Mindful Of Stress Relief And Self Massage

Talking about stress and mindfulness

Day 3 of our Beauty Week was all about dealing with stress and learning how to deal with it. Living in this fast paced rat race, we often deal with stress only when it becomes too much to handle. Tonight's workshop was all about recognising the signs and learning how to deal with it mentally as well as physically.

The workshop kicked off with one of our speakers, Theresa Chin who is a counsellor working with the Health Promotion Board, who talked about mindfulness. What is mindfulness? It was started by a doctor who realised that mindfulness was a good psychological way for patients to deal with pain. However, research soon showed that people who practised mindfulness were also aging a lot slower than their peers! Maybe this is the 'real' fountain of youth!

So how do you practice mindfulness? It is all about mind over body and recognising that you're exhausted or anxious. Once you've recognised that you're stressed to the point of exhaustion, then you need to learn to tell yourself to move from that point and trust that there are loved ones around to support you through this period of stress. Then, of course, you need to do something physical to reduce the stress.

Participants doing breathing exercises

After Theresa, our next speaker, Wing Phua from My Santosh, taught our participants some simple breathing exercises and stretches based on yoga. Wing taught very practical stretches that anyone could do while seated at their office desk. She highlighted that because of the modern lifestyle, our bodies have since adapted to have very tight shoulder muscles that tend to be slightly hunched inwards. To counter this, it is thus very important to stretch it out. Another way to release stress is deep breathing as when we're anxious, we tend to take very short breaths.

The various acu-points according to traditional Chinese medicine

After the yoga stretches, we went into Traditional Chinese Medicine with Dr Kong from Aegle Wellness Clinique. He first introduced us to commonly used acu-points and although there were so many listed on the screen, he taught us only the 10 most important ones!

Dr Kong showing one of the points on our chest

We were led into a self-massage session for the next 30 minutes were we learnt about the different massage techniques - one being tuina. The audience were definitely paying attention and a few were busy taking photos of the screen showing the acupressure points so that they wouldn't forget it the next day.

After Dr Kong's session, the attendees were visibly more relaxed and a couple of them even commented that they were so relaxed that they could sleep on the spot! Looks like the Chinese really do know which spots to press!

Aegle Wellness Clinique is listed on Pásshen and members have more than 10% discount off normal prices for consultation and treatment! You can also read the review about Aegle Wellness Clinique's treatment here.

Getting A Traditional Chinese Treatment With Modern Western Touch

Nestled in the lush greenery of Rochester Park, Aegle Wellness Clinique is a clinic focusing on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) but the doctors are also well versed in Western Medicine. Their approach is holistic and their specialties are Pain Management as well as Women Issues. The 2 physicians are:

Women Issues, huh. Yup, right up my alley.

I decided to pay them a visit and to talk about endometriosis from a TCM point of view. I was also interested in the idea of how they balanced Eastern and Western medicines together.

You are greeted by a refreshing smell of lemongrass or some sort of aroma and you will also see this shelf of wolf berries and dried flowers next to hot water. Yup, their teas are all natural and freshly brewed!

Jessie, the receptionist was so friendly and sweet that I couldn't help take a photo of her. I think she's so pretty too!

Ok...let me focus. The objective of the visit was about my health. So, I went inside Dr Kong's consultation room, which is pretty typical of any clinic's consultation room. Except that I didn't see any thermometers or tongue depressors on the table. Instead, there was a simple brown cushion for you to place your wrist on so that the doctor is able to read your pulse/qi.

Straight off the bat, I told Dr Kong about my endometriosis as well as my shoulder aches and feet aches. The examination not only involved him reading my pulse but I also had to stick out my tongue for him. TCM believes that the colour of your tongue is also an indication of your health.

Verdict? He said that from the slightly purplish colour of my tongue, my spleen isn't as healthy as it should be. So, as for the day's treatment, it'll be acupuncture plus a shoulder and back massage to relieve some of the tension.

There are 2 therapy rooms next to each other and they remind me of spa treatment rooms! Now...let the treatment begin!

Dr Kong inserting the acupuncture needles into my head

The needles that Aegle Wellness Clinique uses are individually wrapped and sterilised. Thus, you can be assured that the needles used on you are clean!

I had 3 needles painlessly inserted on the top of my head and apparently, these meridian points are quite normal in acupuncture treatments as this would immediately help with one's energy levels. In other words, if you're just fatigued, TCM doctors would stick 'em needles there. Now we know why head massages are so shiok (satisfying and delightful)!

Next came to my stomach area.  This is of course mainly due to my endometriosis. Dr Kong said that when it comes to women issues, it's often due to an unhealthy liver or spleen, which is why those areas are treated when it comes to uterine problems. Interesting, isn't it? Only goes to show how the whole body is connected and very often, you have to treat other parts of your body in order to heal another part.

One needle was particular uncomfortable and I thought that it could mean that it meant something is really wrong with me. However, Dr Kong told me not to think too much about it.

Next came the legs and feet. The needle you see in the photo above? When it went in, I could feel a slight sensation down to my toes and that's when I grasped that this talk of qi and meridian lines through acupuncture was real.

I was then left in the room alone for the next 10 min and it was relaxing, although I consciously told myself to NOT roll around since I had so many needles stuck to me.

When the 10 minutes were up, my porcupine moment ended when Dr Kong started removing each needle and dabbing at each point with an alcohol swab. Ironically, the removal was more 'painful' as I could feel the sting of the alcohol.

Once the needles were all removed, the massage started and it was sooooo good! Now I also know why some people enjoy visiting their sports therapist or chiropractor as the therapeutic massage that Dr Kong gave was in between those two. After the massage, more resting was encouraged and I was in such a blissful state that I promptly closed my eyes and napped for what I thought was 20 minutes but turned out to be only 5! Only goes to show that it's quality of one's sleep/nap that is more important at times. I felt instantly rejuvenated and my shoulders didn't ache that much as well!

The after effects of the treatment has to be just as important as the onsite therapy. I was pleasantly surprised that my period started the next day and I could see clumps of endometrial cells coming out. It's almost like my body was starting to actively get rid of residual endometrial wall so that it doesn't grow beyond. Gives me hope that my condition will be less pervasive! Ok...onto scheduling my next appointment!

Pásshen members will be glad to know that you will be getting discounts for all treatments at Aegle Wellness Clinique (except for medication which is to be paid to the clinic after prescription).

Aegle Wellness Clinique
44 Rochester Park

Consultation Hours:
Weekdays: 9am to 9pm
Sat: 9am to 6pm
Closed on Sunday & Public Holidays.

Please note that all treatments (except for Tuina) requires a 1st consultation.

For price list and to make an appointment, please visit http://www.passhen.com/place/aegle-wellness-clinic.

Aegle Wellness Clinique will be taking part in our Beauty Week on 18 Nov, teaching attendees how to relieve stress through massaging acupressure points! Get your tickets today at $40 (Pásshen members) or at $50 (public) either through logging into Pásshen or through here.