Here is a great Qigong exercise for hypertension. This Qigong blood pressure exercise prescription was developed by Dr. Suzanne B Friedman and can be used along with other health management tools, like changes in diet, exercise, meditation, herbs, and/or medications.

This exercise can be performed either lying on your back or sitting in a chair.  The sound “Jang” targets the blood and blood vessels directly. 

1. Lie supine with a pillow under your head, or you may sit upright in a chair.
2. Imagine you are floating in warm water.
3. Inhale deeply and then exhale, making the “Jang” sound.
4. As you exhale, feel or imagine the “Jang” sound vibrating all of your body’s tissues, from the top of the head downward, through the chest and abdomen, and then down your legs, and finally out your feet, on the balls of your feet.
5. Repeat
6. End with a focus on the bottom balls of your feet or rub the bottom balls of your feet (this is an acupoint that is good for hypertension).

If you are interested in more Qigong exercises, you may be interested in purchasing Dr. Friedmans' book, "Heal Yourself with Qigong".

In Chinese Medicine, skin problems are associated with the lungs.  If there are problems associated with the lungs, you can have  problems show up in your skin.  Also, the emotion of grief, if left unchecked, can affect the health and wellness of your skin.  

According to Paul Pritchard’s “Healing with Whole Foods,” many skin diseases are also a result of faulty fat metabolism, so foods rich in omega-3 can help remedy many skin problems.  He recommends using sesame oil when a person has problems with urticaria, acne, eczema, or psoriasis.

Food Recommendations
(from “Healing with Whole Foods” pg 442)

• Carrots
• Winter squash
• Pumpkin
• Leafy greens
• Beet greens
• Spinach
• Kale
• Chard 
• Watercress
• Sea weeds
• Mung beans 
• Aduki beans
• Cucumber
  

Avoid These Foods
Mr. Pritchard also recommends to NOT several different types of food if you have skin conditions:   

• avoid spicy food
  
• avoid fatty food
  
• avoid greasy food 
• avoid all sweets
• avoid citrus
• avoid oysters, herring, and shrimp. 
  

Natural Remedies
If you are interested in trying some natural remedies for skin problems, here are some home remedies Mr. Pritchard recommends:

Urticaria
Rub with sliced cucumber, dab with vinegar several times a day.  Avoid soap and shampoo.  Wash with plain water.

Acne
Apply lemon juice. Wash with castile or other pure soaps that contain no detergents. Apply a paste of bentonite, green or any other clays, moistened with apple cider vinegar as the only fluid. Leave on at least one half-hour, then was off with water.

Eczema
Apply raw hone or teas of golden seal or poke root.  Rub with slices of fresh papaya.  Apply a poultice of grated, crushed daikon radish or raw potato.  The juice of the radish or potato can also be applied as a wash.

Psoriasis
Wash the area with sarsaparilla tea or seawater. Apply garlic oil or walnut oil.  Bathe in seawater or mineral water. Add several cups of unrefined sea salt to the bath water. Avoid excessive exposure to the sun. 

Meditations to Help Skin
Deep Breathing Meditation

1. Sit in a chair, or on a cushion with folded knees.
   
2. Hollow your armpits for Qi circulation.
   
3. Curl your fingers to absorb and release Qi.
   
4. You don’t need to vocalize, just exhale while blowing out your mouth.
   
5. Inhale and breathe in deeply while abdomen expands out.
   
6. Exhale through your mouth.
   
7. Repeat.
   
8. Have your mind focus on the movement of the air in, and then out, of your lungs.
   
9. Notice how the air is helping to nourish and help your lungs, skin, and body.
   
10. Do this deep breathing daily. 
    
11. You may begin with a couple of minutes, but increase the amount of time until you can spend 12 minutes doing deep breathing.
    

“Shhh” Sound Meditation to Help the Lungs and Skin
From “Medical Qigong Exercise Prescriptions” by Suzanne B Friedman

1. The “Shhh” sound opens the lungs, relives phlegm, and dispels grief.
   
2. Stand in the Wuji Position.
   
3. Begin with a Pulling Down Heaven (see exercise section for video presentation).
   
4. Raise arms above head with elbows slightly bent.
   
5. Bend elbows until hands are on either side of the head, with palms facing forward and tilting slightly towards the sky.
   
6. Inhale Qi in the form of white light to the lungs and skin.
   
7. Exhale the “sh” sound while visualizing turbid Qi and grief leaving via the mouth and palms.
   
8. Repeat 6-24 times.
   
9. End with Pulling Down Heavens.
   

The health and wellness of your skin is often a reflection of your overall health and wellness. There are different foods, natural treatments, and meditations, which may help improve your skin.

You can take more control over your health and wellness.  If you have a family history of arthritis, for example, you may want to step up prevention techniques to keep this disease at bay. Or if you are already experiencing joint pain or have been diagnosed with arthritis, there are some things you can do to help get your body back into balance and help reduce that pain.

How?
You can make some changes in your diet.  There are exercises you can do. There are even herbs which may help.  And for the pain, acupuncture is a fantastic resource to help you relieve that pain.

Changes in Diet
If you have gout, arthritis, bursitis, neuritis, and sciatica, the dietary changes you can make are to avoid calcium inhibitors.  This means you should restrict, avoid, or limit the following:

• Excess meats or proteins from another source
  
• Intoxicants (alcohol, tobacco, coffee, marijuana)
  
• Refined sugar and too many sweets
  
• Excess salt
  
• Foods high in oxalic acid such as spinach, beet greens, chard, plum, cranberry, rhubarb
  
• Nightshade foods, such as tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, potato (because these plants contain solanine, a calcium inhibitor)
  
• Dairy products (especially those high in fat) So what can you eat? 
  

Foods that can help heal these damaged tissues are

• Vegetables, such as beets, cabbage, lettuce, sprouts, radishes garlic celery, parsley, legumes, mushrooms, onions, asparagus, kale, turnip, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts
• Wheat and barley grass
• Fruits
• Grains 
• Goats milk

(source, "Healing with Whole Foods" by Paul Pitchford)

Diane Joswick, a license acupuncture and author of "Arthritis and Acupuncture," recommends the following foods be added to  your diet to help your arthritis: 

• Ginger - A natural anti-inflammatory, available as powdered extracts in capsules as well as alcohol-based extracts. Follow the dosing directions on the label. Or make tea by combining one-half teaspoon of grated ginger root with eight ounces of boiling water. Cover and steep for 10 to 15 minutes, then strain and add honey to taste.

• Fresh pineapple - Bromelain, an enzyme in pineapple, reduces inflammation. Be sure the pineapple is fresh, not canned or frozen.

• Cherries - Recent research has shown that tart cherries are an excellent source of nutrients that may help to reduce joint pain and inflammation related to arthritis.

• Fish - Cold-water fish such as salmon and mackerel contain omega-3 fatty acids, which help keep joints healthy as well as reduce pain and swelling. If you don't care for fish, consider supplementing your diet with fish oil capsules.
• Turmeric - Another natural anti-inflammatory. Look for an extract of whole turmeric, in health-food stores; follow the dosage directions on the label.            
  

Exercises
Qigong exercises are another great treatment to help your arthritic conditions because these exercises are gentle.  They also focus on building strength and keeping your joints lubricated and moving.  The Quist Qigong Warm-up Exercises are EXCELLENT for your joints.

There are also other exercises that are good for arthritis because they are gentle on joints, like swimming, stationary bicycling, elliptical machines, or water aerobics.

Herbs
To reduce swelling and inflammation, some have found these herbs to beneficial:

• Black cohosh - for rheumatism (you can read more about this herb at NIH Fact sheet) 

• Devil’s claw - for decreasing osteoarthritis pain and lower back pain.  (According to the National Institute of Health, taking devil’s claw alone or along with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) seems to help decrease osteoarthritis-related pain. Some evidence suggests that devil’s claw works about as well as diacerhein (a slow-acting drug for osteoarthritis that is not available in the U.S.) for improving osteoarthritis pain in the hip and knee after 16 weeks of treatment. Some people taking devil’s claw seem to be able to lower the dose of NSAIDs they need for pain relief.  You can read more at the NIH)

If you are looking for Chinese Herbs, these are the ones that are often recommended, according to Acufinder:

• Decoction (juan bi tang)- For joint pain that increases with cold and is possibly accompanied by heaviness and numbness in the limbs.
• Cinnamon Twig, Peony, and Anamerrhena Decoction (gui zhi shoa you zhi mu tang)- For swollen and painful joints that are warm to the touch and worse at night.
• Angelica Pubescens and Sangjisheng Decoction (du huo ji sheng tang)- For heavy and painful sensations at fixed locations in the lower back and lower extremities accompanied by weakness and stiffness.

Acupuncture
Probably one of the most helpful things you can do, especially if you are in pain, is to have an acupuncture treatment.  There are acupuncturists in every state.  If you don't know one, you can find one through Acupuncture schools or other the Acufinder.  

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine have been found to be extremely effective at treating the pain and inflammation associated with all types of arthritis.  A licensed acupuncturist can determine which points will provide the most help to relieve your particular arthritic pain.  It really does work.

In Eastern medicine, hair is said to be an extension of your blood and so is an indicator of your blood quality.  In Chinese Medicine, it is the health of the spleen, pancreas, and kidneys which relates to your blood, and therefore, your hairs quality.

Healthy hair is lustrous and thick.  Hair loss and premature gray can be treated by improving the blood quality and strengthening the pancreas and kidneys. You can strengthen the pancreas and kidneys with diet, exercise, meditation, and/or Qigong medical treatments.

Foods
The foods which are good to help prevent gray hair, and even help prevent hair from falling out, are

• Hiijiki seaweed
  
• Blackstrap molasses
  
• Nettles
  
• Wheat Grass
  

The foods you should reduce or restrict to improve your blood and hair quality are:

• High fat, high protein
  
• Meat and dairy
  
• Sweets and sugar laced foods
  
• Excess salt
  

Source “Healing With Whole Foods” by Paul Pitchford

Exercise
You can do the 15 minute daily basic Qigong Warm-Up exercise along with the Nourish Your Organ exercise.  Pay particular attention to the spleen and kidneys in this exercise.  This exercise will keep your Qi moving as well as increase the energy for your vital organs.

Meditation
One of the meditations to help you keep your inner body and organs nourished is the Microcosmic Orbit Meditation.

Qigong Medical Treatments
You can go online and make an appointment for a medical Qigong treatment. These treatments can help nourish your organs and keep the subtle energy in your organs moving and nourishing your entire body.

Summary
There are things you can do to help improve the health and wellness of your hair.  You do this by improving the wellness of your blood.  You can modify your diet.  You can do Qigong exercises.  You can do Qigong meditations.  You can also have regular Qigong Medical Treatments.  Some, or even all of these changes, can help you to improve your blood and hair quality.

For those who are going through chemotherapy or radiation therapy, there are some food therapies which can help protect against some of the devastating side  effects of these therapies.  

Wheat or barley-grass juice powder can be taken to counteract the effects of radiation and detoxify the residues of chemotherapy.

Aloe gel can help heal skin inflammation from radiation.

Because apples contain pectin, they can help remove toxic metals such as lead, mercury, and the residues of radiation.  

Fennel seeds, made into tea, or a few seeds consumed after thorough chewing, can effectively sooth an upset stomach caused by either therapy.

The herb astragalis can improve the recovery time from both chemotherapy and radiation, according to Chinese studies.

A diet primarily of grains, vegetables, seaweeds, legumes, sprouts, herbs micro-algae, omega-3 foods and oils are recommended.   Whole fruit, not their juices, are eaten in moderation. Seaweeds are taken, unless there is diarrhea.

The recommended proportions of foods in the daily diet for those with cancer and other degenerative diseases is

• 45% grains
• 35% vegetables
• 10% fruit
• 5% beans and other legumes
• 5% other foods
• Fish or other animal products may be necessary.

Reference;  “Healing with Whole Foods” by Paul Pitchford, pg 407.

The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine has provided some basic information about specific herbs or botanicals—common names, uses, potential side effects, and resources.  You can download a copy of their booklet or select which herb you want to learn more about.

• Acai
  
• Aloe Vera
  
• Asian Ginseng
  
• Astragalus
  
• Bilberry
  
• Bitter Orange
  
• Black Cohosh
  
• Butterbur
  
• Cat's Claw
  
• Chamomile
  
• Chasteberry
  
• Cinnamon
  
• Cranberry 
  
• Dandelion
  
• Echinacea 
  
• Ephedra
  
• European Elder
  
• European Mistletoe
• Evening Primrose Oil
  
• Fenugeek
  
• Feverfew
  
• Flaxseed
  
• Garlic  
  
• Ginger
  
• Ginkgo
  
• Goldenseal
  
• Grape Seed Extract
  
• Green Tea
  
• Hawthorn
  
• Hoodia
  
• Horse Chestnut
  
• Kava
  
• Lavender
  
• Licorish Root
  
• Milk Thistle
  
• Noni
  
• Peppermint Oil
  
• Red Clover
  
• Sage
  
• Saw Palmetto
  
• Soy
  
• St. John's Wort 
  
• Tea Tree Oil
  
• Thunder God Vine
  
• Turmeric
  
• Valerian
  
• Yohimbe
  

According to a lecture from Dr.Ellen Hughes at UCSF, the top herbs consumed in 2005 were

• Garlic- for high cholesterol (which has small proven benefits)
  
• Echinacea - for colds (which has small proven benefits)
  
• Saw palmetto - for enlarged prostate (which has Inconclusive evidence)
  
• Ginkgo - for dementia (which has small proven benefits)
  
• Soy - for high cholesterol (which has small proven benefits)
  
• Cranberry - for preventing urinary infections (but has inconclusive for treating urinary infections) 
  
• Ginseng - for physical performance (but has not been proven to be effective)
  
• Black cohosh - for hot flashes - ( which has inconclusive evidence)
  
• St. John's Wort - to benefit those people with mild to moderate depression (which has had proven benefits)  
  

If you desire to take more control over your own personal health and wellness, knowing which herbs and supplements have proven benefits can be another tool to assist your journey for improved health and wellness.

Sleep is an important part of a persons sense of health and wellness.  Dr. Ellen Hughes at UCSF described these recommendations as a first step for sleep hygiene.  

• Keep a regular sleep/wake cycle
  
• Get regular exercise.  Get your exercise either in the morning or the afternoon (night exercise can contribute to insomnia)
  
• Increase exposure to bright light during day
  
• Avoid exposure to bright light during night
  
• Avoid heavy meals within 3 hours of bedtime
  
• Avoid caffeine, alcohol, nicotine
  
• Enhance your sleep environment with a dark, quiet, comfortable space and a fitting temperature.
  
• Use the bed only for sleeping and sex.  Do not read, watch TV, surf the internet, eat in bed, and turn off your cell phone.
  
• If you are unable to fall asleep in 20 minutes, move to another room and stay up until really sleepy.
  
• Practice a relaxing routine 30-60 minutes before bedtime.

It can take 2-10 weeks to see the benefit of these sleep hygiene changes and is usually as effective as sleep medications. Plus, there are no side effects from following sleep hygiene protocol.

If you're like me and have been eating a lot of processed food over the years, you may not even recognize you could feel better just by making some changes in what you eat.  While I was in Chinese Medicine school, I would hear how food was 70-80% of the solution to help a person feel better, and that meant fresh and local foods.

I wanted to know if what I ate really did make a difference in how I felt, so I tested it out.

I am a person who LOVES convenience and comfort. Cooking is not convenient.  It is time consuming. It is messy, Often at the end of the cooking experience, the food is burnt, or undercooked, or too salty, or tastes like cardboard, or just not that great.  So started to choose the convenient route; frozen individual meals from Trader Joe’s.  I would fill my freezer so I only had to shop once a month.  I lived off prepared and microwaved meals.

To test the theory that eating fresh food would help me feel better, I signed up for a healthy organic meal program in Berkeley called “Three Stone Hearth”.   This community kitchen provides a weekly selection of different healthy foods and all you have to do is order what you want and pick up from their kitchen each week.  Very simple, easy, and convenient.  Here is a sample of what they are offering this week:

• Chicken Afritada (Filipino Chicken-Vegetable Stew)  
• Pork Mole Verde with White Beans 
• Tex Mex Ground Beef*           
  
• Shepherd's Pie  
  
• Fresh Corn Succotash    
  
• Hamburgers*   
  
• Marinara Sauce*
  
• Sea Vegetable Salad with Carrot, Daikon, Cucumber with Sesame Dulse Dressing 
  
• Buttermilk Ranch Dressing 
  
• Chicken Liver Pâté     
  
• Classic Kraut*  
  
• TSH Mayonnaise   
  
• Torta di Arancia  
  
• Lime Gelatina with Coconut Cream   
  

To see if fresh healthy food would change how I felt, I ordered from their weekly menu and would go after work to pick up the food.  After just two weeks, I was SHOCKED how much better I felt.  I really did feel a difference in my energy, my moods, and also was mentally sharper. I had a better memory.

But, after my office relocated to a different city, it wasn't as convenient to pick up the meals so I started to slip back into my old habits of the frozen Trader Joe meals. I started to return to that feeling of sluggishness.  I was convinced I needed to stop eating prepared meals and also needed more fresh veggies.  This meant I needed to frequently go to the store to get fresh veggies & fruits and then go home to cook a meal.  So I went to the store every time I needed more fresh veggies & fruits.  This turned out to be about every 3 days. For me, a person who hates shopping, I knew this was not going to be sustained.   

So I looked for another solution.

I found an organic food delivery service called Planet Organics.  They use local farmers and deliver at my door every Thursday.  For me, this has helped tremendously.  I get locally grown organic fruits, veggies, milk, bread, and meats delivered right to my door.  The flavor of the food is sooooo much better from a grocery store and it helps keep me on my target of preparing meals and eating healthy food.  

For example, I now always make a baby spinach and fruit smoothing each day.  I have easily doubled my consumption of fresh and healthy veggies just by the changing to home delivery for locally grown organic foods.  

Getting rid of old familiar behaviors and habits is difficult.  For me, eating less processed food, filling up the kitchen with fresh organic and locally grown foods has helped improve how I feel.  For me, these may still be baby steps of change, but they are making a difference.  

Fennel seed, also known as Xiao Hui Xiang, is known to soothe and warm the digestive track. Sometimes you will see a bowl of fennel at Indian restaurants. Fennel helps move the Qi in the stomach, so next time you see a bowl of it in a restaurant, take a bit and see if it helps relax and soothe your stomach. 

For children, the recommended treatment is to use Gripe Water, which contains fennel (or Xiao Hui Xiang), ginger, and chamomile. It is used to help teething, colic, and digestive problems in young children.

I think we have all been in a situation where you start to cough, and then you keep coughing and it just doesn't seem to quit.  Cough, cough, cough!    It also seems like this happens at the most inconvenient times, like being in a meeting, or a public venue, or a place where you are supposed to be quiet.  What seems to make it worse is when you even try harder to suppress the coughing and it gets worse.  

This recently happened to me when I was in the audience of a theater and started to cough, and then cough some more, and then I couldn't get my coughing to stop.  I was searching for cough drops as well as see how to climb over 10 people to get to the aisle and invisibly crawl out with no one noticing.  I then thought, HEY!  There is an acupuncture point for coughing!!  So I started to massage that point and almost immediately my coughing became suppressed. It was pretty cool!

The acupuncture point to help with coughing is known as Lung 5, or LU5.  It is located in the elbow crease of either arm.  It is in the depression area of the elbow crease and slightly lateral to the biceps tendon. It can be tender if you have a cold.  This acupuncture point is one of the points used to help with coughing, sore throat, and even asthma.

I was rather amazed how quickly my coughing stopped while I massaged that point in one of my arms.  It almost seemed like magic it was so quickly effective.