by admin | Dec 20, 2013 | Art, Community
My abstract paintings are an emotive exploration discovered through a stream-of-consciousness process. I begin with an urge to paint a certain color or draw a particular shape. By adding layers of oil pigmented wax with pastels, fabric, twine, and paper, the surface becomes thick and textured. I impulsively rotate the panel’s orientation, allowing wax drips to mark each direction. Scraping the wax, I incise strong gestural marks, expose previous layers of color, and remove fused 3-dimensional objects leaving behind their imprints.
I am typically not present to the full nature of emotion I reveal during the actual process, as I work through intuition and less through critical approach. Whichever emotions I am describing, I am guided by a desire to create a painting which feels complete and balanced through form, line, movement, and color. This desire during the painting process reflects a typically human quest to experience balance and completeness in life.
Incised lines, dripped wax, and traces of removed objects and layers underneath create a sense of emotional depth, history, and essence of time. The act of building and removing wax and objects parallels the experience of adding and subtracting in life- people, possessions, personality traits, and habits. Thus my paintings, revealed through a subconscious process, are a visual representation of my emotional history.
My figurative paintings and sculpture are often displayed in conjunction with my abstract as poetic installation. The dramatically emotive black and white palette of my figurative work is melodiously juxtaposed next to my chromatic abstracts.
Gunsorek studied painting at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and in Rome, Italy. She currently lives in Columbus, Ohio. See more art: http://megangunsorek.com
by admin | Dec 20, 2013 | Acupuncture
We don’t need to tell you all the reasons why you should quit…but we will if you want us to! When you are ready, we would be happy to help you through this process with acupuncture and our full moral support. It is hard, and you have to be mentally ready.
You should plan on getting acupuncture on the first day of quitting, day 3, 7 and 14. We see the best results with this frequency. Don’t smoke 12 hours prior to the first visit, so that you really want to smoke by that point. We can help with the physiological addiction, and help your body not miss the loss of nicotine. We can help calm down your mind, so that you aren’t obsessing about it. We can help make it smell and taste terrible. By heightening the olfactory system, it will smell closer to the way that non-smokers smell it. We also tonify and strengthen your lungs, to help your body begin healing sooner.
Our advice to help you be successful:
Triggers: Make sure you have taken the time to identify what your triggers are. Are there certain times of the day that you want to smoke? If so, think about new things to do during that time to keep your mind occupied. Do you enjoy smoking with certain drinks (coffee, alcohol) and specific friends? Do you enjoy smoking on your work break, first thing in the morning, in the car, or late at night? Figure out when the urge comes on the strongest, so that you can avoid those situations or find new routines while you are trying to break this habit.
Throw away your cigarettes! If you come in for treatments, we can help you with your cravings. But if you come back home and there they are, staring at you, it’s way too tempting to light one up. You are setting yourself up for failure. Throw away ash trays! Why hold on to something you don’t plan on using anymore? You have to get rid of things that remind you of this old, bad friend.
Fill your fridge with healthy crunchy snacks. Part of the enjoyment of smoking is having something in your mouth. We don’t recommend smoking the carrots, but snacking on some healthy stuff will help you not gain weight and keep the oral cravings lower.
Exercise! There is nothing like feeling the damage of smoking as you gasp for breath on the treadmill as a blatant reminder of why you don’t want to start again. It will feel great as your lungs get healthier and you feel your stamina increase. It is a way to keep yourself occupied as well, to fill that time you used to spend smoking. If you feel bad spending the money on a gym or yoga classes, just calculate how much you are saving on those cigarettes.
Best of luck!!! (this was written by one of us who knows this struggle well)
by admin | Dec 19, 2013 | Acupuncture, Moxibustion
As we settle into these shorter, colder days, and longer, darker nights, some of us may be experiencing more fatigue, decreased appetite, food cravings, insomnia, and other depression-symptoms. Some of these symptoms may be transient. Some of them may be related to the hectic holiday season. But for some people, these symptoms are settling in for a while – until more sunlight returns to this hemisphere. If you belong to the latter category, you may be experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD.
It is believed that people who develop SAD are more sensitive to the decreased amount of daylight exposure during the winter months (although people can have SAD throughout the year, especially those who work long hours indoors without much light exposure). The brain tries to adjust to the changes, and as a result creates a biochemical imbalance that brings about changes in hormone productions. For instance, the production of melatonin, a hormone that relates to sleep cycles, increases during darker days. Hence, people affected by SAD tend to want to sleep more, and feel more tired than usual during the winter months.
Light Therapy
Light therapy is the most commonly prescribed treatment for SAD. It is also highly recommended that people with SAD spend as much time as possible outdoors, and to stay active. Good food and nutrition can help keep the body in balance and healthy. In more severe cases, psychotherapy and medications may be prescribed. But in some cases, the side effects of pharmaceuticals can be more harmful than beneficial.
To help alleviate SAD symptoms, Chinese medical modalities can be effective without any negative side effects. Chinese medicine views everything in terms of Yin and Yang. Yin is dark, cold, and passive while Yang is bright, warm, and energetic. It makes sense, therefore, that people with greater Yin tendencies may suffer more from SAD than people with Yang tendencies.
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Can Increase Yang Energy
Acupuncture and moxibustion therapies can increase the yang energy within the body, and return the body to its optimal state. Acupuncture itself is known to be effective in treating the symptoms general anxiety and depression disorders because it helps release hormones that combat depression, namely, serotonin, noradrenaline and norepinephrine. These are ‘happy’ hormones that will help reduce SAD symptoms, naturally.
by admin | Oct 23, 2013 | Acupuncture, Acupuncturists
How did I end up from a Math degree from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) to a Professional Master’s Level degree in Acupuncture? My children had all flown the coop and were testing their wings (currently in Israel, New York City and San Jose), and I was at a crossroads. After several months of career counseling and trying to find out what color is my parachute, curiosity led me to an open house at the American Institute of Alternative Medicine (AIAM) and the rest ……is history.
I love this medicine. I love that it is a safe modality that empowers each of us to become aware of the healing potential that is within our mind and body and spirit. I love that each potential problem may be resolved in a myriad of ways because the body is so interconnected embryonically, neurologically and vascularly. I love that because of the giving and sharing nature of the acupuncture community, I can learn new ways and insights on how to tackle different disorders. But most of all I love the serene and amazed looks on my/our patients’ faces after having been treated.
I am grateful for the support of my family who encouraged me to pursue my passion and to the teachers of the world who pass on knowledge to avid minds.
Currently, I practice at a chiropractor’s office in Worthington and am an adjunct faculty at AIAM. I am honored to join the Urban Acupuncture team of dedicated practitioners.
by admin | Oct 15, 2013 | Diet
One of the most beautiful aspects of traditional Chinese medicine is as a tool to live harmoniously with the seasons. Ancient Chinese physicians observed the natural cycles of the seasons and recorded the best everyday practices for staying healthy and harmonizing our own energy with that of our environment.
“In the three months of autumn all things in nature reach their full maturity. The grains ripen and harvesting occurs. The heavenly energy cools, as does the weather. The wind begins to stir. This is the changing or pivoting point when the yang, or active, phase turns into its opposite, the yin, or passive, phase. One should retire with the sunset and arise with the dawn. Just as the weather in autumn turns harsh, so does the emotional climate. It is therefore important to remain calm and peaceful, refraining from depression so that one can make the transition to winter smoothly. This is the time to gather one’s spirit and energy, be more focused, and not allow desires to run wild. One must keep the lung energy free full, clean, and quiet. This means practicing breathing exercises to enhance lung Qi. Also, one should refrain from smoking and grief, the emotion of lung. This will prevent the kidney or digestive problems in the winter. If this natural order is violated, damage will occur to the lungs, resulting in diarrhea with undigested food in the winter. This compromises the body’s ability to store in winter.” – Huangdi Neijing Suwen
Eating with the season
In the fall, eat fewer cold, uncooked foods — such as salads — and more warm, cooked foods. Switch from salads to soups and steamed vegetables such as winter squash, winter peas, broccoli, sweet potatoes, and yams. Incorporate yellow and red foods into your meals. Start your day with hot oatmeal.
Here are some more warm and nourishing foods and herbs to add to your fall diet:
- Apple
- Banana
- Beets
- Bell pepper
- Bok choy
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Cinnamon
- Cranberry
- Figs
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Grapes
- Horseradish
- Leeks
- Pears
- Persimmons
- Plums
- Pomegranate
- Pumpkin
- Red cabbage
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Spinach
- Thyme
- Whole grains
- Wild rice
- Winter squash
- Yam
Protecting Your Lung Qi
Lung 7 is one of the most powerful points on the lung meridian points. It is a popular acupuncture point to use for stopping a persistent cough and relieving a sore throat. Besides treating those symptoms, LU 7 is often used to treat conditions related to the head and neck, such as headaches, migraines, stiff neck, facial paralysis, and toothache.
LU 7 is considered to be the “command point” of the head and neck and is also used to improve circulation in the brain and stimulate memory.
This acupuncture point is located above the wrist on the inside of the arm. To find this point, interlock your thumb and index finger of one hand with those of the other, the point lies on the edge of the index finger, in a depression between the sinew and the bone.
Stimulate this point on both hands with the tip of your index finger for approximately 30 seconds or until your cough subsides.
My abstract paintings are an emotive exploration discovered through a stream-of-consciousness process. I begin with an urge to paint a certain color or draw a particular shape. By adding layers of oil pigmented wax with pastels, fabric, twine, and paper, the surface becomes thick and textured. I impulsively rotate the panel’s orientation, allowing wax drips to mark each direction. Scraping the wax, I incise strong gestural marks, expose previous layers of color, and remove fused 3-dimensional objects leaving behind their imprints.
Incised lines, dripped wax, and traces of removed objects and layers underneath create a sense of emotional depth, history, and essence of time. The act of building and removing wax and objects parallels the experience of adding and subtracting in life- people, possessions, personality traits, and habits. Thus my paintings, revealed through a subconscious process, are a visual representation of my emotional history.
