Breath work is an important element in many cultures, and is an important part of health from a Chinese Medicine perspective. This article by Peter Deadman describes both traditional and modern scientific uses for deep breathing, and provides techniques for proper deep and slow breaths. Read the whole article here.

Wheelchair tai chi classes for Tennessee Veterans is being used to help with pain and PTSD symptoms. Zibin Guo, a tai chi instructor in Murfreesboro, Tenn.  "is teaching people in a half-dozen VA hospitals in Florida, Texas, Utah and Arizona to use his version of tai chi. He believes the focus on breathing and mindfulness — paired with manageable physical activity — can help ease a variety of ailments." Read more here.

Can acupuncture be effective if you are already taking anti-depressant medication? New research says Yes. "Modern research indicates that combining acupuncture with SSRI antidepressants into an integrated treatment protocol is more effective than SSRI antidepressants as a monotherapy. Important features of the integrated protocol is that it produces a high total effective rate while lowering the adverse effect rate associated with drug therapy." Read the full article here.

This great article from Psychology Today helps explain some of the current misunderstandings regarding acupuncture, and include the case for pet acupuncture as a way of showing that it's not about placebo effect. They write, "Clarifying the misunderstandings also has implications for psychology."  Read the full article here. 

In Chinese medicine, there has long been discussion of a mysterious organ, known as the "San Jiao" or "Triple Burner" that is responsible for distributing fluids and precious substances through the body. New Western research shows the discovery of a new organ, which they say has been hiding in plain sight all along... Read the National Geographic article here.

An article in "Psychology Today" explains how acupuncture can help with stress and depression. “We found that electronic acupuncture blocks the chronic, stress-induced elevations of the HPA axis hormones and the sympathetic NPY pathway…. Our growing body of evidence points to acupuncture’s protective effect against the stress response.” Read the whole article here.

In Sweden, patients with Anorexia Nervosa were given the opportunity to receive ear acupuncture and talk about their experiences with it during their inpatient stay at a residential facility. This study shares themes that the participants talked about, ranging from acupuncture being a handle to hold on to, acupuncture serving as a pause button, and acupuncture as a way of regaining control.
One patient reported, "I have received/acupuncture/after meals some times as well, and then it really has good effect. Things calm down, I calm down. The anxiety before meals and the discomfort in my body, the disgusting sensation of fullness (voice shivering) disappears." Read the full article here.

Various studies show that adding acupuncture to fertility treatments increases effectiveness. "Acupuncture is a proven complementary therapy for women receiving drug therapy for the treatment of infertility. Acupuncture increases positive patient outcome rates and reduces the adverse effects caused by medications." Read the studies here.

 This New York Times article shares results regarding research from acupuncture for pain relief. “'This has been a controversial subject for a long time,' said Dr. Andrew J. Vickers, attending research methodologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the lead author of the study. 'But when you try to answer the question the right way, as we did, you get very clear answers.'" Read the full article here.