Last episode we kicked off mental health awareness month by talking to a licensed counselor about what stress is, how it affects us, and how we can shift are thinking around it. This episode is all about one of my absolute favorite treatments to relieve it — acupuncture. We know that stress can disrupt nearly every system of the body and throw things out of balance. Acupuncture does the exact opposite. It gets all the different parts and systems of the body back in sync and back working optimally. Acupuncture can be a touchy subject for a lot of people: It is Eastern medicine—not from our Western medical system, it works very differently than medicine we are used to, and it involves needles! But our guest today, Angela Ayers, will clear up all that confusion.

Angela is a Licensed Acupuncturist in the state of Arizona and she is my favorite person to send my patients to when I think acupuncture is right for them. She can address and unravel nearly any chronic or acute health issue, but she especially focuses on sleep, digestion, physical pain, anxiety, and women's health issues. Angela and I talk about exactly how acupuncture works, by stimulating the nervous system and opening up channels for energy to flow through the body. We dive into how she approaches acupuncture treatment based on each patient's unique situation, including a particular success story about a patient dealing with menstrual cycle issues that led to a life-changing alleviation of her anxiety. And we also discuss how to know when acupuncture might be the right treatment for you. For more information check out her website eightemberswellness.com, or her IG account instagram.com/eightembers.