Live Healthier, Be Happier, Do More... Naturally with Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture

For more information about these events, please click over to my Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine website

April 21: Pasadena – Free Intro to Medical Qigong – 6pm to 7pm
April 28: Pasadena – Medical Qigong Class – 6pm to 7pm
May 1: Venice – Medical Qigong for Beginners – 9am to 10am
May 1: Venice – Advanced Medical Qigong – 10am to 11am
May 3: Highland Park – Community Medical Qigong – 6am to 7am
May 5: Pasadena – Medical Qigong Class – 6pm to 7pm
May 8: Cypress Park – Chinese Medicine Cafe Hour – 5:30pm

Spring is the time of new beginnings, rebirth and renewal. It is when nature comes back to life — dormant plants and animals wake from their wintery slumber, flowers bloom, animals are born, and the landscape comes alive.

Most of us urban dwellers are used to living seasonless lives where it is difficult to observe the changing seasons. With modern technology, we can eat the same foods and do most of the same things year round. But just because we can enjoy these conveniences doesn’t necessary mean they are good for us. They ignore our body’s need to make adjustments with the seasons to maintain good health and prevent illness.

In Chinese medicine, the seasons affect us in many different ways — physically, mentally and spiritually. For your health, Spring is a great time to eat a lot of green foods. Sprouts and baby greens are especially good, as are dark green leafy vegetables. Head to your farmer’s market to see what’s in season. Spring is also the best time for green tea. The best quality green tea leaves are the first leaves of the season. In China, people pay upwards of hundreds or thousands of dollars to enjoy a cup of spring’s first batch of Dragon Well green tea grown in Zhejiang Province. A portion of the best is reserved for ranking government officials and visiting heads of state.

Spring is associated with the wood element and the Liver and Gallbladder. Wood represents progress, growth and overcoming obstacles. It is the most yang, or active, of energies. This makes it a great time to start new projects, especially major ones. Right now you’ll have more energy, focus, and drive to accomplish difficult tasks compared to, for example, the winter.

At the same time, be aware of the challenges of Spring. Spring is the emotional energy of anger, stress and frustration. When blocked or constrained, it is easier to feel these emotions or see them expressed by others. Take care of these emotions constructively by keeping yourself centered, staying balanced, maintaining good communications and being patient.

What you can do:

1. Exercise. Exercise is important to help get or keep things moving. Hike, garden and play sports. If you want to take a more holistic approach, take a medical Qigong class. There are a number of simple and effective medical Qigong exercises that help soothe the liver, reduce stress, as well as strengthen your clarity and resolve. Regardless of what you decide, doing it outdoors would be best. The sun and fresh air helps when you feel stuck. Seeing all the beauty of nature will raise your spirits and inspire you to get moving on your life’s projects.
2. Diet. Eat your greens. No, not green M&M’s or gummy bears. Sprouts, baby greens and green leafy vegetables are what I highly recommend. Your best source will be your local farmer’s market where you don’t have to second guess what’s in season.
3. Treatment. Come in for an acupuncture tune-up, herbal prescription and/or nutritional plan. Chinese Medicine is designed to harmonize your body, mind and spirit with the changing seasonal energies. Like taking in your car for a regular oil change, your body will appreciate preventative treatments to maintain good health. You’ll stay healthy, maintain high energy levels and be more productive so you can continue doing what you love. If you’re stressed out or can’t sleep, just one treatment will go a long way to help start this season on the right foot.

Henry’s Spring Tea Recipe

• Green Tea such as Dragon Well tea (Chinese: Longjing Cha)
• Chrysanthemum Flower Bulbs (Chinese: Ju Hua)
• Mint Leaves (Chinese: Bo He)
• Steep in hot water – Boiled water that is then cooled to 175 F recommended.

Comments:
If you are near Highland Park, this tea will be available at Antigua Coffee and Tea

Dragon Well green tea is high in vitamin C and amino acids. It also has one of the highest concentrations of catechins and can reduce the risk of stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes. Chrysanthemum and Mint both help the liver and the sense organ of the liver, the eyes, in different ways. The best chrysanthemum are the unopened flower bulbs. All of this can be found at one of your better stocked Chinese Herbal shops. In Los Angeles, Wing Hop Fung in China Town and Monterey park comes recommended. If you have some extra cash and appreciate good quality green teas, check out the Ming Qian Dragonwell Panan Supreme 2010 from Red Blossom Tea in San Francisco. They do mail order but it is $400 a pound. They have some more affordable grades that I also recommend. An ounce ($28) or two will last you a while and, unlike some other types of teas, Dragon Well doesn’t do well sitting on the shelf for a long time. Newer is better so don’t stock up.

Henry Jun Wah Lee, L.Ac. is a Physician of Chinese Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Medical Qigong instructor and Eastern Nutritionist. He has a private practice in Pasadena and Los Angeles, California. For more information, please contact info@HenryJunWahLee.com or visit his website, http://www.HenryJunWahLee.com

Henry Jun Wah Lee L.Ac. will be hosting a Chinese Medicine Café hour at Antigua Organic Coffee and Tea near Highland Park on Saturday May 8, 2010 from 5 to 6:30pm.

Come experience the benefits of Chinese medicine for health, wellness and community at a progressive coffee house east of the Los Angeles River.

Destress and relax with a 20-minute ear acupuncture or acupressure treatment from a highly skilled Physician of Chinese Medicine. Enjoy a cup of herbal tea that’s perfect for the spring season, eat snacks, and meet the community.

See what Chinese Medicine can do for you!

Read more

A seasonal Chinese cooking class with

Henry Jun Wah Lee, M.S. Oriental Medicine

Register online

Class Highlights:

1. Learn how to make healthy eating a normal and effortless part of your daily life.
2. Enjoy a delicious bowl of Chinese Herbal Chicken Soup prepared by Henry.
3. Participate in and see a live demonstration of the entire preparation and cooking process. The class will be held in a working kitchen.
4. Learn where/how to shop for ingredients – including how to get sulfur-free, pesticide-free and/or organic herbs.
5. Learn the philosophy behind Cantonese cooking.
6. Gain a deeper understanding of the properties of foods which will help you decide how to shop and modify dishes for your specific constitution or condition.
7. Receive useful handouts and a bag of herbs you can take home to make your own soup right away.

Class Information:

In this class you will learn how to cook one of the signature Cantonese soups for the winter time: the winter Herbal Chicken soup. This soup is used as tonic in the winter as it warms the body, boosts your Qi or vital energy, builds blood, and strengthens the immune system. More importantly, in the context of this cooking class, this soup tastes really darn good!

That’s right, eating healthy doesn’t necessarily mean you have to compromise on taste. Over thousands of years, the Cantonese from Southern China have refined and mastered the art of integrating food with medicine to make tasty dishes that you and your family/patients will love to eat. So why reinvent the wheel trying to figure out what to cook when the Cantonese has been integrating natural medicine with their cooking for centuries.

You don’t have to be a good cook nor do you have to have any knowledge of Chinese Herbs or Chinese Medicine to take this class. This is a beginner cooking class for people who want to play an active role in their own health and well-being. This class is designed to be fast, fun, practical and informative.

Day and Time: Sunday, January 24th, 2010 from 10:30am to 2:30pm.
Location: Silver Lake in Los Angeles, California
Class Fee: $40.00 (before Jan. 18) or $45.00 (on or after Jan. 18).

Class size is limited to 12 people maximum so reserve your space early!

Register online

For more information please contact Henry at 310-980-8645 or email info@henryjunwahlee.com

This is the first in a series of cooking classes on making healthy and delicious meals with Chinese Herbs. Learn authentic Cantonese style cooking from a Cantonese Chef.

Class Information:
Eating healthy doesn’t necessarily mean you have to compromise on taste. Over thousands of years, the Cantonese from Southern China have refined and mastered the art of integrating food with medicine to make tasty dishes that you and your family/patients will love to eat.

Beginning with How to Cook Chinese Herbal Chicken Soup, chef/instructor Henry Jun Wah Lee will introduce you to Cantonese cooking and how it can help you make wellness, and longevity a normal part of your everyday life.

Benefits of the Chinese Herbal Chicken Soup:

The herbal soup you will be learning to make is a tonic that is perfect for the coming winter as it warms the body, boosts your Qi or vital energy, builds blood, and strengthens the immune system. You will also learn several modifications include one for post partum women to aid them in their recovery after child birth.

In the class How to Cook Chinese Herbal Chicken Soup you will:

1. Enjoy a bowl of Chinese Herbal Chicken Soup. Trying to buy this at a quality restaurant can cost you $15-$25 a bowl, if you can find it.
2. Participate in a live demonstration of the entire preparation and cooking process. The class will be taught in a working kitchen.
3. Learn where to shop for ingredients – including how to get sulfur-free, pesticide-free and/or organic herbs.
4. Learn the philosophy behind Cantonese cooking.
5. Gain a deeper understanding of the properties of foods which will help you decide how to shop and modify dishes for your specific constitution or condition.
6. Receive useful handouts and a bag of herbs you can take home and make your own soup with right away.

This is a beginner cooking class for people who want to play an active role in their own health and well-being. You don’t have to be a good cook nor do you have to have any knowledge of Chinese Herbs or Chinese Medicine. Henry will guide you through the whole process in this fast and fun half-day class.

Class Fee: $58.00 (before Dec. 1) or $68.00 (on or after Dec. 1). Fee also includes a bowl of soup, handouts and herbs you can take home.

Day and Time: Saturday, December 12th, 2009 from 9 am to 1 pm.

Location: Los Angeles, California. Exact location to be determined.

Class size is limited to 12 people maximum so reserve your space early!

For more information or to register, please contact Henry at 310-980-8645 or email info@henryjunwahlee.com

About Henry Jun Wah Lee
Henry Jun Wah Lee is a Medical Qigong instructor with a Masters degree in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. He has been cooking since he was a child, learning and honing his skills in his family’s Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia, PA where he grew up. His bicultural background provides him with unique insights on bridging the gap many westerners face when learning Chinese Medicine, or integrating Chinese wellness practices into their lives. For more information, please visit www.HenryJunWahLee.com

About Cantonese Cuisine:
Southern Chinese (Cantonese) cuisine is renowned both internationally as well as across China for its delicious flavors, diverse and exotic ingredients and health benefits. Cantonese cooking has been refined for more than 2,000 years – much longer than most civilizations have existed. Its depth, history, and wisdom are revealed not just in its flavors but also in its integration with other aspects of living – health, culture, art and philosophy.

For the Cantonese, food isn’t just something tasty you put in your mouth. Food is life. Food is medicine. It is how we can nourish our bodies as well as our minds and spirits. Thanks to the influence of the Taoists, developers of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Cantonese cooks look not just for flavor and freshness but also for taste, temperature and other medicinal properties of foods. Chinese herbs are a natural part of everyday cooking and goes into soups and dishes. They can be used for prevention, overall wellness, longevity and for specific illnesses.

Lots of great news to announce after my return: an update to the Evosia clothing line, an acupuncture project that has been in the works, a revamped acupuncture web site and of course, pretty photos from the camping trip.

See you in a few weeks!

Qi Gong with Merle Morgan to Support Tree People - July 26, 4-5:30pm.

My original Qi Gong teacher, Merle Morgan, is back to teaching! Perfect for new people or as a review for those who’ve taken her classes before. Merle is an incredible teacher and she’s the one who inspired me to get on the path of Chinese Medicine.

Come and join Merle Morgan L.Ac from 4.00pm-5.30pm, Sunday 26 July, and support TreePeople at the same time.  Learn the ‘Golden Eight’ as a series to develop your own energy (Qi) or use isolated exercises as prescription for your patients…..or if you learned them already, come along for a thorough review.

TreePeople:
12601 Mulholland Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Telephone (818) 753-4600

For more information and directions, please go to the TreePeople website: http://www.treepeople.org/

Evosia's new organic fair trade labcoats for natural healing and holistic medicine practitioners.

Evosia’s labcoats are specifically designed for the natural healing professional in mind and incorporates features typical labcoats do not have:

* Choice of organic and fair trade natural fabrics to meet your environmental and health standards.
* Different fabric weights to meet your seasonal needs.
* Lighter fabrics in strategic locations to help you maintain your cool.
* Unique pocket partitioning system to keep your tools such as needles and ear seeds organized.
* Three different fits to suit your body type and personal style: flowy (loose) fit, standard fit and modern fit.
* Made to Measure and Bespoke options for those who want the perfect fit and design.

Evosia donates 5% of net profits toward social and environmental causes.

Link: Evosia’s Online Store Page

Evosia launches its new holistic clothing website

For thousands of years of recorded history, humans have recognized the power of clothing. Beyond mere function and visual aesthetics, clothes are storytellers. They tell about who we are — our personality, our outlook in the world, what we do and even our health. For the Daoists (Taoists) in ancient China, clothes help to create harmonious relationships between people, society and the environment. Materials, colors, shapes, silhouettes and patterns all have meaning. Woven together, they can enhance our personal and professional lives, as well as harmonize our relationship with the world around us.

Our products use organic natural fibers from fair trade sources. For more information about our social and environmental practices, please read about Evosia’s Global Commitment.

Visit Evosia’s Holistic Clothing Website

Psoriasis is a noncontagious skin disease and its most common form is plaque psoriasis. This form of psoriasis is characterized by raised, inflamed red lesions covered by silvery white scales.

In the study, 42 people with plaque psoriasis used an ointment containing indigo naturalis on one lesion and an ointment containing no indigo naturalis on a different lesion for 12 weeks.

On average, plaque psoriasis lesions treated with indigo naturalis improved by 81%, compared with only 26% for those lesions treated with the other ointment. 74% of those who completed the study saw their treated lesion completely disappear, and none found that the indigo naturalis worsened their condition.

Link to original article on Insider Medicine