Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!


Kick off the new year by getting relaxed and centered with community acupuncture at Devi Health!

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 3-7 p.m.

Each 45-minute acupuncture treatment is scheduled every 15 minutes.

Your intake is done in private before you are seated in a small group for your treatment.

Cost is $10-25!

To make your appointment, email me at tjagernauth@gmail.com or call 773-749-9101

As you know, Tanuja has been committed to offering sliding scale individual treatments for acupuncture since Devi Health was created in 2008. To continue and build upon this commitment, Tanuja is making some exciting changes at Devi Health.

Starting in January, all individual acupuncture appointments will be offered on a sliding scale.

In addition, group acupuncture will be offered twice a week at the following times:

Tuesdays 3 p.m - 7 p.m.
Saturdays 3 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Please help spread the word, and I hope to see you on Saturday!

Peace and wishes for your health and happiness in 2010!

Holiday Eating

I found a great little article that has some sensible ideas about eating well this holiday season.


Enjoy - and breathe! ;)

Happy December!

My biggest piece of advice for December is this: BREATHE.

This time of year is full of external stressors that trigger our internal fight or flight responses, which trigger the release of cortisol in our systems, and cortisol is that stress hormone which encourages our bodies to hold on to fat and then some...

In the check-out aisle at the grocery store, I see glossy magazines emblazoned with the charge: FIGHT YOUR HOLIDAY FAT! HERE IS HOW! and the like. They often suggest ways to eat what you want this holiday season (if you do not have a metabolic syndrome, such as type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, syndrome X and the like) and have a great time and then they show you a workout you may do to lose the pounds you gain.

I agree with all of this: eat wisely according to your body's needs and constraints, choose foods that will help to maintain your blood sugar levels and that will not cause those dangerous spikes, and maintain your exercise regimen, focusing on strength training and cardiovascular exercise.

In addition, take deep abdominal breaths. Often. This will help to oxygenate the body, relax your abdominal muscles, and take your breath out of the upper lobes of your lungs. When we breathe shallowly into the upper lobes of our lungs, we are stimulating our sympathetic nervous system, which triggers that fight or flight response. When we breathe into our lower abdomen and see our belly rise as we inhale and deflate as we exhale, we are literally telling our bodies: "Hey! relax. digest your food. all is well." The beneficial effects of consistent abdominal and deep breathing are manifold.

For more information, check out this article from www.abc-of-yoga.com that discusses in-depth the benefits and methods of deep breathing.

Consider beginning a simple yoga practice to assist in opening your chest, stretching your muscles, and strengthening your body. Find a yoga studio close to your house and go for a drop-in session or you can also find some really helpful videos online. I recommend those that come from yogajournal.com

Above you see Cobra Pose, a great pose for opening your chest. Click here for a nice description of how to do the pose.

I also recommend the 5 shiatsu stretches that I teach to groups. If you are interested in meeting with me to learn these stretches and why and how they work, you can email me at tjagernauth@gmail.com

And if stretching and yoga do not do it for you, just begin with your breath. ;)

Be well!