Johanne Picard-Scott, Author at Harlem Chi

About Johanne Picard-Scott

Former Haitian dancer turned NYC corporate attorney who reclaimed her passion for life and love through Chinese medicine and yoga. Today she continues to evolve as an acupuncturist, herbalist, healer through her thriving community acupuncture practice in Harlem, NY and is passionate about helping others embrace and grow confident in their innate self-healing potential.

Harlem Chi Re-Opens!

June 12, 2020 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

WE ARE BACK!

We are happy to announce that Harlem Chi officially re-opens its doors on Monday, June 15^th. In addition to our excitement about being able to see our patients and resume our work, we are very pleased that on May 15 acupuncture was officially recognized in New York as an ESSENTIAL health care service!

Needless to say it was very difficult to have to shut our doors at a time when we felt strongly that our services were even more desperately needed.

These last three months have been a total combustion of energies affecting and challenging each and everyone one of us at every level. At the beginning of the pandemic I wrote that inevitably we would emerge from our communal experience fundamentally changed. Little did I know how seismic that would be. We plunged into a great level of fear and uncertainty yet we are emerging as well with a new sense of drive and urgency to face head-on the societal ills that have plagued us for way too long.

I feel hopeful and encouraged at what we are witnessing and taking part of today. While I realize that this level of emotion can be overwhelming I hear the clarion call for radical healing at every level.

How we heal individually goes hand in hand with how we heal our society. And we each have our role to play in healing ourselves in order to be better equipped to engage with our respective communities – our families, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our state, our nation, our earth. We, particularly in the health and wellness community, cannot afford to view this separately.

YOUR ‘THIRD SPACE’

At Harlem Chi we will not only continue to help you resolve most of your physical and emotional pain and chronic ailments, but I’ve always envisioned Harlem Chi to be a “third space.” A space where one comes to not only heal, but to regroup, resource, rejuvenate, and find the stillness essential for you to build the physical strength and spiritual clarity to move you constructively forward.

YOUR SAFETY

Of course your safety and comfort is always of primary concern. We are still in an acute state of alert and thus are adopting all the necessary measures to help stop the spread of COVID.

During this state of high alert these are some of the changes in process you can expect to see in the office:

1) Treatment by scheduled appointment only — In order to control all traffic in the office at all times we require that everyone book their appointment online in advance. Until further notice we will not be accepting walk-ins. For those who prefer not to book online please call the office directly at (212) 280-7900 to book your appointment. If someone does not answer we will get back to you as early as possible to help with your booking. With this policy we also seek to minimize the frequency of payment transactions in the office as well.

2) Reduced Capacity in the Community Room — Though our spacing already satisfied the 6ft distance mandate, we have removed tables and lounge chairs to further increase the distancing. Of course the reduction in capacity does mean we have been forced to increase our fees to accommodate; but we are hoping we will not have to increase our pricing further.

Our community room has served several purposes beyond just helping to keep our fees low. There is a fundamental healing advantage to being in the community space. Here individuals are able to tap into and leverage the communal healing taking place and more easily enter into a deep state of rest, relaxation, and healing. In a time of increased and forced isolation we are adamant about maintaining this vital resource for our patients.

Nonetheless we have added a private room service for those who feel particularly concerned, but we are confident that most will feel very much at ease in the community set-up.

3) Pre-Screening Procedures — As part of our booking process everyone will receive, 24 hours before their scheduled appointment, a COVID Pre-Screening questionnaire, which they will need to fill out and sign, reviewing any possible COVID related symptoms in the last 14 days. This helps you to not only self-screen prior to coming in but to help you determine whether perhaps a TeleHealth session might be most appropriate. We have been successful in helping people manage their symptoms with herbal formulas during the acute phase of the pandemic and would like to continue to do so. Anyone who self-screens or is turned away because of symptoms of concern will be asked to contact us for an herbal consultation through TeleHealth services.

In addition, at every visit each patient will undergo a front-office screening, which will include checking your temperature and oxygen saturation level. Anyone who has acute symptoms and fails the screening will have the option to book a TeleHealth appointment for further consultation and herbal medicine assistance and/or decide to seek further medical attention.

4) Social Distancing in the Front Office – In addition to our reduction in capacity in our community treatment room. We ask that everyone please come alone to any appointments unless you require assistance. Please note that both you and whoever accompanies you must undergo the same above screening process to gain access to the office.

5) TeleHealth Services for Pre-Screened Herbal Consultations Only — We instituted TeleHealth services during the pandemic in an effort to respond to the needs of our patients when we were unable to see them. This will not change. However, we do not intend to have TeleHealth substitute for in-person consultations. Our in-person interaction with our patients is critical to how we perform our medicine. At this stage the TeleHealth option will be available only for herbal consultations related to cases we are precluded from seeing in the office due to the pandemic. TeleHealth will also be available on a case-by-case basis for certain follow-up appointments and only when we have done a full in-person consultation prior.

Let’s get back to taking care of YOU! See you soon!

In Community & Health,

Johanne & Diana

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Emotional Resilience in the Midst of Upheaval

March 27, 2020 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

We cannot treat with our needles. We cannot touch with our hands. We cannot speak in person with our patients. And like all of you we are forced to go within to seek the teachings that this moment is here to provide.

Emotional Resilience in a Time of Global Upheaval

I have heard from some of you since we closed the practice and those conversations are what prompted me to write this. Naturally, a lot of us are feeling very unsettled. Your full range of emotions are natural responses to your external environment and the internal thinking that ensues. Remember that emotions are not bad or good, but are functional. Fear, Anger, Grief, Joy — They all serve a functional purpose. Anger can move you to action. Fear alerts you to danger. Sadness reminds you of what you need to let go. Joy keeps you in the present moment. A resilient emotional body is one that moves you efficiently through adversity.

The current state of affairs is the external stimuli that currently challenges all of us. We are experiencing a type of communal trauma that I imagine is what any community feels in a time of war. We will all react differently but there are some trends that we are observing. Colossal uncertainty is driving our fear and we naturally seek ways to maintain some type of control. For instance, we cling to the only technologies that can give us a sense of connection. This gives us a fleeting sense of control, hence the rapid acceptance of the “new normal” of tech-mediated “connection.”

A recent Harvard Business Review article recounts an incident at one of their tech-mediated staff meetings when they stopped and asked everyone how they were feeling. One staff member said “grief” and everyone quickly nodded in agreement. We all know things will be different after this pandemic and we don’t know what that future will look like and thus we experience grief over that loss of normalcy. We are afraid to let go of what we know for the unsettling unknown.

Indeed, I personally, in just the last couple of weeks, have gone through the panoply of emotions. Not being able to step into Harlem Chi and do what I love was the first tremendous loss (grief). Facing the financial uncertainty for my family and staff has me unsettled (fear). Underlying anger has also been revealed in my turn to social media to express opinions – fully realizing I am just stirring a seething cauldron of communal fear, anger, and grief (punctuated with much needed levity).

The Importance of “Still Time” to Achieve Emotional Resilience

However, this period could not have illustrated more vividly to me the importance of still time. Now, more than ever, it is important to ask ourselves “what are we truly feeling?” Your emotional response can be efficient or it can be extreme. Some of you may not even be in touch with what you are feeling. Others might be riddled with emotion. Emotional resilience is not how we avoid our feelings or run into them, but how we efficiently manage and balance the extremes in either expression or non-expression.

Much of what we do with Chinese medical clinical diagnostics is to assess where someone is currently in their nervous constitution and disposition. We use our needles to signal their autonomic nervous system to reset to help them course through their emotions, not suppress them. Which is why the first question I ask of my patients no matter how they “name” their emotion is to describe where and what they are feeling “in their body.” Where in their body are they experiencing nervous tension? Are racing thoughts at night making it unable to sleep? Do they feel a gurgling of palpations from their naval going up to their throat? Is there chest tightening? Are they tossing and turning at night or waking up at odd times? All these give us clues as to what the pattern of disruption is and our work is to help them more efficiently move through and channel those emotions. We help them to connect more constructively with their nervous responses.

Self-Healing Through Inner Connection

But how does one do this on their own? When you no longer have your acupuncturist to turn to?

One of the biggest struggles of the moment is managing the loss of connection that every one is feeling. Now that this state of affairs has been forced on us, this is the time to discover another very important connection – our connection with ourselves.

In Chinese Five Element theory the element of Fire is associated with the Heart-MInd, joy, and connection. Connection with other people AND with ourselves. Those are two pathways to cultivate joy. Indeed many ancient mystics have shared with us moments of pure ecstasy achieved through their respective inner contemplative practices. (Teresa de Àvila, Rumi – just to name some popular ones that come to mind.)

I am the first to admit that serious contemplative meditative practices have come very difficult for me. Though I’ve had a steady yoga practice for 20 years, I only recently started a separate contemplative practice – principally to deepen my intuitive presence both with my yoga and my medical practice. Since I was traveling right before this pandemic I had been lax with both. With the recent turn of events I have felt the urgent need to double down and ramp up. Every morning I have been waking up before sunrise just to sit and move in meditation. And this is what I am discovering.

Your Meditative Practice

A meditative practice is how you self-regulate. You sit with your “body,” not your thoughts. You listen to how your body is feeling and no matter how uncomfortable you sit, you breathe. No judgement, no analysis. No matter what bubbles up you let it be. You tear, you let them fall. You cry, just breathe. You feel uncomfortable, you adjust. You’re helping your body do the the job of releasing and coursing. By sitting or moving gently with purpose your body is telling your nervous system that everything is alright. Let your body run the show, not your thoughts.

This path to inner connection is the most compelling to achieve emotional resilience but also the most difficult. The type of meditative practice will look different for everyone who takes on the task. But take this moment to ask what will it be for you, and commit to “practice” it. This is a muscle to train just as any other exercise routine. Just as we exercise to keep our bodies strong we need to train ourselves to properly digest our emotions.

Now is the time to find your deeper connections. Traditional meditative practices are the most direct way to go about this. But for some it might be something as simple as knitting or jewelry making, or playing that instrument that has been on your wall for way too long or walking alone in nature. — Use the things that bring you joy to remain in the present — where your body is most efficient, where it makes the most enlightened decisions.

Take advantage of this time. Do not waste it on busy work that does not bring you pleasure. And take the media in confined doses, on your terms. On the contrary, actively seek inner connective joy without relying on the outside world (or substances) to feed you. Do this when it seems the most difficult.

Spiraling with Purpose

Your fear and anxiety is justified. But you have tools to course through it. And so in times when it seems we no longer have much control over what is going on “beyond us” it is extremely important to start where we do have control and start the slow “spiraling” from within – from where we stand. That quiet contemplative process is how you can tap into the intuition that may reveal to you the rebalancing that is taking place in our world at this time. Despite the whirlwind and uncertainty surrounding you, you remain tethered and can operate from that quiet space. The goal is to rise from this with a new sense of mission and purpose.

We will inevitably emerge from this different than how we were when it all began. When Mother Nature sends us a strong message we must not only listen but truly hear it. We are being forced to ponder and live in real time what yin yang rebalancing means on a global, community, and personal level. What will we learn during this time of forced introspection? What will we change and adjust once we are given a reprieve and emerge from this? How will we engage with our communities to have more control over our destiny?

You have the power to determine how this challenge will forge you.

And so in closing I’d like to share the work of an artist, musician, and motivational speaker – Kai Kight – who has chosen to use his very personal experience with his music to bring to life metaphors for what that inner contemplation can look like.

May we all find the time to stop, listen, and just be.

In Community & Health,

Johanne

Acupuncture in Haiti

September 29, 2019 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

Global Balance Foundation in Thiotte, Haiti

Recent publication in Acupuncture Today of an article I wrote about my participation and impressions of a recent humanitarian trip to Haiti with the Global Balance Foundation.

Make Your New Year’s Health Resolutions NOW — 5 Things You Should be Doing this Fall to Feel More Vibrant in 2020

September 5, 2019 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

Labor Day marks the end of summer in the US. It also marks for most of us the “resumption of activities” – back to school, back to getting serious at work, a slew of holidays to stress about starting with Halloween followed by Thanksgiving and then straight into the gift-giving frenzy of the December holidays. After all that activity 70% of us every year will make health related resolutions in January. But by then it might be too late.

The reality is that our fall frenzy coincides with a period that is supposed to be marked by increasing restoration and introspection – a slowing down. Ancient Chinese medical science evolved from a keen observation of nature and an understanding that we in many ways mirrored the same subtle and not so subtle energetic patterns of nature around us. We can observe that in opposition to the blooming and exuberance of the spring and summer, fall is marked by a contraction in life energies not only to prepare for the winter but to conserve and build strength for the next spring and summer bloom.

When it comes to our health we reap more if we follow suit. Attuning ourselves to the seasons is a necessary step to find our way and begin the journey towards attaining and maintaining true health. And in Chinese Medicine it is well understood that it is the things you do in the preceding seasons that determine how well you’ll weather the future ones.

Unfortunately, we tend to wait until the early days of spring (early January) to set our health “resolutions” after we’ve taxed our adrenals and spent our reserves and then we wonder why we feel exhausted in the dead of winter and sputter soon after. By then it is essentially too late to rally forces. So it is time that we set those resolutions in late summer early fall and kick the New Year health resolutions to the curb. We won’t be needing them if we pay attention earlier.

Here are 5 things you could be doing to align with the fall energies to not only better prepare for the the winter, but to also be better equipped to enjoy the spring and summer exuberance in 2020:

Pay Attention to Your Metal Element In ancient Chinese philosophy the element that resonates most directly with fall is the metal element. In its natural state metal contracts and is hard. When heated, it can be shaped and molded to make shields, swords, and armor. Thus it evokes a protective function. With respect to health the metal element needs to be as strong as much as it needs to be flexible. The organs most directly related to the metal element are your lungs, your skin, your large intestine — all organs that have the most direct contact with the outside and serve the function of mediating between your internal terrain and outside environmental factors. It is understood that anything you do to injure the interior landscape of the body in autumn — poor diet, digestion, sleep; insufficient or excessive exercise, and stress will easily damage these organs and their physiological functions particularly at this time of year. In addition these will be more susceptible to the predominant environmental factors of the season. For instance lung function is easily damaged by external environmental factors especially dryness, wind, and cold – all of which are prominent in the fall. Protecting the lungs from external wind and dryness is a first line of defense against catching colds. If you haven’t already it’s time to pull out the scarves! In addition focus on keeping the lungs moist and warm. When the dry weather of fall affects the mucus membranes of the nasal passages, lungs, and eyes it is much easier for the viruses that cause colds to attach and get into the blood stream. That is why the most common kitchen medicine in China in fall are pears! Pears are cooling and moistening and they have a viscous quality that helps moisten the lungs. Especially the Asian pears which are already at your local NY fruit stands!
Ramp-up your Skincare Regimen — Skincare is very important in the fall for the same reasons we must pay special attention to the lungs. Your skin is your largest protective organ. The dryness in the air and winds that start to turn cold can be very drying to the skin. Develop a moisturizing skin regimen that works for you and be more deliberate about and consistent with it in the fall. Again, not only will you protect your skin in the season where it is most vulnerable but it will pay off with more radiant skin in the summer as well!
Move with Pleasure. Don’t wait until spring/summer to hit the gym in a desperate effort to lose those pounds. Fall is the best time to pick the right exercise regimen that is right for you. Swimsuit season is not until months from now so no stressing here. Any exercise regimen that you can maintain through the winter has a better chance of becoming a minimal stress routine that you can stick to. Your exercise routine should be challenging but not exhausting. A more meditative regimen like yoga and tai-chi is a great challenge to take on in the fall. Your exercise regimen can change with the seasons as well. Listen to what your body needs and perhaps most important of all – enjoys.
Let Go of Toxic Emotions The metal organs also teach us important lessons on the mental/emotional level, namely the process of letting go. When we take a breath it nourishes us with needed oxygen that our body immediately utilizes, but hold the breath too long and it will become toxic. The body utilizes what it needs and lets go (in the form of carbon dioxide) to make room for more. Similarly the large intestine needs to let go of what it is holding so we can eliminate what we don’t need. Just as your metal organs moderate what you take in and direct what needs to go out to maintain homeostasis in the body, on a spiritual/emotional level this process is equally as important. You must clear the mind and learn to let go of toxic emotions that may be holding you back in order to maintain emotional balance.
Incorporate Mindful Practices – In order to properly turn inward to nurture the self it is helpful to incorporate some type of mindful/meditative practice in your daily routine. Even if you think meditation is not “for you” mindful practices are essential to support the process of introspection necessary to finding balance this time of year. Begin where you are at and find a practice that resonates with you. Your mindful practice for the season might be just making sure to sit at the table in the morning to have your breakfast with no distractions. If that is more than what you used to do before then that is your start to a more mindful health maintenance regimen. In addition, make sure to bring mindfulness particularly with respect to the holiday frenzy. Perhaps you might think of making your end-of-year holiday gift list now and every week take a bite at it. Think of creative ways to avoid the last minute stress spikes as much as you can.
Less Light, More Sleep –Fall contraction is most evident in the lengthening of darkness over sunlight. That is our cue to sleep more and earlier. More and more modern research is revealing how failure to follow our internal circadian rhythmic cues has a direct correlation with the chronic illnesses plaguing our society. The fall is the best time to start paying more attention to your bedtime practices. Sleep is what helps us to restore and harness our healing capabilities. If you have a hard time getting to sleep or staying asleep seek the help of your health practitioner to help you develop drug-free steady habits to improve your sleep.
Eat the Rainbow – In the fall a plant’s energies begin to contract retreating to its core/roots. The trees let go of their leaves and the earth lets go of its bounty for the harvest. There is no better time than the fall to enjoy nature’s exuberant harvest at your local farmer’s markets. Nature gives us some of the best variety of foods to nourish our bodies during this season. Eating all the colors of the rainbow means stocking our bodies with the phyto-nutrients it needs to nourish us for the year ahead.

So what will you do this fall to make your spring and summer more exuberant? What will be YOUR Fall Resolutions?

New Yorker Cartoon - New Years Resolutions

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#fallresolutions #eattherainbow #movewithpleasure #rootforrealfood #holidayfrenzy #earlytobed #fallfrenzy

Getting Out of Your Own Way to Heal

July 29, 2019 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

If there is one thing I try to consistently impress on my patients as they heal with acupuncture is that the healing is being generated from within. I use the needles to signal the body to self-adjust, to self-correct. There is no masking of the pain or disabling of your body’s healing mechanisms. We are working with (not against) your body’s elaborate equilibrium systems whose sole mission has always been to help you survive and thrive.

One of the mechanisms by which acupuncture is able to do this is by directly impacting our autonomic nervous system – the unconscious elaborate web of triggers and responses that our body instantly engages to help our body adapt. This intelligent, dynamic system is constantly responding to stimuli to help us maintain an equilibrium state of health in our body.

Modern science is revealing everyday just how dynamic and intricate this subconscious response system is. The autonomic nervous system helps us process EVERYTHING as we move through life – from what food we put in our bodies, to how we process an emotional break-up, to how we deal with tensions at work, to how we continue to function after certain trauma that our conscious mind refuses to deal with. Everything we experience has an imprint on our bodies and is being processed in real time without our conscious attention.

By directly accessing these systems through the body – Acupuncture aims to help you get out of your own way to healing. However, it is nonetheless a passive engagement on the part of the person making their way to their acupuncturist. I always hope that patients’ experience with Acupuncture serves as a catalyst to spur their personal journey towards taking a more proactive role in tapping into, trusting, and engaging that intelligence on their own. How can we empower individuals to harness their own ability to consciously attune their own nervous systems?

Throughout my studies and practice I continue to be in awe of what Eastern Medicine has distilled and dissected about what we call in the West the “mind-body” connection. This is a connection we are only beginning to tease through in the West and is why mindful meditative practices are getting so much more attention lately. As a consequence of understanding this connection we are only now beginning to study and understand the scientific basis for the benefits of internal practices like meditation, and other mindful practices on our health.

More interestingly, this is one area where one can start to assume a more proactive role in our inner health – Where we start to heal from the inside out. However, as we are increasingly attracted to these practices much of it still seems elusive, mysterious.

Mystics from various traditional societies, particularly in the East have been attuned to these inner practices for millennia. As a Chinese Medicine practitioner it has always been impressed on me by my teachers the importance of cultivating a robust internal practice to not only safeguard our personal health as practitioners, but to also help us potentiate our healing relationship with our patients.

Lately, I’ve been studying a system of self-cultivation practiced by one of my Balance Method teachers of Chinese Medicine, Dr. Paul C. Wang. Dr. Wang has been traveling the world teaching practitioners how to harness their inner healing abilities through a discipline synthesized and integrated by him – Gong Fa (short for Dao De Gong Fa) – based on the essence of various martial, Chinese medical, and mystical lineages and disciplines he has practiced and honed over the years.

His quote above, “Illness is a state of disintegration and wellness is a state of integration” encapsulates the holistic understanding of what the goal is on our journey to healing. Many of the self-cultivation practices that have been practiced for millennia honor this process of integration. But often we practice mindLESSly. We remain scattered and don’t fully embody the intent of restoring our natural dynamic process of integration.

The Gong Fa teachings aim to take apart this inner process of integration in a language we can understand and teaches us to incorporate it in everything that we do. The novelty of his teachings is that he distills universal core understandings that underpin most holistic, meditative practices. The practice is simple and can be practiced as a stand-alone practice of self-care or easily integrated into any existing personal self-cultivation practice. I have used it with great interest to upgrade my yoga practice in addition to practicing it separately.

Last March Dr. Wang was present at Harlem Chi and opened a small session originally meant for practitioners to non-practitioners as well. It was a short introduction to the practice and I asked him to return to teach a slightly longer session. Dr. Wang will be teaching Gong Fa basics at Harlem Chi on Sunday, September 15 from 2 to 5pm. If you are interested in learning more about this practice please join us! Find out more about this event here.

February 2017 Newsletter

February 16, 2017 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

Rooting in Self-Love
Valentines Day is a day for honoring those we love. However, like many holidays which were originally intended to provide a spiritual oasis of reflection and meaning within the hectic grind of the year, Valentines Day has become more about candy, cards and even sadness over being alone. We are expected to externalize our happiness so often, it becomes a habit that is hard to break. The habits are enforced in our culture via organizations and social situations in which we forget to love and honor the #1person in our lives — ourselves.

It may sound selfish, but a balanced view of ourselves within the context of love will paint a different picture indeed. We are responsible for loving ourselves so that we may allow that love to flow out towards others. In order to achieve this we need to achieve balance.

It is an appropriate time to reflect on the One thing that makes all this possible — The energy of love as expressed in how we take care of our bodies through our day to day behaviors. The energy of love is expressed in how we nourish ourselves with whole foods and cooked meals as well as with activities that nourish our souls; how we place importance on quality sleep to be able to properly regenerate; the time we devote to proper movement in order to strengthen our bodies and move with ease; how we breathe to align ourselves with the present moment; how we claim proper unstructured downtime to rest and rejuvenate. All these expressions of self-love are necessary for us to thrive “in Love.”

These are some of the topics we explore more fully in our Spring Reboot coming again this April. We go way beyond meal plans and diet restrictions and a pure focus on cleansing to fully explore the myriad of connections with everything that nourishes our mind, body, and soul. Find out more here and consider giving yourself or a loved one an opportunity to commit and reconnect to themselves this Spring.

Happy Valentines!

In Love and Health,
Johanne

Start Your Own ‘One Straw [Health] Revolution’ With Harlem Chi This Year

January 9, 2017 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

one-straw-rev-book-cover

What does a book about sustainable farming practices have to do with taking good care of your body? Last year when I picked up “The One Straw Revolution,” which was written in 1978 by Masanobu Fukouoka, I had no idea how it would apply to good health.

Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer and philosopher, introduced ecologically sustainable farming practices which were revolutionary in a time of large-scale industrial farming. In fact, “The One Straw Revolution” is a seminal book in the natural farming movement the world over — something I learned after reading the book.

Even though I live far from a farm, in the heart of NYC, I was fascinated by this book rich in farming techniques. This form of thinking with a heavy emphasis on respecting nature applies completely to how we view and manage our health, and in many ways it has become a personal manifesto. In discussing farming techniques, the book reveals much about how our society has failed to adequately respect nature’s way and how we have suffered accordingly when it comes to managing our health.

Though Fukuoka makes succinct and distinct analogies to our health and our relationship to the earth, I was eager to find another book that might further illuminate these connections when it comes to our health. (Indeed, there have been many written — starting with every one of Michael Pollan’s fascinating books.)

This year I spent my holiday reading a unique book that does just that: “Farmacology: Total Health from the Ground Up” by Daphne Miller, M.D. Miller is a California-based physician who traveled to several innovative bio-dynamic farms throughout the U.S. to explore and document the correlations between how we grow and obtain our food and how we care for our bodies.

In Chinese Medicine, these correlations are supposed to be front and center of our self-care. Profoundly understanding “nature’s way” is not just a new idea — it’s the foundation of this ancient medical practice.

Indeed, Eastern medical philosophy has taken this understanding to a whole different level that in many ways we in the West are only beginning to unravel. As a Chinese Medicine practitioner, adapting these ancient understandings to our modern lifestyle I view as one of my primary tasks when I work with my patients. Beyond using unique therapies like acupuncture and herbal medicine, my task is also to inform and educate on methods of self-care that are connected, sustainable, and effective.

That’s why I am so excited about Harlem Chi’s “Healer Within” Spring Reboot program. Last year we explored in depth these profound connections and correlations and worked through creating the mindset needed to successfully adopt lifestyle changes that honor this philosophy.

“The Healer Within Spring Reboot…was just what I needed right when I needed it!” explained one of our participants, whom I’ll refer to as T.M. “I’ve long been over the yo-yo dieting and short-fixes, but I was having trouble tapping into my own wisdom and resolve to execute a sustainable lifestyle change. I was clearly in need of some structure, support, and accountability, and I received all three through this program.

“I loved the ‘East meets West’ holistic approach, tuning in to the mind, body, and spirit in a woman-centered group. While I dropped pounds — yay! — I learned to move beyond the scale and focus on increased energy levels, better mood and fewer mood swings, radiant skin, a sense of calm, deeper connection to others, etc.”

Indeed the program sought to explore as a group the far more important connections we should be aware of each time we decide to communicate with nature by putting food in our bodies – the energetics of food being far more determinative of the “medicine” it delivers.

In addition, T.M. said that the program especially helped with motivation that encouraged continuing to make positive lifestyle changes.

“I learned to slow down a bit (really hard to do here in NYC) and to make more mindful choices; so much of what I was doing and eating was out of habit, fatigue, and stress/emotions. Now, I feel empowered with some tools and strategies to succeed moving forward,” T.M. said. “Hopefully, the mind shift continues to propel me toward more positive changes and feeling whole again. I received many compliments during the six weeks, but one of my favorites was recently when my massage therapist told me that my energy was more awake. Yes, awake, that’s how I feel!”

Helping people like T.M. feel better and improve their health is amazing, and I look forward to another year of healthful connection with you in 2017! I am hard at work refining this year’s program, which will begin in April. (Sign-up here if you want more information about the program as it becomes available.) Here’s to starting our own “One Straw ‘Health’ Revolution” right in our own community — starting with our bodies!

November 2016 Newsletter

January 8, 2017 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

We had a record number of patients last week at Harlem Chi. Was it a coincidence that our busiest week ever coincided with a contentious and angst-ridden election week? That may be the case, but I’d like to hope that the clinic can serve you as a place for effective healing and wellness in the midst of a crazy, stressed-out world. I am grateful when Harlem Chi can be a calming “third space” where you can decompress and take time out to process.

We’ve seen a lot of uncertainty and witnessed much tension this year. If you’ve been feeling the relentless slow churning of fear, anger, overwhelm and/or anxiety that many are struggling with right now, know that you’re not alone. This deceptively relentless stress challenges our “fight or flight” stress response system and tips us into chronic ailment territory. That means that it’s vital for you to take the time for self-care and mindful interventions. These important actions help us reclaim power over our health — and that’s uniquely important during these uncertain times both at the individual and community level.

As this current climate continues to impact us, I suspect people will seek community more than ever to express their opinions, fears and angst; to bond with others; to hear and comfort one another; and to proactively work together for positive change.

Have a great month. Take extra care of yourselves and enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday!

Johanne

12 Summer Self-Care Tips from Acupuncturists

June 16, 2016 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

Sharing a recent article I was quoted in….

12 Summer Self-Care Tips from Acupuncturists

Letting Go of the Weight for Good

February 14, 2016 by Johanne Picard-Scott Leave a Comment

Silhoutte - Red&Black Acupuncture has gotten a reputation for helping with weight loss. Something about “magic ear seeds” that help you dump the weight has garnered attention in minor circles and I constantly get approached by people wanting to know if acupuncture can help them shed the weight. When women (as well as the occasional man) come to me specifically for acupuncture for weight loss, I discuss with them realistic expectations and make them understand how acupuncture helps with their efforts.

The reality is that weight management is a complicated affair that requires a comprehensive, holistic approach to assure continuous success and as I outlined last year in a blog post specifically relating to weight control, acupuncture’s inherent holistic approach to healing makes it an excellent adjunct to any serious weight loss program.

I find however when it comes to weight control it helps to truly understand this holistic approach and requires a firmer understanding from the individual that embarks on this process as well as their dedicated engagement.

By engagement I don’t mean the usual “crank-up-the-exercise” and “watch-what-you-eat” type. I find that even a dedicated person fails in the long term if the process at any point feels like a struggle. Studies are constantly emerging showing that whenever any activity is engaged in with an underlying fear or obligation it is doomed to fail because it triggers a stress response in the body – the same stress response that forces us to hold on to the weight. Mindset is therefore key. However just knowing better does not lead to doing better. Many of us are bombarded with health advice everyday and we intellectually understand what we need to do but we simply can’t do it, or we do, but don’t get the results we expect.

Ever since I opened Harlem Chi I have been brainstorming the design of a comprehensive program to aid women (men too) on their weight management journey. I hear what individuals who come to me struggle with and have wanted to design a program that is flexible to address the roadblocks encountered in real time in a supportive environment that does more than inform but works more directly with individuals to address mindset issues to help them make the lifestyle changes that will have a longer lasting impact.

Over a year ago I was introduced to Melissa Rapoport, a certified nutrition counselor with a master’s in psychology who works specifically around mindset issues that afflict us when we are trying to make the right health choices. She works from a solid real and whole-foods based approach that really resonated with me. Since our first encounter we quickly became friends and have been meeting almost every week to share and commiserate.

Melissa has led several successful women focused groups around “real food” diet and lifestyle aimed at fostering the right environment to not only inform women but to provide the right amount of support, address implementation blockages, and hold women accountable so that they can adopt the successful mindset to make lasting changes.

And so the program I’ve dreamed about has come to fruition. We have co-designed an intensely interactive face-to-face program that combines the best of East and West to address the real day concerns of people embarking on their personal journeys.

If you are struggling with weight issues or know someone who is find out more about our program here. We look forward to launching this phenomenal event this Spring…

About Johanne Picard-Scott

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