Acupuncture and Preconception Health with Rachel Delaney, LAc

Natalie: 0:49

hello and welcome I'm Natalie, and I'm so excited to have Rachel Delaney on today to talk about the intersection of preconception health acupuncture, and Chinese medicine. Um, so a little bit about Rachel, she's a licensed acupuncturist owner of midnight sun acupuncture clinic. She graduated from C S T C M in Colorado in 2015, since then, Rachel has had the opportunity to work for both private practice and hospital in a hospital setting for many years, uh, since graduating with her master's master's degree in occupant oriental medicine and a second master's in herbal medicine. Rachel has also gone on to continue learning with certifications in Graston technique, and also went on to pursue her doctorate in acupuncture, emphasizing in pain. So the doc doctoral program allowed Rachel to train at Harbor view medical center for two years, as well as train in China at a hospital that uses acupuncture and herbal medicines, as well as allopathic medicine, where patients receive an integrator. Experience with all forms of medicine to better help them with their, their ailments and pain. Rachel also worked for the Alaska native medical center for four years in an integrative practice, working with primary care providers as well as other alternative. Medical providers such as massage therapists, physical therapists and chiropractors. So having gained this experience, Rachel has been able to incorporate all of this into her treatments, giving a global approach and looking at the big picture of your entire body, mind, and soul. Rachel was born and raised here in Alaska and is a tried and true Alaskan loving everything. Our great outdoors has to offer fishing, camping, hiking, biking, and skiing, and loving the snow as well. Rachel's favorite pastime is collecting, harvesting and processing wild and medicinal herbs and foods. That is amazing. So welcome, Rachel.

Rachel: 2:51

Hi, thank you. That was such a long warm welcome. Thank you.

Natalie: 2:55

Absolutely. So today we're going to be talking about preconception health women's health in general, and what benefits that traditional Chinese medicine and acute acupuncture can provide to someone who is maybe thinking about having a baby in the near future. So let's just start by defining acupuncture and Chinese medicine for those who may not be.

Rachel: 3:22

So acupuncture and Chinese medicine is, is a way to stimulate your own body. To regulate things like your hormones and, um, mood and, um, and other processes in the body, um, by using trigger points and, and herbal medicine also works, um, pretty similarly, um, by triggering the body to, um, help balance out some of those things along with the acupuncture. Um,

Natalie: 4:00

awesome. Awesome. So how does that specifically work? How does that balancing happen? That's my question.

Rachel: 4:10

So there's many ways that we know that acupuncture is helping trigger the body. There's some things that we don't know, but the things that we do know is that it definitely triggers the body to balance out its hormones, um, via the nervous system. So a lot of the acupuncture points will be a long, um, the nervous system and it'll be along the. Sorry, I'm losing my, my words here, but

Natalie: 4:43

good. You're good.

Rachel: 4:46

um, most of the trigger points are right along the trajectory of where all of our nervous cells are. And so, um, what we know is happening is. Those certain points will trigger the body to release, help, release, um, feel good hormones. So a lot of the hormones that we're releasing when we're stressed out are going to be, um, some of those other hormones, like cortisol that are. Good in the moment, um, to help our body kind of fight inflammation and come calm ourselves. But in the long run, it actually causes more stress on the body. And so acupuncture is helping to stimulate some of those feel good hormones. Um, Oh, very similar to, um, doing other things like exercising, where exercising also releases those feel-good hormones. Um, acupuncture helps the body or helps to trigger the body to release some of those feel good hormones like oxytocin and serotonin and, um, you know, those things that help us get out of that fight or flight that causes that kind of wreaks havoc in the body. Um, When our body can get out of that fight or flight, our body can also heal a lot faster. And that's why a lot of times people will ask, well, what can acupuncture help with? And it, a lot of times it's kind of a blanket answer or a vague answer because acupuncture can help with so many things because it can help us get out of that fight or flight, which is kind of the very basis of. body beginning to heal. You know, that's kind of the very first thing we really need to do is get out of that fight or flight in order for our own body to help heal itself.

Natalie: 6:39

absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. So I feel like in the last three years, you've probably seen a lot of people who are, who are, you know, way up high with their nervous system and okay. You have to bring them down and, and ground them. Um, what has that kind of looked like in practice? Have you noticed a trend in that direction?

Rachel: 7:02

Yeah. I mean, of course, you know, everybody is pretty stressed out, um, the last few years for obvious reasons. Um, and I think. Yeah. What I noticed the most is, uh, you know, people, I think what people will will present with a lot of times is they'll have, you know, pain in certain areas or, um, they might just have a really upset stomach a lot of times. And that kind of goes with the, with, with having that anxiety with kind of just not knowing what's going on and, and that that's part of the fight or flight. So when, when we go into fight or flight, our digestion slows down because of. Our, our nervous system is telling us like, you know, it's time to be stressed right now. So maybe we should slow down some of these other processes and. What I'm saying is there's so many symptoms that show up in the body from stress. And what I've noticed, um, definitely the past few years is, um, not just people like getting actual COVID and having some long collar COVID symptoms. And that also comes with some gastrointestinal, um, Um, things going on, but, um, just people being stressed out in general, um, people will notice after getting acupuncture treatments that their digestion is way better. You know, they just feel like they can, the feeling of being relaxed. You know, that's, that's one thing where they're like, they just didn't realize that their digestion even was being affected so much from being stressed.

Natalie: 8:42

Yeah.

Rachel: 8:42

so people. Yeah. So people will kind of come back and let me know that, um, you know, they feel like they can eat a little better. They, their, um, their bathroom habits are more normalized,

Natalie: 8:57

We're all about that in the pelvic floor world.

Rachel: 9:01

yeah.

Natalie: 9:02

Um, I think that's, that's like incredibly accurate and it's amazing how just how much stress can affect our bodies and what it will do to us and how we, we think that that's normal. Once we get into that lifestyle and feel like this is our normal, this is our new normal, and we don't realize how good we can feel if we were downregulated and back into that rest and digest nervous system.

Rachel: 9:29

yes. Yes. Because some of us, you know, all of us, we all are gonna have a certain amount of stress in our lives, but it should always be... you know, there should always be that balance of, you know, our bodies being a little stressed out and then going back into the rest and digest. But so many people just aren't going back into the rest and digest, um, on their own as easily. And so I think that's where acupuncture really, really can shine for so many different things. Um, because we know that stress is such a major factor to so many different, um, ailments.

Natalie: 10:07

Yeah. Yeah, no, that makes sense. So it's like a kick in the pants to the nervous system to get back in gear.

Rachel: 10:13

Yeah, it is. It's almost like it's almost like pushing the reset button on the nervous system that says, okay, let's calm down now. Let's um, yeah. Let's downregulate.

Natalie: 10:24

that makes, that makes so much sense. So in the, in the vein of, you know, people who are thinking about conceiving or trying to conceive, right. Having. Having that down-regulate nervous system just makes a lot of sense because I don't think our, our physiology wants to have a baby when we are stressed. Right.

Rachel: 10:47

Exactly.

Natalie: 10:48

So,

Rachel: 10:50

such a huge component.

Natalie: 10:51

yeah. So how specifically have you seen acupuncture benefit? People who are, who are kind of trending towards that, or just want to improve their, their overall wellbeing and then. It's specifically women's health, um, looking towards trying to conceive

Rachel: 11:09

Yeah. With what I normally see with women's health and women that are trying to conceive in this realm is, is. The acupuncture piece, it really does help with the stress portion of it, but it also does help stimulate your body, um, to also regulate some of those hormones that might be out of balance. And so I'm not, I'm not to say that, not to say that acupuncture is the only answer for that. Um, a lot of women that I see will also be seeing, um, You know, there are other, another MD or a midwife or an OB that's specifically working with them to help regulate their hormones. But acupuncture is also that extra piece that kind of helps their body. Do that more quickly. And so what I do see a lot of times as women will, you know, be, be kind of working on a multifaceted approach. So women will also be working on their nutrition and getting, working on, um, getting their, their bodies healthier. So exercising more. So it is, it's definitely, you know, a multi-faceted approach with acupuncture, but acupuncture is definitely one. Big pieces that can really just help, help make that process a lot faster.

Natalie: 12:30

that's cool. That's cool. Yeah. I definitely see with my clients, right. If people are working on nutrition and getting treatment and doing all the things, getting better, sleep and lowering their stressors and it's, it definitely takes a multifaceted approach. Just like you're talking about. Really improve.

Rachel: 12:50

Exactly. Yeah. I mean, I will say that there are times where it might be, um, For example, IVF. If someone's doing an IVF transfer and they get acupuncture, it can increase the odds, um, from about 40 to 60% of that IVF transfer to be, um, successful with acupuncture. But I would say that's the only time I could really say that it's just the IVF transfer and the acupuncture itself. But I would say with most other things it's going to be acupuncture is going to be that one piece of all of those other things. You know, if you want to, if you want to paint a picture of you being the person in the center and all these other things around you being like your nutrition, um, How you're moving your body and wanting how you want that to look like. Um, you're working on your mental health as well. Um, and yeah, working with an OB to see if there's something specific that is really going on with your body as well. So, um, Yeah, acupuncture is one of those additional pieces, which I think can be a big piece for a lot of women where they're like, you know, I think acupuncture really fast-forwarded. Um, a lot of those processes and my body, or maybe it just helped me be a lot less stressed about a lot of things. And so I was able to, I was able to get my nutrition, um, peace a lot faster because acupuncture helped with that. So it's really a. It's really one of those tools in your, in your toolbox that can really be super beneficial.

Natalie: 14:35

I love that. I love that. And it mental health too. Thank you for mentioning that, because that one is, is top tier and we have to make sure that we're taking care of her mental health as well.

Rachel: 14:44

Yeah,

Natalie: 14:46

So, um, and with the IVF transfer that has been studied, right? That's like an official study thing. Better success with IBS IVF transfers.

Rachel: 14:59

Yes. Yes. It's been studied. And then it's, um, the study has been, uh, reproduced many times. Um, so, and clinically, um, I've definitely seen that I've seen, um, the higher success rate with people that have come in to get acupuncture. Um, I think they recommend 24 to 36 hours. So you wanna get. Pretty soon after you do the IVF transfer, you want to get the acupuncture. And pretty soon a lot of people will schedule it the same day, actually.

Natalie: 15:32

Wow. Wow. Okay. How interesting.

Rachel: 15:35

yeah. Yeah.

Natalie: 15:36

So,

Rachel: 15:37

to 36 hours usually.

Natalie: 15:40

Yeah, that's a, that's a little window.

Rachel: 15:42

Yeah.

Natalie: 15:43

Um, okay, so kind of moving into a little bit more of the herbal medicine too. Do you oftentimes bring that in when you're working with someone who's, who's just working on their health and trying to improve their.

Rachel: 15:58

Yes, absolutely. Especially if I see, um, Uh, major. So one thing is I see that herbal medicine can really help is when people have, um, like a lower amount of energy or maybe they have, um, they have some nutrient deficiencies. And so I, I really think that's where herbal medicines can really shine. So maybe. Maybe somebody who's come in that's, you know, severely anemic. And of course, besides just supplementing with iron, um, some of the herbal remedies can really help, um, help your body to upregulate some more of that iron and help your body to, um, to process. You know, like liver function and kidney function. So some of those things can help boost some of the functions of, of your, um, organs as well. So, um, it's more, more supportive, um, along, you know, cause I'm alert to the acupuncture just really more supportive to whatever you're already doing.

Natalie: 17:01

okay. Okay. That seems to fit really well together then.

Rachel: 17:05

Yeah.

Natalie: 17:05

Yeah. So. If for someone who has never had acupuncture, what does a typical treatment session look like? If you could kind of paint that picture a little bit.

Rachel: 17:16

Yeah. So a typical acupuncture treatment. Um, you come in the first treatment. I do ask you a lot of questions about your whole body because, uh, with acupuncture with most holistic medicine, I think we just like to look at the whole body, um, not just, you know, one piece of your body or one part of you. We want to know. And we want to know about your whole body. And, uh, we kind of look at the body as patterns. And so we, uh, once we figure out what pattern you kind of fall in, we also use that pattern to choose what acupuncture, meridians, and what acupuncture points we would use. Um, I typically will fill your pulses, the first appointment to kind of help also paint a better picture of what kind of pattern you might fall in, in Chinese medicine terms. And then, um, I'll talk to you about, you know, have you ever had acupuncture before? If you've never had acupuncture before? I definitely want to make sure that you feel good and comfortable with everything I'm doing. And I want to. Blaine everything a lot more, um, and kind of ease into things. Cause I think a lot of people, you know, they kind of think of acupuncture. Um, the first thing they think about is needles and then the second thought with needles is, you know, it might be painful or, you know, it's, it's kind of scary, but, um, I definitely want to make sure that people know that it's it's comfortable and it can feel really good. And, um, I definitely want people to relax and, and feel good while they're. You know, getting an acupuncture treatment from me.

Natalie: 18:58

Yeah, no. And I will say spoiler alert, I've seen Rachel for acupuncture and it is, it is awesome. So, um, a couple of the times, like I felt, I will say, like, I felt a little bit of a twinge when the needle goes in, but it almost always immediately calmed down and I don't feel it for the rest of the time. So, um, pain scale hurts a lot less than working out hard. Or any other, like a deep tissue massage. It's not even close to that. So, um, and it's very relaxing too, because, um, with the added heat packs or just talking and, and being in a dark room, it's, it's pretty relaxing. So

Rachel: 19:39

Well, yeah. And then, and then it also, you know, it's, it's releasing that serotonin and those other feel good hormones. So the relaxing part of it is that is part that, I mean, that is how. Um, treating you, that's how we're allowing to get your body to say, okay, I'm an arrest. And I'm going to allow all these other things to, to heal because if your body's fighting so hard to just rest, then it, your body's not allowing those other things to heal. And so being comfortable in being able to rest and feel good as is really important to me. Um, during the treatment, but it's also just a result of acupuncture. So, you know, whether, whether you come in feeling really high, stressed, um, you typically leave feeling, um, relaxed. And that's really, really where, um, where I want you to, where, what, how I want you to feel. And that's exactly, you know, how you're healing as well.

Natalie: 21:45

okay. Okay. That makes sense. That kind of puts it together a little bit better for me as well. And I can, I can say that I have, every time I walk out of there, I feel.

Rachel: 21:56

Yeah. And then I, you know, I think for some people too, it's like the first treatment. It's a lot of times it's, it's kind of learning your body's learning how it feels, and it's also learning how. How, you know, what acupuncture is doing to you. Cause it's, it's so new, not just, not just for your brain to wrap around what I'm doing, but for your body too, it's a different, it's a different sensation.

Natalie: 22:22

and with that, do you, do you tend to see, like, it takes a long time? How, how long does it typically take for people to notice results in general with occupant?

Rachel: 22:35

So in general, I would say that people, it depends on, on what you're working on. So I would say, um, if you're working on infertility, for example, you know, that might take a little more treatments than men, just three to five. If we're working on something that's pain-related, um, Typically, we'll see a three to five visits. You'll you'll, you'll notice a decrease in your symptoms or a decrease in your pain, um, and an increase in, um, you know, sleeping better or just overall feeling better. The overall feeling. Better. know that doesn't really answer your question, um, that well, but I would say it is definitely individual. It definitely, um, depends on the person. Um, it depends on how long something has been going on. It also depends on the severity of what's going on.

Natalie: 23:38

right, right. So you would definitely recommend trying at least three to five sessions for someone just start rather than just. Just one and done. And then if they, if they don't feel like anything has changed, right. That's, that's probably not enough time to notice any

Rachel: 23:53

Yeah, exactly. So very similar to almost, you know, almost anything else that's holistic, you know, you wouldn't go to a chiropractor one time necessarily, or you wouldn't go to a physical therapist one time necessarily, um, for a problem that's been going on for a while. Um, or you wouldn't work out one time, you know, so it's, it is something that compounds over time, but I would say that people really do, um, People can notice some profound effects, um, in that amount of time, even.

Natalie: 24:27

okay. Okay. Yeah. And just to go back to my experience too, we've been working on like inner thigh tightness because I have a lot of pelvic pain with endometriosis and. We've been working on releasing those inner thighs as adductors. And I definitely noticed a difference there after, after a couple of visits. So that is something like that. I, I guess I didn't realize prior to having acupuncture that you could work on muscle tightness, so that's just, just an added bonus.

Rachel: 24:59

Yeah. I also think that, uh, uh, the, the other second part I didn't mention about acupuncture is that it kind of works on those, those fascial, those fascial lines that we. Well, we tend to ignore a lot in Western medicine because we just kind of look at the fascia as something that just kind of holds our body together, like a big rubber band around our body, kind of. Um, but what we know about fashion now is that fascia communicates, um, Um, pretty rapidly throughout the entire body. Um, so the fascia that, that wraps around our hand, you know, connects all the way to our organs even cause everything in our bodies covered in fashion. Uh, so, so the other part about that is, um, the acupuncture points when we're using them, it seems so weird that we're using them in a part of the body where we might be like, okay, this is the kidney Meridian. And, you know, maybe it actually is kind of helping the kidney health for an individual person. And, um, what we do know now is. Um, those points, um, absolutely are and can be communicating via the fascia. Um, so that, that's also an interesting piece about acupuncture too, is that, um, you know, releasing those areas, um, Can profoundly affect, you know, other areas of the body. Cause you're talking about the adductors and you know, what I've noticed is releasing the adductors can have such a profound effect even, um, on the uterus and some of those other lower, um, areas, uh, Uh, lower Oregon areas. So that's another interesting piece about it too, that we can kind of treat those areas, but we don't have to treat it. Um, so invasively with the acupuncture, you know, we can, we can definitely work on those kinds of distal points. And we know now that it's, it's working through the fascia.

Natalie: 27:12

That is so fascinating. I'm totally nerding out over here. I love fascia. It's it's like the secret piece to movement and bodies. I think that it is ignored a lot of times in Western medicine and, and we need to pay attention to the fascia a lot more.

Rachel: 27:30

Yeah, because we know it has communication cells in it it's a live cell that, so we used to think that the fascia was just like this rubbery material that didn't do much, you know, it just seemed like the Lunken the body, but it's actually a smart piece in our body that has a lot of, um, it's, it's a smart piece in our body. That's communicating.

Natalie: 27:52

Yeah. Yeah. And I've heard it said, you know, that fascia holds emotion too. Right. When we, when we tend to guard. So say we have pain in our stomach all the time from anxiety, from GI distress, from something like that, we're guarding our stomach. We're tightening down. We're holding that and we feel embarrassed or concerned or worried about the pain. We may have to run to the bathroom or things like that. So those patterns of holding the guarding can then. Dispersed throughout the body. And we may end up with altered movement patterns when we're walking or things like that. So, um, yeah, that's just so, so interesting.

Rachel: 28:37

it is. And that's why, I mean, I mean, I, I also, you know, I've, I've spent a little bit of time studying Rolfing too, and I just. Um, Rolfing is it's a piece that I feel kind of entertained intertwines with acupuncture and a lot of ways, um, because of how the acupuncture points are laid out on the body too. So it kind of goes along with the fascia on some of the points, and then a lot of the points go along with, um, just where are our nerve endings kind of run along? You know, those, the trajectory of our, our nerve bundles basically.

Natalie: 29:14

Hmm. Okay. Now I'm, now I'm thinking more. I'm going to go off a little track, something we didn't talk about before, but, um, that's the fascial lines, right? With Rolfing and with acupuncture and movement in general, it's something that we talked about in my, when I talk about breathing with clients and pelvic floor activation, because that deep front line of fashion. And everybody who's listening. You can go look this up on YouTube. It's a real thing. It's not. Woo. Woo. It's. It is, there's a dissection video on a cadaver of the deep front line. So it goes, it goes from your big toes up through your inner thighs, into your pelvic floor, your trans versus, which is that, that corset like muscle that wraps around your core into your diaphragm. Which may sound familiar to you if you've worked on the core breath before all the way up and out through the roof of your mouth. So if you're really trying to get that deep core activation and, and target those, those lines, you can press your toes into the floor. Squeeze your inner thighs, Cagle. You lift your pelvic floor and you breathe out. Like with a, a rounded lip exhale, and that can help you activate all of those deep core muscles better than if you hadn't done those things. So that's just like a real life example that you can feel while you're listening to this and kind of experiment in your own body. But, um,

Rachel: 30:46

That's amazing. That's amazing. There, there is an occupant for point on the big toe that treats also pelvic floor stuff. So that that's so interesting to maintain.

Natalie: 30:57

Well, there you go.

Rachel: 30:58

yeah. I didn't even know that piece that you just told me, but, um, so yeah, it's just, um, the fascial piece I think is, is paramount. Um, and we still, you know, we really, I think there's parts about the fascia that we don't know about, but what we do know about it is we definitely know that it has the appropriate reception cells that talk to each other. And that's, that's huge because our whole body is wrapped in fat.

Natalie: 31:26

Yeah. Can you define proprioception cells for

Rachel: 31:29

Yes.

Natalie: 31:30

not know?

Rachel: 31:31

So proprioception cells kind of tell us where we are in space. So for standing up our body is really smart when we say. Those proprioception sales connect. They, they communicate with our heart to tell our heart, Hey, we're standing up now. So now, you know, you might have to pump a little bit harder to get that blood flow, to get to the brain where when you're laying down your heart, doesn't have to work as hard. And so those proprioception cells tell your heart, Hey, let's, you know, so it's, it's communicating with, with a lot of the different organs in our body, and that's just one example.

Natalie: 32:08

Yeah, that's a great example. I like that one. Do you find, do you find that with acupuncture treatments after, after you've done several treatments that people have better body awareness?

Rachel: 32:20

Yes. Yes. Definitely. People do have better body awareness and people start to notice, um, when they need like a certain point on their body. Or they might notice when I've put a certain point on, um, you know, a point on their body where they're like, oh, I really can tell that I needed that point today. And you start gaining that awareness over a few different treatments. You know, like I said, maybe three, three to five treatments. You start gaining that awareness about your body.

Natalie: 32:50

that's awesome. I love the body. It's so cool. It always knows what it needs to. We just have to get out of our head. Right. And, and understand. Yeah. So going back to, you know, if somebody hasn't had acupuncture and maybe they have a fear of needles, but they really have heard the benefits and they want to try it out. Do you have options that are maybe, maybe like not needles that you could start with with somebody like.

Rachel: 33:20

Yes, I have, um, I have non needle treatments. So I have, um, a little stimulator machine that kind of stimulates the points just by touching them. Um, I also do ear seats for people. Uh, the other thing that I also do is, uh, when I treat children, um, I use a different type of needle that is a lot less invasive. Most people don't really feel it. I would say acupuncture in general, just like you were saying earlier, most of the points, you're not really feeling that much. And some of them, you might feel a little bit more kind of like a mosquito bite or, you know, maybe even a beasting. I want to be really honest. Like some of them might, you might feel them a little bit more. But, uh, with, with the pediatric needles, um, you pretty much don't really feel them. Um, and so that's, that's a good way to kind of introduce people that are really needle-phobic, um, to actually getting the acupuncture, but maybe, you know, not getting it so that it's, um, it's kind of that in-between failing, um, where, you know, I'm still using a needle, but it's, it's definitely the very smallest needle that we have available.

Natalie: 34:41

okay. Okay. That seems a lot less daunting. Definitely. Just start with.

Rachel: 34:47

Yeah. And then also I like to start off, you know, using a lot less points and meeting people where they're at. So if that's, if that's where you're at, you know, I definitely want to make sure that you feel comfortable with what I'm doing and, you know, introduce it to you in a way that's good for you for each person.

Natalie: 35:10

right. And it just makes sense to me that if somebody is more comfortable with what is being done to them, right. And they're, they're allowing to be done to them, then the results probably will be quicker.

Rachel: 35:22

Yeah. Yeah, I think it, it, it boils down to getting out of that fight or flight. So if somebody is really super needle-phobic, you know, I want to make sure that you're not scared during the treatment because you know, that's going against what, what we really, really want. So. You know, I'm going to find ways for you to be as comfortable as you can. Um, yeah.

Natalie: 35:47

Awesome. Awesome. So, You have a special interest in, in pain and training pain, but you also have this whole other women's health side to you. Um, so if you don't mind sharing, what, what kind of led you to pursue that, that women's health side of, of treatment?

Rachel: 36:05

So the women's health side of the treatment definitely. You know, I've had some, some women's health issues of my own, definitely some painful periods and, and, um, some other things that I've personally went through with women's health and also, um, a lot of women are attracted to acupuncture. And as a result, I've seen a lot of women for, for women's health. And so, um, just seen a lot of really great results, um, with the acupuncture and, um, women coming and seeing me for different things like endometriosis pain. Um, that's a big, huge one that people see me for. Um, and so seeing people's quality of life get better as a result of the acupuncture, getting people, you know, less pain, um, And getting people feeling a lot better. Um, definitely piqued my interest a lot more with, with women's health in general.

Natalie: 37:14

I think that's, uh, the case for a lot of us who are in the women's health field, we've experienced something negative and decided to do something about it. Yeah.

Rachel: 37:23

Yeah. And then when I, you know, like not saying, you know, I'm, I've worked in a hospital for many, many years and I'm not against Western medicine at all, but my own personal OB, um, really just recommended ibuprofen for the pain that I was going through. And that was, that was difficult for me because for one, I don't like taking a lot of medications and. And two, it didn't help me that much. So it was really just like you have these issues and here's our answer. Our answer is, you know, you can take ibuprofen or you can take birth control pills. And that was really the only answer they gave me. And, um, I'm getting acupuncture for my own issues and it helped me so much. It actually helped my pain decreased. It helped my overall feeling of wellbeing and gave me more control over not having to take an ibuprofen, um, for the entire length of my period, because I was in pain. Um, Without having any other suggestions from my Western medical doctor, you know, so, um, and I know that's kind of changing too. I think a lot more Western medical doctors are thinking about, you know, sending women to pelvic floor specialists and sending women to acupuncture and chiropractic care and. Other ways of not just saying here, you know, it take some pain medication and, um, birth control pills. Um, now, so not, and I'm not saying I'm just saying that it just feels really limited for women sometimes, um, when it comes to our health. And so

Natalie: 39:12

Yeah.

Rachel: 39:12

nice to have something else to, to have.

Natalie: 39:18

Yeah, definitely. I think it's unfortunate, but true. That a lot of times we're just offered band-aid solutions for. Issues that have a root cause that maybe isn't as studied as well. Like in, in women's health. I see that so much and, and clients come to me and they say, you know, I have pain with sex. And my doctor told me to drink a glass of wine and just, you know, try to relax. And that is since when has getting drunk Ben and, uh, medical, medical advice from a provider, you know, that is that it's like absolutely ridiculous. So in, in kind of taking the layers away and looking at the, the root cause. As you said, it gives you control over your health a little bit more. You have more options. And when you know more, you, you can do more. Education is power, right? That's like one of the things I like to say, because if we, if we know that there are other options, we can, we can use them in and see if we can take, take more control over our health in general.

Rachel: 40:22

Absolutely.

Natalie: 40:24

So, um, okay, so we're kind of getting down to more of the practical things here, as far as just, just what would you say. What would you give someone like if they want to do more research and they want to improve their wellness through Chinese medicine and acupuncture specifically, are there any resources that you recommend for looking things up for our researchers or, um, books to read things like that?

Rachel: 40:54

Yeah. So I think a good starting point is, um, a book called the web that has no Weaver. Um, it's it's by Ted Kaptchuk and. It, it, it talks more about the Chinese medicine aspect of it, um, which I could really, you know, nerd out about how you can correlate the. You know, Asian medicine and the Western medicine and how they overlap. But this book talks about how Chinese medicine helps to, um, regulate. And it also talks about the patterns that I was talking about earlier, how I really like to get to know each individual person, because we all fall into different patterns. And so it really dives deep into the pattern piece. And it kind of gives you a little more information about how, um, How, you know, just how we all fall into patterns and it's, it's not good or bad. It's just is, and it kind of just talks about how, uh, um, how we can kind of regulate those patterns or put those patterns into balance a little bit more.

Natalie: 42:04

okay. Okay. And I will link that in the description of the recording so everybody can, can find that book online. Um, okay. What is your, this is one of my favorite questions. What is your number one piece of advice for everyone listening? What do you want everybody?

Rachel: 42:23

Um, my number one piece of advice is, um, to listen to your body a little bit more, you know, I think sometimes it's easy. I'm one of those people that loves research. I lived to. Talk to a lot of people and know a lot of stuff about things, especially when they're going on with my body. But I think sometimes it's good to come back to your own center and whatever that looks like for you, you know, go for a nature, walk, whatever it is, um, to come back to yourself and kind of, listen, listen, try to listen to your body, listen to your intuition a little bit about, uh, What your body's doing what it's saying to you, you know, um, I think when we have symptoms, that's your body telling you something. And sometimes it's easy to just really go outside of ourselves all the time, which is, which is, there's nothing wrong with that either. But, you know, coming back to yourself and kind of listening to what feels right for you. That's my biggest piece of advice.

Natalie: 43:29

I love that. I love it. And that really, that really ties into what we tell pregnant clients too, when they're in labor, when they're, when they're first-time moms, right? Like listen to your body, you don't necessarily have to do all of the, all of the things or listen to other people telling you what's happening. Your body knows what to do and how to birth the baby. So going back to that center, right, and, and just flowing with what your body needs in that moment. Yeah. In all stages of life. I just thought about that one specifically for, for women in labor. Um, okay then my, my almost last question for you is what is your favorite wellness habit that you yourself incorporate into your daily?

Rachel: 44:18

My favorite wellness habit that I incorporate every day in life. It's really simple. Um, I, I just try to drink a lot of water. Um, and I also just try to be mindful throughout the day to come back to, to here and now I think, you know, we're all different. I tend to either think about things in the past, or I worry about things that are going to happen in the future. You know, like I think it's easy to be in that monkey brain, state of mind. So, um, taking time every day to come back to here and now what's happening now and appreciating, um, the things that we can appreciate that's going on just right now. Um, So that's, um, that's my wellness advice, you know, w life can get crazy and, and, and yeah. Center yourself and find, find things to be grateful for where you all can find something to be grateful for.

Natalie: 45:29

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And, and remaining present. It life it's so crazy. It's, it's a lot more, more challenging than that. It sounds so. Um, okay. So to wrap up, um, you're in Alaska, but you're also online, so you're everywhere. Um, so where can listeners find you on online? And if you have any specific offerings that you're doing right now, uh, talk, talk about some of those.

Rachel: 46:01

Yeah. So right now you can find me@akorthomassage.com. That's where you can currently book a treatment with me and I I'm currently offering, um, I just did an event, um, this. Past week and I was offering, um, people to that event and to your listeners, um, for an initial acupuncture treatment and, um, visit, um, for$60. And that, that includes, um, your initial appointment. And then it's kind of an introductory treatment that kind of, especially if you've never had acupuncture, that first treatment is, is more, um, you know, Getting to know how that feels for you.

Natalie: 46:52

Okay. That's an amazing deal. That's awesome.

Rachel: 46:54

Yeah. Yeah.

Natalie: 46:56

great. Okay. Okay. Um, and so I will link all of that and, and so people can book, if somebody is not local, are they able to do like a, like a consult with you at all? Is that something that you offer?

Rachel: 47:11

That's not something I offer right now, but, um, that is something I will be offering in the future.

Natalie: 47:18

okay. Okay. So stay tuned, everyone. Who's not local. Cool. Cool. And we will, we will make sure that you are, you were well linked in the description so that everybody can find you and send you a questions if you know, if they have any questions after that. So, anything else, anything else that you'd like to say to wrap up?

Rachel: 47:42

Um, no, not, not that I can really think of. Um,

Natalie: 47:48

we covered a lot.

Rachel: 47:49

Yeah. Yeah. When I just think, uh, you know, when it's pertaining to women's health. Yeah. You know, I think as women, we are our best advocates. When it, I think just as people, we were our best advocates for our health. But especially as women, you know, like you said, like I was kind of circling back earlier with our doctors who. You know, kind of want to brush off a lot of our pain, you know, definitely listen to listen to your body, listen to your intuition. You know, if it feels like more, get another opinion, um, or, you know, find other ways like acupuncture to help with your pain or other types of holistic medicine and find different ways to have, you know, different tools in your toolbox.

Natalie: 48:38

I think that's so important advocacy for yourself. Yeah. That's huge. That's huge. Well, Rachel, thank you so much for being here today and having this conversation with me. I, I learned a lot, um, and I think our listeners will learn a lot as well and really appreciate.

Rachel: 48:54

Well, thank you. Thank you so much for having me, Natalie.

Natalie: 48:57

Absolutely. We will chat soon. Okay. Bye. Bye.