Previous Southside Shiatsu Newsletters
Southside Shiatsu Winter 2010 Newsletter:
Dear Friends,
"debo a la muerte pura de la tierra
la voluntad de mis germinaciones."
"I owe to earth's pure death
the will to sprout."
--Pablo Neruda
El Jardin del invierno/ Winter Garden.
It is winter and through roots the green energies of earth roots have descended deep into the earth. At times it feels that our spirits have taken that descent as well, wandering in a deep hibernation, in dark places. Winter tests our will and the seat of our will is in our kidneys.
The kidneys are the place where the past and future meet. The energies of our parents and our ancestors before them commingle with the energies of the earth that we take in through eating, drinking and breathing. The fire of life itself within our bodies resides between our kidneys and it is that fire that we must tend carefully, feed and ensure that it imparts its brightness to all of our organs. Indeed, our spirit shine, our jing, begins deep in the dance of fire and water within our kidneys. The kidney yin is the foundation of all yin in the body and the kidney yang is the foundation of all yang in the body. So if there are imbalances of energetics in the body we can often find the root in an imbalance of yin and yang within the kidneys.
Winter is a time to store energy inside. A time to listen to all the internal goings on, the inner ear. The kidneys open into the ears and these organs are impacted by the winter. Keep them warm, your ears and your kidneys!
General Symptoms of Kidney Imbalance:
- All bone problems, especially those of the knees, lower back and teeth.
- Hearing loss and ear infections and diseases, including loss of hearing and low ringing in the ears.
- Head-hair problems - hair loss, split ends and premature graying.
- Any urinary, sexual, and reproductive imbalances.
- Excessive fear and insecurity.
The good news is that through shiatsu, acupuncture, yoga, qi gong, and diet many of these imbalances can be corrected.
Most imbalances of the kidneys are manifested in deficiency of one kind or another.
The symptoms of kidney yin deficiency include dizziness, ringing in the ears, dry throat, dry mouth, fever, low backache, weak legs, involuntary seminal emissions, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, heat in the palms of the hands and feet, a dry red tongue and dark, scanty urine.
Millet, barley, tofu, black beans, black soybeans, mung beans, kidney beans, potato, seaweeds, all melons, sesame seeds, crab, clam, eggs, pork and cheese are all good for Kidney yin deficiency.
Good herbal allies for Kidney yin deficiency include Marshmallow root, Fo-Ti, and Saw Palmetto.
The symptoms of Kidney yang deficiency include aversion to the cold, cold hands and feet, pale complexion, weak knees and lower back, lack of sexual desire, irregular menses, frequent urination (urine tends to be clear and profuse), edema, asthma, lack of will power and direction, enlarged pale tongue.
The spleen/pancreas helps to feed the kidney yang, so often times it is important to increase the 'digestive fires' in order to correct kidney yang deficiency. Some foods and spices that help increase kidney yang include: cloves; fenugreek seeds; fennel seeds; anise seeds; black peppercorns; ginger; cinnamon; walnuts; black beans; onions; garlic; chives; scallions; leeks; quinoa; chicken; lamb; trout; and salmon.
Walnuts in particular are helpful in increasing kidney yang and in particular the 'grasping qi' that allows us to breathe deeply. The recommended dosage is 1/3 to 1 ounce daily. In excess, walnuts can cause canker sores in the mouth.
In general, salty and bitter foods are appropriate for winter. They promote a sinking and centering quality in the body.
The Kidneys and Bladder govern water metabolism in the body, and as winter is the time of the kidneys and bladder it is also the elemental time of water. There are many things we can do to honor and protect the waters around us. Here in Minnesota we are at the headwaters of the Mississippi as well as being the home of the largest body of fresh water in the world: Lake Superior. 1.2 billion people are currently without clean drinking water. Water is sacred, it is essential to human and all life, it is a basic human right. As we strive to live healthy lives, to find a healthy balance and to live in harmony, we must remember the water and do what we can now for our future generations.
Here are some good places to start learning more on the web:
http://www.ienearth.org
http://www.chalchiutlicue.org
http://www.tradeobservatory.org/issue_water.cfm
http://www.worldwatercouncil.org
http://www.preservecampcoldwater.org
http://www.cleanwateraction.org
In Health,
David Miller
Southside Shiatsu
612 245-9834
www.southsideshiatsu.com
Newsletter #7, Fall 2009:
Dear Friends,
Fall is tempestuous, evocative, introspective. Memory of the harvest of the passing year is present among trees breathing out in transient colors. At times this season brings sweet sorrow up from the depths.
Fall's pungent beauty fills lungs with the smell of tomorrow's humus layering beneath our feet. It is a time of apples and pumpkins and the smell of homemade pies baking.
Fall is the time of the lungs and large intestine. It is a good time to tonify and to give support to these two vital organs in our body. Dark green and golden/orange vegetables are great autumn allies: Carrot, winter squash, pumpkin, broccoli, parsley, kale, turnip, daikon radish, mustard green, watercress, wheat and barley grass, and spirulina should all be added to the diet.
The skin is the organ that often lets us know if our lungs and large intestines are in balance or in need of some extra attention. Dry skin, lusterless skin, eczema, psoriasis, dandruff and other imbalances of the skin can often find their roots in our lungs and large intestines.
Here are some great herbal allies for the lungs and large intestines:
Elecampagne (Inula Helenium): This pungent herb, is heating and bitter and is a great expectorant (brings up phlem), and anti-spasmodic. Helps to rejuvenate the lungs, it reduces excess and stagnant mucous. It strengthens the muscles of the lungs and helps to reduce swelling.
Thyme leaf: a powerful anti-microbial and anti-viral, one of it's phenols, thymol is secreted out and through the alveoli of the lungs so it's effective at rooting out deep seated lung infections.
Nettle leaf: one of the best sources of minerals and vitamins for the body. As welsh herbalist David Hoffman once shared at a workshop, "When in doubt: nettles."
Marshmallow Root: This sweet and cooling herb helps to moisten the lungs and to restore a healthy mucous membrane. It's great for cough and whooping cough. It is good for inflammatory conditions of the skin.
Mullein leaf: This bitter herb is astringent and has a sweet, cooling and pungent nature. It is moistening for the lungs, and particularly good for bronchitis, asthma, sinusitis, swollen glands, and earache.
Burdock Root: A great blood purifier as well as a blood glucose level regulator. Effective at healing skin disorders, combines well with yellow dock.
Here is a simple herbal formula to keep on hand during flu season:
Boneset - 2 parts
Elder Flower - 1 part
Peppermint - 1 part
You steep this mixture in boiled water for 10 - 15 minutes. Drink the cup as hot as possible while wrapped up in a blanket. The elder flowers in particular are a powerful diaphoretic so they will help you sweat it out. You can drink a cup every two hours.
Also in this season filled with such concern for the H1N1 flu, the best defense is to boost our immune systems with a nutrient rich diet, supporting herbs, deep breathing practices like yoga, t'ai chi, and qi gong, shiatsu and abundant sleep.
Shiatsu is a great addition to a flu prevention and recovery strategy. Shiatsu can boost the immune system as well as help to dispel wind, heat and cold that contribute to what we describe as colds and flus, as well as tonify the lungs and large intestine.
Southside Shiatsu will continue to work in the coming year to offer affordable options for clients to benefit from regular shiatsu sessions.
Package of 5 Shiatsu Session - $225
This comes out to $45 a session.
For the month of December Southside Shiatsu will be offering the annual two for one special where you can purchase two hour long Shiatsu sessions for $65. This is a great holiday gift and gift certificates will be available.
And Southside Shiatsu will continue to offer the sliding fee scale which is detailed here.
In Health,
David Miller
Southside Shiatsu
Newsletter #6, Summer 2009:
Greetings friends,
Summer is a time of growth, of expansion. The sun heats, penetrates and brings spirit up from the depths. To be in balance with this active season it is good to rise with the sun, to energize and exercise early and to work with the procreative earth, finding joy in the clarity of working with the wisdom of the garden. It is the time of fire, the heart, and when in harmony, laughter and joy in moderation. For the spirit to soar it must be rooted in form as embodied in yin and blood. So as the sidewalk heats up, try to stay cool on all levels.
Cook lightly with spicy, pungent and fiery flavors. Cayenne and hot peppers bring up the heat from the core and cool, as do fresh ginger root, horseradish and black pepper. Fruits that cool summer heat include apples, watermelon, lemons and limes. As it heats up stay cool with fresh salads, mung bean and alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, tofu and herbal sun teas like peppermint leaf, blue violet leaf, chamomile and lemon balm. Cool down with these seasonal herbs and fruits. Remember be light.
And with that caveat, avoid heavy foods, they slow you down, interfere with the yang nature of the season. Limit meats, eggs, excesses of nuts, seeds and grains. Eat less, eat lighter, more frequent meals. And if possible eat locally, it's better for you and the planet. I know it's hard, but try not to indulge in those sensuous ice creams and frozen pops, they create mucous in the body which can confuse and interfere with the clarity that can come with this clairvoyant season. Everything in moderation, even rocky road on a sugar cone.
And Shiatsu helps to cool the body, release heat, balance the heart, the heart-mind connection. Heart imbalances so often arise from deficiencies of the kidneys and spleen as well as from stagnation in the liver. Shiatsu tonifies the underlying organ systems that feed the heart as well as moving blockages in the liver qi in the meridians.
Southside Shiatsu looks forward to a offering you affordable and high quality theraputic bodywork in the coming seasons. Please check out the website and take advantage of the sliding fee scale as well as package deals that reward you for making Shiatsu a regular part of your alternative health matrix.
In Health,
David Miller
Southside Shiatsu
Newsletter #5, Spring 2009:
No matter how arduous the Winter, Spring is always a new beginning. It is a time for cleansing, a time for renewal. Notice the expansive nature, the rising of raw, tender and fierce green shoots.
The element is wood and the organs associated with this green season are the liver and gallbladder. Spring is a Yang time, a time when emotions, like shoots, rapidly rise. When in harmony the liver helps to ensure a smooth flow of emotions and qi (vital energy) throughout the body. When the liver is clogged, as it often is in these modern and overly processed times, energy gets stuck and that gives rise to the emotion anger. When that anger is suppressed and not utilized in a positive way to transform, it can sink down and become depression.
Stagnant liver qi is very, very common in our society. It can be expressed in frustration, irritability, getting 'hot under the collar', headaches. When it reaches the next level the liver yang can rise to become a migraine headache. There are many ways to cool the liver, including Shiatsu, correct diet and utilizing the many herbal allies of Spring.
Eating lightly and seasonally - young spring plants, sprouts and fresh greens help to lighten the load on the Liver. Bitters like Dandelion greens help to get the digestive juices flowing. Sweet and pungent flavored foods help to bring that expansive Spring quality to the interior. Honey mint tea, and pungent herbs such as basil and bay leaf are desirable. Spring is the appropriate season to fast, and often it is recommended to help purify the blood and remove toxins from the body that have built up over the long, sedentary winter.
Spring is the appropriate season to bring raw foods back into the diet. This helps to balance out the rising heat and increased activity of being out doors and soaking in the sun. However, as always, eat raw foods in moderation or you can end up depleting the digestive fires and weaken the Stomach and Spleen energies. People with extreme deficiency signs in the body will not be drawn to raw foods because they require so much energy to digest.
Spring is a wonderful time to cleanse your Gall Bladder.
Gall Bladder Flush
(Healing with Whole Foods - Paul Pitchford/ pg.323):
To get rid of gall bladder stones and other sediment. In the morning and throughout the day eat ONLY apples, 5 Organic Granny Smith (green apples have a higher malic acid content). Water, herbal teas (mildly laxative like Dandelion Root/Chamomile for example) and apple juice are o.k. At bed-time, warm up two-thirds of a cup of virgin olive oil to body temperature and mix in one-third of a cup of fresh lemon juice. Slowly sip the entire mixture, and then immediately go to bed, lying on the right side, with the right leg drawn up. In the morning the Gall Stones should pass in the stool. Only do this for one day!
If you are on medications, or have health complications contact your doctor and consult with her/him before you try this cleanse.
For more information about Shiatsu and it's benefits, visit me at
In Health,
David Miller
Southside Shiatsu
Newsletter #4, Winter 2008
Dear Friends,
Winter in Minnesota is a force to be reckoned with, respected and carefully experienced. It is a time of introspection, pulling warmth deep into the core, a time of sharing and storytelling and preparing the body to receive the new year that sleeps beneath the numbed surface. It is the most yin time of year, a slowing down and settling into the darkness, a heavy time that needs to be tempered with humor and fire and most importantly remembering and nourishing and protecting our kidneys.
"The forces of winter create cold in Heaven and water on Earth. They create the kidney organ and the bones within the body ... the emotion fear, and the ability to make a groaning sound."
- Inner Classic
The Kidneys "open into the ears" so hearing is greatly influenced by the health of our kidneys, all kinds of hearing. The Kidneys are associated with the Water Element and govern water metabolism as well as controlling the Bladder. They also control the lower parts of the body including the sexual organs and their reproductive functions. The Kidneys also provide energy and warmth to the body and they also help us to breathe by 'grasping' and pulling down the energies of the Lungs allowing us to feel that beautiful feeling of a deep breath.
Kidneys are the root of our body's energies, the root of the yin and the yang in our bodies. They contain our 'pre-Heaven essence' the constitutional code if you will from our parents. So it is clear that given that Winter is their season that now is the time to nourish and warm the fires of kidneys, to honor where we have come from and to reflect on how we will manifest our will in a just way in the new year.
Most people have some degree of Kidney yin or Kidney yang deficiency, so it is important to tailor the diet to individual needs, but in general salty and bitter foods are good winter friends because they promote a sinking and centering quality. These foods cool the exterior of the body and draw body heat deeper and lower into the body. Salt should be used with care for an excess tightens the Kidneys and Bladder causing thirst and coldness in the body. Salty foods like miso, soy sauce, seaweeds, millet, and barley are good to add to the diet. Bitter foods include turnip, celery, rye, oats, quinoa and amaranth.
Warm hearty soups, whole grains and roasted nuts are good additions. However cook foods longer, at a lower temperature and with less water.
If you have a strong aversion to the cold and you notice that your hands and feet in particular are your own private icicles, you may have Kidney Yang deficiency. Many common spices can help to stimulate the yang and help to move energy from you center to your extremities: cloves; fenugreek seeds; fennel seeds; anise seeds; black peppercorns; ginger (dried preferred); cinnamon bark; walnuts; black beans; chicken; trout; salmon.
And as always, Shiatsu is a wonderful way to tonify and nourish your Kidneys and all the organ systems in your body. In that vein, Southside Shiatsu looks forward to working with you in the coming year as part of your overall heath care program.
During these economic times Southside Shiatsu offers a new category to the Sliding Fee Scale utilized by so many clients: Unemployed. In 2009 unemployed clients will be able to benefit from an hour of Shiatsu for $25 dollars.
Southside Shiatsu is also working with others in creating a Food not Lawns network in the Twin Cities so that we can turn our grass into gardens and share our harvest with our neighbors and others who may be in need in the coming years.
In Health,
David Miller
Southside Shiatsu
Newsletter #3, Fall 2008
Dear Friends,
Autumn is alive and breathing out in vivid color. Frost makes nasturtiums droop their heads down into that long sleep while water retreats downwards into this time of roots and reflection.
“The forces of Autumn create dryness in Heaven and metal on Earth: they create the lung organ and the skin upon the body…and the nose, and the white color, and the pungent flavor…the emotion grief, and the ability to make a weeping sound.’
-Inner Classic
Autumn is a time to organize, to cleanse and to prepare for the deepening of oncoming winter. It is a time of contraction, a pulling inward from the more kinetic summer. Sour foods are astringent and help our tissues in this process. Olives, pickles, sauerkraut, aduki beans, plums, lemons, limes, yogurt and rose hip tea are all sour in nature and help to tighten tissue in the body. Baked and cooked roots and pungent foods like daikon radish should be added to the diet.
The lungs and large intestines are the organs associated with Fall. The lungs govern qi (vital energies) in the body and both lungs and large intestines are associated with the emotion grief and the ability or inability to let go. Imbalance in the lungs can be seen in dry conditions in the body: dry skin; dry and brittle hair; excessive thirst; and itchiness.
Certain foods help to alleviate this dryness in the body: soy products (tofu/tempeh); spinach; barley; millet; pear; apple; persimmon; almonds; to name just a few. If dryness is accompanied by deficiency and weakness, it is appropriate if it fits into one’s ethical framework to consume dairy and animal products.
Exercise is a great friend to help keep the lungs vital and healthy, but as with the sour foods, everything in moderation, even moderation.
Shiatsu is a great ally in helping to tonify lung qi and to increase the overall balance and vitality in these organ systems. Healthier lungs aid in the improvement of overall immunity through a strengthening of the wei qi or “defensive energies” of the outer shells of the body’s energy field.
I encourage you to take the time to fit Shiatsu into your busy schedules and tight budgets, especially if you are feeling good, as a preventative therapy to help keep you feeling balanced and harmonious. This preventative consciousness goes against how many of us were trained: to only seek medicine when we are in pain and suffering rather than realizing that the road to disease is paved by countless days of complacency.
I encourage you to take advantage of my sliding fee scale. I am also offering a fall gift certificate special: two shiatsus for the price of one. That way you can get one for yourself and one for someone that you think would appreciate and/or needs shiatsu. This comes out to $65 for two hours of shiatsu, which, if you are a math whiz, comes out to $32.50 per hour. Let me know if you want to take advantage of this seasonal offer, and let me know if you want me to mail out a gift certificate.
I look forward to continuing to be of service in the coming season and the coming year.
In Health,
David Miller
Southside Shiatsu
Newsletter #2, Late Summer 2008
Dear Friends,
It is late summer, a time of anticipation of the harvest. Gardens are in full bloom. Those tomatoes hang heavy, just beginning to change hue from green to red and zuchinni's are becoming giants beneath their elephant ear leaves.
Late summer is time for us to be eating local, seasonal produce fresh from our own or some neighbor's garden. There's plenty of it out there. Last weekend I got a bag of zuchinni and a separate bag of potatoes from the St. Paul Farmer's market for $5. With the price of food sky rocketing it's nice to realize that the answers are so close to home.
Late summer, a largely unrecognized 'season' in the west is approximately the last month of summer. It is the beginning of the turning of the yearly cycle from yang to yin. It is a time for unity and harmony and taking advantage of the abundance of the harvest.
Mildly sweet foods, yellow and golden foods and foods that harmonize the center are recommended: Corn, carrots, cabbage, garbanzo beans, millet, yams, sweet potatoes, rice, peas, cantalope. And of course, living in berry country, it's a great time to go out
and pick your own blueberries!
It is a good time to do a cleansing three or four day 'single grain-fast' to prepare for fall and winter.
Here are two herbs that are good allies during this transition:
Elecampagne: This warming and drying herb works wonders for rebellious lung, spleen or stomach qi. So if belching, nausea, indigenstion, or abdominal fullness with edema have become bedfellows this year, try a week or two at most of a decoction of the root. It also works wonders on nature's little hitchhikers especially threadworms, hookworms and roundworms as well as protozoan infestations. It also helps to tonify the lungs and helps to overcome lung weakness and get them ready for the hard work they'll be doing when those cold winds begin to blow. This herbal friend is contraindicated during pregnancy and should be treated with respect, one or two weeks daily at most.
Lambs Quarters: This cooling and drying herb is abundant in your yard, gardens, neighborhood and most of us spend far too much time trying to yank it out without realizing it's many benefits. Years ago, a wise farmer in Anoka once prophesized that these lambs quarters that we fought to keep out of his organic garden beds would someday be a crop that would be grown for cancer and other disease remedies. He was not too far off. It's a good for sunburns, used topically as a poltice. It's good for toothache when an infusion of the whole herb is swished as a mouthwash (astringency). It's also a great ally for the stomach and spleen, relieving stomach ache and diarrhea caused by Heat. It's also good for an enlarged spleen. This common weed is high in oxalic acid and so folks with tender kidneys should be careful with this herb, as well as pregnant women.
And last but not least. I am very excited to share my new website with you. I will be updating this home page "blog" periodically and offering new and exciting herbal and bodywork tips throughout the year. I am so grateful to my friend Stefan Iwaskewycz for his design work. I also want to thank my friend Andrew McDonald for his photography that he has so generously donated to this site.
See you in the garden, the street and on the shiatsu table!
In Health,
David Miller
Southside Shiatsu
Newsletter #1, Spring 2008
Dear Friends,
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," could well describe how many people are feeling this spring. This spring of hope amidst such economic, political, and environmental fears.
Southside Shiatsu would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to appreciate shiatsu and all that it has to offer in the face of such uncertainty. Many of you have taken advantage of the sliding fee scale that is offered as a way of having it make sense in your budget. Others have discovered that they can get it covered with their health insurance flex spending accounts. If you have such a health insurance plan all you have to do is get a receipt from me to turn in and it's covered. In other words, let me know how we can make this work financially, and we will.
I recently joined the Board of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia (AOBTA) as the Legislative Co-Chair. This entails working on legislation in the State of Minnesota that will help to professionalize and standardize the work that we do as well as working to ensure that modalities such as Shiatsu are included in the vision of Universal Health Care Reform. This is challenging and exciting work and an important part of making alternative health care affordable. Please feel free to contact me with suggestions and questions regarding this work.
Southside Shiatsu is about to launch a website with the help of my dear friend Stefan. Keep your eyes out for www.southsideshiatsu.com, it will be up and running before July.
It's spring. Time to take care of that Liver and Gallbladder. As temperatures heat up, it can cause a lot of irritability and getting 'hot under the collar'. Eat those spring greens, those bitter, cooling spring greens: lettuce; kale; chard. A nice cup of chamomile tea before bed can help to calm that liver fire. Dandelion as well is a great ally as well as burdock, both of which you will probably find growing outside your front door. When you dig them up to get rid of those 'weeds' throw them (the whole plant) in the pot after washing them well and make a nice blood cleansing infusion. Meditate on the color green. Oh, and of course there is a lot shiatsu can do to move that stagnant liver qi or to tone down those liver yang rising headaches that are famous in spring.
Southside Shiatsu continues to offer unique deals. If your body is telling you it's that time again to get some work done, let me know and we'll go from the basis of what you can afford.
In Health,
David Miller
Southside Shiatsu