According to the company website, Electro-Meridian Imaging, or EMI, measures the 24 meridian points on the body and automatically enters, graphs, and analyzes those points to help diagnose and treat the patient. Below is a screenshot of an EMI graph.

We utilize the EMI technology here at our office prior to some acupuncture sessions to fully asses the energy flow throughout the body. Follow-up EMI analyses demonstrate how levels are corrected through acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments.

Our post on the Organ Clock, or Horary Points, continues to be our most-visited post! Since there seems to be so much interest in this topic, here is a list of links, all related to the organ clock. Please leave your comments, suggestions for other sites about the organ clock, or suggestions for future posts!

Acupressure for Daylight Savings Time and Jet Lag

7 keys to understanding the Classical Chinese Medicine concept of organs

Horary Clock

Learning how to keep life in balance

The Time of Our Lives

The Ying Qi Cycle

Understanding the Horary Cycle of Healing

Horary Clock / 24 Hour Clock

According to Jin Shin Jyutsu, Inc., the purpose of Jin Shin Jyutsu is to release the tensions that cause various physical symptoms. The body contains energy pathways that feed life into all cells. When one or more of these paths become blocked, the damming effect can lead to discomfort or pain. Jin Shin Jyutsu, like acupuncture and acupressure, reharmonizes and balances the energy flows.

The acronym for remembering the attitudes associated with each finger is “Get rid of Worry FAST.” W is for Worry (thumb), F for Fear (index), A for Anger (middle), S for Sadness (ring), and T for Trying To (little).

For each attitude, there is a “quickie” hold and a longer sequence. The “quickie” hold involves holding one finger with the fingers of the other hand. For example, to hold the left thumb, wrap all four fingers of your right hand around your left thumb. The longer sequence is a combination of fingers that you hold one after the other. For example, the longer sequence for Worry is to hold the thumb, then hold the middle finger, then hold the little finger.

How long should you hold a finger? If you have plenty of time, hold each finger until you feel a pulse arrive in the finger. If a finger is already pulsing strongly when you first touch it, hold the finger until the pulse calms down. Another way to hold the fingers is simply to hold each finger for two or more breaths. You will find this very meditative and relaxing. Holding individual fingers and the finger mudras before falling asleep is an excellent practice.

The ten fingers are said to regulate 14,400 functions within the body. The different ways of holding the fingers influence the body on a variety of levels, but they are all effective. Choose a style that feels most comfortable and satisfying to you.

Worry: The “quickie” is to hold the thumb. The sequence is thumb, middle, little finger.

• Additional benefits: for depression, hate, obsession, anxiety, self-protection, to revitalize physical fatigue, for the back of the head, breathing, and digestive discomforts.

Fear: The “quickie” is to hold the index finger. The sequence is thumb, index, little finger.

• Additional benefits: for timidity, mental confusion, depression, perfectionism, criticism, frustration, digestive issues, elimination, wrist, elbow, and upper arm discomforts.

Anger: The “quickie” is to hold the middle finger. The sequence is little, ring, middle finger.

• Additional benefits: for feeling cowardly, irritable, indecisive, unstable, not alert, overly emotional, general fatigue, eye issues, forehead discomforts.

Sadness/Grief: The “quickie” is to hold the ring finger. The sequence is thumb, index, middle, ring finger.

• Additional benefits: for negative feelings, common sense, excess mucus, breathing, ear discomforts.

Trying To/Pretense (cover-up): The “quickie” is to hold the little finger. The sequence is little, ring finger.

• Additional benefits: for “crying on the inside and laughing on the outside,” feeling insecure, nervous, confused, issues of “why am I here,” calms nerves, aids bloating.

Click the links for the original article and more information about jin shin jyutsu.

Spring is here, and while you are busily engaged in spring-cleaning your home, why not give your body a little spring-cleaning, too?

What is Cleansing?

Cleansing is a dietary practice more commonly known as a detox diet or fast. It is used to promote health and healing by reducing toxic intake and removing toxins from the body. The concept of cleansing has a long history in natural medicine and has been practiced for thousands of years. Many alternative medical practices, including naturopathic, Chinese and ayurvedic medicine, still utilize cleansing as part of their healing traditions. Today, cleansing has become extremely popular, with several detox programs on the market. The wide variety of cleansing programs or detox diets include different combinations of therapeutic components such as cleansing herbs, juice or water fasting, whole-food or raw-food diets, colonic irrigation and hydrotherapy.

What is common across all detoxification programs is that you will eat differently, usually much less, so you can support the elimination of toxins from your body. These programs are usually short-term and emphasize whole, organic, non-genetically-modified foods (especially fruits and vegetables) that provide the vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants the body needs for detoxification. These foods, along with cleansing herbs, teas or juices (depending on the program), support the elimination of toxins in a number of ways, such as increasing the frequency of bowel movements and urination and supporting the detoxification functions of the liver. Processed and refined foods and alcohol are limited or excluded from the diet and a higher intake of water is also common.

Why Cleanse?

Cleansing is often used as a way to improve the diet, lose weight, increase energy and improve digestion. Typically, these programs are designed to support the body’s natural cleansing mechanisms in the removal of toxins. This is important because toxin accumulation in the body and poor nutrition contribute to ill health and chronic disease. Our industrial world produces and exposes us to thousands of chemicals through the air, the water supply and our foods. Evidence suggests many of these chemicals can alter or disrupt our immune, endocrine, nervous and reproductive systems.

Fortunately, our bodies have built-in defense systems designed to eliminate toxins to maintain health. However, research shows that our bodies are becoming overburdened by repeated toxic exposure. In addition, many of us are not eating healthy enough to support our body’s detoxification functions. This leads to what researchers call “oxidative stress.” Oxidative stress is thought to be a major contributor to many chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurological diseases, autoimmune diseases and diabetes.

Common Cleansing Practices

Herbal Cleansing
Herbal cleansing is the practice of taking herbs while on a detoxification diet to stimulate specific detoxification organs in the body such as the liver, kidneys or intestines. Herbal detoxification sometimes utilizes herbal teas or herbal supplements. Some examples of herbs used in herbal detoxification programs include milk thistle and cayenne to cleanse the liver, juniper berries to cleanse the kidneys, and psyllium husk to cleanse the bowel.

Colonic Irrigation
Colonic irrigation involves flushing the colon with water to remove toxins.

Fasting
Fasting is the elimination of food and drink (with the exception of water) for a period of time for either therapeutic or religious reasons. Therapeutic fasts are thought to aid the body in eliminating toxins and have been used to treat a whole host of conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, obesity, diabetes, lupus, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, psoriasis and asthma. Therapeutic fasts vary in duration and composition. Some allow patients to drink vegetable and/or fruit juices.

Caloric Restriction
Caloric restriction, applied in alternative practice, is used by life extensionists (people who seek to extend their lives through various practices). Unlike fasting, caloric restriction is simply the practice of reducing dietary calories. It is intended to prolong life by preventing disease and slowing the process of aging. Fasting and caloric restriction are sometimes used in detoxification programs either separately or together, although fasting is more commonly used. Caloric restriction is often used as a follow-up, long-term dietary intervention after a detoxification program or a fast is complete.

Raw-Food Diet
The raw-food diet is based on 70 percent to 100 percent uncooked and unprocessed raw foods. These foods mainly consist of fruits, vegetables, sprouted grains, seeds, nuts and beans. It is thought that heating foods destroys the health-promoting enzymes in the foods – enzymes regarded as important for digestion.

Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy is the use of water for healing. It may involve various kinds of bathing in different temperatures, or the use of steam or ice. Some practices include steam bathing, saunas, aquatic exercising, and colonic or nasal irrigation. Sometimes these practices are combined with aromatherapy.

Whole-Food Diet
A whole-food diet consists primarily of natural, unrefined, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, lean meats, fish and dairy. Proponents of whole-food diets say that the foods should be organic whenever possible. Meats, dairy and eggs should also be organic or free range. Examples of diets that emphasize whole foods are the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet.

Juicing
Juicing is the preparation and consumption of drinks made from whole fruits and/or vegetables. Juicing is common during fasts or detoxification programs because juices are believed to be easily digestible, nutrient-rich, enzyme-rich and supportive of toxin removal.

Before You Cleanse

You should always consult your health care professional before doing a cleanse or a detox diet, especially if you have a medical condition. Detox diets are not advised for children or women who are pregnant or nursing.

From www.toyourhealth.com

The Chinese Acupuncture “Meridian Clock” is an example of a 24-hour cycle which portrays the body’s complete functions as well as its relationship with diet. There are 12 meridians, each taking the lead for two hours during the 24-hour period. Each of the 12 meridians has a dual flow, a coming and a going, marking 24 cycles per day.

The clock delineates which meridian system is activated and dominant at a specific time. Since these cycles happen automatically, we do not have to be preoccupied with them. However, if we know of these cycles, then we can make better decisions when it is generally best to eat, exercise and sleep.

TIME – MERIDIAN — COMMENTARY
5-7 a.m. — Large Intestine — Drinking water triggers bowel evacuation making room for the new day’s nutritional intake. Removes toxins from the night’s cleansing.

7-9 a.m. — Stomach — Stomach energies are the highest so eat the most important meal of the day here to optimize digestion/assimilation.

9-11 a.m. — Pancreas — The stomach passes its contents on. Enzymes from the pancreas continue the digestive process. Carbohydrate energy made available.

11 a.m.-1 p.m. — Heart — Food materials enter the blood stream. The heart pumps nutrients throughout the system and takes its lipid requirements.

1-3 p.m. — Small Intestine — Foods requiring longer digestion times (proteins) complete their digestion/assimilation.

3-5 p.m. — Bladder — Metabolic wastes from morning’s nutrition intake clear, making room for the kidney’s filtration to come.

5-7 p.m. — Kidney — Filters blood (decides what to keep, what to throw away), maintains proper chemical balance of blood based on nutritional intake of day. Blood to deliver useable nutrients to all tissues.

7-9 p.m. — Circulation — Nutrients are carried to groups of cells (capillaries) and to each individual cell (lymphatics.)

9-11 p.m. — Triple Heater — The endocrine system adjusts the homeostasis of the body based on electrolyte and enzyme replenishment.

11 p.m.- 1 a.m. — Gall Bladder — Initial cleansing of all tissues, processes cholesterol, enhances brain function.

1-3 a.m. — Liver — Cleansing of blood. Processing of wastes.

3-5 a.m. — Lung — Respiration. Oxygenation. Expulsion of waste gasses.

Sources: Organ Clock Image , Organ Clock Info