Three Common Types of Menstrual Cramps

Dear Reader,

Chances are, if you’re a woman, you’ve suffered from muscle cramps while on your period more times than you’d like. How do I know this? #1) I’m a woman and I have had firsthand experience suffering from them and #2) research is showing that every month up to 50 percent of women are dealing with this problem.


That’s bad.  Really bad.


What drives me absolutely bonkers is that the only “solution” we’re told there is out there is pain medications or birth control pills. What a joke!  Since when did we accept this as the only solution? Since when did we start blindly believing that there is nothing else we can do for our menstrual cramps?


Well, it’s time to change all of that. Starting now.


I’m going to share with you the “Three Common Types of Cramps” and the specific solution to each. At the end, I also have two important to questions to ask you.


Let’s get started. continue reading »

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Moving your Body after Travel

Traveling by plane is hard on your body. There is a whole lot of sitting in a tiny space. You are way up in the earth’s atmosphere traveling at a ridiculous speed and it feels like your spine and brain are being compressed and your body fluid is being evaporated!! I always feel like my body stops working properly after I’ve been on a plane, my muscles and joints are achy and stiff, I have an endless hunger combined with slowed digestion and feel super dehydrated. What you want to do after a flight, or sitting for long periods of time, is move in the opposite direction that you have been sitting in. Below, I will be guiding you through these movements in pictures. Use these poses daily, even if you weren’t just on a plane. Sitting in general makes our body move more towards sickness and less towards health, so keep your momentum positioned towards health…no pun intended.


Child’s Pose:Kneel on the floor. Touch your big toes together, sit on your heals, then separate your knees about as wide as your hips. With each breath, try to sink deeper into this relaxed position. Hold for 1 – 3 minutes. This is a great position to release your hips and stretch your entire spine before moving into other poses. IMG_20150202_164521998
Cow Pose: 

Start with a table top pose (all fours), position wrists under shoulders and knees underneath hips. Drop your belly, keeping abdominal muscles hugging your spine. Gaze up toward the ceiling.

Repeat the cat-cow pose on each inhale and exhale, matching the movement to your own breath.

Continue for 5-10 breathes.

Cat Pose: 

Round your spine, drop your head, and gaze toward your navel.

The cow and cat pose are AMAZING to reboot your digestive organs and wake your spine and brain up after long hours of sitting.


Upward Dog:

Begin lying face down on your mat with toes pointing away from your body. Place your hands, palm side down, next to your shoulders. Pressing your palms into the floor, straighten your arms and lift your torso, keeping your arms tight to your sides. This movement opens your chest and strengthens your arms and shoulders, taking pressure off of your neck and spine.  IMG_20150202_164837891
 Thread the Needle: 

On your hands and knees in Table pose, slide the right hand between the left hand and left knee. Slide the arm all the way out to the left so that the right shoulder and side of the head rest comfortably on the floor.   Breath and hold for 3-6 seconds release and repeat on opposite side. This is great for stretching out your shoulders and activating your spine after long periods of sitting.



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Your Stomach is More Important Than You Think!

The stomach is a simple organ from both the Western and Eastern medical perspectives. Even though it has a simple task, if it isn’t able to accomplish this task, huge problems can and will result.

Western medicine classifies the stomach as a muscular organ, located towards the left of the upper abdomen. The stomach’s job is to break down food by secreting acids and creating a muscular pulse that ensures the food is broken down evenly. Imagine using a food processor to break down big pieces of carrot into tiny little chopped pieces; this is what the stomach does but with the use of acid and digestive enzymes verses the food process blades.

Chinese medicine classifies the stomach as the Governor of intake and decomposition. To put in simple terms, the stomach is in charge of your appetite, breaking down food and moving it into the small intestine, effortlessly. When your stomach is working properly, you really do not think about your stomach much.

Stomach function can break down over time due to many factors such as poor eating, stress, lack of exercise and physical trauma (car accidents, falls, and surgeries), etc. When the stomach is weak there can be fullness and distention in the stomach duct and abdomen, sluggish or inactive appetite, rapid hungering, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, belching, heart burn and acne around the mouth.

Food is an amazing ‘medicine’ that is continually at our fingertips. A few powerful foods to help heal the stomach are cabbage and kale, which in fact, are great for reducing inflammation and treating both stomach and duodenal ulcers. Celery and cucumber are both cooling in nature and bring lots of moisture into the body to combat inflammation. Shitake mushrooms are used to prevent and heal the stomach of cancer and ginger is an antiviral, anti-inflammatory and anti-nausea piece of gold! Increase your intake of these vegetables if you tend to have stomach problems.

Again, if your stomach function is weak on a consistent basis, you can eat all the health food you want and exercise your booty off but it won’t re-boot your Stomach’s function. The best way to re-boot your Stomach or any organ is to have Acupuncture by a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac). Acupuncture is the use of tiny little ‘needles’ that are placed into a specific location on your body. Once the needle is inserted into the skin, it wakes up the nerve which sends a message to your brain to heal a specific part of your body. It is a simple, non-invasive form of healing that actually fixes your body.

Found this interesting? Share it with your friends and family!

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What you can’t see can affect your health

Many people go throughout their entire lives not understanding or realizing how big of a deal their organs are. The first medical-acupuncture textbook, written 4,600 years ago, details how the organs control different parts of the body. If your organs are strong, your body will be strong. If your organs are weak, your body will be weak and susceptible to disease and illness.
The intent of my monthly blog is to highlight a different organ and educate you on the function of each. After reading the articles, you will have a better understanding in determining if your organs are strong or weak and learn ways to make changes for the better. This month, let’s begin with the spleen and pancreas.
The spleen and pancreas are two separate organs but were considered the same organ by ancient Chinese doctors and are simply referred to as the Spleen.
Western medicine classifies the spleen as an immune organ that stores white blood cells and platelets (clots blood), kills bacteria that cause pneumonia and meningitis and filters blood before sending it to the liver to be filtered again. The pancreas releases ‘juices’ into the stomach to help break down food and to turn it into energy and releases hormones to keep your blood sugar level. If your blood sugar is too high, tissues, nerves and organs are damaged. When blood sugar is too low it can cause dementia, comas or death.
Chinese medicine classifies the Spleen as being in charge of movement and transformation of grain and water and because of this, the Spleen is the source of blood creation. Really what this means is that the Spleen is in charge of breaking food down into nutrients that our cells, tissues and organs need to be strong. These nutrients find their way to your cells, tissues and organs via the blood. If you are eating proper foods and your spleen is able to break down your foods properly, you will create nutrient dense blood and strong cells, tissues and organs.
A weak spleen will lead to little or no appetite with a bland, sweet or slimy taste in the mouth. Bleeding can occur in the form of petechiae (small dots of bleeding under the skin), purpura (big flat patches of bleeding under the skin), inability to clot and flooding or spotting of menses. Accumulation of fluids can occur that creates impaired movement of limbs, edema and phlegm.
One of the easiest ways to tell if the Spleen is healthy or sick is to look at your tongue. If you have a swollen tongue, your Spleen is weak. If your tongue is swollen AND pale, you are deficient in nutrients.
If your Spleen function is weak, you can eat all of the health food you want and exercise your booty off but it won’t re-boot your Spleen’s function. The best way to re-boot your Spleen or any organ is to have Acupuncture by a Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac). Acupuncture is the use of tiny little ‘needles’ that are placed into a specific location on your body. Once the needle is inserted into the skin, it wakes up the nerve which sends a message to your brain to heal a specific part of your body. It is a simple, non-invasive form of healing that actually fixes your body.
The number of acupuncture treatments needed to reverse the organ damage depends on how long it was left untreated. The longer the damage or pain was allowed to go on, the more treatments required. Similar to car repair – if the ‘check engine’ light has been on for months, the damage may have continued to the point where the repair will cost you much more than if you had it checked out immediately when the light first appeared.
Paying attention to pain and seeking immediate intervention/consultation is a better option than waiting it out to see if it gets better. In the long run, your body will thank you be being a “finely tuned engine”. It’s all about your health!

Please share this article with family or friends who would benefit from this information.

Until next month!

Shana Grams L.Ac

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Acupuncture to Stop Smoking

5 Facts to know when using Acupuncture to quit smoking:


1. Acupuncture is very effective to help stop smoking.

2. There is a “stop smoking” acupuncture point.


4. There are simple acupressure techniques to cope with cravings.

5. The Third Thursday in November is the Great American Smokeout.
The American Cancer Society has designated the third Thursday of November (November 21, 2013) as the Great American Smokeout. This is a day to quit smoking—for good. If you have “thought” about quitting, the Great American Smokeout is a great day to actually do it.
I am available to help you quit. Call me before the Smokeout and we’ll make a “Quit Smoking” treatment plan so you can quit with as little discomfort as possible.

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