Gua sha is a Chinese phrase that means “scraping.” Do not let that scare you! While gua sha on the body is done a bit aggressively, it is done very gently on the face. Using a smooth stone tool, as your esthetician we will gently apply to stroke motions and pressure on different areas of your face, neck and decollete. You will find it soothing and relaxing, and your facial tissues will respond to the added circulation. Click read more to learn about some of the benefits of gua sha.

Hi! I am so excited and honored to be a part of the Balanced Thistle family + community and would love to share with you a bit about why I became an esthetician, specifically a holistic esthetician. I’ve said this before, but I know in my heart that I manifested to where I am today. I’ll never forget the day I was in for an acupuncture appointment with Dr. Meghan and I confessed that I was planning on quitting my current job to go back to school to become an esthetician. It wasn’t until I moved to Colorado 8 years ago that I started to have skin issues and sought out holistic alternatives to address my hormonal acne. It was the best decision I made because it led me to where I am today.

Did you know that 75% of people with vaginas experience pain during sex at some point in their life? It is true and that is A LOT! Why do we put up with it? Pain during sex is NOT normal. It is common, but not normal. People can experience pain during or after intercourse in their vagina or deeper in their pelvis.

Yoni steaming has been used in many cultures and for thousands of years, yet it’s still a medicine that isn’t widely accepted in our modern world. It’s everyday practice in parts of Asia, Africa, and South America, and was an important element of women’s health in Mayan and Native American cultures, but if you talk about it you might be automatically considered a little weird! The practice is used for a variety of reasons, but most popular around the world for postpartum recovery. We have a handful of reasons we offer it at Balanced Thistle, but the popularity of using it for a few certain things overwhelms its other callings.

Pulse diagnosis is an art that traces back thousands of years as a diagnostic method in Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine is really good at interpreting bodily symptoms and making sense of them, and pulse diagnosis is another way in which we can learn about a patient’s health.

Tongue diagnosis is an insightful way for your Chinese medicine practitioner to glean more information about your health, including the root cause of an imbalance. The tongue is the only muscle we can see inside of the body and serves as an insightful roadmap of what’s happening inside.

From a Chinese medicine perspective winter is a time for rest and rejuvenation. If you notice yourself getting particularly tired when the sun goes down, that’s because your hormones are changing to match the seasons. This is also the time of year where you shouldn’t feel too bad about sleeping in. Rest is the key during wintertime, so don’t be afraid to go to bed slightly earlier and sleep in a little more than usual. In Chinese medicine, winter is a time when “yang” energy is at its lowest, so it’s good to conserve our energy and rest more than usual. “Yang” energy is also what helps us to warm our bodies and extremities, so be sure to tell your acupuncturist if you are feeling especially cold or if you have low back pain, knee pain, or frequent urination as well.

A common misconception is that women’s infertility accounts for the majority of infertility cases. In fact, male infertility accounts for roughly 30% of infertility cases. We’ve seen declining sperm health over the past many decades, but we’ve also become more clear on some factors that are shown to improve sperm health. There’s a lot that can be done to improve fertility and in men - let's discuss some of the most beneficial lifestyle modifications to positively influence sperm health and male fertility.

Your favorite food-filled holiday is almost here, so naturally, being food nerds, we thought we’d break down some of the yummy foods from both a TCM and western nutrition perspective.

Learn about the herbs used in the Yina products - Fortify, Clarify, Regenerate, and Noruish - what they are and why they're important for your body's health.