Category: Wellness Articles

Summer is in full swing, with warm and sunny weather, outdoor events, and lots of opportunities to be outside connecting with friends, family, and community. In the Bay Area, we are so lucky to have such beautiful weather, especially during summer, that you can’t help but smile! When we think about summer, our AIMC community and students think about Five Element Theory, and how summer is represented by fire.

We were lucky enough to connect with one of our current students, Sarah Siegel, whose work with her “With the Seasons” Instagram explores the art of seasonal living, narrative medicine, and inspiring people to connect with the Five Elements. Seasonal living for our health is rooted in indigenous values and East Asian medicine wisdom. Seasonal …

What is Sun tea?

Sun tea is tea that has been made using the power of the sun. Instead of steeping herbs in hot water, you put the herbs & water in a vessel under the sun to infuse. Any combination of tea-appropriate plants can be used in sun tea, either fresh or dried. The most important thing is to place the herbs in a safe, clear container in direct sunlight for at least an hour. In choosing your container, we suggest using glass, as plastic containers can leech chemicals into the tea.

Making the perfect sun tea is more of an art than a science; no precise ratios of herbs to water are needed. To get more flavor, you can start the brew with a high …

In honor of Pride Month, we at AIMC have been reflecting on ways that acupuncture and East Asian Medicine (EAM) can support our LGBTQ+ community, particularly with medical challenges that are specific to their identities and experiences.

Today we’re highlighting some ways that acupuncture, EAM, and herbal medicine can support gender-affirming surgeries and post-operative healing. There is increasing demand for gender-affirming surgeries each year, and surgeries have become more accessible thanks to professional associations, healthcare providers, and advocacy groups. These gender-affirming surgeries support transgender and gender expansive folks’ ability to feel that their bodies represent their true identities, and significantly reduces mental health challenges and psychological distress. According to a recent study published in JAMA Surgery, there was “42% reduction in the odds of …

While we anticipate this to be the hottest summer on record due to the planet’s imbalanced climate, Chinese medicine offers some dietary advice that can help us keep cool and prevent heat illness, protect the Heart and support the Shen or spirit. It’s intuitive to many Americans to reach for iced drinks when the temperature climbs, but it turns out that this can make the body overheat as your system struggles to warm up the fluid to body temperature. Instead, choose room temperature water, perhaps with a squeeze of citrus juice or a few cucumber slices added, as well as cooling teas such as peppermint, chrysanthemum, nettle and hibiscus.

Enjoy a trip to the seasonally abundant farmers’ market to seek out cooling …

In a recent continuing education course, AIMC Berkeley hosted Dr. Jenny Nieters, DACM, LAc., for a day of Grand Rounds. In addition to her private clinic in Alameda, CA, she is the team acupuncturist for the San Francisco 49ers Football Team and the Saint Mary’s College Men’s Rugby Team. She has built a career treating world-class athletes, including Olympians, NBA, MLB, MLR, NFL, and amateur athletes including runners, cross fitters, triathletes and swimmers, supporting injury recovery and athletic performance.

Acupuncture for Sports Performance

Many people know Acupuncture can be used effectively to treat chronic and acute pain, but did you know it can also enhance sports performance more broadly? During our day of observation of Dr. Nieter’s treatments, we watched Dr. Nieters …

Did you know that one branch of East Asian Medicine is the ancient art of Astrology? It’s a complex tradition rich with mythology and metaphor. We’re lucky to rely on experts who can carry the torch of interpreting the astrological tidings for us, as it’s not something we’re able to cover in the rigorous medical canon of modern East Asian Medicine school.

Here in the Northern Hemisphere where we’re still in the depths of winter, the only Resolutions we could get behind this time of year are ones related to sleep, rest, taking it easy, cultivating stillness, & faith. Let’s call them New Year’s Restolutions.

This Zine serves as a bridge that connects East Asian Medicine traditions with your daily life practices – so that we may all find the way to health and happiness[…]May the offerings within these pages enrich and inspire you to align yourself with the nature and medicine that we hold so dear.

Join AIMC Berkeley’s Herb Pharmacy Manager, Le Jiang, to learn how to make a nourishing pear paste for the Autumn. Pears are known for their moistening and cooling properties in East Asian Medicine. With the addition of other yin-nourishing herbs and the tonifying properties of honey, this delicious paste is the perfect salve for fall’s dryness.

Qiu Li Gao (Autumn Pear Paste)

Ingredients:

The raw herbs are available through the AIMC Pharmacy; ask your practitioner for a “prescription” of them next time you visit our in-person or telehealth clinic!

Pears ———————————– 2000g
Luo Han Guo (Monk Fruit) ——– 1 piece
Sheng Jiang (Ginger) ————– 70g
Chuan Bei Mu (Fritillaria Bulb) — 15g
Fu Ling (Poria) ———————– 25g
Bai He (Lily Bulb) ——————– 15g
Mai Dong (Ophiopogon Tuber) — 15g
Ge Gen (Kudzu Root) ————— 30g
Hong …

Every Acupuncturist has an origin story. You can ask any of us about the treatment or series of moments that led us to the big, scary thought “I want to be an Acupuncturist.” We had already asked our Acupuncturist why they look at our tongues or why some points feel spicier than others, we’d listened to podcasts about East Asian Medicine or maybe even read The Web That Has No Weaver, we’d tried some meditative practices, and stacks of books about herbalism and the energetic body threatened to topple over on our nightstands. Some of us took Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College’s Introduction to East Asian Medicine course just to peek a little further.

And then maybe we looked …