Nicole Lauren Acupuncture

Monday is a big get things I need to get done for the week day for me. It’s also me and Rob’s normal day to go grocery shopping. One thing I was shocked to see Rob come home with was the usual white roses he grabs for me. It’s the last thing I expected him to remember or think to get today. It’s the first thing he handed to me when he got home and said did you think I’d forget?!. . So if you’re heading out to @traderjoes today or any grocery store that sells flowers..... ...grab some! Brighten up your home or maybe make someone else smile. They are not a necessity by any means. But they add some light . And if you do... send me texts, dm, or post your flowers!!! We all could use to see some flowers right now. . Thank you, Rob! And now it’s time to get out of my pajamas .... I’ve been a little distracted ! I can’t believe it’s 11am . See more

The key word is temporarily***. . This was something that has been weighing heavily on me the last few days ... but I know in my heart it is the right thing to do. I have personally reached out to each patient of mine on my schedule for this upcoming week explaining my decision of why I have decided to lock it up this week. Simply its not worth it at the moment. . We need to all be practicing social distancing. This is not a snow day. This is not a vacation. This is proble...m! While I might be healthy and not a high risk of the virus affecting me I am still a carrier. I could be a carrier to my pregnant patients, my patients who are taking care of their elderly parents, or my patients who have an immune compromised spouse. I do not want to take that risk. . When patients responded that its an important time to support small businesses I agree and I am so thankful. But its also our responsibility to be making the responsible decisions so that we can open our doors back up sooner than later. . With that being said I’ll be doing my best to post a little more on Instagram while I’m practicing my best social distancing .while social media can be a scary place right now but there is can be a lot of good things that can come from it so I want to be apart of that good! SO I might not see you in my office this week.... I’ll be here! See more

It’s my turn!. . All week I didn’t want to have to create this message. My own anxiety has heightened due to the overload of emails and posts so why should I add to the fire? I had a conversation with each one of my patients this week to reassure everyone that I have been doing my part to keep them safe and healthy. . Every patient that comes in has fresh and a new set of sheets on the table that are washed with hot water and bleach. ... As always I am practicing my own good hygiene ... always washing hands and I still hand sanitizer wooo!. I ask that patients be honest and if they are feeling under the weather, coughing, sneezing, or any type of sickness to please stay home. I only see one patient at a time. The appointments will be a little more spaced out for the time being to ensure there is enough time to clean and set the room in between patients... also allowing no wait time in a waiting room. If you have traveled recently I ask that you please reschedule your appointments. If you have been exposed to anyone (even the I might of been.....) with the virus I ask that you please cancel your appointment for the time being. . As always I want everyone to be healthy but more importantly feel safe. Please be in contact with me if you have any questions ! See more

There is a reason why I get excited when a patient walks out of the treatment room happily sighing and saying ahhh that was so relaxing. . When I am able to help someone on my table enter a relaxing state .. this becomes so so so valuable. The mind senses that the body is safe and there is no need to be on the lookout from harm, danger, worry, or anger from your stressors. . This is when the magic starts happening. Your mind slows down. Muscles start to release. Tensio...n starts to melt away. Deep breaths are taken. Digestive system can function properly. Your body no longer is trying to protect you from your stressors it’s starting to help you! You’ve entered rest and digest. . So yes, it is valuable to take time for yourself. Whether it be acupuncture, going to yoga, getting a massage, a facial, getting your nails done, sitting down and enjoying your meals, taking a bath, getting an extra hour of sleep. Whatever it is find that thing that makes you sigh ahhhhh that was so relaxing. . Less stress. More __________ . . #acupuncture #restanddigest #reset See more

Because sometimes your body needs some love (cupping) . . #love #cupping

Making small subtle changes . . If you know me and Rob, we belong to the picky eaters club. (We might be President and Vice President of the club, idk?). However, we both wanted to incorporate healthier habits and choices into our diets. So I went back to what I do every time I say I want more green in my life. I’ll make us some juices. . What I learned from the past and why I could never get this habit to stick. I was going extreme too soon. I wanted to make them everyd...ay and I needed to fill the biggest mason jar I had. This didn’t work. I couldn’t find the time nor did I want to make the time to do it everyday and the juice started to get old to me. I had enough. . . This time, Rob said he would finally drink them too (or I should say chug). I am choosing to start making our green juice twice a week...I split it up into four mason jars usually its a a little over 8oz.. allowing us to have one every other day. It’s our start. It’s a small step forward. But it’s a step to build our healthy habit. . Make those small subtle changes and celebrate the little wins along the way they can lead to a big change down the road. . #eatyogreens #healthyliving #green #pickyeaters See more

Wondering how acupuncture can help ease your tension, reduce pain, and help you destress? . Acupuncture is known to: Reduce inflammation in the body. Increase the body’s naturally produced painkillers - hello endorphins!.... Reduce cortisol - the body’s stress hormone. Regulate the autonomic nervous system to interfere with the way your brain processes pain, fear, and stress. Increase circulation to our muscles, connective tissues, and organs - think of it as healthy oxygen and hydrating rich blood flow! Leave you feeling better, happy, and relaxed . Let me see your answers to the question above? (And yes, D. All the above, is also an option) ! . . cc: @acupunctureglow . . #acupuncture #destress #relax See more

Gua sha has easily become my favorite modality added to my practice this past year. . When a patient has come in complaining they are experiencing neck pain, headaches, jaw tension, sinus congestion, head pressure, stress!, etc etc etc ......(Cue me reaching for my gua sha tool). .... When I saw @greenbeautyacademy was offering gua sha training ... my gut was screaming at me that I needed to learn more. . Let’s just say I am LOVING @britta_beauty and I can’t wait to share & integrate more of the benefits of gua sha into my practice . . #guasha #stressrelief #greenbeauty See more

Ready to take on @my.ulu May hydration challenge for @crossfitislandpark : drinking your body weight of water in ounces. This is a challenge WE ALL could use! . . Since our May refrigerator calendar had no plans on it I thought it would be a perfect place for us to keep track of our water intake. @rjmoloney and I did the math of how many times we would need to fill up our water bottle throughout the day and covered the calendar in tallies. I love to cross something off a ...to- do list so constantly seeing and wiping away the tallies will keep me motivated to finish!. . My bladder is currently not thrilled about this but the rest of my body will be thanking me!. . And if drinking your body weight in ounces is too big of a jump for you Michelle suggests starting with your body weight in kilograms instead of pounds! Thank you @my.ulu . . #hydration #healthyhabits #selfcare See more

Nail color may or may not have been picked solely based on the name . #isntitironic #itsthelittlethings #stayinghome

Our bodies crave movement. In Chinese medicine, exercise promotes the flow of Qi & Blood. I woke up this morning feeling stiff, my back was aching, and I was freezing. I needed to moveeeee.... I needed things to start flowing. . So in my pajamas ... I decided I’d do @crossfitislandpark ‘s quality work from yesterday (Didn’t get to it yesterday oh well). Rob joined in... we turned some easy music on.... and nice & slow we went though this. My body warmed up. The movements got easier.... it was a good start to the day. . Interested but have no idea what these movements are .... @rjmoloney & @collriordann have a movement demo on @crossfitislandpark insta! It’s captioned with yesterday’s date (3/19/2020)

A couple weeks ago, a patient came in & we talked about how sometimes we can’t fix everything. Sometimes things are out of our control. And even though we really want to make things betters for ourselves or others sometimes we just can’t. She asked well what should I do?!. I honestly didn’t have an answer because I didn’t think there was anything she could do. I told her... maybe in these types of moments....we just need to trust in something bigger or higher than us that e...verything will work out and be okay. . Well fast forward to today..... this morning was not an easy morning. It was full of what ifs, fear, tears, and nerves. I opened up Instagram and right away @gabbybernstein posted exactly what I needed to hear and see. (Ahhhhh a sign hello universe ! Thank you for a sign). . I shared it on my story. It reminded me of that conversation I had with my patient. I looked at it for a few more minutes and decided I needed to visually see this A LOT more. I grabbed a dry erase marker and wrote it on the mirror to become my reminder. I know I’m not even close to alone with how I’m feeling. Its literally a rollercoaster. But I found some comfort in these words ... and maybe one of you will too (Cue me singing The Killers: everythinggggg is gonnna be alright. everything is gonna be alrightttttttttt ) See more

Find a time today to sit down, put pen to paper, & write down THREE things you’re thankful for... you can find them ... I promise... I did. . This is something I try to practice everyday. I never wrote them down. I normally just think of 3 things and keep them in my head. (my cup of coffee always makes the list). . Starting today I am going to write them down. 3 things I’m thankful for .. with the date on the top of the page. This way I’ll have something to look back on & remember that in a time that I was full of ALL the emotions.... I was still able to find all the good in my life