At Qi Integrated Health, we are always looking for ways to help people achieve better health and more happiness in their lives. We also love to get out into the community and meet new people. This July, we are proud to participate in the Camp Moomba Yogathon & Blissfest to help raise awareness and funds for children whose lives have been impacted by HIV/AIDS.

Please visit our Yogathon page at (www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1237&AID=1099&PID=146818) and make a donation to help support this wonderful cause! You can also come out and visit our booth at the Yogathon on Saturday, July, 24th at the MacInnes Field at UBC.

On Saturday, July 24, 2010, two thousand people will participate in the 8th Annual Camp Moomba Yogathon & Blissfest to raise awareness and funds for children impacted by HIV/AIDS. The much needed funds raised from this event will help send a child to summer camp for an experience of a lifetime. You can help change the life of a child! Registration is only $30! Visit ( www.campmoombayogathon.com ) to register. Please join us to practice 108 minutes of yoga outdoors on a beautiful, warm summer day. This event is the largest outdoor yoga class in Western Canada and will host yoga instructors, yoga students, health and wellness professionals, and people who share a passion for wellness, love and bliss.

Qi Integrated Health is excited to welcome the newest member of our health care team: Olga Blushtein, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and Cognitive Behaviour Hypnotherapist.

Olga is now booking hypnotherapy sessions on Thursdays from 9:30am to 2:00pm.
She offers complimentary 20 minute phone consultations for first time clients. This brief consultation regarding your current physical and mental conditions allows for a better understanding of your treatment needs. Please note, that depending on your condition you may be asked for a doctor's referral.

The benefits of hypnotherapy are only limited by one's own mind. You can use hypnotherapy to speed up any therapeutic process to provide rapid results. What might take months or years of other conventional treatments, can be accomplished in a few weeks with hypnotherapy, usually up to 6 sessions for treating one issue.

Personal performance in all life aspects, such as sports, work or arts achievements, can be greatly improved through hypnotherapy.

Hypnotherapy is not only a treatment but is also a study as well. You are given the proper tools to apply self-hypnosis techniques in order to resolve issues on your own.

Hypnotherapy allows you to gain a better understanding of your mind. By uniting imagination and creativity, together, you and your Hypnotherapist create new positive feelings and pictures.

You can also use hypnosis, to aid your personal growth and assist on your path to spiritual discovery.

Hypnotherapy can resolve psychological, emotional and physical conditions. Some examples are listed below:

• Pain relief during labour, surgery, dentistry, illness or injury

• Ease the suffering of the disabled or those facing terminal illness, loss or drastic life changes

• Addictions with tobacco, alcohol or narcotics

• Eating disorders as anorexia, bulimia or fast foodism

• Children can be helped with bedwetting, thumb sucking, stuttering and exam stress

• Phobias, panic attacks, compulsive behavior, depression, and insomnia

• Irritable bowel syndrome, psoriasis, eczema and excessive sweating

Hypnotherapy is a medically approved, safe, and highly effective way to easily overcome most of your issues.

Please call 604-742-8383 to book your hypnotherapy session, and start on the road to a healthier and happier life!

Sunday, May 16th and Sunday, May 30th
10am to 12pm

Will be held at Qi Integrated Health
2618 W. Broadway (@ Trafalgar)
Please RSVP to info@qiintegratedhealth.com or call 604-742-8383 to reserve your spot.
Attendance is limited.

Thursdays in May 2pm - 8pm

A recent addition to the Qi Integrated team, Antony Fentiman is a qualified Healer, and throughout the month of May he is offering the opportunity to experience and understand this powerful form of healing for yourself, free of charge.

Natural Spiritual Healing is a safe, non-invasive, completely natural therapy for people of all ages and beliefs. The healing energy restores balance on all levels; in mind, body & spirit, so that health and personal progress are improved, helping you to feel more centered and at ease with yourself and life.
Through a consultation, the healer works intuitively to help you to identify and bring awareness to changes needed to any area of your overall wellbeing. Energy care tools may be taught if required. These prepare the ground for the healing treatment itself.
Healing helps to remove any blocks in your energy flow, manage energy levels better, reduce stress and enhance immune system function. Healing treats a wide range of physical conditions and emotional difficulties. It also helps with personal change & life crisis, illness & bereavement, and recovery from accident or surgery.

Please book your appointment with reception. Allow 30 minutes for the session and arrive 15 minutes ahead of your appointment. We look forward to meeting you.

Yoga Therapy in Vancouver

Dr. Robin Armstrong, Chiropractor & Yoga instructor is now offering yoga therapy sessions on site at Qi Integrated Health.

Yoga Therapy is an excellent modality to achieve more balance in the body, or to get individualized attention in your yoga practice to determine the possible causes of a recurrent injury.

A one on one yoga session focused on recovery from a specific injury, the sessions will include a mixture of traditional yogic exercises, and modern rehabilitative techniques applied to yoga. Back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, sports injuries and more can benefit from using yoga as a therapeutic tool to recovery.

45 minute Yoga Therapy Session $85.00
30 minute Yoga Therapy Session $60.00

     * Sessions covered under extended medical benefits for chiropractic.

Call the office to make an appointment with Dr. Robin, and begin your healing today.

February marks 3 years since Qi started business in Kits. Over that time, I have built a team of practitioners who have really taken to the idea of a team. I am happy to state that my dream of a true team is now in practice. How does this Benefit the patient? Well, lets take the case of Mrs. Bizhong     *. She came to the clinic interested in treatment for an acute flair up of her chronic hip pain. Her pain had been steadily worsening over the last four months to the point where for the past two weeks she was unable to work or get a good nights rest. She started her treatments by seeing Dr. Armstrong, who diagnosed her with a hip misalignment. Due to the high level of tension in the surrounding musculature Dr. Armstrong determined that the best course of treatment was to release some of the
tension, and then work to correct the misalignment. Dr. Armstrong conferred with the team and we set up a treatment plan for Mrs. Bizhong. The plan started with a treatment including cupping, acupuncture, and a gentle swinging of the legs. Three days following, at her second visit, there had been a marked decrease in the tension and she was able to start with the chiropractic treatment as well. In just two weeks we had taken Mrs. Bizhong from immobilizing pain, to being able to do daily exercises pain free.

This time of year we are see more hip pain, here are a few tips to avoid falling pray to the back pain bite:

- Warm Up/ Cool down. A great stretch for the hip is the pigeon pose, or a modification of it depending on hip tension level.
- Keep your low back and hips warm with extra layers.
- Listen to your body, I often hear patients say that they had felt a twinge in their back a day or two before the final straw.
- And of course come in and have a treatment before it gets debilitating. This makes for a shorter road to recovery.

If you have any questions about this article or anything regarding Qi, please contact Kiem
Schutter at 604-742-8383 or (info@qiintegratedhealth.com)

Thank you for all of your support over the last three years!

Kiem Schutter
R.Ac.
Clinical Director

     *Name has been changed.

By: Dr. Robin Armstrong, Chiropractor & Active Release Technique provider

Spring is a time of growth, awakening and renewal. Around this time of year we often gain new energy to tackle those projects we’ve put off, and maybe get around to cleaning out the closets. What about the most important part of spring cleaning – your health?

Spring is an excellent time to ask ourselves a few questions and take stock of what we could be doing to enjoy a healthier life.

How active are you?
We all know we should be active, but we don’t always make it a priority. Staying active provides us with more energy, improves our mood, and is a great stress reliever. And these effects improve the more you exercise. A recent study found that regular exercisers have twice the improvement in mood after exercise compared to non-exercisers.
Exercise causes a “runner’s high” releasing hormones that suppress pain and cause a feeling of well-being. How about a run or walk around the sea wall followed by a Power yoga class at one of Vancouver’s many yoga studios?

Are you living with aches and pains?
Regularly in my practice I meet people who believe they have to “just live” with back pain/knee pain/neck pain etc. Did you know that pain increases our cortisol levels (stress hormone), decreases our energy, and is mentally distracting? Do you remember what it was like before your “bum knee/back/shoulder”? There are often treatments or lifestyle modifications that a health professional can provide to decrease your pain and improve
your function.

How healthy is your daily routine?
Activities such as sitting for long periods of time, extended computer use, and carrying your bag (or your child) on the same side, can cause unhealthy postural imbalances. These imbalances build up over time resulting in problems such as low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tennis elbow. It is important to use our bodies symmetrically (try carrying your bag on the other side) and to take breaks if we are sustaining one position for a long period of time.

Healthy computer set up is another key to feeling good.
Do you know how your mouse, screen and chair should be positioned? If you are unsure
how to set up your computer correctly to minimize injury and discomfort, visit our website blog for an article to help you work you’re your computer, not against it by setting up your workstation in a healthy way.
( qiintegratedhealth.com/blog/?p=35 )

It is important for us to do a little “clean up” of our health on a regular basis. These questions are only the tip of the iceberg on the many ways we can improve our health.

Spring is an excellent time to re-examine what else we can be doing to feel good and stay healthy, so that we can continue to be happy and healthy for many springs to come.

References:

Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2008 Feb;89(2):358-63. Exercisers achieve greater acute exercise-induced mood enhancement than non-exercisers. Hoffman MD, Hoffman DR

Many of us seek a partner in life, someone to share our lives, our dreams and to grow together. To develop an intimate loving & sexual relationship, and perhaps to create and nurture children. Relationships can vary with type of partner, length and intensity. They can change at different stages of our lives. They bring us joy and give our lives meaning, but they also show us our weaknesses, push our buttons, and if we are unbalanced, these relationships can become negative experiences. A spiritual approach will help us develop communication and trust and balance our male and female energies to fully explore this fundamental human need.

Being a parent is the opportunity for many of us to fulfill a natural urge and completeness. However as a parent, we are tested by the challenges of the child’s character, conditions and health. When our partnerships, homes and work are in transition, bringing up children can also be challenging.
Directly or indirectly, we all play the role of a parent sometime in our lives – as a natural parent, step or foster parent, grandparent, and sibling or friend of a parent. As well as, for instance, a teacher or care worker. A spiritual approach will allow us to understand what’s best for the whole, for all concerned, whatever the situation.

A ‘Spiritual Parenting & Partnerships’ workshop will be held at the Kitsilano Community Centre, Saturday March 13th 2010 between 10am – 5pm. To book a place visit ( www.kitscc.com ) or phone 604 257 6976.
In addition, Healing & Counselling can also assist at looking spiritually at being both a parent & partner, and are available at Qi Integrated Health every Thursday.

Antony Fentiman, Healer.

by Dr. Robin Armstrong, Chiropractor, Active Release Provider

Pregnancy is an exciting time for you and your family, not to mention your body. As your uterus expands to accommodate your growing baby a variety of changes occur that effect the balance in your frame. Keeping your body balanced during this time can not only relieve discomfort but can also optimize your labour and the development of your baby.

This year’s cold and flu season is compounded by the threat of H1N1. This flu strain has proven especially virulent and even deadly. We all need to take extra time to incorporate preventive measures into our daily routines to protect ourselves and those around us. Follow the tips below to help stay healthy this year.

Join lululemon ambassador Dr. Robin Armstrong, chiropractor and yoga instructor, for a relaxing and beneficial yoga practice. Robin will lead you through a series of yoga poses that can strengthen your core, help you improve your posture, avoid back pain, and enhance your yoga practice.

Date: Thursday, April 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30th
Time: 7-8 PM
Location: Lululemon W4th
lululemon.com/vancouver/kitsilano/map

By: American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology

Acupuncture is as effective and longer-lasting in managing the common debilitating side effects of hot flashes, night sweats, and excessive sweating (vasomotor symptoms) associated with breast cancer treatment and has no treatment side effects compared to conventional drug therapy, according to a first-of-its-kind study presented September 24, 2008, at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

Findings also show...

Are you or your kids sniffling and wheezing this week? If you are, you are part of a huge worldwide trend. 

The second half of September is the worst possible time of year for allergies and asthma. 

“Every year on the 17th or 18th day of school, there is a peak in the number of kids hospitalized by asthma,” says Dr. Mark Greenwald, a Toronto allergist and chair of scientific and medical advisory committee of the Asthma Society of Canada.

Babies given the drug in their first year of life more likely to have allergy symptoms later, study says

Babies who receive acetaminophen in the first year of life are significantly more likely to have symptoms of asthma and other allergies when they're a few years older.

A massive, worldwide study of more than 200,000 children also found that six- and seven-year- olds who get acetaminophen frequently -- at least once a month -- are three times as likely to suffer wheezing and whistling in their chests compared to children who never take the drug.

Did you know that the British Columbia Medical Services Plan has added Acupuncture as a Supplementary Benefit?
Premium assistance benefits are available to eligible B.C. residents with a combined family income of $28,000 or less. MSP reimburses premium assistance recipients $23 for each supplementary benefit visit, to a combined maximum of 10 visits in each calendar year. Patients are covered for acupuncture treatments for a diagnosed condition through visits with practitioners registered by the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of British Columbia (CTCMA). For more information, please see the BC Medical Services Plan website: www.health.gov.bc.ca/cpa/mediasite/headlines.html#mar30 or contact your local BC Acupuncturist.

Asthma is a serious chronic lung disease affecting 21 per cent of children 2 to 15 years of age. Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood. This disorder is typically episodic and remittent in nature.

Along with Chinese herbal medicine, certain dietary and lifestyle modifications can increase the immune systems ability to fight off colds, the flu and other illnesses.