Red Orchid Wellness Clinic

It’s that time of year where Christmas still feels far away and yet is fast approaching.

So before our list of things-to-do expands exponentially, let’s make some time to book the self-care sessions we need ahead of time.

Then we can make sure we’re taking care of ourselves while we’re also taking care of everything else.

Spring is here, bringing with it a fresh burst of energy and promise of new beginnings.

It can be an encouraging time of renewal, an opportunity for growth and even stir in us motivation to clear out any built up stagnation.

We are here to provide support through all this and more.🪴

We have people young and old, men and women, and their children too, that visit us here at Red Orchid Wellness.

There really is something for everyone.🫖

Could you benefit from Leah’s fertility support?

Here are some of the many reasons to have a chat with her if you’re experiencing fertility challenges.

🌼Can apply both modalities, Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, which may quicken results

🌼Trained by the best in the field: Jane Lyttleton, Olivier Pojer, Kirsten Wolf and recently Naava Carmen

🌼Looks at blood tests and andrology reports

🌼Enquires into both the female and male health and history

🌼Works alongside your IVF specialist

🌼Is up to date with the latest fertility research

🌼Refers you to another provider if required

🌼Works closely with other health practitioners

🌼Nearly 20 years of experience, working with couples since 2007

🌼Clinical success rate

It’s understood that good digestion is the cornerstone of good health.

And digestive issues can be treated with acupuncture.

What can we expect when we heal our gut?

• Clearer skin
• Reduced sugar cravings
• Increased energy
• Stronger immune system
• Less bloating
• Enhanced resilience to stress
• Reduced pain & inflammation
• Improved nutrient absorption
• Improved cognitive function
• Regular bowel movements

Symptoms acupuncture can help:

• Bloating
• Digestive pain/cramping/discomfort
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Irregular bowel movements

Acupuncture can also help manage symptoms of a range of digestive conditions:

• Crohn’s Disease
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Celiac’s Disease
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Get in touch if we can help. ✨

*In a 2007 systematic review in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, it was found that acupuncture improved quality of life for IBS, Crohn’s and Ulcerative colitis patients in each study they reviewed.

Are you considering fertility support?

If you’re going through a challenging time on your fertility journey and seeking a natural health care provider for advice and guidance, Leah has some tips to help you find an ideal one for you and your partner.

🌷Check if the practititoner is qualified. You want to be sure they are fully trained.

🌷Ask how many years they’ve been practicing so you know how experienced they are in the field.

🌷Check what additional studies or training in fertility they’ve undertaken.

🌷Does the practitioner follow evidenced based medicine (EBP)? It’s important that your practitioner is up to date with the latest research in fertility. Some herbs, supplements and acupuncture protocols have been shown to be beneficial during fertility and IVF but you need what is right for you.

🌷Ask if the practitioner consults with both partners. It could be female or male factor infertility and unfortunately we see too many women being the focus when it could be a male factor.

🌷Does the practitioner work closely with your GP or fertility specialist? Visit your GP first and discuss preconception care, it’s standard practice to do blood tests and general checks to prepare for your pregnancy journey.

What does it mean to be well?

These are some of our favourite ways to know if we are enjoying wellness.

And if we’re not, we know it’s time to reassess what is priority in our lives, and take a minute to manage the additional stressors.

But what helps us be our best selves, can be different for everybody.

If you feel like you’re experiencing symptoms that are getting in your way to wellness, contact us about how we could help.

We offer Osteo, Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine or Remedial Massage.

Call us on 44228835 or tap the link in our bio.

What does wellness look like to you?

“In our daily lives problems are bound to arise. The biggest problems in our lives are the ones that we inevitably have to face, like old age, illness and death.

Trying to avoid our problems or simply not thinking about them may provide temporary relief, but I think that there is a better approach.

If you directly confront your suffering, you will be in a better position to appreciate the depth and nature of the problem…

If you confront your problems rather than avoid them, you will be in a better position to deal with them.”

The Art of Happiness

We’re proudly affiliated with the Western Sydney School of Health Sciences Traditional Chinese Medicine program, supporting work based education of TCM students from Western Sydney University.

It’s great to be part of this extended wellness community and a home for these students, where they can come to gain the necessary clinical training hours that are an essential part of completing their Degree.

During this cooler time of year, let’s make an effort to take ourselves outside and get reacquainted with sunshine and fresh air.

“According to Chinese medicine, health and longevity are a product of our inherent constitution or inherited vigor and our moment to moment interaction with the universe.

The more harmonious we can live with the patterns of change in the universe the healthier we will be.”

~ Bob Flaws and Honora Wolfe 1983

If you would like to promote more harmony in your life, contact us to see how Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture, Remedial Massage or Osteopathy can help bring you back to balance.

Depression and anxiety are two common mental health disorders that most of us are familiar with one way or another.

Unfortunately our stressful lives create an obstacle to balance, within our day-to-day and within ourselves.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the aim is to achieve this balance and return the body to a normal state of functioning.

Mind and body are seen as synonymous in TCM where a disharmony in one affects the other.

Although mental imbalance can be due to repressed or blocked emotion and trauma, diet, illness, constitutional factors and overwork can also play into the impairment of the free flow of Qi (Energy) throughout the body which in turn affects the mind.

This ‘stagnation’ can manifest to depression and anxiety symptoms of fatigue, insomnia, lack of motivation, poor self esteem, moodiness and chronic pain.
 
Acupuncture may significantly reduce these symptoms.
 
Scientific research suggests that acupuncture causes a reduction in cortisol levels (raised by chronic stress) and balances serotonin and endorphins to encourage mental health.
 
Lifestyle factors such as regular exercise and a balanced diet are essential to a healthy mind and body and in conjunction with psychotherapy, meditation, exercise, massage and acupuncture, can help us to get back to our innate nature of well being.
 
Recent studies show that acupuncture reduces intolerable side effects of antidepressants and is a beneficial adjunct to a low dose of antidepressant medication, reducing the need for higher dosages.
 
Studies in China have also discovered perioperatively, that auricular therapy (ear acupuncture) may be a useful alternative to anxiolytics (anxiety medication).
 

Supporting our immune health ahead of the cold and flu season, with just a few small mindful considerations can help us avoid feeling unwell.

It’s a good time to start reducing the daily load on our bodies and incorporate more rest into our day, for us and our families.

Conscious preparation for winter includes:

🍵earlier bedtime
🍵warm foods & drinks
🍵time in nature, for sunshine & fresh air
🍵increase fruits & veges
🍵more gentle movement
🍵limit screens & manage stress
🍵avoid alcohol & refined sugar

Get in touch to book a health review and order our immune supportive herbs.

We have something for everyone, at any age or stage.

Let’s stay well, rather than repair what is not.

🌎www.redorchid.com.au
📞0244228835

Wishing all the mothers out there, a lovely Mother’s Day on Sunday, no matter what it may look like.

And while this day is different for everybody, let’s remember that we can always treat ourselves, and don’t have to wait for others.

As abstract as it may sound, self love is a key driving force behind everything happening in our lives.

The choices we make, who we let in our inner circle, what we eat and how we live, can be boiled down to how much we care and value ourselves.

You know yourself best, so who else is there to take care of you better?

Autumn is well and truly here. 

The days are shorter and cooler, causing us to slow down to nourish ourselves and subsequently, our loved ones.

By lending our hearts and minds to aligning with the seasons we can better connect to our true nature.

This creates greater inner harmony, and then we’re well prepared for the winter months to come. 

Here are our favourite ideas for looking after ourselves during this time of year.

We’re very excited to introduce you to fellow herb nerd 🤓🌿, acupuncture traditionalist and friend, Anissa Au from who is joining us in clinic while Leah is away over Easter.   

Anissa is available for consults:

🍏Friday 29 March 2pm - 6pm (Good Friday)
🍏Tuesday 2 April 8am - 3pm
🍏Saturday 6 April 10am - 3pm

We’ve been fortunate to have Anissa grace us with her presence in our clinic over the years. The first time was 13 years ago, when Leah was on maternity leave with her first born, Iysha. Oh how time goes !🤩

To find out more about Anissa, visit her website www.purealchemy.com.au and head to our bio to book your appointment.

There’s a popular opinion within the wellness community that says, ‘How you breathe is how you live.’

How do you breathe? It’s important to notice: slow, long, short, fast, stagnated?

“To become a welcome vessel for the breath is to live life without trying to control, grasp, or push away… And how easy is this? The process of breathing is the most accurate metaphor we have for the way that we personally approach life, how we live our lives, and how we react to the inevitable changes that life brings us.” Donna Farhi

📝Credit to

It’s the year of the Dragon, so now we prepare for change as this mythical creature is symbolic of perseverance and growth. 🐉

Some change is welcome and some change brings with it challenges we think we could do without.

Let this Lunar New Year remind us to embrace this new version of our lives with the strength, luck and prosperity that the dragon symbolises.

“If you want to change, you must have in your thoughts an idealised self - a model that you can emulate, which is different from, and better than, the ‘you’ that exists today in your particular environment, body, and time.” Dr. Joe Dispenza.

News Flash⭐️🍄 Certified Organic Medicinal mushroom powder will be available at the clinic starting this week.

You heard it, and I’m excited!

AUSTRALIAN CERTIFIED ORGANIC and stringently tested, containing no weird stuff like additives, sugars, fillers, maltodextrin or carriers. Hooray!

Simply just the raw fruiting body ground into fine powder.

Medicinal mushrooms are known traditionally for their therapeutic benefits of improving skin health, enhancing immunity and immuno-modulation, plus their anti inflammatory and adaptogenic benefits.

We’d like to wish everyone a Happy Lunar New Year.🐲

2024 is the year of the Wood Dragon, symbolising courage and strength while also calling us towards upward growth and outward expansion.

It’s time for change and actioning our plans in order to turn our dreams into reality.

With change there can be overwhelm so physical activity and stress management is particularly important this year (and every year, of course) to ensure we keep overwhelm to a minimum.

If you’re ever feeling angry and irritable, this could be the Wood Element (Liver and Gallbladder) out of balance, and acupuncture can help with that.

17 months on and here we have our first meeting with this little guy and his awesome mum, Kate.

It’s always special when we get to meet the babies of the mums we’ve walked beside during their journey to motherhood.

One of my favourite old pics of our local beach…I have a long standing family history in this area and while I’ve lived in other locations full of colour and hustle and bustle, Shoalhaven Heads will always be a place we call home. It’s not until you can’t see the horizon for months on end that you realise how lucky we are to enjoy the vast space and boundless-ness of nature around us. Happy Sunday.

Our dear colleague from has done a great job creating clarity around the value of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Thank you for allowing us to share it Jess. ☺️

“Our endowment of yin and yang represents the dual poles of heaven and earth as they occur within the individual. Qi and blood exist between these two poles as the human being stands between heaven and earth channelling each to the other. Yin and yang as the poles that define the two cosmic centres are beyond the level of human conscious awareness. In a sense, they are impersonal forces that create the basis of movement and structure for all of existence.” Lonny S. Jarrett, Nourishing Destiny.

“Chinese medicine teaches us that we have twelve main pairs of meridians through which energy moves around our bodies, and acupuncture is based on harmonising and rebalancing the flow of energy in these meridians to revitalise the organs they are connected to.” Karen Kingston

Have you ever tried cupping?

By warming up the edges of these little vessels, your practitioner uses suction to activate Qi and blood deep within your tissues.

Moving stagnated blood helps charge up the lymphatic system and release toxins, which aids to eliminate pain and tension.

The red marks you see as a result of cupping is often mistaken for bruising but a bruise is the result of a small trauma.

The red marks you see after cupping is the result of having drawn blood to the surface, which activates the release of tension and toxins.