"This solution to better posture is something you can do completely on your own, anywhere, anytime, without ever opening your wallet. You don’t even have to get up from the couch."

"The DIY solution to better posture - Turn up your palms. That’s it."

"This palms-up position may be familiar to committed meditators and yogis who practice shavasana, but it’s foreign to those of us who spend a lot of time at a computer, behind the wheel of a car, holding babies, making lattes, or doing pretty much anything else that requires constant hand use. Even when we’re not using our hands, it’s just habit to sit, walk or stand with our hands facing down or behind us."

"The use of essential oils by consumers continues to rise, both as a separate commodity and indirectly through a large range of beauty-care and aromatherapy products. Individuals are increasingly aware of the importance, even necessity, of fragrance in their daily lives, regardless of what the source of that fragrance may be."

"Long neglected and denigrated through centuries of dualistic Western culture with its intrinsic body/mind split, the sense of smell seems to be coming back with an aromatic vengeance. As practitioners providing an important health-care service, we simply cannot ignore this burgeoning trend. When we see patients who are using essential oils in any number of different ways, we cannot help but ask ourselves, 'What exactly is this doing to their qi?'"

"The influence of TCM is growing in the modern beauty world, but it’s only in the past several years that it has been thrust to the front lines as part of a larger ingestible supplement trend."

"Some experts in the field of traditional medicine, including Ms Brian, recommend that consumers seek the advice of a practitioner before embarking on their own supplement-based beauty routine, as the formulas tend to work best when they're personalised for the individual. 'This applies to taking all supplements, not just TCM supplements,' says Ms Brian."

"In China, the practice of TCM in health and wellness has long been routine, and its treatments are available not only in clinics but in the form of herbal medicines sold by pharmacies."

"During menopause, many people experience hot flashes. A recent review and meta-analysis investigate whether Chinese herbal remedies might reduce the discomfort."

"The authors believe that Chinese herbal medicine might relieve hot flashes due to estrogen-like effects.For instance, some of the herbs that the researchers used in the trials, including bai shao, dang gui, zhi mu, chai hu, huang qin, and yin yang huo, contain phytoestrogens."

"The authors caution that if the benefits of Chinese herbs rely on estrogen or estrogen-like effects, 'they should be used with caution when prescribed to patients with hormone-dependent conditions, such as breast cancer.'"

"Traditional Asian healing practices are widely used in their parent cultures for maintaining wellness and treating illness, and are being increasingly used in Western countries. Accumulating research findings support that Asian medical treatments including acupuncture, herbal formulas, and energetic approaches are generally well tolerated and that select herbal formulas consistently result in symptomatic improvement of depressed mood, anxiety and schizophrenia."

"All Asian healing traditions are patient-centered and when practiced according to traditional principles each patient receives treatments that address the unique imbalances that manifest as physical, mental or emotional symptoms. Highly individualized person-centered approaches used to assess and treat symptoms in Asian healing traditions are performed to ensure a close match between the underlying causes of symptoms and the effects of treatments at various levels of body and mind. Western-trained physicians use an approach that is analogous. For example, when a skillful and experienced Western-trained physician or Asian medical practitioner arrives at an appropriate treatment choice, he or she has identified a close match between a specific treatment and postulated biological or energetic causes underlying symptoms. Finding the best match between putative biological or energetic causes of symptoms and the most appropriate biomedical or Asian medical intervention will ideally result in few or no adverse effects."

"Data from a review of U.S.-based clinical trials published today in Mayo Clinic Proceedings suggest that some of the most popular complementary health approaches — such as yoga, tai chi, and acupuncture — appear to be effective tools for helping to manage common pain conditions. The review was conducted by a group of scientists from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institutes of Health."

"The researchers reviewed 105 U.S.-based randomized controlled trials, from the past 50 years, that were relevant to pain patients in the United States and met inclusion criteria. Although the reporting of safety information was low overall, none of the clinical trials reported significant side effects due to the interventions.
The review focused on U.S.-based trial results on seven approaches used for one or more of five painful conditions — back pain, osteoarthritis, neck pain, fibromyalgia, and severe headaches and migraine — and found promise in the following for safety and effectiveness in treating pain:

• Acupuncture and yoga for back pain
• Acupuncture and tai chi for osteoarthritis of the knee
• Massage therapy for neck pain with adequate doses and for short-term benefit
• Relaxation techniques for severe headaches and migraine."
  

"WOULD-BE mums should consider acupuncture with a recent study finding the treatment is better at helping women fall pregnant than fertility drugs. The alternative treatment was compared to popular drugs used to boost ovulation with scientists finding acupuncture increased the chance of pregnancy to 43.3 per cent compared to 20 per cent through the medication."

"Dr Zhiguang Hu, who led the research conducted at the Mawangdui Hospital of Hunan Province in China, said: 'One important mechanism responsible for the fertility treatment success with acupuncture is hormonal regulation. And the study confirms that acupuncture normalises prolactin levels more rapidly than receiving fertility medications.'"