By admin on July 7, 2010
Happy summer everyone! Sometimes doctors can bombard us with medical terms and acronyms to the point of utter confusion. Luckily Sages’ Healing Center is here to answer all of your questions and to act as interpreter for all those lab tests you have had run over the years. Today we would like to help you understand cholesterol and why your body needs it to survive.
Is Cholesterol Really Bad For You?
The idea that cholesterol causes heart disease, while popular, is not compatible with human life. Cholesterol is essential to your health and survival. Continue reading “Is Cholesterol Really Bad For You?”
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged acupuncture, Cholesterol, Health, naturopathic, Prescott
By admin on June 8, 2010
Happy June from Sages’ Healing Center!! We have officially declared June to be “Hydrotherapy Month” – a month to utilize water as a powerful, health producing therapy. As the summer heat beats down upon us, it is essential to make sure you are drinking enough water. What you may not know is that water can also be used externally in a variety of methods to help to reduce inflammation, clear toxins from your body, and even boost your immune system.
Interested in learning more about hydrotherapy? This Saturday, June 12th, Dr. Kathryn Sage will be giving a lecture entitled, “Hydrotherapy: Harnessing the Healing Power of Water”, at One Root Tea and Herbothcary (500 W. Gurley in Prescott). The lecture will start at 9:00am and will go over many of the basic tenants of hydrotherapy, as well as give you some easy, at-home hydrotherapy treatments for the entire family.
For now, here is one of our favorite hydrotherapy treatments that we share with many of our patients:
Hydrotherapy treatment #1
This is an easy hydrotherapy treatment that you and your family can do everyday in the shower. It will wake you up, improve your mood and give you more energy. The treatment also helps boost your immune system so you may notice over time that you will get less sick or not sick at all with the “nasty bug” everybody else is catching.
This most basic and tonifying hydrotherapy treatment uses alternating hot and cold in the shower. When you use hot water on your skin, blood is drawn towards the smaller vessels closer to the skin, thus the reason you turn red/pink. When it does this, it brings with it nutrients and oxygen to feed tissues that often time don’t get as much fresh blood. When you use cold, the blood gets pulled back towards the center and out of the small vessels, the reason you turn white. When the blood is drawn back in, it brings toxins and wastes with it to be disposed of by the liver.
Ideally it is best to do two minutes of hot water all over your body and then thirty seconds of cold (as cold as you can stand it) all over your body. If possible, try to do this a total of 3 times in the shower. As I know I am asking a lot, better than nothing is to always end your shower in cold water for 30 seconds. You may find that it brings more energy and vitality to your day.
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged Hydrotherapy, naturopathic, Prescott, sages
By admin on April 26, 2010
Now that the weather is getting warmer, how do we keep our bodies healthy as we resume our exercise routines? And keep from getting injured?
The sun is finally shining and our bodies are ready to get out and play in the sunshine. Before you embark on day-long hikes, spend the weekend out gardening, or begin an aggressive exercise regimen to lose that winter weight, you should realize that your body may not be ready to jump right into all of the fun. Instead, it is important gradually work into your summertime movement routines. Here are some helpful tips to get you started:
1). Before working out, the best way to get your muscles warmed up is by going on a walk. Get outside and walk for 10-15 minutes, gradually working the pace. Stretching before exercise can be dangerous when done on cold muscles; instead stretch at the end to keep your muscles from getting sore or even seizing up.
2). Don’t try to climb Granite Mountain (or any other mountain) as your first hike of the spring. Instead stick to an easy to moderate hike, one that lasts 1-2 hours max, and enjoy it! Give your body a chance to just move, be outside, relish in the sun rather than working really hard to get to the top. If you get tired along the way, take a rest. It is not worth pushing yourself because it increases the chance of injury. There is plenty of time to work up to the more strenuous hikes later in the season.
3). Don’t be a “weekend warrior”. These are the people that only move their bodies on the weekends and sit for the rest of the week at work. Instead, try to fit in short walks or other aerobic exercise during the week so you don’t overdo it on the weekends. Weekend warrior injuries are especially common for people who garden: lifting, bending over, and digging can all cause injuries if your body is not used to that sort of movement.
Springtime is a time of transition: let us let our bodies transition too. Listen to it and be cautious to not over do it so when summer comes, we can take full advantage of all of the amazing outdoor activities the season has to offer.
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged acupuncture, naturopathic, Sage, Weekend Warrior
By admin on April 6, 2010
Greetings from Sages’ Healing Center. Since spring is in the air, a fact well known by those with seasonal allergies, we have decided to post a follow-up to last month’s springtime allergies article. What’s the point of knowing about allergies, if you don’t know how to treat them. One of our favorite herbs for allergies is the nettle plant.
Stinging nettle, Uritica Dioica, grows along roadsides and in the forests almost throughout the US and Canada. It is best known for its ability to “sting” you with its prickers, causing an uncomfortable urticaria or itchy rash that may last up to 12 hours. Although not a commonly known herb now, nettles have a rich history of medicinal uses and its leaves and roots have been used for everything including bladder issues, allergies and even hair re-growth. Continue reading “Can Nettles Help My Allergy Symptoms?”
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged acupuncture, Allergies, Natural, naturopathic, Nettles, Prescott
By admin on March 2, 2010
March has begun and spring is around the corner. Most of us look forward the warmer days and blooming flowers, but for the seasonal allergy sufferer, spring can be a nightmare. Allergies do not have to control of your life, there are solutions. At Sages’ Healing Center, we offer a unique blend of Naturopathic and Acupuncture treatments to help you get through this allergy season and avoid reactions to mother nature in the future. Call us today with all of your allergy questions: 458-6748. Happy spring-time!
Why do I get seasonal allergies?
Seasonal allergies, also known as allergic rhinitis or hayfever, are your body’s annoying and inappropriate immune response to something that it thinks is troublesome, even though it is not. What happens is that the first time you are exposed to something like pollen, your body may decide that the pollen is dangerous (like a bacteria) and will begin to make specific antibodies to the pollen. The second time you are exposed to that same pollen, those antibodies will cause an allergic reaction – they attach to a certain cell called a mast cell, causing it release histamine, thus creating sneezing, nasal itching, runny nose, and itchy eyes. As those of you suffering from this condition know, this immune response continues until the season is over.
More than 20% of the U.S. population suffers from seasonal allergies even though this is a condition that can be successfully treated with naturopathic and East Asian medicines. Continue reading “Why do I get seasonal allergies?”
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged acupuncture, Allergies, Arizona, naturopathic, Prescott
By admin on February 9, 2010
Do You Know What Your Blood Pressure Is? If so, did your doctor ever explain to you what your blood pressure means and how it may impact your life?
Blood pressure is the force of your blood pushing against artery walls as your heart pumps it through your entire body. You might be saying to yourself, “that’s nice, but what does that mean for my health?” As you can imagine, if your blood pressure is consistently high your blood vessels have to compensate by thickening themselves to withstand the strain. This thickening of the wall forces the heart to beat with more intensity in order to get the blood through the arteries. Over time, this can wear down your heart, your vessels and even organs. Sustained high blood pressure, also called hypertension, is linked to heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and kidney failure. Continue reading “Do You Have Hypertension?”
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged Hypertension, naturopathic medicine
By admin on December 29, 2009
Happy New Year from Sages’ Healing Center!
We can already tell that 2010 is going to be great. We are starting the New Year with a Grand Opening Celebration, and you all are invited. Please come on January 14th to our open house, located at 1101 E. Gurley St. in Prescott, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. The official ribbon cutting will be at 4pm, followed by hors d’oeuvres and light refreshments. This is a great opportunity to meet us, Kathryn Sage, ND and Damon Sage, L.Ac., as well as see our clinic and learn more about our approach towards health.
The New Year brings us all new opportunities for growth and fresh beginnings. Perhaps you have already decided on a New Year’s Resolution or even less formally, have a plan to get healthier, eat better, exercise more. We at Sages’ Healing Center would like to challenge you to be successful this year with your health goals. Here are a few tips to help you gain the health that you desire:
1). Instead of starting your resolution/plan on January 1st, push it back to another date, like January 15th. This reduces the stress of starting your resolution on a holiday, with everyone around you still in the holiday mode. It also gives you a chance to lay out a plan, with specific goal dates, support systems, tools, etc. We find that persons are more successful meeting their resolutions when they have a concrete plan.
Continue reading “Happy 2010 from Sages’ Healing Center!”
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged Health, naturopathic, New Year, Resolution
By admin on November 30, 2009
Happy Holidays from Sages’ Healing Center!
For those of you who have yet to visit, the clinic is up and running and looks beautiful. If you live in the Prescott area, feel free to drop in for a cup of tea and to meet Damon & Kathryn.
As winter is beginning to settle in here in Northern Arizona, it’s time to start thinking about how to stay healthy throughout the cold season. The common cold is no fun – sneezing, achy body, feeling miserable – who wants it! Even though the cold is not a major illness, it still is enough to make you feel yucky for a few days, maybe even causing you to miss work. So let us all avoid getting the common cold this year by following some easy prevention tips.
1. Good Hygiene: A very common method for transmitting the common cold is by shaking hands or touching surfaces that contain the virus. So an easy way to avoid getting the cold is by washing your hands. Ordinary soap works best – antibacterial soaps add little protection as most of the time the cold is transmitted by a virus.
2. Healthy Diet: Eating a diet rich in nutrients and antioxidants will help to keep your immune system strong and better prepared to ward off colds. Include foods such as dark colored vegetables and fruits in your diet daily. Also, be sure to add lots of colorful and warming spices, like turmeric, cayenne, garlic, and ginger (especially fresh garlic and ginger).
3. Low Stress and Active Social Life: Studies show that people who are more active in the winter and have an active social life are much less likely to get sick. Therefore, don’t let the cold and flu season keep you inside – get outside and have some fun.
4. Vitamins: It has actually now been proven that the only ones who benefit from extra vitamin C in the winter are children: it decreases their chance for getting ill with its antioxidant power. It will still help adults though if they are starting to come down with something, it just doesn’t help prevent sickness. Vitamin D may be a good addition and will boost your immune system, especially if you are deficient.
5. Hydrotherapy: A fun and easy tip to improve your chance of avoiding colds and flu during this season: end all of your showers in cool water. I say fun because it is suppose to be cold enough to make you sing ☺. Rinsing your body for 30 seconds every day in cold water not only boosts your immune system, it also gives you increased energy and vitality.
If you would like more tips to keep you healthy this season, visit our website at: www.sageshealingcenter.com or make an appointment with us for more personalized ideas.
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged acupuncture, Common Cold, Naturopathy, Prescott, Sages' Healing Center
By admin on October 26, 2009
Happy almost-Halloween! Sages’ Healing Center is really taking shape and we will be ready to open our doors to new patients Monday, November 16th! Please feel free to stop by or give us a call for your initial consultation. Mention the following coupon for extra savings:
Coupon
If you are unable to stop by, please feel free to follow the happenings at Sages’ Healing Center on Facebook. Just search for us and become a fan.
Because Halloween is just around the corner, here is a little information and a ghoulishly delicious recipe using your favorite vampire repellent.
Continue reading “Sage Advice: Garlic will keep you healthy and safe this Halloween”
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged acupuncture, garlic, naturopathic, Prescott, Sages' Healing Center
By admin on October 7, 2009
October is breast cancer month – a time to attend activities that focus on the importance of finding a cure. My personal belief is that it would be great to find the cure for breast cancer, but ultimately it is a better goal to help my patients prevent breast cancer in the first place.
Breast cancer is devastating, without a doubt. Some things, like your race or family history, automatically put you at increased risk for breast cancer. I believe however, that even if you do or do not have these increased risk factors, there are many things you can do NOW to try to avoid getting breast cancer yourself:
Continue reading “Breast Cancer Month: A time to focus on prevention”
Posted in Newsletter | Tagged breast cancer, naturopathic medicine, October, prevention
