The concept is simple; traditional Hangzhou cuisine with fresh ingredients, but make it herbal medicine. Each dish incorporates one or more Chinese herbs for a very specific medicinal purpose paired with food ingredients that inspire its herbal functions. This is referred to as “Yao Shan 药膳”, the TCM practice of combining herbs with food to prevent illness, promote longevity, and treat imbalances.

This isn’t just a meal, its a prescription.

Here’s a walk through some of my favorite dishes in the 30 course meal I had at Hu Qing Yu Tang.

All dish descriptions match photos read left to right.

I use TCM terms such as “cooling”, “warming”, and “dispels damp” to properly describe the energetic function of Chinese herbs in these dishes. If you feel unfamiliar with these terms it may be helpful to read this first: temperature of food & herbs in TCM

Neon green Shi Hu (Dendrobium Stem) kicked off our complex meal, juice made from the fresh stems of a Dendrobium orchid. The juice was slightly sweet and viscous almost like an aloe beverage. It’s traditional function is to hydrate and clear heat. Also known as a tonic for yin deficiency in TCM terms. A perfect aperitif for a heavy meal on a hot summer evening.

Hangzhou style braised eel with lotus root, its slightly yellow broth infused with Dang Shen (codonopsis root). Swamp eel dispels dampness, improves circulation, and replenishes qi. Lotus root strengthens the spleen and stomach to aid in digestion. Interesting to note that most dishes this evening integrated a food or herb to help digest it’s paired ingredients! Lastly, Dang Shen broth, in my mind the young person’s ginseng (Ren Shen traditional ginseng is used for older adults), treats fatigue, replenishes qi, and strengthens the lung.

Yunnan province moringa seedlings and julienned carrots to promote digestion and control blood sugar. The seedlings were served cold; the taste was slightly sweet, slightly bitter but more mild tasting to me than pea shoots.

“Four cooling treasures” whole chicken soup with Gou Qi Zi (goji berry), Bai He (lily bulb), Bai Guo (ginkgo nut), and asparagus. Gou Qi Zi nourishes the kidneys and liver, benefits the eyes, and moistens the lung. Bai He also benefits the lung particularly for chronic coughs, and calms the spirit. Bai Guo is a lung nourisher, restores the lung and clears phlegm. The broth was slightly sweet but its herbal flavor mild. Sounds like a perfect soup for fall lung season?

Fresh Yunnan tree tomato 树番茄 (Shu Fan Qie). Tree tomato’s sweet and sour center paired with its bitter skin cools the liver channel. Good for headaches, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and benefits digestion.

Zi Su Ye Perilla leaf smoked fish. Zi Su Ye (perilla leaf) releases the exterior meaning it dispels any pathogen that causes you fever, chills, headache and congestion in the early stages of a cold. I’m still wondering exactly why they paired it with a smoked fish, I assume this type of fish must be warm in nature to compliment Zi Su Ye’s quality to make you sweat it out. I’ll need to better learn Mandarin next visit…

Sautéed sliced conch with Huai Mi (Sophora flowers). Huai Mi clears liver heat for hypertension, headaches, dizziness as well as stops bleeding for example in the case of heavy menses. Possibly my favorite dish of the evening? It had a similarity to a briny oyster but texture like squid; and that plating! The Huai Mi is subtle, but there is a crispness to its obvious floral quality that felt really bright.

Braised sea cucumber with Ling Zhi (reishi mushrooms) to strengthen the stomach, calm the mind, improve sleep and tonify the kidneys to boost yang energy. Both sea cucumbers and Ling Zhi are herbs of immortality strengthening your original qi. Sprinkled through the dish are water chestnuts which clear heat, transform phlegm, and hydrate. Their crunch and simple flavor contrasted the gelatinous sea cucumber.

Ginseng and lemon jellyfish. The jellyfish was served cold, sliced into thin strips and was more crunchy at first than expected. In TCM jellyfish clears heat, reduces phlegm, and aids in digestion. Ren Shen (ginseng) strongly nourishes qi for overall energy , immune support, and restores the spirit meaning alleviates anxiety and improves cognitive function.

Huang Qi (astragalus) river shrimp. These locally sourced freshwater shrimp are tiny and super sweet infused with a clear broth made from the herb Huang Qi (astragalus). Huang Qi is an easy herb to add to any dish because its flavor is so mild it can hide well. I always add this herb to my stocks; it’s a good herb for any constitution. Its TCM function is to boost the immune system, support healthy energy levels, and strengthen the spleen channel.

Rose bud infused tofu. Mei Gui Hua (rosebud) promotes qi and blood circulation and nourishes the skin. Another dish with a floral herb that by no means took over its flavor, which is not always an easy feat. On the menu it translated to tofu that enhances beauty.

Duck tongue with Chen Pi (dried tangerine peel). Marinated duck tongue is a traditional dish in Hangzhou, but here at Hu Qing Yu Tang they braise it in shredded aged tangerine peel. Chen Pi calms the middle; it stops bloating, stomach pain, and fullness. Combining Chen Pi with such a rich and fatty food like duck tongue allows you to easier digest.

Our herbal feast ended with a digestif. There were seven different choices; each their own secret herbal formula seen macerating in giant glass jars displayed around the restaurant. I toured around to look at each one and give my best guess which herbs were in which. Naturally, I chose the one that seemed to have the most expensive and rare herbs. The glass jar pictured top left above clearly had clusters of Cordyceps mushrooms (Dong Chong Xia Cao) the most expensive biological material in the world right now. Ren Shen (ginseng) is nestled in there too, and I believe some Lu Rong (deer antler velvet). This herbal alcohol was intense! So warming I felt it fall into my stomach. All three of these herbs in combination boost kidney yang and nourishes jing and blood. In other words, this is a formula for vitality and would be more suited for an old man (haha).

HONORABLE MENTIONS

from left to right, taken from other fabulous meals in China that integrated TCM.

Shu Di Huang (Rehmannia root) wrapped beef rolls. It’s glossy outside is Shu Di, used for townifying the blood. Helpful for any irregular menstruation, also a tonic for healthy hair and improves memory.

Shi Hu Hua (Dendrobium orchid flower) in broth. Earlier we saw it’s stem used as a juice. This dish utilizes the buds of the orchid flower, floating in a broth I unfortunately can’t remember. Nourishes yin, hydrates, and clears deficient heat.

Fried Ren Shen (Ginseng). Is everything is good fried? Once you pass through its crispy skin, biting into a knob of ginseng was incredibly intense. But it will absolutely boost your qi and energy!

Shaved bitter melon on ice with dragonfruit. Finally! My namesake. This bitter melon was cooked but served cold. Bitter melon’s cold and bitter nature clears heat. Good to relive irritability, overheating in the summer, and helpful for the eyes.

Fried Quan Xie (Scorpion). Another fried item that greatly helped get through its taste, although I preferred scorpion over cicada. It was sweet and slightly spicy. It’s used in TCM for relieving pain, seizures, and migraines.

Fried Chan Tui (Cicada). Chan Tui was salty and felt a little meatier, not my favorite. Its herbal function is to calm rashes, benefit the eyes, and calm a sore or hoarse throat.

BOOK WITH ME

Office Hours

Ridgewood, Queens (Forest M & Halsey L)

Mondays 12pm-7pm

Tuesdays 11am-7pm

Wednesdays 10am-7pm

Sundays 12pm-7pm

Manhattan (FIDI next to Fulton station 2,3,4,5,J,Z,R,W,A,C)

Fridays 10am-6pm

First and foremost, I want to thank Simon Feeney, the wonderful TCM doctor who organized and led this intensive. Simon learned herbal medicine from his Theravadin Buddhist Monk who has been guiding him for the past 20 years.

Simon is a physician in Classical Chinese Medicine which means he uses traditional formulas of the Han Dynasty (200BC) and strongly adheres to some of the first texts such as Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage) rather than modern, standardized Traditional Chinese Medicine. He now runs a first-rate and rigorously tested Chinese herb dispensary in Australia; both raw herbs and formulas are manufactured according to classical texts. Read more about Simon and Empirical herbs here. If you’re an acupuncturist sign up for his newsletter. It’s fascinating and he’ll give updates about future studies.

A Note from Me

In case you can’t make it to the end, I want to point out the most important takeaway from my studies. Chinese herbal medicine is the basis and most important part of TCM. Acupuncture is a pillar of TCM that works in conjunction with herbs, but herbs are King. I was really struck by how closely integrated Chinese herbs were into the medical system in China. Medical doctors of all professions and stature practice herbal medicine in tandem with pharmaceuticals, and every pharmacy lining any street carries Chinese herbal formulas. Herbs are not an “alternative medicine.” They are just simply, medicine.

This is obviously something we are greatly lacking in the west. We are all too familiar with how flawed our system is when we have chronic ailments. While western medicine and pharmaceuticals are in every way necessary, herbs fill in the gaps. Chronic pain undiagnosable as “auto-immune” or idiopathic digestive ailments pushed under the IBS umbrella are lost in our system. We are meant to deal with unnecessary surgeries, dangerous side effect short term steroids, or yet another referral. In China these types of patients can walk down the hall to the TCM dispensary, pick up herbs, and almost always have positive results.

I’m excited to share my studies below and teach you how seriously herbs are taken and understood in China, rigorously tested and studied, and frequently clinically prescribed.

Shanghai

I arrived in a humid Shanghai along with 15 other acupuncturists last May to begin my studies. The program was designed to offer a rare and immersive insight into the life of Chinese herbs through four cities, which included shadowing doctors at TCM hospitals, walk throughs of granule and raw herb factories, farms, and lectures. And of course, receiving countless treatments.

Our first stop was the Shanghai Hudong Hospital which is classified as a level 2 TCM hospital; it’s a smaller community level general care practice and was super affordable (although insurance here covers most- I’ll talk about that later). TCM hospitals in China are classified using a three-tier system and 10 levels. This system rates institutions based on capacity, medical technology, medical training and more. Level 1 is the most basic community health preventative care and cheapest, level 3 typically is the most expensive, largest, specialized care, advanced clinical research and most famous doctors.

Hudong hospital was bustling even on a weekday morning. Its floors and halls were divided into types of treatment. After signing in at the front desk, you are directed to a doctor where you receive a health intake and are referred to one or multiple modalities based on your case. The floors are divided by herbal consultations, acupuncture, tui na (Chinese massage/adjustments), moxa, plus an office just for stress management.

The lower floor contains intake rooms with varying types of doctors based on expertise. Pictured above, we stopped for an intake that consisted of interview questions and pulse/tongue diagnosis by a doctor of 40+ years experience. I’m pictured next with a tui na practitioner who I was led to for my TMJ pain, a manual therapy (although he suggested it was stress based and referred me for herbs after too!). Just next door to me was another peer receiving a cupping treatment. Although most practitioners here use glass cups, this particular hospital uses bamboo cups which are presoaked in a herbal liniment for extra pain relief. Lastly, I got to see some interesting medical tools I hadn’t seen before. The lower right picture is a heated vibrating tool to break up fascial adhesions. Not pictured is a floor dedicated to acupuncture (most doctors at this hospital were only referring acupuncture for pain), plus an office filled with aromatherapy, tea, ear seeds, and other practices just for stress management. I spoke with multiple patients who had been coming to this clinic for 10, 20 years and spoke incredibly highly of the care.

Shanghai University of TCM is one of the top medical universities in China and has a fantastic TCM museum located behind its massive library. The university offers Doctoral, Master, and Bachelor programs in acupuncture, herbal medicine, integrative medicine, pharmaceutical science, nutrition, and even bio-engineering. An American student showed us around and we chatted about his program in which he’s learned Mandarin fluently for his studies (there is no “Spleen 6” point, only points by Chinese name are used here).

At the TCM museum I saw bone needles from the neolithic age, a pulse taking teaching machine, and an original model used for practicing needling (lower right corner above). Ancient medical examiners used hollow bronze figures coated in wax and filled with water to test students. When a student pierced the exact point, the liquid would leak out to prove the answer was correct.

On my own time in Shanghai, I made sure to get many different types of TCM treatments including acupuncture, tui na, moxa, gua sha, foot soaks, and ear cleanings. It was so incredibly hot and humid at this point in summer that after any treatment I was handed much needed damp heat clearing herbs (these practitioners feed you herbs whether you like it or not)! Typically, herbs provided were goji (Gou Qi Zi), chrysanthemum (Ju Hua), and jujube (Da Zao). Most importantly, all these herbal formulas pictured above were served hot. Yes hot! Even in the summer.China doesn’t mess with ice or cold tea here, it’s against TCM theory and I won’t get into that now but you can read more from a previous substack here.

Hangzhou

Hangzhou is only a two-hour drive south west of Shanghai. It was a scenic city with lush green hills and a long canal running through its center. Its main drag has many historic herbal pharmacies with modern updates that feel trendy and welcoming to the herbal novice. We stopped in a pharmacy pictured above that is relatively new and dedicated to welcoming herbs to newcomers, a trend I saw a lot here; China reinventing ways to promote traditional medicine.

Chinese herbs don’t always have to be customized complex prescribed formulas! There are lots of milder food therapy herbs that can be incorporated into everyday life and preventative care, and thats the goal. It was a theme park for me to shop among classic formulas packaged in the style of a gift shop with discs of chrysanthemum, one use raw herb formulas, and pre packaged foot soaks.

At more classic and common pharmacies in Hangzhou, formulas and herbs tend to be behind glass, and not just anyone can pick up anything. You must speak to a pharmacist to purchase formulas or raw herbs, show a prescription or explain your symptoms. Just another glimpse into how herbs are handled here and respected as medicine.

Booths for free ear acupuncture and pulse/tongue diagnosis offered to the community popped up here and there. I also passed a shop dedicated to mole removal according to an older practice that remove “bad luck moles” according to the posters above. Remove them to grant more prosperity!

Hangzhou is home to one of the oldest and most famous historic pharmacies in China, He Qing Yu Tang. It was established in 1874 and is still the busiest pharmacy in Hangzhou. They kept its original structure now featured as a museum (its original garden is pictured in the top left) and a more modern clinic was built next door. This pharmacy was strictly prescription based. While granules are by all means popular, raw herb formulas that need to be decocted were more of the norm here. In the picture at the top right corner, you can see giant bags of raw herb formulas stacked on the pharmacy counter.

Getting treated by a TCM doctor in China is covered for everyone by national Chinese insurance. Herbal medicine, acupuncture, tui na, moxa, and more are all included in this coverage. Amazing right? There are some specifics; most are fully covered but sometimes certain forms of herbs can be partially covered or if you want to see a specialized famous doctor who’s been practicing for 50 years you might have to pay extra out of pocket on top. (Picture above top center shows a machine to sign into any clinic where you swipe your insurance card and click for any provider and it tells you coverage and all extra costs if any instantly. China is built different…).

Nanjing

Another three hours north and we were in Nanjing, which looked and felt much more traditional and historic. It served as China’s capital for six ancient dynasties and early Republic of China. Zhejiang Medical University is in Nanjing, also offering a wide variety of Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral programs in TCM. And a brand-new museum that was out of this world. Right when you walk in there was a 15-foot statue (picture above on the left) with an interactive light display of every meridian. This was by far my favorite TCM museum in China, and they had so many displays for kids to learn about acupuncture and herbs. Walls on the second floor were lined with maps of Nanjing during the Song Dynasty (960 to 1279 AD) showing pharmacies of that time specializing in everything.

Just outside of Nanjing, we stopped by Huisong Pharmaceuticals. Simon Feeney has had a loyal partnership with Huisong for years, so we were lucky enough to get a private tour. Huisong is a high-tech facility that provides Chinese herb granules to leading hospitals all over China. They specialize in many types of natural products beyond TCM herbs like pharmaceutical ingredients and fruit & vegetable ingredients. But for the purpose of our tour, we focused on their granule factory.

Chinese herbs are often prescribed in a granule/powder form (this is usually how I prescribe to my own patients) which is a dried version of precooked herbs, not just ground. Making granules is a complex and scientific process to ensure a product that is highly medicinal. I was able to view their process starting with cooking herbs, then dry sprayed into raw powder form, and finally coated. Huisong was so meticulous about quality control that they test herbs for 470 different pesticides, heavy metals, microplastics, and microbacterias. Disproving yet another common misconception here in the states that Chinese herbs are dangerous and untested.

After a trip to Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine where I got to explore another massive library of TCM books, we visited Jiangsu Hospital down the road from campus. Jiangsu is a level 3 hospital, which means it’s a top tier hospital with advanced clinical teaching, research, specialized care, and larger facilities. There were wings spanning from maternity, oncology to cardiovascular care and so much more. Typical western medical surgery, imaging, and testing of all sorts are coupled here with traditional Chinese modalities.

Speaking to the physicians at Jiangsu cemented how important it is to integrate Chinese and western medicine. I spoke with a heart surgeon who explained his practice and when he adds herbs into his protocols. He said countless young patients come in with heart palpitations or arrhythmias due to high stress and anxiety. Although his western medical training taught him to prescribe pharmaceuticals, he takes an herbal route. He asks, why do we give young people unnecessary pharmaceuticals with side effects for things like chest tightness due to anxiety? These patients are young and healthy. They don’t need another pill to take. I send them for herbs and acupuncture and they always have positive results.

In the oncology ward, a doctor specializing in colon cancer spoke in a similar way. Over years he’s patented his own herbal formula to suppress colorectal cancer migration. He says he wouldn’t get the same results and remission without adding his herbal formulas to treatment plans.

Can you believe there’s a world where a heart surgeon and oncology doctor pair herbs with your treatment plan? I knew it existed but I didn’t know to this extent. But why shouldn’t they work happily together? Chinese herbal medicine is so well researched that medical professionals at foremost hospitals prescribe them!

Next to the typical wings of Jiangsu hospital there are areas designated for acupuncture, moxa, herbal plasters, and all other TCM modalities that physicians here will refer to. In the nurses quarter there were large moxa boxes set up for patients, which are perforated objects lined with the herb mugwort (Ai Ye) as pictured in the top left corner. The mugwort is lit with a flame and the box is typically placed over the back or stomach as seen in the lower right corner. Heat as well as the medicinal qualities of the herb pass through the perforations onto the affected area for pain relief, increased blood circulation and lowering inflammation. I saw a lot of patients prescribed moxa in this hospital for back pain, endometriosis and post partum.

Pictured in the top right corner are small herbal plasters the nurses made from all sorts of herbs, packaged into the size of a dime. I hadn’t seen plasters like this before, and they told me these were particularly made to fit on acupuncture points. Depending on the ailment, certain herbs are ground and fashioned into a paste and then applied to specific acupuncture points, left on for 7 days.

Bozhou

My time in China ended in Bozhou where we made our way to the world’s largest TCM herb market with over 6000 vendors and 1800 years of history. I spent 6 hours here that day and could have stayed longer; it’s stadium sized filled with every variety of Chinese herb. Navigating the herb exchange was extremely difficult; every seller has been growing herbs for generations and they want you to know they have the best. Certain texture, colors, smells can help guide you to a high quality herb therefore taking a certain kind of expertise to know which to buy.

Cordyceps (Dong Chong Xia Cao) were the most expensive herb I saw and had multiple stalls dedicated to that herb alone. Cordyceps are a fungus that infect underground ghost moth caterpillars which eventually sprout a long stalked fruiting body from it’s head. This natural process makes it an herb that’s hard to source making it very expensive. Cordyceps stores had 20 or more varities ranging from area sourced, season, wildcrafted, or inoculated by hand. It’s one of the most expensive biological materials in the world right now.

Pictured above is Casey, who’s family has been selling the herb Lu Rong (young deer velvet antler) as well as other sections of a deer’s antler (Lu Jiao, Lu Jiao Shuang, Lu Gu) for generations. His father is currently training him to pass down the family business and they have their own store front at the herb exchange. Casey also gave us a taste of an herbal alcohol his family makes with various parts of Lu Rong for yang deficiencies.

Because Chinese herbs are a vital part of the medical system here, there are more financial resources for the advancement of this medicine. We toured multiple herb pharmaceutical companies that not only specialize in producing herbal formulas but also growing the herbs themselves.

Yaoyang botany has created its own breeding site; a lab where they are studying how to grow herbs in a controlled environment before planting on their farms to ensure higher yield. Currently they are growing 94 different Chinese herbs until they are at a stable enough age for outdoor growth. It was really interesting to see all the new innovations in Chinese herbs and I'm curious to know how lab grown seedlings will affect an herbs medicinal quality when you take out factors of shared soil and plant pairing that happens in nature.

Thank you for following along my China trip !

OFFICE HOURS

Ridgewood :: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday 11am-7pm

Manhattan FIDI :: Friday 10am-7pm

Book An Appointment with Me!

Pain Patches & Spray On Liniment

You can find Chinese herbal pain patches anywhere in NYC Chinatown, but I took a few different ones home from China I hadn't seen before (pain patches always have the best graphic design). Each brand uses different herbs but typically has an icy hot sensation. Just slap them on a sore muscle or achey joint and it helps numb out the pain for up to 8 hours.

Whats more exciting is this spray on liniment I found at a TCM pharmacy in Hangzhou. Shexiang Qutong Chaji is an herbal formula made up of mainly She Xiang* (musk deer), star anise, ginger, and angelica root to treat blood stasis. You can use it topically for muscle and joint pain, swelling, and bruising- best applied when massaged into affected area for a few minutes.

*made up of a dried secretion of a deer although these days a lot of companies use a synthetic kind

Pre-Packaged Decoction

Fang Huichun Hall is a TCM pharmacy in Hangzhou thats rebranded a lot of their stuff to appeal to a younger crowd in China. They have lots of cute packaging for foot soaks, gua sha tools, face masks, and other Chinese herb products. I bought a couple of their one use raw herb packs. Each formula is pretty mild and simple with herbs for energy, stress, or cooling off in the summer. A nice raw herb intro to someone new to TCM- easy to cook and tastes pretty good.

Reishi Spores

Reishi (Lingzhi 灵芝) is the mushroom of immortality in Chinese medicine, and they are sold everywhere in China. Lots of pharmacies I visited even had separate reishi rooms with over 20 kinds of different types varying in species, area grown/harvested, or prepared. What really interested me were these reishi spores. Spores are the microscopic seed of a reishi mushroom and they are much more highly concentrated with bioactive compounds than the formed mushroom. You can take the spore powder internally as a supplement for immune support, stress, liver health, and so much more as their constituent called beta-glucans supports so many basic processes. Maybe you can even inoculate some reishi out of them too…

Shi Hu

This is one of the main raw herbs I purchased while in Bozhou. I was able to visit one of the oldest and most famous herb trading centers in China. Shi Hu (石斛) or Dendrobium is the stem of an orchid. It is a yin tonifying herb that clears deficient heat and hydrates. I got an insane price for these two types of Shi Hu from a guy who’s family has been growing Shi Hu and only Shi Hu for generations. There were literally 50 types of Shi Hu in his shop, and I couldn’t begin to keep up with all their minute differences. I landed on these two; the small ones on the right were of the highest quality due to their young age and small size and by being completely organic.

Jin Yin Hua Liquid

I woke up with a sore throat at the end of my trip so I walked over to a pharmacy in Shanghai and picked this up. Jin Yin Hua (honeysuckle) is a cooling Chinese herb for wind-heat conditions such as sore throat, fever, or other initial signs of a cold. I’ve never seen this form of it before! Through some rough translation it doesn't look like a decoction- it looks like an infusion, maybe to make it taste better for kids. I love seeing herbs in new forms.

Damp-Heat Liquid Vial

Just like the infusion above, I’ve never seen formulas in one use vials. Liquid forms always digest quicker and it’s nice to have it pre dosed. Huo Xiang Zheng Qi You Fu Ye is a summer damp-heat formula that was front and center in every pharmacy in China’s May humidity. It’s a cooling formula for when you’re overheated and are experiencing symptoms like loss of appetite, bloating, water retention, loose stools, and other symptoms of heat stroke or hot climate related issues. It’s really bitter in taste and instantly soothed my stomach when I ate a big lunch on a scorching day.

Herbal Foot Soaks

These sachets are one use foot soaks. Each contains a different Chinese herbal formula that calms foot pain and swelling. The formulas include different herbs for calming stress, improving sleep, and immune support. One pharmacy I visited had custom foot soaks where you can choose which herbs you’d like to use (should I start making Bitter Melon foot soaks?).

Chinese Herb Lozenges

Pang Da Hai is the herb for loss of voice. I have saved many friends on tour with this one. I was so excited to see it as a lozenge, I had never seen it in this form before and it makes complete sense. Besides loss of voice this herb is great for a sore throat or a cough with bright phlegm.

Hair Growth Formula

Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine recently patented this hair growth & scalp health formula. It’s a topical foam you apply once a day that helps promote hair growth and calms any psoriatic scalp symptoms. The formula is secret, but I do know they include herbs in it such as Ku Shen, Di Yu, and Hua Jiao.

Moxa Hammer

A moxa hammer is a handheld self massage tool designed for acupuncture point tapping. I saw these all over the place in China so I eventually caved and got one of my own. Inside the hammer is mainly mugwort which is a warming herb that stops pain and moves qi (also what moxa is made of!). Typically you use it to tap acupuncture points on the neck ,shoulder, and legs for blood circulation and tension relief.

Herbal Nasal Spray

With NYC allergies and constant post nasal drip, I’ve turned to Flonase recently and I’ve been trying to find a good alternative. I only see saline sprays in the U.S. so I was curious to try this Chinese herb nasal spray. This formula dispels wind, clears heat used to ease congestion, post nasal drip, and sinus inflammation. It includes herbs such as Huang Qi, Xin Yi Hua, and Cant Er Zi. It cleared my sinuses immediately and I’ll have to find a way to get it back to NY.

Dragon Well Green Tea

Mingqian Longjing or “Dragon Well” is the premium grade of Chinese green tea. I was able to visit a dragon well farm thats been owned and operated by a family for generations and they showed me how to pick the best and youngest tea leaves. These tea leaves are at the highest quality and most expensive when picked right before the month of April.

Cold & Flu Liquid Formula

Obviously, the graphic design drew me into picking up this cold and flu formula. This is specifically for a wind-cold pathogen with symptoms like fever, chills, neck pain, nasal congestion, and a cough. It is a really warming formula that helps you break a sweat and relieve your fever. Its in a liquid form too so digests really quick. It also has a very special herb I won’t say that I cant find here in the US! (shhhh!)

Zoey’s Cookbook

Zoey Xinyi Gong wrote this beautiful TCM cookbook a few years ago, which I purchased at her apothecary in Shanghai. The book blends TCM into modern dishes and is a great way to understand how to incorporate food herbs into daily life. Each dish is for specific health concerns like anxiety, sleep, PMS, and more.

Book Acupuncture

A salt cure is a really cheap and simple object to drain any negative energy or qi out of a space over a long period of time. You can place them in your room, living room, office, or all three! Although there is technically a particular place you should put them in regards to 2026 which i’ll explain later.

Feng Shui

Feng shui is the art of creating peaceful harmonious environments based on traditional Chinese theories. Much like acupuncture, feng shui is meant to create a balanced relationship between yin and yang, qi and the five elements, man and nature. Historically feng shui was used to determine areas to farm, settle, and place burial grounds. These concepts now are typically used in the home. For example, where certain furniture pieces should be placed, which areas should be kept especially tidy (like the stove which represents your finances), or even where you place your kitchen knives. They can get incredibly specific so if you want to get advanced you can hire a feng shui master to design your space (its fascinating and more complex than you think!).

Salt Water Cures

A salt water cure is a feng shui remedy to absorb and neutralize negative energy in a space. It consists just a of a glass jar/vase, coarse salt, brass coins, and water. Your salt water cure can live in a space for up to a year as it collects stagnant qi, meant to be replaced around the Chinese new year. You can start a salt cure at any time although you technically should not start one in a new year until after February 5th.

As the salt water cure absorbs negative qi, it crystalizes and forms a beautiful salt sculpture. Depending on how much negative qi is in a particular space, the quicker the salt crystalizes and overflows over your vase, and you’ll have to feed it water once in a while to continue its process.

The most important rules of a salt water cure:

1. Once a salt water cure is placed in a space, it can not be moved or disturbed so choose wisely based on pets, furniture, etc.

2. The salt that crystalizes on the cure is stagnant negative qi thats been absorbed, you don’t want to touch it with bare hands.

3. You must monitor your cure through the year and feed it water if it runs out in order for it to continue its process.

4. For the year of the fire horse in 2026 a salt water cure will be best utilized in the south and north areas of a home. Each year pertains to challenging energies that move to different parts of the home.

5. When your ready to replace your salt water cure or dispose of it, use gloves! Do not touch it! I’m sorry to say to recyclers but you will have to dispose of it entirely and you cannot reuse any parts of the cure again.

   ---

   How To Make a Salt Cure

• Glass Vase or Mason Jar

• Coarse Salt (higher quality the better)

• 6 Brass Coins (ideally feng shui coins, otherwise you can use copper pennies)

• Filtered Water

  

1. Fill your jar with coarse salt slightly more than half way (as you put water in it should then shrink to half way)

   

2. Place your six brass coins on the salt. The four characters side of the feng shui coins should be facing up. Starting with a coin at the bottom at 6 o’clock, than 8 o’clock, 12, 2, and 4, working your way in a clockwise fashion

   

3. Carefully pour water over the coins and salt. Continue pouring until you have about an inch of water covering the salt.

4. Go back and very carefully rearrange the coins to their original placement if they’ve moved, I usually use chopsticks or a utensil and not my hand. Being intentional about how the coins are placed will make for a better cure.

   

5. Place your salt cure!

Other thoughts and FAQ

You should place your cures at the north and south sector of your home particularly for 2026 year of the fire horse, or you can place them somewhere that holds a lot of negative energy. An office, a room where something negative happened, or even just your bedroom if you have roommates. Placing one at the entrance of a home is also always a great idea so that anything or anyone who enters your home’s energy has been neutralized before they step in.

Again, anytime is a fine time to make one, but the earliest you can make one for a year is February 5th.

Remember to check in on your cure once in a while to make sure there is always about an inch of water above the salt. Keep it hydrated so it can continue to do its job.

A salt cure can live for a year until the following February 5th, but there are some reasons why you may want to replace it before then. For example, if your cure becomes dirty and starts visibly collecting dirt, dust, hair , or bugs you must replace it.

When you are ready to dispose of the cure, wear gloves and do not touch it! Double bag it and throw it away. Do not bury them!

You can place it on the floor, top of a cabinet, or anywhere they will be undisturbed but still able to reach so you can add water as the year goes.

Feeling like the negative qi is calling from inside the house? Come get acupuncture —>

Book Appointment

I am honored to have been accepted to a Traditional Chinese Medicine herb internship in Shanghai this May! Consider buying an acupuncture package to help support my education PLUS you get crazy discounted sessions.

Each hour long session includes acupuncture, cupping, herb/supplement & lifestyle recommendations from a TCM lens.

The more sessions you buy, the more discounted! Sessions are valid for use at either of my locations: FIDI & Ridgewood.

Sessions are typically $120 but with a package you get sessions for a heavily discounted rate shown below.

3 Acupuncture & Cupping Sessions: $285 ($360 value)

5 Acupuncture & Cupping Sessions: $450 ($600 value)

7 Acupuncture & Cupping Sessions: $595 ($840 value)

10 Acupuncture & Cupping Sessions: $800 ($1,200 value)

BUY NOW- LIMITED TIME! ENDS MAY 1

I DEEPLY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT IN MY STUDIES :)

Buy Acupuncture Package

To be an acupuncturist right now is to treat fear and the uncertainty. We are faced day to day with new horrors while expected to go to work, maintain relationships, find joy. How?

My practice and what I treat has significantly shifted these last few years and even last few weeks. I’m finding myself using ghost points and other psycho emotional treatments on the daily. A small reflection on how taxing being alive is right now.

I talk a lot on here about acupuncture & the nervous system, and its special ability to calm anxiety. I use a lot of terminology, studies, and western approaches to help people understand. But there are many faces to Chinese Medicine and I’d like to honor some more traditional and true practices for calming the nervous system. There are many of course, but today we’ll focus on ghost points.

13 Ghost Points of Sun Simiao

Ghost points are a protocol of points made famous by the Tang Dynasty era doctor Sun Simiao (581-682 CE). At the time anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive, and other mental health conditions were misunderstood and explained as being possessed by a ghost or entity, therefore its name. Now I wouldn't by any means categorize a patient as possessed, but these points can still be incredibly powerful and suitable for times of mental unrest or depression.

These points are especially helpful when you just aren’t feeling like yourself! When daily life feels overwhelmingly governed by your mental health and it’s difficult to focus on anything else, looping thoughts or generally feeling disillusioned. A possession of our circumstance.

“Ghosts” in TCM are the result of excess Phlegm that mists the Heart which in turn clouds the Shen and becomes increasingly agitated. The Shen is the human spirit and psyche or consciousness. Its our “divine spark” or luster behind our eyes. In TCM, the Shen lives in our heart channel which governs the mind, emotions, and awareness. When Shen is balanced, you’re clear-headed and emotionally stable. Excess phlegm which can result from long standing emotional issues or trauma, overwork, drug or alcohol overconsumption, or a stressful environment can directly affect the heart and in turn, our Shen.

In short, these points help dispel phlegm, calm the Shen, and calm the spirit.

Du 26 Ghost Palace

Du 23 Ghost Hall

Du 16 Ghost Pillow

Ren 24 Ghost Market

Lu 11 Ghost Faith

LI 11 Ghost Leg

PC 7 Ghost Heart

PC 8 Ghost Cave

ST 6 Ghost Bed

SP 1 Ghost Fortress

UB 62 Ghost Path

Guifeng Ghost Seal

Herbal Antidepressant

Gan Mai Da Zao Tang is a simple and beautiful three herb formula thats safe & suitable for most during times like these. (There are no known drug interactions with this formula but always make sure to check with me).

This formula nourishes the heart and calms the spirit. Indicated for symptoms such as, irritability, talking to self, dream disturbed sleep, fatigue, crying often, and depression. It can be used daily and long term for depression. You can purchase this formula at Kamwo.

Book Appointment

Here’s a list of products I got asked about most in the last year. What would I buy, and what would I stay far far away from?

Shakti Mat, $99: NO

I’m sorry everyone, I don’t like shakti mats (I know this one will get me in trouble). Will it harm you? No. Is it actually acupressure? Hell no.

The chance of it hitting an acupuncture point is possible, although it seems to just be hitting really anything at all. This is overstimulation chaos which will in the end be quite damaging energetically for anyone who has fragile qi. I say ditch the mat and spend money on an acupuncturist :)

*writing this i’m thinking I need to design my own version that mirrors real acupuncture back points and is also made of gold not plastic… pin this *

M3 Pro Massage Gun, $104: YES

I’ve fought this for so long until my girlfriend bought me one and I am a changed man. Linked is my personal favorite budget friendly version! Comes with a ton of different massage heads and I like them all.

While I will never ever accept this as a replacement for bodywork, it is nice to have in between sessions. I use it after the gym, accidental long Manhattan walks, and big standing days at work. Read instructions on which muscles are appropriate to use on*

Red Light Mask: YES

Celluma Red Light Pod, $499 my personal favorite

RegenaLight, $129- most affordable favorite

The Celluma pro red/blue/green light therapy completely changed the texture and color of my top surgery scar and I’m a big believer now. That experience was with a Celluma Pro Model used for professional use. But their hand held “pod” is so cool. If you have the money it would be incredibly useful for skin texture, pigment, scars, joint pain, hair loss, acne, and more.

The more realistic affordable version is the RegenaLight red light mask. I like this one because it also offers blue and green light too, downside being this one is only for face care.

Pain Patches, $20: YES

Pain patches are awesome and I recommend them to all my patients who experience acute or chronic pain. They are more of a bandaid than solution, but when you’re in pain and have to work these will save you.

I particularly like the Wu Yang patches linked above, or any patch that has some added pain relieving Chinese herbs infused into the plaster. Stick these on and they will numb out the pain for up to 8 hours! Buy in person at Kamwo in NYC.

AG1 Greens Powder, $79: NO

Generally I stay away from any sort of “lets pack it all in nutritional drink” type vibe. They often are missing a lot of things we need and gain from eating fresh whole foods. You just simply can’t replace food with drinks y’all. Plus it tastes so awful! I find a lot of patients realize powdered drinks like this cause a lot of gas and bloating too.

That being said, I don’t think it will hurt you and if you like it and it makes some sort of difference in your day, I won’t fight it. As long as you are eating food alongside it and not as a replacement for any meal.

Oh and there is absolutely not a large enough amount of any of the added “supplements” in this mix to make a real difference.

Irish Sea Moss Gel, $35: NO (USUALLY)

This one was hard for me because I really do like sea moss. BUT! Everyone is using it for the wrong reasons and as a cure-all.

Irish Sea Moss is a seaweed and its main use is for respiratory health; specifically coughs and bronchitis. It’s anti-inflammatory constituents are also great for bladder inflammation. It is extremely bitter and cooling- which means it’s not for everyone! Those who are qi deficient and run cold (generally, please see me though for specifics), would not do well with sea moss and it can worsen fatigue, bloating, and other qualities associated with a colder constitution.

Lanshin Gua Sha Tool, $49: YES

We love facial Gua Sha :) When done properly, facial Gua Sha helps move fluids, relieves puffiness, lessens acne congestion, and smooths fine lines. I also use facial Gua Sha for TMJ. Nightly use on the jaw can help with clenching through the night.There is a proper way to practice it! Here is a link to Lanshin’s facial Gua Sha 101- please watch: Gua Sha Tutorial

Tool linked above is a heavy jade that in my mind is mandatory for proper Gua Sha use. More advanced tools are also listed on Lanshin’s website.

Ear Seeds : YES

Not linked because my caveat is to receive ear seeds from an acupuncturist! Ear seeds are small usually (not always) metal pellets attached to sticker which are then placed on an auricular acupuncture point for up to 5 days.

Ear seeds have recently received new fame- i’m seeing a lot of people using them on their ears for a face lift?? I don’t know about that (lol) but they are helpful for a million other reasons! The ear holds a microcosm of points related to stress, cravings, tooth pain, smoking cessation, hangovers, and so so much more. These points are so specific and so precious that an untrained eye would so easily put a sticker on the wrong point. But when its right it’s just so good :)

Bio Mat, $780: YES

I am not ashamed to say I believe in the power of the biomat and the amethyst crystal. Sue me…

Its’ a warm bed, powered by infrared! Infrared heat calms the nervous system and relieves pain with added crystals that emit “negative ions”. Although it sounds wacky I cannot explain the bliss I feel on this thing. It calms my nervous system to a new level.

I even had a friend do a blind study with me when receiving acupuncture. She asked which treatments were better than others, randomly adding on a biomat instead of electric table cover, and I chose the treatments with a biomat 100% of the time. If you needed a $800 purchase now is your chance.

Revo Self Cupping Massager, $69: NO

I’ve had a number of patients buy cupping sets for themselves, which is already not the easiest thing for an acupuncturist to accept. I would prefer they properly learn before experimenting but I’m happy to show people how to use a plastic set.

An electric powered cup for $69 though? You guys are killing me. Obvious no. Yes I tried it and it hurt. Also in what world are we using a single cup for cupping.

The suction on these are so strong that it’s damaging. A cupping mark is not a bruise. These tend to leave real bruises on the skin for weeks at a time. Not normal, and not traditional cupping!

Do I have more takes? Yes of course I do. Comment below wellness tools, fads, and trends you’re curious about and I’ll include them in my next installment.

Leave a comment

Book an appointment with me

Now’s your chance to buy a discounted acupuncture session for yourself or a loved one! A perfect gift :)

Sessions are $50 off for an hour long acupuncture & cupping treatment at either of my locations in FIDI or Ridgewood

Sale ends Monday Dec 1! Don’t miss this!

ACUPUNCTURE SALE

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

SUNDAY DEC 7

12-7pm

102 Franklin Street (Tribeca)

My favorite holiday market is coming up and I’ll be selling a limited stock winter tea in addition to my Bitter Melon tinctures.

The best of the best will be there including Mater Soap, Lee Manning portraits, Tart Vinegar, ninetynine cakes, so much more !! It is truly the best place to get a gift, come through!

Follow me on Instagram to stay updated about my holiday markets

Booking & Website

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, winter is officially here- the end of all seasons. I speak a lot on here about how to align yourself with the 5 seasons of TCM, because to unify with a season allows our inner world to find balance. Winter is about becoming more introspective, receptive, refining your spiritual essence, and storing physical energy. The forces of winter create cold in Heaven and water on Earth. They create the kidney organ, the bones within the body, and the emotion fear.

Foods related to the water element are typically salty and bitter to please the kidney channel, as well as warm, cooked, and nourishing for the cold temperatures. It’s especially important to nourish the kidney channel because the kidneys store Jing. Jing is our original essence we receive at birth and it determines vitality, longevity, and resistance to disease. However, Jing can be acquired through your lifetime from food! Everyone needs more vitality (there is no limit) and therefore every needs to nourish their Jing. Especially during the holidays- your Jing can get depleted from stress, overwork, alcohol, and drugs. This recipe is made up of multiple ingredients that make the kidneys happy and nourish your Jing.

Bitter Greens: we used treviso and radicchio for our bitter greens. Chicory, chard, and endives are other bitter greens that would be appropriate. Providing protection to the heart-mind in the winter is important and can be accomplished with the addition of bitter foods. We got these at the Union Square Greenmarket.

Salty Anchovies : salty foods promote a sinking and centering quality which heightens your qi’s capacity for storage. Salty flavor also helps cool the exterior and bring body heat deeper and lower.

Chicken: chicken is warm in nature and sweet in flavor. It tonifies blood, qi, and Jing. I also chose chicken because it is fit for any energetic constitution. Other kidney supportive meats could be lamb, beef, or liver.

Chinese Dates (Da Zao): One of my favorite food herbs, I put Chinese dates in everything! Red Da Zao are very mild in flavor- so they make really great additions to stocks and soups. For this particular recipe I used black dates because the deeper flavor is more aligned with the kidney channel. Da Zoo is nourishing for the heart channel, to calm our spirit and assist in seasonal depression. I got these at Kamwo Herbs in Chinatown.

Sesame Seeds: Black sesame is ideal, but all sesame seeds are kidney channel nourishing so we used a sesame loaf from Elbow Bread in NYC.

Red Wine: promotes healthy blood and qi circulation, in moderation of course

Chicken Toast

And a note from our chef Alivia Bloch

Not surprisingly, a winter recipe calls for a warming food, a chance to wrap our adrenal system with heat. Not just to cloak us with fever, but to trap it inside. Dylan says the goal of this recipe is to strengthen our kidneys, as this is related to matters of the heart, or our sadness.

I was fortified by the chance to center a recipe based on the convergence of salt and bitter, a combination to which I often gravitate. I immediately did what I always do with bitter greens (radichio, trevisio, indigo, castelfranco, I considered dandelion), which is marry them to anchovy. I use this flavor medium across the board in braises, salads and sauces, salty and bitter, not just for Chicken Toast. I was also told that blood colors are important this season, which is why I chose red wine, red onion, red lettuce, and dark chinese dates.

Braising is my method because I don’t like to work too hard when I’m cooking. The experience of cooking feels related to the experience of enjoying it, digesting it, living with the eating. As this recipe is about trapping and storing heat, I wanted to mimic that in this process.

Chicken toast is a complete meal, a singular dish to make for yourself or a friend. It’s comforting but a little bit strange.

Ingredients

• 4 chicken thighs, salted for an hour before cooking

• Kosher salt and cracked pepper

• 4tbs neutral oil

• 2 sm red onion, cut in half, sliced

• 1 head garlic slivered across

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled (for rubbing on bread)

• 5 anchovy, minced

• 2 bay leaf

• 2 heads any red chicory (indigo, treviso, radicchio), pulled apart

• 2 cups wine

• Fresh thyme

• 5 chinese date, pulled apart & pitted

• 2 tbs fish sauce

• A scoop of butter

• Creme fraiche

• Lime squeeze

• Olive oil

• Sesame pullman bread, or walnut bread, any good bread to be fried

Instructions

1. Season chicken thighs on both sides with salt. Skin side up, let these sit for like an hour, maybe a paper towel underneath if you do those

2. Pour oil in the pan over medium-high. Once it is shimmering, add in chicken thighs skin side down. Please don’t touch these for at least like 7-10 minutes (set a timer), if they will not release autonomously from the bottom of the skillet after a little nudge, they are not browned enough yet. Once they are ready, take them out of the pan and let them sit on a plate.

3. Throw in red onions and toss around a bit. Add in anchovy, bay leaf, thyme. Throw in some more olive oil if it feels dry to prevent it all from getting too brown. Use a lid half off to steam onions and keep it all a little wet in my opinion.

4. Once the onions are thoroughly sweated, sort of clumping together on the bottom of the pan, add in the chicories. Toss those around a bit, pour the wine over, close the pan for 3 minutes or so. When you see wilting, throw in a pinch of salt, toss it all around again.

5. Eventually throw in the chicken thighs, filling up the shallow pan with red wine. Take care to keep the skin above the wine so it stays intact. If you wanna be fun, carefully take the skin off the chicken thigh and reserve it for frying later (as we have done in this film.)

6. Braise with lid 90% percent on, 10% off, which is how I make a lot of stuff, so just the smallest amount of steam comes out, without draining too much of your cooking liquid. This period of time is important for, of course, making the chicken come apart but also for fortifying the broth with all that flavor.

7. Halfway thru this process taste the cooking liquid, add in some fish sauce to balance the tannin of the chicories and red wine, see what it all needs and keep going until the 20 minutes has elapsed. Not too salty yet, as the broth will get richer as it cooks. Add some more water at any point if the liquid is getting too low. Keep it at the most even simmer. You want to hear low, steady whispers.

8. When the chicken is all said and done, about 25 minutes later, you should be able to pull it apart easily in the broth. Throw in a lump of butter and let the pot sit covered.

9. Cast iron skillet, sliced pullman loaf. Hot oil again, fry the thick piece of bread nicely on each side. Pull it out, rub with garlic clove, some salt, don’t miss any spots especially the edges.

10. Also fry the chicken skins in this oil, turning a couple times on each side, till it’s nice and crisp. This really makes a difference in a good way having a piece of brittle chicken skin on top of the braise.

11. Spread creme fraiche on the toast, and then directly pile on the braised chicories really high. Mount the chicken thigh over the bed of wilted greens and pour the red wine sauce over, till it pools around the bread. A little blood bath, but not so much that the bread loses itself. Add the crisped chicken skin on top, some more salt if needed, and a squeeze of lime.

    - Alivia Bloch

    ---

    

    Website & Booking Page

    Gift Cards

    Instagram

Book @ Manhattan Office

Book @ Ridgewood Office

Fall is here, and therefore the energy of the metal element. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Metal element represents the concepts of discernment, the ability to let go, as well as the Lung meridian. It governs boundaries and separating what we no longer need from what is valuable. Metal rules the transition into fall, a time of inward reflection and sense of quieting.

The Metal Type- Respecting Ourselves

This element was named before the birth of christ- before we had steel mills, aluminum production, or any of the types of metals that we use today. We can think of the metal as the minerals or trace elements in the earth or in our food. Although we as humans require a large amount of protein or carbs in our diet, we only need less than a millionth of that amount of chromium- yet chromium is essential for our diet. The highly valued metal is buried deep within. Metal is small yet essential to the quality of the whole.

Metal Associations:

• Organs: Large Intestine & Lung

• Color: White

• Sound: Weeping

• Emotion: Grief

• Odor: Rotten

The overall feelings of this season are descent, decay and loss. The metal season may make us feel incomplete, inadequate, or misunderstood. Usually we have these feelings when we have literally lost something or someone. But in autumn, this feeling lingers without reason. Thats why this season is the best time to process what you’ve lost and why you haven’t been able to let it go. It’s a natural part of life to lose something, yet we often hold on or avoid the process of grieving. For Chinese medicine, this avoidance can negatively affect your health.

The Lungs

Avoidance of grieving and inability to let go directly gets stuck in the lungs. The lung meridian includes the entire respiratory passage: nose, trachea, and lung organs. This can manifest as getting sick often with different types of respiratory viruses, sinusitis, or tonsillitis. Congestion, post nasal, drip and asthma can also be a symptom of poor lung quality. It’s very common to start back up smoking again in the fall or notice a higher need for nicotine- a clear way that your metal element is in distress. Try to tap into these symptoms or habits during this season to see how your body may be interacting with the energy of the metal element.

Governs Qi

the lungs are responsible for inhaling air, and when inhaling you are also inviting in the energy around you. The air holds its own source of qi, referred to as Heavenly qi.

Protects our Qi

Qi is the vital substance that sustains life, and the lungs are responsible for its distribution to all part of the body. The lungs also spread a “defensive” qi, a layer of protection so we don’t inhale pathogens that make us sick.

If we have a healthy metal element and strong lungs we can receive energy from the heavens.

Supporting Lung Health

Foods to support the lung are aromatic and warming as well as moistening so that our lungs return to their happiest state which is cold and moist (lungs do not want to be hot and dry!)

• spinach

• pear - Try this classic TCM cooked pear recipe for lung support

• apple

• persimmon

• seaweed

• almond

• honey

• peach

• ginger

• horseradish

• cinnamon

• turmeric

• fennel

• clove

Heartier, warm cooked foods made into soups or roasts are appropriate for the fall and strengthen the metal element:

• proteins- crab, mussels, herring, tofu, eggs

• potatoes

• leeks

• turnips

• mushrooms

• artichokes

• onion

• garlic

Herbs that help to cleanse the lungs and support their function

• comfrey

• elecampane

• ginger

• lotus root

• nettle

• lobelia

• mullein

Qigong

A physical exercise for moving energy through the chest and strengthening the capacity of the lungs.

1. Stand with your feet shoulders width apart and your knees slightly bent. Keep your feet parallel. Allow your arms to hand by your sides with your palms turned slightly outwards.

2. Rotate your hands. Slowly rotate the right hand clockwise and the left counterclockwise. End up with the palms facing each other and holding an imaginary ball in front of your pelvis.

3. On a long in breath, allow the hands and arms to move upwards. Move the arms up until they are level with the ground and extended straight in front of you. As you do this imagine that a string is attached to a place at the junction between your thumb and wrist and that the string helps pull the arms up. Feel the energy move up from your abdomen and through your chest.

4. Turn the palms to face the ground and on the out breath allow the arms to move downwards to their original position. As the arms descend, feel the palms of your hands pressing down on the earth and feel energy moving out of the end of your fingers.

Acupressure for the Metal Element

Exercises for Metal Season

Giving gifts: Complimenting others around you, telling loved ones you appreciate them

Receiving gifts: What do you appreciate about yourself? What do others appreciate about you?

Educating others: How have people behaved insensitively to you and how do you think you could tell them?

Standards for yourself: Where do you push yourself too much? What cannot be controlled?

Dealing with loss: meditate on a loss you can’t let go of or a loss you haven’t processed yet. What have you lost but feel at peace with now? What are positive memories you have of what you’ve lost?

P.S. ~

• THANK YOU for the continued support of my private practice, I literally can’t express how much it means to me.

• On November 1, I will be releasing a number of sliding scale spots for acupuncture appointments. Spots are first come first serve and *only* for trans patients who cannot afford my regular rate. Please follow my instagram or join my newsletter for when these spots are released.

• Follow me on instagram and subscribe to this free substack so you don’t miss a secret sale coming soon…

• I am selling a very special tea for winter ! You can only purchase it at my next market on Sunday, October 26 @ TV Eye in Ridgewood from 1-6pm so mark your calendar and see you there :)

My Website / Tinctures

Book An Appointment

Insomnia is another issue that seems to be abstract and idiopathic in western medicine. Sometimes even the hard hitting sleep pharmaceuticals can’t promise a full restful night. Plus, dependency on these meds tend to lose their efficiency over time.

The term insomnia can cover a number of different problems such as: inability to fall asleep easily, waking up during the night, sleeping restlessly, waking up too early, and/or dream disturbed sleep.

Sleep issues are fickle! Which is why I tend to work with patients who experience any flavor of sleep issue (chronic or acute) with herbs, acupuncture, and practices of healthy sleep hygiene before bed.

Sleep in Traditional Chinese Medicine

In Chinese Medicine, the amount and quality of sleep depend on the state of the “Shen”. Shen is roughly translated to Spirit or Presence of a person. Shen is the look behind the eyes associated with consciousness. Your Shen is broadly your ability to be alive and also your personality and inner thoughts. Because your Shen is your inner world, if you have many anxieties & worries, you will most likely experience insomnia. For TCM, insomnia is very much a heart-mind connection.

To go a bit deeper, your Shen is rooted in the Heart channel, specifically characterized as Heart-Blood and Heart-Yin deficiencies. Overexertion, worrying, and excessive thinking injure blood and fluids so that your Shen is weak and insomnia will result.

If you find you are dreaming vividly every night, this also can be a sign of Shen disturbance. Excessive dreaming in Chinese Medicine is not a good thing! Specifically nightmares, stressful dreams, and dreams that leave you exhausted in the morning. This means your mind is too overactive, and these types of dreams are a manifestation of restless sleep.

How Does Acupuncture Treat Sleep?

While there are very specific acupuncture points for sleep such as Heart 8 and An Mian (pictured below), we treat sleep issues with a group of acupuncture points specific to your root cause. We discuss at length what kind of sleep patterns you have, and what your insomnia looks like. As an acupuncturist it is my job to categorize your specific sleep manifestations to an energetic channel, and therefore treat which channel I feel is out of balance.

For example, let’s say a patient is experiencing a stressful event that manifests as anger and frustration. They are stewing over something all day, and when it comes time for sleep they keep going it over and over in their head. When they finally fall asleep, they experience stressful or violent dreams. They wake up groggy and become irritable again through the day. In this case- someones personal experience of poor sleep due to anger is caused by the Liver channel. Anger causes Liver channel heat and this agitates the Shen we spoke on earlier, resulting in excessive dreaming. I would choose a group of points to calm the liver down, as well as some more direct points for calming the nervous system.

Some theories in TCM also equate energetic channels with what types of dreams you are having. This can be more information for your acupuncturist as to what kind of imbalance you have. For example,

Dreaming of:

• Fires: Excess of Yang

• Killing and Destruction: Yin and Yang Excess

• Crying: Lungs in Excess

• Laughing: Heart in Excess

• Being Hungry: Spleen Deficiency

• Singing: Spleen Excess

• Swimming/Jumping in Water: Kidney Deficiency

• Large Cities: Small Intestine Deficiency

• Fights: Gallbladder Deficiency

• Flying: Emptiness in Lower Burner

• Falling: Fullness in Lower Burner

• Unable to Get Up: Liver Deficiency

Sleep Herbs

Unfortunately, we can’t get acupuncture every day and thats where herbs come in. As you can see, the cause of insomnia in Chinese Medicine can get super specific! And Chinese herbal formulas can be designed exactly for you and what type of sleep issues you have. There are even separate formulas for which emotions are causing insomnia. I am a licensed Chinese herbalist, and I often prescribe these formulas to my patients. You can book herbal consultations with me in person or remote here.

There are also Western herbs that I often use for sleep, although they are not quite as specific as Chinese herbs but can help sedate you. Here are some more easily accessible herbs for sleep that don’t require a prescription:

• Passionflower

  • Sedating and soothing. Lowers blood pressure, calms anxiety, helps insomnia. Can be used for nervous tension, restlessness, muscle spasms, headaches, irregular sleep, and irritability. CNS depressant.

• Hops

  • Used for sleeplessness from worry and anxiety, especially in cases of those who hold anxiety in their stomach. It’s Valerianic acid constituent is a sedative.

• Skullcap

  • A nervine tonic and sedative to treat nervous disorders such as stress, anxiety, and PMS tension. Can be used long term for nervous tension and exhaustion as it relaxes these states while also renewing the central nervous system.

• California Poppy

  • Regulates sleeping patterns and is useful for anxiety and trouble falling asleep specifically.

• Valerian

  • One of the most relaxing nervines of all. Can reduce tension, anxiety, and overly excitable states. Effective aid in insomnia. It has a muscle relaxing effect as well. This herbs could interact with some sleep aids so ask me or your PCP.

    ---

You can also purchase my Deep Sleep tincture on my website (local pick up in NYC available).

Mind quieting and calming herbs for restful sleep. A nourishing formula that calms the spirit and assists the body in restful, deep sleep. Especially helpful when experiencing ruminating thoughts before bed. Take at least 30 minutes before bedtime and take a second dose if you wake up at night.

Ingredients: Suan Zao Ren (jujube seeds), Ye Jiao Teng (polygonum vine), Fu Shen (poria), He Huan Pi (albizzia bark), Chamomile, Da Zao (jujube), Gan Cao (licorice), brandy, and honey

Sleep Hygiene

Sleep hygiene refers to practices that promote good quality sleep. How you prepare yourself for sleep is integral to a rested night! Here are some habits both from a Chinese Medicine and Western perspective to integrate into your sleep ritual.

1. Regular Sleep Schedule Try going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same time everyday, even on weekends. Your body likes routine.

2. Avoid Stimulants Before Bed Avoid caffeine later in the day and avoid drinking alcohol. Both can effect how soundly you sleep.

3. Your Bed is Only For Sleep Making your bed a dedicated, cozy, and calm place for sleep and only sleep will help your body understand its time to rest. Lots of research finds that people who do work in bed, or lay in bed during the day, have a harder time sleeping.

4. Limit Screens Avoiding blue light from screens before bed is always a good idea. Reading a book or printing out something on paper is better to read before bed.

5. Hot Bath Taking a hot shower or bath before bed is calming, and can help your nervous system chill out. I once had a teacher who took a hot shower every day after work as an energetic reset to wash the day off. I find doing the same before bed helps my day time anxieties quiet a bit more.

6. Meditation If you are my patient, you know I love Transcendental Meditation. Deep breathing or any type of meditation before bed completely changes how fast and deeply you sleep!

7. Sleeping Position In TCM, sleeping position is important for a restful night. Sleeping on your back is ideal. TCM believes sleeping on the stomach are heart deficient, sleeping on the back with arms above your head is a heat excess, and ability to only sleep on one side is a sign of qi & blood deficiency.

8. Taking Herbs Before Bed Try some of the herbs I mentioned above, I find that patients who drink them in a warm tea form have even more success. Or come see me and get an herbal prescription. Even if you take a sleep pharmaceutical, we can find herbs that won’t interact and can further improve your sleep.

My Website

Are you having a hard time getting up in the morning? Are you napping more? Are you having trouble keeping up with the pace of life?

Herbs for Fatigue

Adaptogenic herbs are a class of plants that are typically used to support healthy energy levels. Adaptogens describe herbs that increase vitality and help the body adapt and defend against stress. Plus adaptogens are immune modulating because of the close relationship between disease and stress. Adaptogens do not block the stress response, but instead balance the highs and lows. This conserves energy.

Consistent preventative treatment with adaptogenic herbs are shown to alter endocrine functions of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The HPA axis helps maintain hormonal homeostasis even during times of mental, emotional, and physical stress. The HPA axis is designed to balance mood, energy levels, and cognition. By influencing HPA axis function, adaptogenic herbs normalize stress hormone levels and decrease your predisposition to stress. Less stress for the body to deal with = more energy.

Adaptogenic Herbs (my favorites and most clinically studied)

• Dang Shen (codonoposis pilosula)

• Siberian Ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus)

• Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)

• Holy Basil (Ocimum sanctum)

• Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea)

• Schizandra Berry (Schisandra chinensis)

• Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)*** i’d recommend skipping this herb if you take an SSRI as a precaution

How do I take these?

There are many ways to take herbs, and every practitioner has their own way they prescribe and dose herbs for patients. I personally am of the style of prescribing larger doses of herbs, so I tend to use pre made formulas for my patients. (I also like taking herbs together, never single herb remedies, but thats for another newsletter). If you made some of these herbs into a tea for example, it is much more difficult to reach the dose you can get when herbs are ground down and capsulated or tinctured. Also, a capsulated or tinctured formula is much easier to remember to take every day! With adaptogenic herbs, its important to be consistent for their full effect. That being said, if you’d like to play around with these herbs and make a tea- go for it. For specific dose of each herb, send me a message or consult an herb book.

My patient’s two favorite energy support supplements are my Bitter Melon tincture Energy Boost and Integrative Therapeutic’s HPA Adapt.

ENERGY BOOST. Herbs to strengthen energy and stamina. Support for occasional fatigue, burn out, mental strain, and general inability to keep up with the pace of life. These herbs strengthen the three sources of qi: spleen, lung, and kidney.

Ingredients: Huang Qi (astragalus), Eleuthero, Dang Shen (codonopsis), Wu Wei Zi (schisandra), Gan Cao (licorice), vegetable glycerin, and grain alcohol.

Suggested Dose: Two full droppers (60 drops) once a day. Always take herbs 30 min apart from pharmaceuticals.

HPA ADAPT. A combination of adaptogenic herbs to improve energy and reduce stress related fatigue. By supporting homeostasis along the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, HPA Adapt helps maintain stress hormonal balance and a healthy stress response.

Ingredients: Rhodiola, Eleuthero, Ashwagandha (not for use with SSRIs, consult your psych), Holy Basil, Maca

Suggested Dose: Two capsules a day in the morning on an empty stomach. Always take herbs 30 min apart from pharmaceuticals.

Acupuncture for Fatigue

Acupuncture isn’t as straightforward as herbs when it comes to fatigue, because low energy can manifest in many different TCM channels. The main TCM constitutions that manifest as fatigue are Spleen Qi Deficiency, Kidney Qi Deficiency, and Lung Qi Deficiency (this being said as plainly as I can, it gets more complex!) When you come in for acupuncture, we can understand where the root of your low energy lies by discussing how your systems are operating, how it is manifesting, pulse diagnosis, and tongue reading.

In addition to diagnosing you through symptoms, pulse, and tongue, there is a fatigue protocol I like to use shown in the video below. This protocol was taught to me by a mentor long ago, and involves needling around the belly button. I also added Moxa on one of the needles for this patient, which is what you see burning. Moxa is dried mugwort. It is traditionally used in acupuncture to warm a needle in order to further stimulate an acupuncture point. Mugwort’s properties and warmth strengthen qi, especially because fatigue indicates qi is cold and slow moving.

At the center of the navel houses acupuncture point Ren 8, the Spirit Gate. Ren 8 refers to the place we first received life and our original qi from our mother. It is a nourishing, restorative, and positive point. Needling 8 points around the navel mimicking Ba Gua (refer to image below) reflects the eight universal energies. Needling these 8 points around such an important center promotes balance and pulls energy from the exterior to within. As it is the connection to our mother, stimulating this point is so influential that it draws energy generated pre-birth stored in our navel when our current energy has been drained.

Acupuncture point Ren 6 is another favorite for fatigue, translated as the Sea of Qi. Ren 6 brings a huge surge of energy, warmth, strength, and vitality. It is used on patients who are depleted, weak, lack passion, and enthusiasm. A person in need of this point may feel mentally weary, too tired to listen or understand. Spiritually, they may feel unmotivated, uninspired, and lacking in brightness and enthusiasm.

So which do I choose, acupuncture or herbs? The answer is both. While we’d love to, most of us can’t afford to get acupuncture every day. Herbs are helpful because we can take them daily in order to continue the work we jumpstart with acupuncture.

When do I come in for acupuncture? Receiving a treatment at least once a month is a low cost and sustainable practice to check in and make sure our qi gets a good boost. If you start to feel burnt out, elevated anxiety, more need for naps, difficulty waking up in the morning, or lethargy after eating, it’s a good time to come in for a fatigue treatment.

Eat warm cooked nourishing foods to support energy levels even in the summer! Read my most recent substack on foods for summer through a TCM lens.

Book Acupuncture & Herbal Consultations

Website & Shop

Book An Appointment

Summer is the season of the Fire Element - meaning growth, expansion, lightness, outward activity, brightness, and creativity. To be in harmony with summer, it is important in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to wake up early, be outside, socialize more, drink cooling herbs, and eat foods most appropriate for this season.

TCM perceives ways to classify foods and diseases according to simple patterns. In the most basic terms - one eats cooling foods for over heated conditions, and warming foods for people who feel too cold. Detoxifying foods for those who carry excess toxins, and nourishing foods for those who are deficient, and so on. Below is a explanation on what foods and herbs will be the most helpful to keep you balanced during the hot summer months.

THE FIRE ELEMENT

While the Fire element sparks so much creativity, joy, and passion, any good thing can go bad if it’s in excess. Too much drinking, burn out from non stop plans, being in the sun too long, and being overheated for long periods of time can off set our health and spike our anxiety. Especially because the Fire element rules the heart channel - our emotional center according to TCM.

The Fire Element rules the heart meridian in Chinese medicine. These meridians don’t always indicate a direct relationship to the actual organ, but of the energetic organ. The Heart channel in TCM is our mental/emotional center. The Romanized word for heart in China is xin, which often translates to heart-mind! So, the heart does not only regulate blood circulation, but in TCM controls consciousness, spirit, sleep, memory, and the mind. Therefore the heart channel affects our nervous system.

FOODS FOR SUMMER

Below is a list of summer foods that are cooling and supportive of the heart channel. These foods help our qi stay nourished when overstimulated by heat and humidity, as well as calm our anxiety and stress.

Then Fire element and summer season in TCM belong to the bitter flavor. Bitter flavors drain and dry. They improve appetite, stimulate digestion, and draw out dampness and heat. Bitter flavors also act on the heart, benefit the upper respiratory system, digestive system, and liver. Eating more bitter foods is always appropriate for the summer.

Summer Foods:

Summer Soup

Summer Herbs:

One of my most slept on tinctures, perfect for cooling you down in the summer! Hangover Cure is an incredibly versatile remedy for much more than hangovers. It can be used for nausea, headaches, liver detox, dizziness, irritability, and constant feeling of overheating. It’s cooling herbal formula makes it a good addition to your morning routine if you find your body doesn’t do well in the hot months.

Buy Hangover Cure

WHY NO SMOOTHIES OR ICED DRINKS?

In the summer, TCM says to avoid food habits that scatter the mind or overheat the body. Too many ingredients in meals, very spicy foods, fried foods, refined sugar, excess coffee, and late night eating can cause insomnia and heighten anxiety.

These herbs and foods still have the ability to cool regardless of temperature. TCM says its important to still drink hot tea in the summer because its more nourishing for your qi. BUT if you just can’t stand that, its ok to cool your tea/coffee in the fridge, however it is very important to avoid drinking with ice!

Drinking ice, or drinking very cold smoothies everyday is not only damaging to your qi, but harmful for your digestion. It slows down gut motility. Cold drinks also interfere with the spleen and kidneys’ functions to circulate blood and nutrients through the body. Slowing movement of qi can accumulate blood and cause more pain. So iced drinks are especially bad for those with fibroids, endometriosis, and menstrual pain.

ACUPUNCTURE SUPPORT FOR SUMMER

The hot damp environment and non stop energy of summer can damage your heart channel. Sometimes even a cooling diet is not enough support for your body. Heart channel issues can manifest as scattered mind, brain fog, trouble sleeping, constant feeling of overheat, high anxiety, heart palpitations, excessive thirst, agitation that you can’t shake, dark urine, spontaneous sweating, and dizziness.

If you are experiencing these symptoms, acupuncture is quick and effective at calming heart qi and balancing your system in the hot months. With tongue and pulse reading, I can further specify what is happening with your heart channel and suggest more specific herbs or acupuncture protocols for you.

Send Me a Message

The Aggressive Energy technique is one of my favorite treatment protocols, because it’s a really effective way to give what I describe as a total reset of your Qi. The protocol is not just for alleviating long term stress, but can amend your Qi after over consumption of substances, shocking/traumatic experiences, as well as long term sustained anxiety/panic attacks. Which unfortunately happen to be most of us! Living in a high paced, work-centric, stressful and polluted environment.

What is Qi?

The Yi Jing “Book of Changes” 1122 B.C., was the first known text to introduce Qi. In this text, Qi is said to explain everything that has, is and will happen in the universe through three “natural energies” or “powers”: Tian (Heaven), Di (Earth), and Ren (Man). Qi is the essential energy that sustains all living beings.

Healthy Qi is a pure, divine, and nourishing force that flows easily through the body just as our blood does. The very basis of acupuncture theory is to balance Qi so that it continues to keep us well and healthy. Often our Qi becomes imbalanced, due to stress, getting sick, getting older, hormonal changes etc. When our Qi is imbalanced, our body is able to pass it energetically along to a different meridian to nourish it. A constant balance that happens energetically and naturally in our body.

Polluted Qi

Normally, we can bounce back quickly from occasional stress, colds, being in contact with mold, or a weekend with drugs/alcohol. But sometimes the Qi becomes polluted, toxic, and turns around to attack the body. This is called “Aggressive Energy”.

Causes of aggressive energy can include:

• long term illness

• continual long term stress- physical, mental, emotional, spiritual

• traumatic events

• prolonged over consumption of toxins such as pharmaceutical drugs, recreational drugs, environmental toxins, alcohol

  Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Aggressive Energy Protocol

The AE treatment consists of 12 points on the back- 6 points symmetrically placed on either side along the spine. It is a very superficial insertion of needles to what we refer to as the yin back shu points.

Six Yin Back Shu Points

• Lung

  • Located at the third thoracic vertebrae

  • Sadness, metal element

  • in charge of regulation, governs the qi we inhale from the environment, all physiological activities, houses our corporeal soul

• Pericardium

  • Located at the forth thoracic vertebrae

  • the membrane wrapping around the heart for protection, derives joy and happiness, houses the mind and spirit

• Heart

  • Located at the ninth thoracic vertebrae

  • Joy, fire element

  • governs the mind, manifests in complexion, laughing and joy

• Liver

  • Located at the ninth thoracic vertebrae

  • Anger, wood element

  • houses the ethereal soul, inspiration, creativity, repressed anger, controls tears

• Spleen

  • Located at the eleventh thoracic vertebrae

  • Worry, earth element

  • our taste, houses the intellect, affected by pensiveness

• Kidney

  • Located at the second lumbar vertebrae

  • Fear, water element

  • ingenuity is derived, controls the gate of life, houses will power, stores the essence inherited by our mother

    

These six yin organs are important because they are the “official” organs which means they retain and store our Qi. By needling each of these major points alone, the practitioner operates a sort of allergy test. If redness appears on the skin around the needle, this means aggressive energy (polluted qi) is present. As we needle each point, the redness should appear quickly. This allergy test for AE gives us insight as to what specific organ channel is affected by polluted qi.

For example, if redness appears around the lung point, it may suggest (as seen above with point associations) that this patient is experiencing grief, sadness, loss, social anxiety, and other manifestations of lung Qi dysfunction.

More than one back shu point can appear red, meaning polluted qi can exist in multiple channels at once. Needles are left on each organ point around 15 minutes, or as long as it takes for the redness to clear. When the redness clears, it means the aggressive energy has been released and we can now continue a standard acupuncture treatment to nourish affected channel(s) and restore it’s Qi.

*I by no means claim to be a 5 Element Acupuncturist, and this is a simplified description of the AE treatment.

Want to try the Aggressive Energy Technique? Book an appointment below at my private studio in NYC <3

Book Appointment

Want to know more about me? Want to send me a message? Look at my herbal tincture line? Link to my website below.

My Website

Why is it used as a successful therapy for panic attacks, long term stress, IBS, addiction, and more very common but difficult and commonly ignored diagnoses? Read below friends

Quick Understanding of the Nervous System

The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord whereas the peripheral nervous system is made up of all the nerves that branch off our spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system carries all the information from muscles, organs, and our senses to the CNS (brain, spine).

The peripheral nervous system is comprised of the somatic and autonomic nervous systems. The somatic system makes up everything we do consciously and voluntarily, meaning receiving information from all that we touch, feel, & experience. The autonomic nervous system controls everything we do involuntarily such as blood circulation, digestion, breathing, urination etc. These process autonomously; without a persons conscious effort.

The autonomic nervous system (ANS for short) is then divided into two types (ok follow me we are almost there)- the parasympathetic and the sympathetic. Most simply put, the sympathetic nervous system activates our fight or flight response during a perceived threat and the parasympathetic systems restores the body to a state of calm.

The parasympathetic nervous system helps us relax after stress. It promotes digestion, lowers heart rate, encourages organs to continue their processes to feed cells, and increases our libido.

The sympathetic nervous system is activated when we are faced with a stressful situation. The activity of this system was for our ancestors and their survival. When the sympathetic is activated by a stressor, the body undergoes a series of changes. Pupils dilate, heart rate and blood pressure increase, the liver releases glucose, and adrenaline surges. Known as the fight or flight response, the body has access to energy reserves and sensory capacity so that it might fight off a threat. Nowadays we still have this instinct but it is constantly being triggered by our current stressors like work, money, relationships, a job interview, ptsd, etc. When you have a “panic attack” this is the sympathetic nervous system becoming overactive.

Allowing our sympathetic nervous system to get activated constantly is dangerous for heart health, lowers our immune response, creates chronic fatigue, and so much more.

The Vagus Nerve

The vagus nerve is the main nerve of our parasympathetic nervous system, making up 75% of the PNS’s nerve fibers. It is also the longest cranial nerve which runs from your brain to your large intestine. The vagus nerve controls involuntary functions as substantial as digestion, mood, heart rate, immune function, skin sensations, speech, taste, and more. This parasympathetic nerve is crucial in maintaining a normal state of visceral organ activity.

To summarize, the vagus nerve is the largest component of our parasympathetic nervous system, which is the system that allows us to feel calm, relaxed, and allow all necessary and basic processes on a cellular level to happen in order or us to stay alive and healthy. Kinda huge…

Stimulating the vagus nerve is a way to manipulate our nervous system to return to a state of calm.

Stimulation of the vagus nerve can help resolve an incredible list of ailments because of its sheer size, interaction with all important organs, and major role in the parasympathetic nervous system.

Vagal nerve stimulation helps

• IBS (because of the vagus nerve interaction with the large intestine and stress response)

• Migraines

• PTSD

• Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Panic attacks, anxiety

• Stress

• GERD

• Nausea or loss of appetite

• Vertigo, dizziness, fainting

• Addiction and cravings

  ---

How does acupuncture interact with our nervous system?

In acupuncture, there are hundreds of points on the body for lowering stress and anxiety. They get really specific too- certain points for calming anxiety associated with fast heart rate, sweating, nausea, or night terrors. There are points for processing a shocking event or nourishing points for burn out from long standing stress. But whats really interesting is a lot of these traditional acupuncture points fall on places anatomically that stimulate the vagus nerve!

For instance, many points on the ear are used for anxiety, depression, and ptsd (commonly use for example in the NADA protocol). Ear acupuncture has been proven to activate the vagus nerve. They found that auricular acupuncture stimulated pathways of the vagus nerve near the ear. These findings included almost immediate decrease in heart rate, decrease in blood pressure, and general feeling of calm. He W, Wang X, Shi H, et al. Auricular acupuncture and vagal regulation (2012).

Kavoussi, et al.’s (2022) research discovered the the conchae of the ear is the most direct place on the surface of the body where the vagus nerve can be easily stimulated to produce a broad sympathetic effect. In animal studies it was observed that acupuncture stimulation at the concha created a hypoglycemic reaction by activating the nucleus of the solitary tract- said to be the anatomical regulation of the vagal nerve.

Points on the stomach, near the neck, and the top of the head (which are used traditionally for stress relief) also have been found to interact with the vagus nerve. Wang et al.’s research (2002) measured the effects of DU 20 , a point on the top of the head (that I use for almost all my patients) on nine healthy adults with 40 minutes of ECG recordings done before, during, and after stimulating this acupuncture point. The measurements showed that stimulation of DU 20 enhanced cardiac vagal activity and suppressed sympathetic (fight or flight) activity.

Knowing that acupuncture can stimulate the vagus nerve has been an incredible finding for us. While it is pleasant to know why and how acupuncture is relaxing, let’s consider its greater effects. Using this therapy to interact with our parasympathetic, without any side effects, could be life changing. An ability to ring in our parasympathetic means ability to maintain anxiety, panic, ptsd, aggression, addiction, IBS, and many other extremely common disorders that are seemingly disregarded by the western medical system.

Book an Appointment

Subscribe now

A guide to when & why acupuncture can be helpful pre/post op of gender affirming surgeries (although I work with any and all surgeries). It is always important to stay in communication with your surgeon about any modalities you are using pre/post op. That being said, I am a licensed acupuncturist trained in scar therapy and acupuncture for post op surgery support. 

I supply every patient with my surgery supplement guide for pre and post op. Please email me at bittermelonbotanicals@gmail.com for my supplement guide. In cases of post op complications or pesky recovery symptoms I will prescribe specialized formulas of Chinese herbs, please book an herbal consultation (in person or remote ok). I generally recommend you do not take herbs or supplements one week before surgery unless your surgeon OK’s it. 

Acupuncture can support pre and post op recovery, help recover faster with less pain, help support energy levels post op, reduce complications and lessen the need for revisions. I included my patients most often experienced symptoms, although not all are mentioned so please reach out if you’d like to know if acupuncture can help other recovery symptoms.

One more note- acupuncture for relief of recovery symptoms, come in as directed below for each surgery. In terms of scar treatments (most notably mastectomies) it is best to come in when directed below as well, when the scar is more malleable. But! We can still work with older scars, even scars years old. Email for any questions.

Read below about when and why acupuncture is helpful for specific surgeries.

TOP SURGERY

• Mastectomy (keyhole, double incision, lollipop, inverted T, etc) 

  • When to get acupuncture? 

    • You can come one week before surgery to help support a healthy immune system, lower stress, and increase blood and qi movement to lower post op pain

    • Return 3-4 weeks post op, rule of thumb is when you are able to comfortably travel to my office. I do home visits as well.

    • I highly recommend a series of four sessions post op at least once a week or once every other week

    • Check in with me 6 months post op

  • How can acupuncture help?

    • Ease swelling, bruising, & pain

    • Ease back pain caused by compression binder post op

    • Activate nerve pathways for full regain of sensation

    • Lessen swelling and fluid retention above and below incision/under armpits

    • Break up any adhesions around the scar to promote full range of motion

    • Lessen redness of scar

    • Smooth and flatten scar 

    • Post op fatigue, constipation, and appetite levels

  

• Breast Augmentation (silicone, saline, liposculpture etc)

  • When to get acupuncture?

    • You can come one week before surgery to help support a healthy immune system, lower stress, and increase blood and qi movement to lower post op pain

    • Generally return two weeks post op. Rule of thumb is when you are able to comfortably travel to my office. I do home visits as well.

    • I recommend a series of four sessions post op at least once a week or once every other week

    • Check in with me 6 months post op

  • How can acupuncture help?

    • Ease swelling, bruising, & pain

    • Ease back pain caused by compression binder post op

    • Stimulate muscle fibers post to avoid muscle atrophy

    • Activate nerve pathways for full regain of sensation

    • Lessen swelling and fluid retention most often a side effect of fat transfers

    • Some minimal scar work if needed on inframammary and axillary scars (color, texture)

    • Post op fatigue, constipation, and appetite levels

BOTTOM SURGERY

• Vaginoplasty (or vulvaplasty, etc)

  • When to get acupuncture?

    • You can come one week before surgery to help support a healthy immune system, lower stress, and increase blood and qi movement to lower post op pain

    • Generally return four weeks post op. Rule of thumb is when you are able to comfortably travel to my office. Most often for this surgery, I do home visits as well starting around two weeks post op. 

    • I recommend a series of four to six sessions post op at least once a week or once every other week

  • How can acupuncture help?

    • GI disturbances or abdominal pain specific to peritoneal pulldown procedure

    • Reduce pain 

    • Reduce inflammation 

    • Activate nerve pathways for full regain of sensation

    • Improve well formed and easy to pass bowel movements 

    • Increase appetite, lower nausea

    • Reduce swelling

    • Help with post op fatigue

    • Reduces stress, uplifts mood when dealing with long recovery times

    • Improve blood circulation 

• Orchiectomy 

  • When to get acupuncture?

    • You can come one week before surgery to help support a healthy immune system, lower stress, and increase blood and qi movement to lower post op pain

    • Generally return one week post op

  • How can acupuncture help?

    • Reduce swelling

    • Reduce bruising 

    • Reduce pain 

    • Improve blood circulation, reduce risk of hematoma 

• Phalloplasty

  • When to get acupuncture?

    • You can come one week before surgery to help support a healthy immune system, lower stress, and increase blood and qi movement to lower post op pain

    • Generally return six weeks post op. Rule of thumb is when you are able to comfortably travel to my office. Most often for this surgery, I do home visits as well starting around two weeks post op. 

    • I recommend a series of four to six sessions post op at least once a week or once every other week

  • How can acupuncture help?

    • Reduce pain 

    • Support immune system to improve skin graft healing

    • Activate nerve pathways for full regain of sensation

    • Improve well formed and easy to pass bowel movements 

    • Reduce inflammation

    • Support urinary difficulties 

    • Increase appetite, lower nausea

    • Reduce swelling

    • Help with post op fatigue

    • Reduces stress, uplifts mood when dealing with long recovery times

    • Improve blood circulation 

    • Relieve inflammation of urethra/bladder after catheterization

    • Reduce scar tissue on donor sites later in healing process

• Hysterectomy

  • When to get acupuncture?

    • You can come one week before surgery to help support a healthy immune system, lower stress, and increase blood and qi movement to lower post op pain

    • Generally return two weeks post op. Rule of thumb is when you are able to comfortably travel to my office. I do home visits as well.

  • How can acupuncture help?

    • Relieve pain, swelling, and bruising

    • Help with any hormonal changes that sometimes occur after such as night sweats or low grade fever

    • Help with post op fatigue

    • Improve blood circulation

• Metoidioplasty 

  • When to get acupuncture?

    • You can come one week before surgery to help support a healthy immune system, lower stress, and increase blood and qi movement to lower post op pain

    • Generally return four weeks post op. Rule of thumb is when you are able to comfortably travel to my office. I do home visits as well.

    • I recommend a series of four sessions post op at least once a week or once every other week

  • How can acupuncture help?

    • Reduce swelling 

    • Reduce bruising

    • Reduce pain

    • Help with post op fatigue

    • Improve blood circulation

    • Relieve inflammation of urethra/bladder after catheterization

Facial Feminization/Masculinization Surgery

• When to get acupuncture?

  • You can come one week before surgery to help support a healthy immune system, lower stress, and increase blood and qi movement to lower post op pain

  • Generally return four weeks post op. (Only light needling on face if needed because of tightness, numbness after 8 weeks). Rule of thumb is when you are able to comfortably travel to my office. I do home visits as well.

  • I recommend a series of four sessions post op at least once a week or once every other week

• How can acupuncture help?

  • Reduce swelling

  • Reduce pain

  • Reduce bruising

  • Stimulate scalp and decrease numbness

  • Scar work on scalp incisions behind ears, crown, etc to prevent adhesions, regain full ROM of area, flatten appearance

  • Encourage hair regrowth around scalp incisions

  • Help with post op fatigue

  • Support immune system to ensure faster recovery

Vocal Feminization

• When to get acupuncture?

  • You can come one week before surgery to help support a healthy immune system, lower stress, and increase blood and qi movement to lower post op pain

  • Generally return two weeks post op. Rule of thumb is when you are able to comfortably travel to my office. I do home visits as well.

• How can acupuncture help?

  • Support immune system for recovery

  • Help with post op fatigue

  • Reduce swelling and inflammation

  • Relieve pain (jaw, mouth, throat or chest most often)

  • Move fluids, reduce fluid build up

  • Calm stress

    ---

Book Appointments

Website & Info

Home Visit Request

Dylan Spencer, L.Ac

Have questions about the above surgeries or another surgery not listed? Email Dylan Spencer, L.Ac at bittermelonbotanicals@gmail.com

Cupping therapy is a modality used alongside acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine. It is when you utilize a vacuum force applied on the skin with a cup (plastic, glass, or silicone). The cups can either remain stationary or moved per the practitioners style in order to stimulate blood flow, ease pain, and improve immune function. And so much more!

Cupping and acupuncture aren’t specific to China; both practices have been found to be practiced by Egyptians and Macedonians as long as 5500 years ago!

Cupping is most often practiced in the US as “dry” cupping, meaning there is no bloodletting involved and is most often prescribed to reduce muscular pain. “Wet” cupping is a practice in which cups are intended to draw small amounts of blood, still actively used in many parts of the world.

Cupping specific to TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) uses glass cups and fire, which is why it is often referred to as fire cupping. Fire is placed in the glass cup and the cup is quickly placed on the skin (fire lowers oxygen level in glass cup to activate vacuum effect). There is no heat applied to the body and the fire is not in contact with skin. If you’ve visited me you know that I use plastic cups without fire, the modern way of cupping. I personally feel they work the same, with the added safe benefit that I can not accidentally burn someone.

Cupping therapy tends to last no more than 30 minutes, each cup often placed in one spot for a maximum of ten minutes. Cupping leaves a skin discoloration of varying shades in a circular mark for about 5 days *but is not a bruise!*. It is most often used on the neck, back, and legs. There is another type of very soft silicone cup used for the face, otherwise traditional cups are not used on the face and other delicate parts of the body. Read more below in my FAQ’s section!

WHY USE CUPPING?

Pain Relief

The act of cupping’s suction effect is to break up congestion and stagnation in your soft tissue (muscle & fascia) to relieve adhesions that cause tension and pain. Similarly to a massage, the cups separate fascial layers which is essential for normal muscle function and flexibility. Cupping also increases blood flow to the area to deliver oxygen and other nutrients to the area supporting healing and reducing inflammation. It even triggers neural responses that help override pain signals to engage in the body’s natural pain relief process. This modality not only alleviates current restrictions but helps prevent futures ones.

Immune Strengthening

Cupping can help strengthen the immune system as well as help you get over that last hump of an active cold. Similar to the act of needling in acupuncture, the stimulation of cupping can trigger immune reactions by making an artificial local inflammation to activate the complementary system (group of proteins in your body that help you fight infection). Or perhaps you are getting over a cold and are experiencing lingering phlegm, cough, congestion? Cupping over the lungs helps break up congestion and acts as an expectorant.

Nervous System Soothing

Many find the feeling of cupping to be relaxing, and they are right! To get technical, the vasodilation occurring from the suction effect of cupping increases parasympathetic activity (your rest and relax nervous system).

Detox

Excess drinking or substance use? This creates excess heat laying around which can manifest as fatigue, immune issues, inflamed skin, headache, etc. Cupping is traditionally used to pull out said “heat”. Heat is a theory in Chinese medicine similar to “toxins”. It is a substance accumulated in your body that doesn’t belong there. Typically resulting from substances, pollution, or excess of anger.

Constitutional and Energetic Balance

Cupping is most helpful for the type of constitutions (framework of who you energetically are in TCM) that run hot. Constitutions who are in excess and run hot greatly benefit from the draining effect of cupping. This restores balance, cools you down, and regulates your qi from moving too quickly.

CUPPING MARK DIAGNOSIS

Not everyone has the same color of cupping marks, and color can vary on different parts of the body. If you don’t get those cool dark cupping marks, thats a good thing! Regardless of color, cupping can be beneficial. What does your cupping mark say about you?

Light Pink

Healthy and ideal color of a cupping mark. Your qi and blood are moving properly and there is no significant tension in that area.

Red

Moderate stagnation. Red color could indicate inflammation happening for that particular muscle. It could also mean systemic inflammation if most of your marks are bright red. Red more energetically can indicate excess anxiety, stress, irritability or anger.

Purple

Major stagnation. This could mean lots of stagnation and adhesions in a certain muscle where the mark is. Also can indicate lots of heat and other toxins being drained from substance use or pollution.

Pale/No Mark

No stagnation but there is a qi deficiency happening. This can be due to long term stress, burn out, chronic fatigue, blood deficiency, or a weak immune system.

Spotted Purple

Severe stagnation, typically a long chronic injury is present.

CUPPING MOST ASKED QUESTIONS, ANSWERED!

▶Can anyone cup me?

No. Acupuncturists obtain a master's degree, state license, pass a federally recognized board exam, and are registered under state malpractice insurance. Cupping is a technique that falls under this license and training. Some massage therapists or physical therapists may be properly trained as well. Please be careful who you get cupping from, as many people who offer it may not know the red flags or proper practice of cupping.

Blistering, bruising, or other issues can arise from cupping malpractice.

Cupping should not be placed over varicose veins, skin lesions, body orifices, lymph nodes, eyes, sensitive skin areas, new tattoos, bone fractures or newer scars. Cups should not be applied to one area for an extended period of time! Yes thats right…don’t just leave them on for more than 10 minutes!

▶Cupping feels really painful for me, why?

You may be receiving cupping from someone who isn’t properly trained. Cupping should not be painful. Always know you can ask your practitioner to lessen the pressure of the cup. Less pressure does not mean less benefit! Cupping is meant to be relaxing. You can also always ask less amount of cups to be placed on at once.

▶Why do I feel so tired after cupping?

Cupping could possibly not be a good fit for you.You should feel relaxed, but not tired after. Fatigue after cupping could mean that this therapy is too draining for you. Try acupuncture!

▶Why don’t I get cupping marks like other people?

As mentioned above, cupping marks come in various shades depending on your constitution. Not everyone gets those cool dark cupping marks. Light pink marks actaully mean your body is doing well! Pale/non existent marks are just an indication of what your qi is like and thats ok. You are still benefiting.

▶How often can I get cupped?

Generally, you should not be cupped until your already existing marks have faded. I would say maximum of once a week.

▶Is fire cupping better?

Complicated! I personally think plastic and fire cupping have the same benefits, and I prefer to not work with fire so that I can avoid burning. Some practitioners I look up to swear by fire cupping only for energetic purposes, or traditional practicing. Love that!

▶What parts of the body can you cup?

Typically back, neck, legs, forearms, pectoral muscles, bottom of the feet. I would avoid the face (unless you are getting specific facial cupping and thats used with different cups), stomach, or any more delicate areas. Ask a licensed acupuncturist if you are unsure about an area being cupping.

▶Do you practice bleeding cupping?

I do not practice bleeding/wet cupping currently, although I am trained in it. In a more sterile medical facility I would, but I prefer to not have bloodborne pathogens in my home practice.

▶So is cupping really doing anything? (the scientific sticklers)

Still not convinced? Here are some links to clinical studies about cupping. Too bad we can’t do a double blind study of cupping, part of you will just have to trust spirit!

Scientific evidence #1

Scientific evidence #2

DEEP SLEEP

mind quieting and calming herbs for restful sleep

It’s winter. Let’s relax, sleep well, prepare for the spring. Work with nature and make sure you’re mind, spirit, and immune system is getting the reset it needs.

A nourishing formula that calms the spirit and assists the body in restful, deep sleep. Especially helpful when experiencing ruminating thoughts before bed. Take at least 30 minutes before bedtime and take a second dose if you wake up at night.

DYLAN SPENCER, L.Ac

BITTER MELON ACUPUNCTURE & HERBS

BITTERMELONBOTANICALS.COM

While each of us have a particular element we tend towards, nature also follows the elements through the seasons. Any situation in the world will always contain all of the elements, but one will be dominant. The Fire element rules summer, Earth rules late summer, Metal rules the fall, Water rules winter, and Wood rules spring. Understanding our element or the element which is in action in nature enables us to specify the key areas where greater awareness and work on ourselves is needed.

During the Winter months all things in nature wither, hide, return home, and enter a resting period, just as lakes and rives freeze and snow falls. This is a time when yin dominates yang. Therefore one should refrain from overusing the yang energy. Retire early and get up with the sunrise, which is later in Winter. Desires and mental activity should be kept quiet and subdued, as if keeping a happy secret. Stay warm, avoid the cold, and keep the skin covered. Avoid sweating. The theory of the Winter season is one of conservation and storage. Without such practice the result will be injury to the Kidney energy. This will cause weakness, shrinking of muscles, and coldness; then the body loses its ability to open and move about in the Spring.

WINTER’S ASSOCIATIONS IN CHINESE MEDICINE

ELEMENT: WATER

YIN ORGAN: KIDNEYS

YANG ORGAN: URINARY BLADDER

EMOTION: FEAR

SPIRIT: ZHI (WILLPOWER)

CLIMATE: COLD

COLOR: BLACK/DARK BLUE

TASTE: SALTY

SENSE ORGANS: EARS

TISSUES: BONE

VIRTUES: STRENGTH, COURAGE, WISDOM

The kidneys and bladder are the organs and energetic channels associated with winter. While our actual organ oversees all the fluids of the body, our energetic kidney channel does just as important work. The kidney stores our essence, the complete basis to our constitutions and beings. Our essence allows our long term cycles of growth, development from young to old age. Our kidney essence also affects our brains, and helps us feel mentally intelligent and alert. The kidneys are responsible for the creation of power. Skill and ability stem from them.

Water is seen as willpower, drive, and ambition. Those experiencing an imbalance with winter may feel that they are lacking any determination, or on the other side are taking too much control/action and don’t trust that things will come as they may. While it is time to reflect and build, it is not time for action.

There is depth, darkness, and mystery to water. The water element is associated with fear, phobias and anxiety. An imbalance of this element can act as excess anxieties, and lack of courage. Other emotional imbalances of the water sign can relate to holding on, grudges, and jealousy. Water’s strength gives us the ability to assess risks and act appropriately.

The bladder channel is the longest of the body- beginning at the eyes, the meridian moves over the head to the back of the neck, down the sides of the spine to the sacrum, through the backs of the knees and ends at the little toe. More physical signs of a water imbalance would be back pain, bladder pain, vertigo, headaches, and vision issues.

EMBRACE THE WATER ELEMENT

Emotionally, this season is a time for reflection. The water element wants you to look at your fears, and first note it is normal and natural to think of your fears, and feel fear. Find out when it is useful to pull pack and anticipate or when it is useful to engage with fear. Remember what makes you feel safe, and who makes you feel safe. Find power in your own ability to reassure yourself.

Candles, fireplaces, cooking, staying home are winter activities we are all very familiar with, and they are the place where the water element thrives! These activities are good for our constitutions in this season, so embrace it. It’s time for planning, rather than jumping into action.Give yourself lots of time to rest and dream up what you want for the spring.

The water element foods that make your kidney/bladder channel happy tend to be black in color and salty, such as dark colored berries, seaweeds, nuts, seeds, beans, and shellfish. Others that make your water element nourished are tofu, potatoes, salmon, lamb, rice, melon, parsley, tangerines, pears, and eggs. Kitchen herbs and spices that are helpful for the kidneys are cinnamon, cloves, fenugreek, anise, peppercorn, and nettle. Bone broth is also an excellent way to strengthen your kidney channel and nourish your water element! Look below for my broth recipe.

Medicinal herbs that are helpful for the water element are adaptogenic herbs that help decrease stress and increase healthy energy levels. Ashwagandha, astragalus, oat buds, rhodiola, eleuthero, and lemon balm are some of my favorites.

Stay warm, avoid eating cold foods like smoothies or raw fruits/vegetables which can damage your qi. Keep your back warm with heated blankets and hot water bottles. Limit stress and alcohol right now to help your water element build up your essence for spring. Get acupuncture to help redirect your energy and nourish your kidney & bladder channels. Practice what we observe in nature: stillness and conservation.

Healing Broth Recipe :)

After back to back holiday plans in December, I always make my herbal broth.

Bone broth’s high concentration of minerals and amino acids boost your immune system, reduce inflammation, and hydrates. Bone broth is also a natural source of collagen to benefit joints, supports lining of your intestines for better digestion, and gives you glowing skin.

I like to add extra immune boosting herbs and adrenal energy supportive herbs to my broth for added support!

You can drink this broth on its own or add to any recipe.

Energy Boost

Start your new year off with energy boost

Herbs to strengthen energy and stamina !

Support for occasional fatigue, burn out, mental strain, and general inability to keep up with the pace of life. These herbs strengthen the three sources of qi: spleen, lung, and kidney

Purchase Energy Boost

DYLAN SPENCER, L.Ac

BITTER MELON ACUPUNCTURE & HERBS

BITTERMELONBOTANICALS.COM

It is said that the weakest part of our Wei Qi is the back of the neck. Even without TCM knowledge, it makes sense our neck would be a vulnerable area. It connects our brain to our body, made up of many muscles, veins, arteries, our voice, how we express. The back of the neck is a window, one that can catch pathogens more easily than other parts of our Wei Qi. Have you noticed your neck start to tense at the beginning of a cold? This is a physical symptom that a pathogen has entered and Wei Qi is weakened. This is why in Chinese medicine, it is important to wear a scarf and keep your neck covered during cold and flu season!

It’s also important to note that our Wei Qi is controlled by our lungs (again, energetically speaking in TCM). Lungs in TCM are responsible for the skin, among of course breathing and more literal respiratory functions. When our lung’s energy is balanced, they can help create a solid concrete Wei Qi layer.

WHAT DAMAGES OUR WEI QI?

• Excessive use of drugs & alcohol

• Smoking

• Poor sleep, overwork

• Chronic illness

• Emotional stress, as the lungs are related to the emotions of worry, sadness, grief, and letting go. When addressing the emotional health of our lungs, it is important to be open to new ideas, let go of attachment to the past and deal with grief in a healthy way

• Irritability, anger

• Constant contact with negative people or negative energy in your home

• Environmental factors such as high pollution or excessive exposure to cold or heat

STRENGTHENING OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

Exercise. When we exert ourselves and sweat, we are expelling unwanted pathogens through our Wei Qi layer.

Proper sleep. Sleep helps rejuvenate every energetic channel, especially the liver and heart channels, which can help lower cortisol levels & build strong immunity.

Understanding your emotional needs. Do you need space from someone? Do you need to have a fun day with friends? Do you need to let go of something? A calm nervous system makes for a strong immune system. According to The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine, “Those who act with bravery and courage will overcome diseases, while those who act out of fear will fall ill.”

Lowering Stress. Stress negatively influences our immune system. The American Psychological Association reports findings in 2004 of a meta-analysis of over 300 studies of stress and health reported that “For stress of any significant duration – from a few days to a few months or years, as happens in real life – all aspects of immunity went downhill. Thus long-term or chronic stress, through too much wear and tear, can ravage the immune system.” The meta-analysis also revealed that people who are older or already sick are more prone to stress-related immune changes.

Nutrition. Eating warm, cooked foods in the fall and winter are helpful for building qi and maintaining a strong immune system. Don’t forget to eat what brings you joy and remember to nourish yourself on busy days!

Specific foods in Chinese medicine geared toward supporting the lungs and immune system:

Ginger, onion, garlic, turnip, horseradish, cabbage, radish, seaweeds, carrots, winter squash, kale, mustard greens, broccoli, parsley, pears

Herbs. Do you tend to get sick often? Daily herbs and supplements can be a game changer in keeping you healthy. Yes, they do really work and I couldn’t live without them! **See below for immune support guide**

Acupuncture. Acupuncture helps disperse the lungs and clear pathogens before they enter deeper. Regular practice of acupuncture has been shown to increase T cells for several days after a treatment, to keep your Wei Qi strong. It’s also a instant nervous system soother to keep anxiety and stress at bay for a healthier immune response.

IMMUNOMODULANTS VS IMMUNE STIMULANTS

Immunomodulants are a group of supplements and herbs that balance the immune response. These herbs are immune strengthening and used as a preventative. They are meant to be taken long term, as they have cumulative effects. Often supporting the innate immune system, these herbs and supplements may also help reduce an overactivity of the acquired immune system (such as autoimmune diseases).

NOT to be confused with immune stimulants. Which are a separate group of herbs which increase production and division of immune cells. These herbs are used short term during an acute infection. These herbs may stimulate the acquired immune system and therefore should be used cautiously with autoimmune diseases.

The following list are my favorite and most important immunomodulant herbs for immune strengthening and prevention, meaning you take them daily long term when you are not actively sick.

**If you are actively sick, you should focus on immune stimulating herbs. Please make an appointment with me through my website for guidance on herbal protocols for acute infections.

DAILY IMMUNE SUPPORT GUIDE

Vitamin D

The most important supplement for proper immune function in the respiratory tract! Also helpful for mood in darker months.

I recommend a dose of 2000 IU/day. Get your levels checked by your doctor for a personalized dose.

Click here to read a study about Vitamin D levels and Covid.

Buy Vitamin D

Herbal Immune Support

Daily immune building & protecting herbs

This herbal formula nourishes and protects the immune system to prevent you from getting sick. Based off a traditional Chinese formula commonly known as “Jade Windscreen”, these herbs foster and support a strong immune system. Those with a weakened immune system will benefit from its assistance to overall energy and qi boosting effects, in addition to its immune strengthening properties. This formula can be taken daily and is appropriate to take long term.

Buy Immune Support

Medicinal Mushrooms

Mushrooms contain medicinally active compounds such as their polysaccharide constituent beta-glucans, which are immune enhancing. All mushrooms are immune supportive and I recommend take a formula of multiple mushrooms together like this one from Gaia Herbs. Shiitake is a great mushroom to add when cooking.

You can also try the my double extracted immune plus brain nourishing Mushroom Blend tincture here.

Buy Everyday Immune

Adrenal Support

An adaptogenic herbs blend can improve mood, calm stress and reduce stress-related fatigue. By supporting homeostasis along the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, this supplement helps maintain stress hormonal balance which in turn supports immune function.

Buy HPA Adapt

*While all supplements listed above are generally safe to take with most pharmaceuticals, I am happy to work with you one on one to find the best regimen for immune strengthening or specific autoimmune supportive protocols. Please email me at bittermelonbotanicals@gmail.com.

DYLAN SPENCER, L.Ac

BITTER MELON ACUPUNCTURE & HERBS

BITTERMELONBOTANICALS.COM

Tongue diagnosis was first described during the Jin dynasty which existed between 1115-1234! This ancient technique has had a lot of time to change and develop, therefore it would take lifetimes to master. To avoid getting in too deep I’ve made a simplified guide to the most common tongue patterns I see in my practice.

Tongue diagnosis can be practiced every day. Your body’s energetic state can shift quickly. I do not recommend tongue scraping. Take a look at your tongue in a brightly lit setting when you wake up. Scraping can possibly take away some important markers in your tongue reading.

To start, let’s look at the map of a tongue. Certain areas of the tongue pertain to energetic channels.

When looking at pictures of common tongues below, refer back to this map to further understand changes in color or texture in relationship to a channels placement on the tongue.

When reading a tongue follow this order.

Body color

1. Overall shape

2. Coating

3. Moisture

   ---

MOST COMMON TONGUES

Normal Healthy Tongue

This is what a normal healthy tongue should look like. Following the steps above we can see that:

Body color: for a normal tongue is pale red

Body shape: is not thin, swollen, stiff, or has cracks. It is relaxed

Coating: is thin

Moisture: tongue is slightly moist

Spleen Qi Deficiency Tongue

Body color: pink/white. More white in the center where spleen is located

Body shape: swollen, flabby, there are teeth marks on the sides

Coating: is white or pale

Moisture: tongue is slightly moist

Indication: fatigue, depression, poor appetite, gas and bloating

Treatment: acupuncture, rest, warm cooked foods, qi building herbs like astragalus

Liver Qi Stagnation/Heat Tongue

Body color: pink/white with bright red sides at liver area

Body shape: normal

Coating: pale coating everywhere but sides

Moisture: tongue is slightly moist

Indication: high stress, irritable, depressed, bouts of anger, hormonal disruption, pms

Treatment: acupuncture, exercise, meditation, bitter herbs, dark leafy greens

Heart Heat Tongue

Body color: tip of the tongue is red where heart is located

Body shape: thin

Coating: pale coating

Moisture: tongue is slightly moist

Indication: restless, racing thoughts, anxiety, insomnia

Treatment: acupuncture, expressing emotions openly, taking mind calming herbs like lemon balm and Chinese dates

Stomach Damp Heat Tongue

Body color: red

Body shape: normal or swollen

Coating: thick, greasy, yellowish

Moisture: slightly moist or dry

Indication: digestive issues, abdominal cramping/pain, thirst, nausea, feeling of fullness, phlegm, loose stools

Treatment: acupuncture, limit alcohol and greasy food intake, take digestive enzymes as well as other cooling digestive herbs

Lung Heat Tongue

Body color: front third of the tongue is red

Body shape: normal

Coating: is thin sometimes with red spots or yellow coat

Moisture: tongue is slightly moist

Indication: cough with phlegm, shortness of breath, chest tension, irritable, smoker’s cough

Treatment: acupuncture, cooling moistening lung herbs like mullein and plantain, eating pears

Tongue diagnosis can be complex, so it’s normal if you don’t fit into one of the most common tongues listed above. The visual reference of a normal healthy tongue is the most important when looking at your own for comparison.

Regardless of ones belief in tongue diagnosis, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that our bodies will physically reflect whats happening within. Even if you’ve glanced at your tongue once while reading this, you’ve been able to check in with yourself and consider what you may need to feel your best.

I am always happy to describe your personal tongue diagnosis in greater detail when you come for an appointment!

TINCTURES ARE BACK IN STOCK !

ENERGY BOOST FOR VIRGO SEASON ♍︎

Late summer and Virgo season is about getting things back into their place. Tidying life back up. Energy boost can help you get things back into order.

This herbal formula strengthens energy and stamina. Support for occasional fatigue, burn out, mental strain, and general inability to keep up with the pace of life. These herbs strengthen the three sources of qi: spleen, lung, and kidney.

DYLAN SPENCER, L.Ac

BITTER MELON ACUPUNCTURE & HERBS

BITTERMELONBOTANICALS.COM

The transition from spring to summer is upon us, which in Chinese medicine means a substantial shift in your body’s constitution.

One way to view seasons is through the 5 elements. The five elements are Wood (spring), Fire (summer), Earth (late summer), Metal (fall), and Water (winter). Thinking about 5 elements helps us understand the process of dynamic harmony and the balance of our own internal energy.

Understanding the elements through their seasons is helpful in terms of our own health. Regardless of an individuals understanding of energetics, we all feel big changes with a new season. In the spring we experience allergies, or in the winter we feel exhausted, depressed, burnt out. Knowing what to expect of your constitution in each season can help you prevent some of these annoying ailments we get every year!

SUMMER - FIRE ELEMENT

Obviously the element of summer is fire! Fire is fast moving, chaotic, hot, fire is exciting!! The colors of summer are bright, the smells are more pungent, the days are longer, we are more open, relaxed, and social.

The fire element follows the wood element of spring. The wood element of spring is about direction, setting goals for ourselves, and feeding our spirits with a hope and vision for the future. The fire element is that of creation of those dreams becoming real. After the hard work of the spring, summer is about being present and enjoying what we have created.

FIRE IN EXCESS _ IMBALANCE

There are two basic ways in which summer can cause an imbalance in our bodies. The excess of heat can show up as a red face, thirst, hot to the touch, large appetite. You may feel more irritable, anxious, have heart palpitations, or crave cold foods and drinks. Fire rules the tongue, and therefore our speech. An excess of fire energetically can make someone too excited and talkative. Excess fire people tend to talk louder, faster, and interrupt others more. Excess fire people tend to open up to others too often and too quickly.

It is important for fire excess people to cool themselves down. Eating colder foods and drinks and daily exercise can help cool. Drinking cooling herbs such as mint, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, lemon balm, & dandelion root can help disperse fire. Fire excess should be more intentional on making room for others in conversation, thinking before speaking, being careful to not be overly defensive, and not be too overly trusting.

FIRE IN DEFICIENCY _ IMBALANCE

The deficiency of heat can show up as pale skin, dry mouth and throat, dry skin, ringing in the ears, restlessness, or disturbed sleep. On the other hand, energetically, this weak fire constitution leaves the mind apathetic, the voice without spark, and with flat speech. They speak slowly and bore others. Deficiency in heat people tend to rarely share anything personal of themselves, constantly feeling vulnerable and frail.

Deficiency heat people should focus on hydration to solve dryness. They also tend to need more rest and recharge time, exercise should be very light such as yin yoga or walking. Deficiency heat should avoid very spicy foods. Some simple herbs could be oat straw, chamomile, rose hip, or marshmallow leaf. It is important for this constitution to connect more with friends and family in order to remember that they can be understood by others. They should strive to share inner thoughts and vulnerable feelings in relationship with others.

When our fire is in good balance we enjoy sharing our thoughts and feelings while leaving space for others to share theirs equally. We are open and honest, our exchanges with others are mature. The true spirit of fire is kindness and generosity <3

WHAT ELEMENT ARE YOU?

~~> While we contain all elements, one is dominant. The element which is dominant is therefore in an imbalance and will affect all other element systems. It is believed that the organs of one of the elements is slightly imbalanced from the time we are born, which we call a “constitution”. This will have an effect on our personality and physical being.

It is important to note that not all of us become a fire element in the Summer (we stay the same element our entire life), but our dominant element is effected by the element of season we are experiencing.

Take this 5 Element quiz below to find out which element you are, and tips on how to balance your constitution!

COOLING FIRE SEASON TINCTURE

My most slept on tincture will surprise you! Besides its name’s purpose, hangover cure is an herbal formula made up of cooling & liver soothing herbs. If you took the quiz above and you are a wood element- this one is for you. Or, if you feel you have an excess of fire imbalance, this one will calm the flames.

DYLAN SPENCER, L.Ac

BITTER MELON ACUPUNCTURE & HERBS

BITTERMELONBOTANICALS.COM