Zachary B. Corbett, L.Ac. Japanese Acupuncture in Eugene, OR

Self-care

Exercise, Nutrition and Mindfulness

For thousands of years, a core ethical principle in my profession is to help people feel empowered to help themselves with better lifestyle choices.  Feeling empowered comes first.
This can be a difficult subject.  Many people feel that the task is too difficult or they even feel hopeless and guilty about past failures to make healthier choices.
I firmly believe that there is always room to maneuver.  I regularly see that when folk can make small but really specific changes they already feel a little better.  Then we work together to build on this pattern of success to help get the person to where they want to go with their health. 

Exercise

The benefits of exercise are vast.  It truly is a "wonder drug."  Even a little regular exercise can be life changing.  But people often arrive feeling unsure about how to get fit or even guilty about past failures.  Even experienced athletes find they hit a plateau of performance or recurring injuries
I use the latest physiological research in combination with traditional medicine to guide people to get most benefit possible from their efforts.  I have helped professional and college athletes heal faster and increase performance.  I have helped very ill people find a way to activate and enjoy what capacity they have. 
Each style and intensity of exercise has it's own unique effect on the body.  After a thorough review of your physical culture I will have an understanding of what is missing or what needs to be balanced in how you use your body.
I want to briefly mention my favorite technique that I teach. It is amazingly simple to do but very complicated to call by name - proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation.   This will totally change your relationship with stretching.  It is completely non-painful and only takes a few seconds to do yet is much more effective than holding painful stretches for several breaths.  

Nutrition

This is a really difficult issue for almost everybody.  We all know what gets in the way - work, finances, emotional attachment to sugar, etc.  There are solutions for family members who have different nutritional requirements and who need  or want to share the same meals.
When people think about nutrition, they commonly try to "bite off more than they can chew" with massive plans of attack requiring super-human feats of discipline and make big changes overnight.  I don't advise this approach, I rarely see it work at all or for very long.
For people wanting better nutrition, I break the problem down into the core 1 or 2 issues and start there.  For example, I often advise that it is easier to start with increasing the food you need than start reducing the food that is problematic.  The initial goal is simply to find confidence and harmony in yourself by building a pattern of success.  People usually need some help to learn to pace themselves.  A small change may not seem very powerful initially but we can use that success to build upon.

Mindfulness

This is a very broad subject.  Topics that come up in my sessions with patients range from formal medical qigong and meditation to simply advising folk to schedule more time for activities that are meaningful to themselves such as music or gardening.    There is a lot of research on mindfulness's effect on the brain to help with chronic pain and depression.  Research on taichi and qigong has been shown to help with arthritis and high blood pressure.
If your symptoms arose or worsened because life experiences have put your brain into chronic stress mode, mindfulness training can be an truly effective and enjoyable way to help yourself become more resilient to life's pressures.