Natural Alternatives Center for Wellness

In 1991 when I started my career as a Massage Therapist, one of the biggest battles I seemed to fight was certain stigmas that came with being a Massage Therapist. Most often I was faced, at the age of 17, with people who would ask if I was a Masseuse a term that had over time started to denote someone who did a little something extra out of the realm of Massage. Or people flat out asking did I give that little something extra at the end of the Massage. Or being put on the spot when I was out somewhere to give spot treatments to someone's neck or shoulders. Over the years of practicing, honing my skills, continuing my education,  learning advanced Massage Therapy techniques, eventually studying skin care, and then much later of course moving on to study Traditional Chinese Medicine,  I set myself apart as practitioner by having the ability to focus on specific conditions that people came to me were battling. I became an expert at helping people manage and alleviate multiple ...

I passed a sign when leaving my appointment with my Acupuncturist at a gym across the street. "Lose 30 lbs in 30 days." I thought those sort of signs were a thing of the past. We discussed them at length over 13 years ago when I was completing my Bachelor's degree at Rutgers in Dr Watford's class. So why do those signs aggravate me so much? Because it sucks in the person desperate to lose 30 lbs, who maybe doesn't know what it requires to lose 30 lbs of fat. It makes me wonder whether those drawn in really know what is necessary to burn 1 lb of fat. I'll share so we can determine the realistic nature of burning 30 lbs. 1 lb of fat translates into 4086 calories. This is based on there being 2.2 kg per 1 pound. So 1 lb = .454 kg. This then is converted into grams, giving us 454 grams. To then translate the grams of fat into calories. 1 gm would be 9kcal of fat. So 454 grams translates into 4086 calories. So 30 lbs in 30 days. . .122,580 calories of FAT nee...

The Separation of Yin and Yang . . . I had every intention of blogging on a topic every week and at the very least, once a month.   Well it’s been well over a month, and March came in and out like a lion for me and my family as well. I can remember sitting in classes learning about Chinese Medicine and all of its wonders. The root of all things Chinese Medicine could be broken down into Yin and Yang, always intertwining as one waxes, the other wanes going on and on until death when Yin and Yang separate and that which exists changes forever. My maternal grandmother passed away on March 14 th , just before the Ides of March. She was 92 years young and I am certain that had she lived another 92 I would still feel like I did not have a long enough time with her in my life. She had a stroke on a Wednesday evening prior to her death and my Uncle found her early Thursday morning. It was a stroke doctors termed “massive and dense.”   If by some chance she awoke, she would never b...

In my nearly 20 years as a Health Care Practitioner, I have evolved and grown in terms of who I am, where I started, and where I saw my practice going a number of times. For some change meets resistance and at times this has been so for me. When I started out as a Massage Therapist, my first business name was "Arabesque Massage" chosen because from a very young age I fell in love with dance and dance I did (and still do). So the word Arabesque came from that love. Once I began to expand my vision, developing my dreams for the future, I changed the name of my business to Natural Alternatives. Then as I heard that term used more and more, the name evolved to Natural Alternatives to Well Being, and then further evolved to Natural Alternatives Center for Wellness. With the purchase of our center that the office calls home, building 2 was named The Sanctuary. My logos have changed over the years as well. At one point I had a Sun with a Moon insid...

This was originally published in 2011 and updated in 2020. I have removed some of the original text as well as added some new information. Added information is in [brackets] Welcome to the  Natural Alternatives Center for Wellness  Blog! If you don't know me, I am [Dr] Stephanie Huth Lipnicki, [DACM], LAc - as you can see from the "about me" corner.  I decided to begin a blog to share information about health, wellness and other things I feel people might find helpful on their path to wellness. [This blog was started in 2011 and clearly not added to frequently enough]. [A great deal has changed since the intro was written. The following is a lengthy bio about who I am and what qualifies me as a specialist in my field.] I started in Massage School 20 years ago [okay it's 2020 and that means it is actually 30 YEARS] and thought my life was going in one direction towards my becoming a Physical Therapist. 20 years later [again 30 YEARS] and after logg...