Year of the Cat – Happy Chinese New Year 2023

It’s been wild ride these past few years – punctuated by the powerful yang energy of the year of the Tiger 2022.

We are now sliding into the mellow yin energy of the water Rabbit, or as they say in Vietnam, the Year of the Cat. Since I spent rabbitsome years in Vietnam, I got in tune with the Cat replacing the Rabbit or Hare, which is the animal all other Asian countries are celebrating.

While the Rabbit has the qualities of gentleness and fluidity, I think of the agile, able Hare as more representative of this zodiac animal. Yet the Cat embodies those qualities plus a curiosity & otherworldliness that brings the cat to another plane.

The Tiger energy is ushering in the magical and potentially miraculous Cat energy.

This year is a great opportunity to tune in spiritually, pay attention to and trust your gut, meditate, sit and do nothing, take catnaps. Clarity & simplicity are themes.

Listening is the main theme. This year is about tuning in to ourselves. Be self-assured like a cat. Be your true self. What makes your heart sing? What brings joy and meaning to your life? Only you know – tune in to find some hints.

And the Year of the Cat is also about tuning in with each other; it’s about what we all have in common. Be like a rabbit! Be gentle and kind, enjoy your community, frolic!

Listen to yourself.IMG_7041

Listen to each other.

Listen to nature.

This year is for Catma – the antithesis of Dogma.

 

Nutrition suggestions for the Year of the Cat

Take time to have relaxing meals, sitting down without work. Enjoy your meal as a sort of casual meditation.

Chew. Digestion starts in the mouth. Relax and chew your food well before swallowing.

Eat real food. Read ingredients on food labels.

 

Beware of the Dogma – it’s the year of Catma!

Stay curious. Keep your mind open, your heart full and trust your instincts. Take rests.

Year of the Cat is from 21 January 2023 to 10 February 2024, when the Year of the Dragon begins.

Live your truth and let the DRAGONmagic begin.

 

I feel lucky to be on the incredible path of East Asian medicine, natural healing and nutrition. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow from each and every patient. Thank you for all of your support over the years.

Wishing you and yours the best of luck, fertility and health in 2023.

 

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Xlear Nasal Spray available at Walgreens

I was at my local Walgreens checking out the nasal sprays and I was pleasantly surprised to see the Xlear nasal spray I mentioned in my recent newsletter Cold Season Medicine Cabinet. Xlear Nasal Spray is a strong natural antimicrobial with grapefruit seed extract – great for occasional use for exposure or for sinusitis.

IMG_6772Always check the ingredients because sometimes it can be surprising what is in a product that looks all natural. Here’s the ingredients for Xlear. IMG_6780 Read More »

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Turkey Liver Pate with Cranberries

Don’t throw away the Liver! Organ meat from pastured and wild animals is known to be some of the most healthful parts. Liver is a super-food. Liver contains significantly more vitamin A, all the Bs, iron… SIGNIFICANTLY more. You don’t need to eat a lot to get the value.

Yet so many people, like me, don’t like liver. Have you tried pate lately? It is so good and easy to make. It is amazing how many people who don’t like liver like pate. Give it a try, share it with friends.

Turkey Liver Pate with Cranberries

  • 1 turkey liver, diced or thinly sliced
  • 2 cups diced yellow onion, shallots or leeks (or a combo)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon each: fresh sage, rosemary, thyme & parsley, finely minced
  • 1 stick good quality butter or ghee, ideally grass-fed organic
  • 2 tablespoons cream or half and half (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon real sea salt
  • ½  teaspoon fresh ground allspice
  • ½ teaspoon ground pepper
  • handful of fresh cranberries
  1. Trim any membranes on the liver, slice and soak in bowl with salt water for 30-60 minutes (optional).
  2. In a large skillet, heat the butter, or ghee, over medium heat until melted. Reduce heat to medium low and add the onion and sauté 10 minutes. Then add the garlic and the freshly minced herbs. Sauté another 10 minutes until the onions are caramelized.
  3. When the onions are starting to caramelize reduce the heat to low and with a slotted spoon  Return the heat to medium and sauté the liver until no longer bloody, but still slightly pink inside, just a couple minutes.
  4. Transfer the onion and liver mixture into a food processor. Add the cream, sea salt, allspice, pepper and a handful of cranberries. Process until smooth.
  5. Line a container with plastic wrap and pour the liver pâté into the container. Smooth with a spatula and cover. Refrigerate. Once cool and hard you can turn the container over onto a plate and peel away the plastic wrap, allowing you to slice the pâté into small portions to freeze OR just pour into a container from which you can spoon the pâté out.
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Cold Season Medicine Cabinet

I’m thinking of you, hoping you are enjoying this glorious fall.8ED73C30-7A9E-4A1B-8CF2-856B3B218A8D_1_105_c

I want to share with you my favorite combination of natural remedies that I like to have on hand for the cold and flu season. Early treatment boosts your body’s ability to fight the pathogenic invasion (virus), so symptoms resolve more quickly.

Here are my Recommendations for the Cold Season Medicine Cabinet:

Vitamin D3 – prophylactically to increase your vitamin D stores. In the summer we get vitamin D from the sun… bye bye sun, hello Vermont winter. Now’s the time to start.

Zinc - key to reducing viral replication.

Vitamin C – another key nutrient to boosting immunity to help your body fight off colds, flues, coronaviruses Vitamin C is essential to virtually all systems in the body including heart, eyes, brain, bones, ligaments, skin and tissues.

Cinnamon Twig Formula (Gui Zhi Tang) – best formula for early onset of colds for many people. It boosts the body’s natural defenses against invading pathogens, especially again cold wind. If you tend to be averse to cold wind, it is likely that this is the formula for your pattern. If you find it is easy to catch a cold after being exposed to cold, try this, it is pretty yummy with honey or mixed into your oatmeal. This it the main formula I recommend for people tending toward this pattern to have in the medicine cabinet.

I have Cinnamon Twig Formula in my office in powders or pills, and it is available as a box of single serving packets (plenty for the whole extended family to have some) from TCM brand from FullScript.

Herbal Cold Care Tea (previously known as Gypsy Cold Care) is available at my office or at City Market or other stores. Yarrow, elderflower, hyssop and mint are the main herbs that help boost the respiratory immune response. I like it with a small spoonful of honey.

Honey is great medicine; it is anti-microbial and wonderful for an irritated throat. Buy raw local honey for best results.

Quercetin - supports immune system and respiratory function. Quercetin has been shown to offer strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, along with anti-hypertensive, anti-coagulant and anti-hyperglycemic properties.

As an early treatment, 250 mg 2x daily. Vit C helps the body absorb Quercetin more effectively.

NAC – has anti-oxidant and detoxifying effects, supports immune function and promotes lung and sinus health.

Xlear Nasal Spray – strong natural antimicrobial with grapefruit seed extract – great for occasional use for exposure or for sinusitis.

Gargling with anti-microbial mouthwash is another helpful way to deal with exposure. There are many a1551ebb-f748-49bd-914d-9e027a842680options for what to gargle. Check out what I wrote about Gargling and think about what works best for you. I prefer my mouthwash to be free of artificial ingredients dyes, and have been using Listerine Naturals, but it has been recently discontinued. Let me know what natural mouthwash you like.

Bi Yan Pian - a Chinese herbal formula for sinus congestion, is good to have around if you are prone to sinus issues.  Ask me to recommend one for you, I have several versions of the formula in stock.

Olbas Nasal Inhaler – is awesome to open the nasal passages using essential oils.

Gan Mao Ling Chinese herbal formula – used for sore throat, especially a strongly sore throat with redness, this Chinese herbal formula focuses on killing viruses in the throat. The throat connects to the ears and sinuses, so those areas can be affected as well. I do not recommend this formula to be taken preventatively, but only for treatment of a sore throat. If it is a mild sore throat, I would generally start with Cinnamon Twig formula. If it progresses, I would add Gan Mao Ling. This fall sore throat has been a common symptom, and if you are someone who feels like they nearly always get a sore throat when they get sick, this is a good one for the medicine cabinet.

Huo Xiong Zheng Qi Tang (aka Ease Digestion or Quiet Digestion). This formula is good for harmonizing the digestion and also gently releasing or venting the exterior. It appears that in some cases the main symptoms are digestive upset, such as loose stools, possibly along with a headache and fatigue. It is great to have on hand also for food poisoning or any Stomach bug.

Most of these are available at my office, and also online with Cold Season Medicine Cabinet Protocol  through my dispensary with FullScript.

While I don’t recommend taking too many supplements, I do recommend high quality ones which are more easily assimilated by your body and not just peed or pooped out. I’m partnering with FullScript to help provide top quality supplements, delivered directly to your home. Everything in the FullScript catalog is professional grade natural. Pick and choose what makes sense for you and your family and friends.

I am offering a 10% discount for my patients. Standard shipping is free for orders above $50 and there is a promotion for free delivery for the first 10 patient orders. You can see more recommendations in my Favorites section. (Catalog > Favorites > Cold Season Medicine Cabinet), or search the entire catalog.

Ask me about customized Chinese herbal formulas for your constitution.

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Zero Balancing II November 17-20

 

zba

 Zero Balancing II

A 25-hour professional, hands-on, body-mind therapy training

with Michele Doucette DC

ZB II November 17 – 20, 2022

ZB I March 17-20, 2023

Zero Balancing is a unique, hands-on, bodywork system of healing.  It combines the Western view of medicine and science from the field of osteopathy with Eastern concepts of energy and healing from the field of acupuncture.  ZB affects the whole person (body, mind, and spirit) by providing both structural therapy and energy medicine simultaneously.

Practitioners learn to engage, evaluate, and balance the deepest currents of movement through bones, joints, ligaments, and other soft tissue. Through touch we learn to access the body’s “interoceptive” mechanism of conscious awareness, self-referencing, and physical, as well as psycho-emotional, resilience.  ZB facilitates deep relaxation that relieves musculoskeletal tension patterns caused by stress, injury, illness, suboptimal posture, etc.

ZB offers the opportunity to work with expanded states of consciousness and to address imbalances in energy fields that precede pathology (illness).   It promotes an expansive meditative state that is grounded in the body and often allows clients to experience greater self-awareness, mindfulness, and insight into their personal health and wellness. ZB is effective for pain relief, improved joint function, and ease of movement.  Side effects may include peace, happiness, clarity, and personal growth as ZB brings a person closer to his or her true nature.

It changes lives.

ZB I is approved for 25 hrs. Continuing Education credit (through VT Board of Chiropractic, NCBTMB, NCCAOM, PT/OT boards and agencies and 30.5 hrs. for RN, NP, by American Holistic Nurses Assoc.

To register contact Dr. Doucette at 802-464-2361  bones@sover.net  or register online at    www.zerobalancing.com   Course Fee:  $595 If pd 2 mo. Advance, $695 if pd 1 mo. advance, $795 thereafter           Read testimonials from students at www.drmicheledoucette.com

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How much water do you actually need?

I heard this report on NPR – newly researched – everyone needs different amounts of water! Chinese medical practitioners have been saying this for a few millennia. Drink to thirst is the main rule of thumb – we are not all the same and we don’t all need the same amount of water. In some cases, over drinking can be detrimental. Others need to drink above thirst to prevent symptoms.

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Zero Balancing I classes in Vermont 2022

   zba

Zero Balancing 1

A 25-hour professional, hands-on, body-mind therapy training

with Michele Doucette DC

     May 13-15   Burlington VT or

     June 2-5      Wilmington, VT

 

Zero Balancing is a unique, hands-on, bodywork system of healing.  It combines the Western view of medicine and science from the field of osteopathy with Eastern concepts of energy and healing from the field of acupuncture.  ZB affects the whole person (body, mind, and spirit) by providing both structural therapy and energy medicine simultaneously.

Practitioners learn to engage, evaluate, and balance the deepest currents of movement through bones, joints, ligaments, and other soft tissue. Through touch we learn to access the body’s “interoceptive” mechanism of conscious awareness, self-referencing, and physical, as well as psycho-emotional, resilience.  ZB facilitates deep relaxation that relieves musculoskeletal tension patterns caused by stress, injury, illness, suboptimal posture, etc.

ZB offers the opportunity to work with expanded states of consciousness and to address imbalances in energy fields that precede pathology (illness).   It promotes an expansive meditative state that is grounded in the body and often allows clients to experience greater self-awareness, mindfulness, and insight into their personal health and wellness. ZB is effective for pain relief, improved joint function, and ease of movement.  Side effects may include peace, happiness, clarity, and personal growth as ZB brings a person closer to his or her true nature.

It changes lives.

 

ZB I is approved for 25 hrs. Continuing Education credit (through VT Board of Chiropractic, NCBTMB, NCCAOM, PT/OT boards and agencies and 30.5 hrs. for RN, NP, by American Holistic Nurses Assoc.

 

To register contact Dr. Doucette at 802-464-2361  bones@sover.net  or register online at    www.zerobalancing.com   Course Fee:  $595 If pd 2 mo. Advance, $695 if pd 1 mo. advance, $795 thereafter           Read testimonials from students at www.drmicheledoucette.com

 

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Acupuncture Plus & Acupuncture Delux

I have a lot of modalities to choose from and I love doing all the extra fun stuff – Zero Balancing (ZB), moxa, cupping, gua sha.

Adding 15 or 30 minutes to a session allows me time to do some ZB or running cupping on your back, or whatever you need.needling 2

Acupuncture                          $85      50-60 minutes

Zero Balancing                       $85      30 minutes

Acupuncture Plus*                 $105    65-75 minutesmoxibustion-therapy

Acupuncture Delux**             $125    80-90 minutes

Acupuncture Double               $145    95-105 minutes

(front + back Acu)

 

*Acupuncture Plus sessions add 10-15 minutes (65-75 minutes)

Mini ZB + Acu

Acu + cupping or moxa or gua sha / tui na bodywork

 

**Acupuncture Delux sessions add 20-30 minutes (80-90 minutes)

Full ZB + Acu

Mini ZB + Acu + cupping or moxa or gua sha / tui na bodywork

 

Book online – via email at kelly@VTacupuncture.com – or phone 802-951-8815.

 

Chinese Herbal Medicine

Assessment for prescribing customized Chinese herbal formulas is included with acupuncture series of 3 or more sessions. Herbal 5elemnt2-croppedformulas are extra and are typically $25-35 per week.

 

 

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LOVE over fear

love over fear

Let’s fire up the love not fear.

Feel good hormones or Love hormones – oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin – help ward off anxiety and depression, as well as support your immune system. They have the opposite effect of the fight, flight, freeze response.

Fear, anxiety and worry increase cortisol, stress the adrenal gland and decrease immune function. Stress, overwhelm, fight or flight, trauma. Our fearful, isolated, stressed-out society is not helpful. Stress hormones are high, which is not helpful for our immune function.

Get some Physical and Social Contact

Positive social connection, socializing, laughing, meaningful conversations. Trust, sharing and gift giving. Hugs, cuddles, making love. Self-care, massage, acupuncture. All of these things release feel-good hormones, which aren’t just helping you feel better, but be healthier, too.

Not only in women related to labor and lactation, but also the love hormones help the male reproductive system by supporting the production of testosterone.

Regular physical activity can kick stress hormones to the curb and increase the love hormones.

Cardio like walking, running, hiking, biking, aerobic classes. Muscle building exercise is especially good for the over-40 crowd.

Yoga, meditation, deep breathing and mindfulness training. Obviously, great for reducing stress. Start small. Short and frequent meditation, or moving meditation, like walking meditation or Tqi Chi, is an alternate to sitting or lying down meditation.

Laughter lowers stress hormones. Jokes lower cortisol levels! Make movie night all about the comedies.

Music Listening to music you love lowers cortisol levels and increases happiness. Do you have an instrument collecting dust? Play it. It is good for your brain.

Acupuncture can help as well. I’ve been helping relieve the trauma on our bodies and minds that has come with the pandemic. Some feel it in their gut and it shows up as digestive issues. Others have anxiety and panic, depression, fatigue, body aches or irritability. Depending upon where we have deficiency or stagnation, we will see the effects in different areas.

Spring is a great time to get acupuncture, as this time of year it is easy for Qi to get stuck.

Check out my added session combo options.

I had COVID last month and I’m glad that I’m over that hump.

artwork by Gabe Davidson
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I had COVID (better than a booster)

FAE41808-7B41-47D2-AD38-C7F5B7687FF5_1_105_cMy whole family had COVID last month. We are grateful that it was so mild. Also grateful that I had many treatment options at my fingertips. I have been keeping up with what medical doctors and NDs have been doing to treat COVID, as well as continuing to study Chinese medicine, so I felt pretty ready when it hit. Here are some of the things we did.

When my son was sick (testing positive for COVID 2 days later, when he was feeling better) I started doing nasal rinsing and gargling to reduce the viral load. We had all been taking Vit C, D and zinc regularly but upped the dose. We also took Quercetin and NAC and, of course, Chinese herbal medicine.

So speaking of fear… I’m hoping to relieve a little fear, if you were worried about coming to see me. Having recently had COVID is the best booster out there. Natural immunity, at this point, is certainly better than a booster based on a 2 year old variant. The chances are slim that once you’ve had it that you can catch it again, at least until it mutates a few times. Some do get it again, but it is rare, and more common in people with deficient constitutions.

Not that I want you all to get it, but if you do, I hope you got the mild version like we did (headache, fever, fatigue, dry throat). And let me know if you would like some support with supplements and herbs. Telehealth appointments are an option.

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