizures, or if you have a medical condition that may contraindicate use of the AmpCoil and PEMF therapy. Do not use on or around internal staples, Those with pins, screws, plates, replacement joints should avoid placing the coil directly on those areas. Keep coil away from head and face area if multiple amalgam fillings are present. Take extreme caution when using with household pets as they are much more sensitive to PEMF therapy.
"More than 10,000 scientific papers have been published about the effects of PEMF. Many of the initial studies have been carried out in Russia and Eastern Europe, but more and more research is now taking place in the U.S. Worldwide, more than 2,000 double blind studies have demonstrated that PEMF therapy is a safe and effective treatment for a variety of conditions, as well as to promote and maintain general cellular health and function”- Bryan A. Meyers, “PEMF: The 5th Element of Health”
“Everything in Life is Vibration” – Albert Einstein
May 23, 2021 Help For Allergies and Asthma
Fact: You will take about 20,000 breaths today. Let’s take a big one now...aaah, that’s better.
Now imagine having to take all of those breaths as someone with asthma, wheezing, feeling like you can’t fully inhale. That’s the case for approximately 1 in 13 people in the United States who have asthma. Maybe you’re one of those people suffering!
Do you suffer from allergies or asthma? If so, you aren’t alone. It’s estimated that more than 26 million Americans have chronic inflammatory disease asthma, while more than 50 million Americans have nasal allergies. While most people resort to harsh prescription drugs to treat these conditions with awful side effects, a safer and more effective solution lies in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) acupuncture.
Some people might turn their head at the thought of treating asthma by placing small needles under your skin. However, this ancient practice is believed to be effective in the treatment of numerous respiratory disorders.
Several studies over the past decade have shown that when patients with asthma receive regular acupuncture treatments, they have fewer asthma attacks and less labored breathing. Some studies show an even more significant improvement when acupuncture treatments are combined with Western medical treatment, as acupuncture is an incredibly safe, natural, and effective complementary treatment.
A study conducted by the University Medical Center in Berlin (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23420231/) explored the efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for seasonal allergic rhinitis (seasonal allergies). Over 400 patients were divided into three groups. The first received proper and regular acupuncture treatments, the second received a similar treatment however the acupuncture needles were not placed in proper acupoints, while the third group was only allowed to take antihistamines. This study was able to conclude that the group receiving proper and regular acupuncture treatments reported the greatest relief from symptoms as compared to the other two groups.
Other studies (such as → https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22313287/) have looked into acupuncture for the treatment of eczema. Atopic dermatitis (eczema) is an itchy rash that can be caused by common irritants. Though this study came to the conclusion that acupuncture did not work well to prevent eczema, it did however significantly reduce itchiness and pain in many patients who were experiencing outbreaks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) even lists asthma as being “a condition for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that acupuncture will cure your asthma, but it can help alleviate the symptoms and reduce the frequency of flare-ups.
Acupuncture involves the placement of fine needles in specific points of the body, known as acupuncture points. The idea behind this practice is that placing the needles in these areas will restore the body’s flow of energy (Qi). When Qi becomes stagnant, it leaves the individual susceptible to disease and illness, which is why it’s important to keep it moving throughout the body. Professional acupuncturists often treat asthma by using acupuncture points found in the Lung, Stomach and Kidney meridians.
Acupuncture may also help those who suffer from allergies. Allergies are the result of the immune system’s wrongful identification of what it believes to be a foreign invader. When you are exposed to an allergen, your immune system may view the substance or pathogen as being a foreign invader, at which point it responds by manifesting symptoms like sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, etc.
By restoring the body’s Qi, the immune system is given a helpful boost of energy that allows it to properly identify what’s a foreign invader and what’s not. Whether your allergies are minor or severe, you should consider seeking the services of an acupuncturist. It’s a safe and painless process that can reinvigorate your body and mind, alleviating the symptoms of both allergies and asthma. A study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found acupuncture to offer greater relief of allergies when compared to both antihistamines and sham acupuncture.
April 5, 2021 
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, each season is ruled by a particular organ system and spring is connected to the liver. What does this mean? You probably notice changes in the way you feel, both physically and mentally, as the seasons change. Many of us feel more contemplative and introspective during the winter months. Once spring hits, we may feel ready to recharge and get things done.
Liver energy is strong and assertive, the type of energy you need to create plans and propel them into motion. However, if your liver is out of balance, you might notice that you’re more irritable or on edge than usual.
Here are a few signs that your liver is in need of an acupuncture tune-up:
1. You've noticed an increase in headaches, and these headaches seem to feel worse when you aren't active. Generally, headaches tend to manifest at the vertex of your head.
2. You feel constipated or bloated. Your bowel movements have become irregular, alternating between constipation and loose stools. Hard, difficult stools that appear pebbly are also a sign of liver imbalance.
3. Friends and coworkers are scared of you because you are cranky, cranky, cranky! When liver energy is out of balance, you can feel agitated, irritated, and generally out of sorts. Sometimes irritation flares into outright anger more easily than it would if this energy was flowing smoothly.
4. You may notice PMS symptoms have been worsening. Bloating, breast tenderness, sensitivity can all be exacerbated by liver imbalance. If your periods are more painful or clotted, this can also be due to a stagnation of liver energy.
5. Your eyes are red, itchy, or irritated.
6. Shoulders, neck, or jaw are uncomfortably tight. If the liver energy is out of balance, it can flow upward. This causes inflexibility, and everything in your body to “rise up”: you might grind or clench your teeth, hold your shoulders up, experience symptoms of TMJ, or have headaches at the top of your head
7. Maybe you’ve noticed that your allergies are in full force, complete with itchy, red, watery eyes.
If you are suffering from any of these issues, your body is crying out for a visit. Please, come and talk to me! Let's get you a Spring tune-up with tried and trued TCM solutions that can help right away.
