“I guess you’re just one of the unlucky ones” Cramping, slowly working it’s way from my lower abdomen to my back. Get the heating pads. Then down my legs. “Dammit. It’s okay. You’ve got this, deep breaths Taylore. You can do it” I say to myself. Instantly sweating- the cramping intensifies. Time to take an opioid. The nausea sets in. “F****ck. No, It’s okay. You can do it, the pain killer will set in soon. Focus on your breath” Cramping intensifies. Beads of sweat roll down m

I am so excited to introduce you all to a new treatment option I will be offering. Subconscious Imprinting! “Subconscious Imprinting Technique is one of the quickest and most effective ways to discover and remove subconscious beliefs, decisions and patterns that are negatively influencing your life.” – The Empowered Healers Academy Who will benefit: Literally everyone. If you have ever experienced any of the following, Subconscious Imprinting might just be what you need. Chro

I am so excited for this! As of September 27th I will also be offering Community Acupuncture. What is Community Acupuncture? Community Acupuncture makes acupuncture much more accessible to everyone. This treatment takes place in a reclined chair in a room with a five other patients. The patients will all receive treatment at the same time. The treatment consists of feet/hand/head/ear points which means you don’t have to undress for the treatment. The treatment is 30 minutes,

Sugar comes in all forms, the most beneficial are those from whole foods. These are the good sugars that are beneficial and necessary to our body – in moderation. It is the refined sugars that, frankly, have no place in our diet. Refined sugar in your body 1. Increases inflammation in the body. Ingesting refined sugar triggers the release of inflammatory messengers called cytokines. 2. Mineral imbalance. “Refined sugar passes quickly into the bloodstream in large amounts, giv

‘Endometriosis affects an estimated 176 million women worldwide regardless of their ethnic and social background. Many remain undiagnosed and are therefore not treated.’ There is no exact known cause for endometriosis, the best way it is treated in Western Medicine is with hormone therapy, pain killers, or sometimes even surgery. The general consensus is that endometriosis is worsened by estrogen, so getting estrogen levels under control will help alleviate the symptoms – thi

Now that we have learnt about trauma in the last two posts. I am going to dive in a bit deeper to the Traditional Chinese Medicine side of things and explain how acupuncture can help someone who has been through a traumatic event. There is actually a very significant overlap between Western and Eastern Medicine. Western psychologists call it ‘PTSD’ or ‘dissociative states’. Eastern practitioners call it ‘Shen disturbance’. But it doesn’t matter whether its diagnosed in Wester

Let’s talk a little about the connection between our physical bodies and trauma. It took me a long time to make the connection between my low back pain and trauma that I experienced as a child. I was never physically harmed to cause back pain. But a series of events – mostly emotional – that made me feel unsafe are what triggered my low back pain. It wasn’t until just a few years ago that I really started to dive into the emotional healing aspect of my physical body. I had be

Trauma. What an intense word. I have always been drawn to the psycho emotional aspect of people. I tend to find myself constantly asking “What situation from their past triggered this..?” I started really thinking about trauma a few years ago, and then took a couple courses related to TCM and trauma this past year. This, and the next three blogs, will be solely dedicated to trauma and everything triggered by/related to it (physical pain, PTSD, etc). So many people experience

Have you heard of Nightshades before? Nope, it actually isn’t a window covering specific to the night – surprising, right…? Nightshades, also known as Solanaceae, are a family of flowering plants. They include a variety of plants such as; perennials, annuals, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, trees, weeds, spices, medicinal plants, and ornamentals. Nightshades are unique because of the potent alkaloids they contain, some are so high they are actually toxic. ‘Alkaloids are nitrogenou

I’m sure we all know someone who has a herniated disc or perhaps you have herniated a disc yourself. Unfortunately, in our society with the lifestyle we lead, disc issues are far too common.  I will focus primarily on herniated disc syndrome in the low back. What is a Herniated Disc? A herniated disc can sometimes be referred to as a slipped disc or a ruptured disc. But really they all mean the same thing. A disc is the rubbery cushion between the vertebrae, it’s there to hel

If you have been in my treatment room, you have seen my model on the counter with the meridians all over it. A lot of the time people will think that the meridians are actually the Nervous System nervous system, and thats why I get the common question ‘so you are hitting the nerve, right?’. Actually no, not at all. If I hit the nerve with an acupuncture needle it would be quite uncomfortable. I needle along the meridian system. But what exactly are meridians? The word ‘meridi

“Premenstrual syndrome” (PMS) is the cyclic recurrence of a group of symptoms that peak 7 to 10 days before menstruation and disappear a few hours after the onset of the menstrual flow. It is occurrent with an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone levels. This condition is characterized by multiple and diverse symptoms including, but not limited to: breast tenderness, transient weight gain, bloating, constipation, insomnia, acne, headache, pelvic pain, irritability, depressi

When you have an acupuncture treatment – no matter what part of the world – it is quite common for the practitioner to ask to see your tongue. It also is quite common for the patient to feel silly, surprised, or confused when you ask to see their tongue. That is until I explain why the tongue is so important to me. The tongue is a micro system of the body, and contrary to popular belief,  all tongues are not the same.  The colour, size, coat, and moistness level all vary depe

This is not a typical post for me, it’s not about Acupuncture or Chinese Medicine modalities. It’s not about eating properly or exercising. It’s something that I have been working through myself the last few months – work-life balance. The first building block for imbalance started about three years ago, I was in my third year of the Acupuncture program – now since I was at school th I have always been very aware of what I eat and how active I am, but in the whirlpool of buil

I absolutely love cupping – for so many different reasons! I will tell you why I love it so much in a bit, but first… what exactly is cupping? What is it? Cupping is a modality that is associated with acupuncture and traditional Chinese Retain Cupping medicine. The first documented treatment with cupping dates back to 300AD. It includes using a glass, bamboo, or metal jar – I use glass- and creating suction with it to then be placed on the skin. The suction is created by ligh

If you know me at all, you will know that I am very passionate about sports and living an active, healthy lifestyle. I have experienced a variety of sports injuries – the leading injury to date ended with two knee surgeries. I ruptured my ACL, tore my MCL and medial meniscus – the triple threat as the surgeon called it. There are typically two types of sports injuries. The first type is overuse or chronic – usually the result of repetitive training. Whether its tight muscles,

As Canadians we like to savour our summers. But as the weather starts to change and the temperature slowly starts to drop we need to be sure to take care of ourselves. Unfortunately the cold and wind from this past weekend got the best of me and I am under the weather… But here are my 10 favourite go-to’s that tend to help me kill that little bug. Gargle with warm salt water morning and night. I put thieves oil on the glands on my neck. Make a delicious thieves-lemon-honey-ho

Who doesn’t love to eat?! I know I do, I love every aspect of it – food preparation, smell, taste! But its a lot less enjoyable when you experience digestive disturbances. I would estimate that about 90% of my clientele come in with what they commonly call “stomach trouble.” Bloating, gas, nausea, loose stool, gurgling in the stomach, the list goes on…. it is uncomfortable and can be embarrassing. There are a number of reasons that can lead to digestive disturbances. Firstly,