Newsletter & Specials

August Special

Soak your feet in a cool or warm Lime in the Coconut foot bath. Followed by a full body raw silk exfoliating garshana and an hour massage from one of our talented therapists. 110

Add a refreshing daydream facial for $40

What’s New at The Dragontree?

The Dragontree is expanding! Coming in October we will have showers, saunas, and more and look forward to sharing our new space with you! We will be closed for construction from Sept 5th - 8th and Sept 11th – 18th . We will be open on the 9th and 10th of September.

Cool summer baths for your feet – Lime in the Coconut, Creamsicle, Cold Mint, and Lemongrass and Green Tea all served either warm or cool.

Special summer drinks – iced soy chai, lavender lemonade, pomegranate spritzer, and lime mint cooler

New Back “Facial” - For those who want to pay special attention to those hard to reach areas. This relaxing treatment consists of steaming, massage, removal of blemishes, deep cleansing, and a detoxifying mask. 110

New Eye Zone Treatment! Let us soothe your delicate eye zone with a cooling and revitalizing treatment the combines gentle massage techniques with Shankara serums and oils to reduce the appearance of fine lines, dark circles, and puffiness. Also great for tired, dry, itchy eyes. 25

A Conversation Starter For Your Next Party

by Peter Borten, L.Ac., M.Ac.O.M.

Bowel health is a topic that rarely comes up in everyday conversations. More often we talk about what we should or shouldn’t consume at the other end of the digestive tract. But let us remember the Zen fable of the master who pours tea into the student’s cup until it overflows – we must first empty our cups before we can fill them. In the same way, the food and supplements we consume are just one facet of digestive health; how efficient we are at getting rid of waste is just as important.

Ayurvedic, Chinese, and Western naturopathic medical philosophies all regard healthy elimination as a cornerstone of good health and see digestive imbalance as the root of a wide range of diseases. This concept is especially central to Ayurveda, which views virtually all disease as originating with faulty digestion. Hence, the treatment of everything from acne to insomnia begins with correcting this system.

Chinese Five Element philosophy explains that the functions of our bodily organs go far beyond their biomedical roles. The colon is more than an organ that extracts water from the stool and moves waste out of the body. The expanded concept of the colon is that it represents our capacity to recognize and get rid of garbage in all areas of our lives. It lets us see what we’re carrying around that perhaps was once good for us but no longer is. When this faculty isn’t working well, we become clogged and cluttered, and our ability to perceive and assimilate what is good for us declines.

Waste products from all body systems make their way to the colon for disposal. The lungs and the skin, in particular, are critically dependent on the colon’s “taking out the trash” in order to function optimally. Acne, dry and scaly skin, brittle hair and nails, dandruff, eczema, psoriasis, asthma, and allergies all tend to benefit from improving bowel health.

Optimal bowel transit time – the time it takes from eating something until it’s eliminated in the stool – is about 18-24 hours. Digestive transit needs to be slow enough for you to extract all the nutrients from your food, yet fast enough so that the toxins in your stool are not kept in the body any longer than necessary. Slow transit time, and thus prolonged exposure to these toxins, is a major contributing factor in colon cancer. Slow transit time may allow the body to draw too much water out of the stool, making it dry and potentially contributing to hemorrhoids, bleeding, and discomfort. You can test your transit time by eating a couple activated charcoal tablets or some beets. See how long it takes until you see black (charcoal) or red (beets) in your stool. Transit time isn’t the only indicator of bowel health, but it’s an important basic foundation.

Here are some principles of good bowel health which should be part of everyone’s routine:

• Adequate water: Water is essential for moist stool that moves freely. If the stools are dry, dehydration is the first thing to consider.
• Adequate “good” fat consumption: These lubricate the bowels to keep us regular. Sesame seeds, almonds, olive oil, avocado, flax seed meal and oil, salmon, and coconut are good lubricants and healthful foods.
• Adequate plant fiber: Fiber scours the digestive tract, drawing out toxins, old stool, and “bad” cholesterol (LDL), while supporting “good” cholesterol (HDL). Fiber has a huge list of health benefits, including protection against heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Fiber also makes us feel full, helping to prevent overeating. Oats, konjac, prunes, bran, peas and beans, apples, pears, and most vegetables are good sources. We also sell a blend of different kinds of fibers in a tasty wafer form at the spa.
• Adequate exercise that engages the abdominal muscles: The abdominal muscles support intestinal movement, so regular exercise helps keep the bowels regular.
• Adequate “good gut bugs”: The healthy microorganisms or “flora” that live in the bowels are essential for food absorption, they support immune function, and they synthesize vitamins. If harmful microorganisms in the gut outnumber the beneficial ones, this leads to production of toxic byproducts which promote disease. We frequently prescribe “probiotics” to seed the gut with healthy bacteria.
• Relaxation: Tension is probably the biggest factor in bowel irregularity. The gut is extremely sensitive to our thoughts and emotions. Stress can speed up or restrict bowel motility. As explained in the section on Chinese medical philosophy, if you’re “holding onto something” this may show up physically as “holding onto” your stool.
• Routine: Having a regular eating and sleeping routine helps the bowels be more regular.
• Some medications, foods, and dietary supplements can disrupt bowel function. Iron and calcium, for instance, can slow motility. Large amounts of fiber tend to speed it up. Big doses of magnesium or vitamin C can cause loose stools. Spicy foods may cause burning as they leave the body.
• Squatting is a healthful posture. Humans used to squat much more than we do nowadays, and always squatted to move the bowels. Sitting on a toilet is not natural and tends to “crimp” the colon (but it became widespread after the chair-style toilet was popularized by European aristocracy in the 1800s). Try squatting with the thighs against the abdomen on a regular basis.
• Chinese medicine says the ideal time for a bowel movement is between 5-7 AM (6-8 AM now, in Daylight Savings Time), when the colon is strongest. If you sit on a toilet during this time and wait, the bowels will often move and you can train yourself in this way to go every morning.
• Let go of as much as you can when you have a bowel movement. In light of the Chinese view of the colon’s role in helping us to let go of anything that we’re ready to be rid of, try practicing mindfulness while having a bowel movement. If there are things you want to let go of – say, some resentment – imagine you’re directing it into your bowels and expelling it with the physical waste.

Peter Borten practices acupuncture and herbal medicine at the DragonTree. He helps people attain physical and emotional health with effective, natural methods. He loves traditional Chinese medicine because it is both poetic and scientific.

Peter received his B.S. in botany from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He studied medicine at Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland and the Five Element Training Program in San Francisco. He has been a professor of Chinese philosophy at Lewis & Clark College, and he now has a private practice and maintains a pharmacy of over 250 raw herbs. Peter is currently back in school in one of the first doctoral programs of Chinese medicine in the nation.

We are here to help. If you have questions or need additional support around achieving healthy digestion or other health goals, please call.