GREAT News in March!
March 9, 2011
The Vernal Equinox will be upon us in a few days marking the beginning of Spring, the season of renewal and rebirth. While winter is marked by the conservation of energy, reduction of activity, and quiescence, during spring there is a renewed sense of purpose and awakening accompanied by increased activity and renewed vigor. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory, change in nature, as well as in your body, occurs in a cycle of 5-stages which are linked to the seasons. Spring is a great time to cleanse the body, mind, and spirit (after all the accumulation that occurs during winter) and the organs associated with this season are the liver and gall bladder. The liver, in TCM, is in charge of the movement of Qi (energy) in the body. When the liver is functioning well the flow of Qi is smooth throughout the body, allowing both the emotional and physical functions of the body to operate fluidly – in other words functioning like a Bad Ass! When the body, mind, and/or spirit are experiencing a lot of stress, the liver no longer functions optimally, and we experience a breakdown in our emotions (anger and frustration are common) and physical functioning (digestive problems and pain are the norm). How does one tend to their Liver?
1.) Regular exercise. Regular movement of the body promotes movement of Qi and reduces stress. Additionally, exercise such as yoga and tai chi are useful in maintaining the flexibility of tendons, which are tissues ruled by the liver. Something a little more Bad Ass, like Kung Fu, would also be appropriate.
Luckily, I teach Morning Flow Yoga at Blue Sky Yoga at 10 am on Tuesday Mornings in March.
Blue Sky is located at 107 E Charleston inside the Arts Factory and is a pay-what-you-can studio. Join me and we’ll have lots of fun!
2.) Eat green. Green is the color of the liver and of spring and the young fresh greens of the season are excellent in assisting in the movement of Qi.
3.) Spend more time outside. Fresh air is especially good at alleviating stagnation and moving Liver Qi. Exercising outside is even better. FYI, water is flowing in Oak Creek and First Creek as you are reading this! How awesome is that?!
4.) Do a cleanse. Build up in the body can also impede the smooth flow of Qi in the body. Although there are several commercial liver and colon cleanses available (I like Cleanse Smart and Blessed Herbs), just eating a clean diet of fresh juices, vegetables, and fruits for a few days can do wonders for the liver and your overall health.
5.) Get acupuncture. Not only can acupuncture address the overall health of your liver, it’s hard to beat when dealing with stress, anger and frustration. (It’s not just hard to beat, it’s Bad Ass!)
Dr. Bad Ass Wants to Know
In order to better serve you, I have developed a 9-question survey about your experience with acupuncture and how to better serve you. If you decide to help me out, you will be rewarded with a $20 credit toward any of my acupuncture services! (Now that’s Bad Ass!) BUT don’t delay! The survey will be available through Thursday, March 31 and the $20 discount is only valid through Friday, April 29! Did I mention that the survey is ONLY 9 questions? And that your friends can take it too (as long as you forward it to them)?
Start the Survey Now
or copy and paste this URL into your browser 
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/drbada–wantstoknow
Who the heck is Dr. Bad Ass?
That’s me – Heather Brookman, OMD! But I answer to Heather, Dr. Brookman, Dr. Bad Ass, Your Majesty, Yo!, etc… I highly recommend “liking” Bad Ass Acupuncture (me) on Facebook so you can be kept up-to-date on my latest offerings/specials/news. This helps to keep the mass e-mailing to a minimum and my time open to deal with Kung Fu treachery as it arises.
What’s the Deal with Insurance?
The good news is YES some insurance plans do cover acupuncture! If you want to know whether your plan covers acupuncture, give your health insurance peeps a shout. Although I am in the process of joining several networks, I am not yet listed with any insurance company. Even though I am Dr. Bad Ass, I am told this may take a month or two. HOWEVER, that does not mean that you will not be covered in the meantime. Because it is important to me that you get the acupuncture you need in a way that is sustainable for you, I will be more than happy, even thrilled, to provide you with a Super Bill (short for receipt-with-all-the-codes-for-diagnosis-and-treatment) that can be submitted to your insurance company for reimbursement. Hooray!
Referral Program
Because my wonderful patients tell their family and friends how Bad Ass they feel with regular acupuncture treatment, I’ve established a referral program. In all honesty, there’s no way I can thank you enough for your referrals, but for every 3 people you refer who utilize my acupuncture services, a free 60-minute acupuncture treatment is yours. Please remind your friends to mention you because I am keeping track!
Rate Change
In February I changed my rates for services to increase accessibility (this is good news, trust me). Feel free to call 702-562-2202 or visit www.heatherbrookman.com for more information.
Two Month-versary
On 3/17, St Patrick’s Day, I’ll be celebrating 2 months at Galvin Chiropractic. I feel very lucky and am grateful to have found a supportive home for my practice. Thank you to Dr. Kerri Galvin – who by the way is a Bad Ass (and extremely compassionate) chiropractor.
We are located at 7380 S Eastern Ave, Suite 125 at the corner of Eastern and Warm Springs. Call us at 702-562-2202 to make an appointment!
Visit Me at heatherbrookman.com
May 1, 2010
Hello All!
Thank you all for visiting me at forwardmend.wordpress.com! Feel free to continue to browse here, but for the most up-to-date information, please find me at heatherbrookman.com – supposedly eliminating the “wordpress” part of my URL is more professional! ha! whatever.
Threatened – Your Access to Supplements
April 30, 2010
In general, politics is something that I try not to get into on this site since it’s my belief that health & wellness should be a non-political (ie. not dependent on who has the most money) issue. Unfortunately, not everyone shares this belief, cough big pharma cough, so I feel compelled to rant a little. For the record I am not anti-pharmaceuticals – at least not 100% of the time. I’ve been a nurse for over 10 years and there are amazing life saving medications out there. HOWEVER, I am also an Oriental Medicine Doctor and I can tell you that there are supplements and herbal formulas (actually time tested for thousands of years) out there that improve quality of life through more gentle and balancing means – in other words effective with no side effects. As Dr.Dongxin Ma, one of my teachers from the Academy of Oriental Medince at Austin, is fond of saying “You don’t kill a mosquito with a bazooka”.
So herein lies the most pressing problem and is essentially an attack on your access to supplements (which, btw, ARE regulated by DSHEA via the FDA). According to the Alliance on Natural Health “The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173), recently passed in the House of Representatives, includes language going far beyond finance inserted by Congressman HenryWaxman (D-CA). . . language in the Wall St. “reform” bill that gives the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) important new powers that could be used to circumvent key supplement protections in DSHEA.” It’s no secret the Rep.Waxman is a big supporter of and is largely supported by the pharmaceutical industry and works toward the end goal of having supplements regulated like pharmaceuticals. The FTC currently combatscommerical fraud and has full authority to pursue companies making false claims about what their product does or does not do. However, the language inserted into H.R. 4173 gives the FTC increased regulatory power, which could result in increased requirements for supplement companies that essentially put them out of business. Congress has already stripped the FTC of these powers in the 1980s because of perceived abuses. . . So, hmmmmm.
To take action or just read more about how this new language might affect your access (or that of your Oriental Medicine Doctor, Naturopath, Herbalist, etc.) to supplements check out the following:
Fossil Ridge/Cowboy Canyon
April 23, 2010
As I’ve already stated, this is one of my favorite hikes in the Red Rock Canyon/Blue Diamond Hill area – especially in the spring! I may also have a fondness for this particular place because the first time I hiked it with my friend Julie and we zigged when we should have zagged and we spent a couple of hours trying to figure out how the heck to get off of Blue Diamond Hill. We found a burro trail that led us down some other canyon and back to our cars and to this day our totem animal is the ASS. Anyway, today I “led” some friends and new comers on this hike in some of the most beautiful weather Las Vegas has seen this year – cool, mostly sunny, with a very light breeze. In other words PERFECT hiking weather!
The beginning of the hike
There are many positives to this hike. 1) For little effort there is a sense of being somewhere remote.
2) The views of Red Rock Canyon from inside the canyon and atop Fossil Ridge are wonderful, making for some of the best sunrise (or anytime) pictures in the area.
The views of Red Rock from this hike are fantastic!
Mender in Cowboy Canyon
3) There’s abundant plant life from cacti, to various grasses and shrubs, to yucca and wildflowers (at least in spring). We were in luck because the wildflowers were in bloom – yucca, indian paintbrushes, and bunch of others in white, purple, and yellow. It also looked like it was almost time for the cacti to bloom – which prompted me to start calculating when I could return in the next few weeks.
Indian Paintbrushes!
4) There is also plentiful wildlife on this hike – birds, butterflies, squirrels, bats… yes bats! I’ve done this hike at dusk and the bats are darting about everywhere. Very cool! Additionally, there is a Great Horned Owl that calls Cowboy Canyon home – a little spooky when you hear its call, but also SUPER COOL!
5) Scrambling - love it. And I love it even more when the possibility of cracking my skull open is minimal. There’s a good amount of minimal risk scrambling on this hike, so if you’re into it you’ll really enjoy this hike too.
6) Fossils.
7) Did I mention the views?
Amazing!
In my previous post on this hike I rated the difficulty 2/5…….2/5 based on the-crazy-hiker-man Branch Whitney scale. And I’ve done this hike with friends in 1 hour and 2o minutes – yes, my friends and I are strong(ish) hikers, but I generally hike at a moderate pace so that I can take in the scenery and keep oxygen flowing to my vital organs. Today I had to reevaluate this rating because a gentleman with lung problems (previously unknown to me) had quite a bit of shortness of breath during the canyon portion of the trek. This slowed us down a bit (but really, who cares, IT WAS BEAUTIFUL) and my BFF Kyle (also the aforementioned Julie’s brother) ended up finding a short cut up to Fossil Ridge to start the level/down hill portion of the hike sooner rather than later. SO, I’m extremely grateful to Kyle and that everyone made it out on their own two feet and not by helicopter. AND I learned a bit about rating difficulty of future hikes. So this one I would bump up to a 3/5 on the difficulty scale.
Thanks Kyle - you cheeseball!
For directions to the trail head and a general description of this hike see my previous post.
Hike Rescheduled to Friday, April 23
April 21, 2010
Last night I looked at the weather for the Red Rock Canyon area and it looked to be cold, wet, and windy starting at 4 am. So, at 9:45 pm I rescheduled the Fossil Ridge/Cowboy Canyon hike to Friday morning. While it is cool and breezy this morning there is NO RAIN. Sigh. I don’t even see a single cloud in the sky. Sigh, again.
Oh well! See you Friday!
