My introduction to Qigong

My practice began in the classroom where we were asked to establish a daily practice and jot down our reactions in a journal. Initially, I had no intention to share these written reflections, but the idea of incorporating these into this blog post popped into my head about midway through the assignment. At first, I wondered if I’d made a mistake. As you’ll read shortly, I found it tough to simultaneously cultivate a meditation practice and blog about it. But the truth is, Qigong surprised me in more ways than one and I’m excited to share what I discovered.

A brief disclaimer: The perils of writing for public review

In the beginning, I’d find myself midway through a sequence trying to relax, while at …

As acupuncturists and herbalists in training, the students of AIMC can use our garden to learn hundreds of herbs, sometimes up to 20 new herbs per week.

Qi is fundamental to Chinese Medicine. It moves with the blood through the meridian channels, and its flow can be influenced by stimulating various acupuncture points. Qi can flow smoothly or it can become deficient, stagnant or even rebellious. If you’ve ever felt under the weather in any way shape or form, chances are your qi fell into one of said pathological states. But what exactly is qi? And more importantly, how does it manifest in our everyday lives?

When acupuncture school first piqued my interest, I pretty quickly realized how little I knew about qi. Sure, I’d heard qi tossed around before; someone emerging from a yoga class, glowing, raving about the qi of the instructor. But if you’d asked me to define it, I …

The Chinese term for acupuncture includes moxibustion. Learn more about the effectiveness of moxibustion and further research on its uses at AIMC.

Nishanga Bliss, MS, Ph.D. L.Ac., is the author of Real Food All Year and has been a practitioner in the holistic health field for over 20 years. She is an acupuncturist, herbalist, integrative nutritionist, and professor of Chinese medicine at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley, where she grows, cooks, ferments, teaches, and writes about sustainable food.

On a recent sunny spring afternoon, Nishanga met with Kimber Simpkins, a yoga instructor, positive body image teacher, and author of Full and 52 Ways to Love Your Body. The venue was Sanctuary Bistro in West Berkeley. Along with Cheryl Angelina Koehler, editor of Edible East Bay, who joined them to photograph, they enjoyed BLTs and citrus trifle as they discussed the topic of pleasure in relation …

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Heidi Hellmuth happens to spot AIMC President Yasuo Tanaka taking a walk along the Embarcadero and offers him a ride in her gold pedi-cab.

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It’s not only San Francisco’s skyscrapers jutting into the sky, with its gauze of clouds, that cuts quite a figure. It’s also Hellmuth herself.

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