When was the last time you really looked at your tongue?  Did you know that all tongues are not the same? They often vary in size, shape, color, coating, and geographic features.  According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, all the variations indicate imbalances in your body’s energy flow.

Every medical field has to have a way to ‘see’ into the body.  Western medicine uses CAT-scans, MRI, X-Rays, and blood work.  Chinese medicine has other tools, including tongue diagnosis.  Each feature variation on the tongue guides our understanding of how and where your health is blocked, inhibiting you from feeling your best.

In my practice at Canyon Ranch, I look at tongues all day long.  The tongue mirrors your internal conditions.  A tongue that is bright red often means something very different than one that is pale with a thick white coating.  A tongue with toothmarks on the side can yield a different diagnosis than a tongue with a crack near the tip.

The ‘ideal’ tongue is one that is pink, with a thin white coating and good moisture, without any major cracking, toothmarks, or swelling. If your tongue doesn’t look like that, your energy may not be flowing optimally.  Whether I’m selecting herbal medicines or acupuncture points, the tongue helps me to choose the most appropriate and specific ones for my patients.

By James Rohr, D.O.M
Chinese Medicine Practitioner at Canyon Ranch Hotel & Spa in Miami Beach

Believe it or not, exercise can be enjoyable, productive and even mentally stimulating! The body is the part of us that interacts with the environment through movement. The body has an innate intelligence that constantly looks to improving the efficiency of its operations, conserve energy and maximize resources.

The body, like the mind, constantly craves to learn. Part of the fun in learning new information is experiencing how its application can benefit your life.

Early movement evolution began when you learned to crawl and advanced to: walking, running, skipping, bounding and so on. Evolution continued as we entered gyms and exercise classes where new movements were learned such as: squatting, lunging, pressing, lifting etc…

Your movement evolution needs to continue. To change, grow and learn, the body needs to experience stimulation through new movements that it is not used to performing. From this, the desired results of increased metabolism, decreased fat and improved aesthetics will arise. More importantly, your health and longevity will improve and you will be on your way to feeling younger.

Jeffrey A. Dolgan, M.S., RCEP, HFI, BXMO
Clinical Exercise Physiologist at Canyon Ranch Hotel & Spa in Miami Beach