Colette Matison Legarrigues How would you like to be introduced? My name is Colette, and my family name is Colette Matison Legarrigues. I am the wife of Martin and the mom of Bodie. My recent ancestors were settler-colonialists to New York and San Francisco from present-day Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, and France. I am a daughter and a sister and a friend. I am an East Asian Medicine practitioner, a postpartum educator, a poet, and a film producer. I am licensed to practice acupuncture and Chinese Medicine herbalism in the states of Massachusetts and California, and I am nationally certified as a Diplomate of Oriental Medicine by NCCAOM. I hold a master’s degree from AIMC and a bachelor’s degree from Brown University. I am also a Sagittarius, a Manifesting-Generator, and an Earth Dragon. What did your life look like during the immediate post-grad period? After graduation I immediately started studying for board exams. In retrospect, I would definitely advise my former self to take a break...ideally some immersive time in nature without tech or artificial light. I studied for two months, and then I took the five exams for NCCAOM and CALE. Soon after I was offered a job at the Alchemy Healing Center in Northampton, Massachusetts . The clinic specializes in the Daoist alchemical treatments of Classical Chinese Medicine in the lineage of Jeffrey Yuen. Over the course of my time there, I trained in the first stages of alchemy as well as the use of Sun Si Miao’s ghost points. At the same time, I was hired to treat the more “ordinary” cases, because the senior practitioners were increasingly in demand for daylong alchemy treatments. So people came to see me for the common reasons like back pain and fertility and insomnia. It was this incredible bridge between the esoteric and the practical. Which I loved because, in my experience, healing is both mysterious and mundane. It’s mythic and mystical and complex, and it’s also gritty and down-to-earth and ordinary. You know…the stuff of being human. What year did you start your work as Threshold Film? I worked with a number of pregnant women (all of my pregnant clients then identified as women) in the Alchemy clinic during my own pregnancy. And I was finding that the need for support in crossing the threshold of childbirth extended far beyond what I was able to provide in hour-long weekly treatments. Martin and I began to incubate Threshold while I gestated Bodie. It was an incredibly fertile time. It was a time of feeling deeply into the need of those standing at the precipice of parenthood, and beginning to answer that call with traditional medicine, ritual art, and witness through the medium of film. One of our first projects was an online course called The Golden Moon: The Radical Art of Postpartum Rest. Like many couples, we took a childbirth education class during our third trimester to prepare for labor. And I noticed that, while books like The Fourth Trimester and The First Forty Days have recently surfaced, postpartum education really isn’t a thing. So we set out to make a postpartum education course for modern families, inspired by the ancient principles of Zuo Yue Zi. Where are you based now? My family is currently nomadic. Beginning in the fall of 2023, about three months after Bodie was born, we began traveling across the continental U.S. and Hawaii for the making of a documentary film about birth in America. We spend six to eight weeks in one place interviewing birth workers in their elder years and capturing footage of couples who are preparing for or integrating the experience of childbirth. Who are your team members? What is it like working with your partner/running your practice as a family? I remember when Martin first took me to meet his grandma, and at the end of the visit she said, “Well, you sure do like spending time together.” It’s been 11 years, and that hasn’t changed. And our work is very much a family endeavor. Right now I am writing this with Bodie strapped to my chest in the baby carrier, which is often the case for computer tasks. Earlier this month we took a trip up to Humboldt county for a documentary interview with Raven Lang, who was a home birth midwife and community organizer in the 1970s and also a beloved Chinese Medicine practitioner and teacher. We drove up as a family, and Raven’s teenage grandchildren babysat Bodie while we filmed the interview. Bodie is a real charmer with the grandmas. Next month we will be traveling to Sandpoint, Idaho to work with an expectant couple to co-create ritual-film, and we’ll bring Bodie with us. It’s definitely not the model of American efficiency. The movements are slower. But they are also deeper. What was Chinese Medicine School like for you? Mostly, I loved the people. As students in this culture, it’s easy to unconsciously identify as consumers. We pay a lot for education, and there can be an expectation around the deliverables…we can want some kind of exceptional experience. But in my experience of school, we get out of it what we put into it. We receive what we give. East Asian Medicine is an incredibly deep and rich tradition. And because of the constraints of time and regulations and other logistics, a graduate program really just scratches the surface. This medicine is a lifelong practice and commitment. Did you know you wanted to integrate your studies with midwifery/reproductive health - or did you find this calling along the way? For me, caring for the female reproductive cycle is actually a kind of activism. In America, we live in a culture that demands unceasing adherence to the daily yang cycle, as though the sun rises and sets in a vacuum. And so we are experiencing a collective waning of yin: the planet’s temperatures are rising, exhaustion and adrenal fatigue are commonplace, menstrual pain and menopause symptoms are considered normal… I believe that caring for the menstruation cycle is healing for the whole. That reclaiming the blood rites of menarche, menstruation, childbirth and menopause impacts the larger cycles of families, communities and the more-than-human world. So I think my current focus on childbirth as a rite of passage and postpartum education stems from that. On managing her practice… What does community building look like to you? So much of my work as a postpartum educator is about community building. This looks like guiding those I work with, whether through the course or coaching, to systematically take stock of their networks…to consciously position themselves at the center of webs of support…and to weave a safety net of love, care, and connection that will hold them during the first forty days. In a sense, it’s teaching people the basic principles of community organizing and inviting them to implement these principles in their own families and communities. Which is incredibly counter cultural inside of an individualist society where extreme isolation is the ever-increasing norm. It’s the same in our film work. When we engage in ritual-film with a couple, we encourage them to hold a screening for a small group of family and friends as a way to integrate the experience of childbirth. Integration is a time to pause and to share the story of where we’ve been so that we can give the gift of who we’re becoming to our community. Producing a documentary also has everything to do with the weave of community. And it’s my hope that when the birth doc is done, we’ll use it as a platform for community conversations about birth: about what it is and why it matters, about personal and collective trauma, about discrepancies in access to care, about bodily sovereignty, about the mystery of life…all of it. What are the cultural containers holding your care work? I have deep gratitude for my teachers and guides, the masterful people who have trained me in Chinese Medicine and shared with me their knowledge of earth-honoring wisdom traditions. It is also important to acknowledge that Zuo Yue Zi is a living cultural tradition in China and in Chinese communities around the globe, and that there are many other postpartum traditions that live on across the world’s cultures to this day. So just because there is a current lack of knowledge and support about postpartum care in mainstream America does not mean that there aren’t deep traditions of care in communities in this country and around the world. In general, our work seeks to connect individuals to resource within their own lineages, whether remembered or forgotten or suppressed, inside of cross-cultural principles of care, ritual, and healing. What is the role of ritual, art, and film in your medicine? As the saying goes, ritual is an outer expression of an inner movement. It can be anything, and it doesn’t have to be anything fancy or serious or codified. Like making coffee, or Clean Needle Technique. In our work with couples, we use ritual as a technology to enter deep time. Have you ever spent all afternoon picking blueberries and the hours start to wiggle and when you close your eyes at night you see blueberries? It’s like that. We also use ritual as a way to invite couples to connect with their human birth lineages, either through ancestral research or intuition or both. We also use ritual as a way to play and to shift from rational mind into primal consciousness to prepare for birth and being with an infant. This looks like working with expectant individuals and couples to co-create authentic ritual art, either before or after childbirth, that culminates in a custom-made short film. Each process is a unique collaboration. The ritual film is not an offering that’s up on our website—it’s just been circulating word-of-mouth through our community. But I imagine we’ll extend it to a larger circle in the near future. Connect with Colette Find Colette’s online landing page at ThresholdFilm.com and on Instagram @TheLegarrigues . You can find details of her current offerings - The Golden Moon: The Radical of Postpartum Care (course), Coaching for expectant parents, and virtual Traditional Chinese Medicine counseling - on these pages. Not mentioned yet, Colette also has an album of baby jingles (you can check out Diaper Man and Mr. Bubble Man on her Instagram page) and an album of less zany, non-jingle songs. If you’re interested in her client work, read on for some extra conversation, or join her e-newsletter Who are your classes for? The Golden Moon course is for 1) pregnant women/people and their partners and families, 2) doulas, midwives, and other providers who have an interest in postpartum care and Chinese medicine, 3) Chinese Medicine practitioners and birth workers who don't have time to provide thorough patient education about postpartum care and want to refer resources to their clients. I am also going to be releasing another postpartum course for practitioners (available for CE credits) through the Alchemy Learning Center in the months to come. And we have several other courses in the works, including an in-depth postpartum course specifically for partners and a ritual-arts course for expectant couples. How do you build connection to student/learners or connection to material through your prerecorded virtual courses? Well, Martin is a filmmaker. So the content is incredibly engaging. It’s not a recorded zoom call. If anything, it might even be a little over-produced! I would recommend checking out the trailer to get a sense of what it’s like. Do folks need anything prepared for your discovery calls? Mostly curiosity. And if you are a couple, it’s important that you both be present for the call. 67% of couples in America report a decline in marital happiness after the birth of their first child. This is considered the norm in our culture… it’s almost a given. It is so important that couples get on the same page and make a plan for postpartum as a united front. We think it’s necessary for both partners to understand the pillars of postpartum care so that they can each do the work of self inquiry—to assess their capacity, define clear roles, and seek support to fill in the gaps. Study at AIMC Are you ready to begin your journey into holistic and integrative medicine? Integrate practices from the East and West, find a career that works for you, and step into your power with an education from AIMC. We offer both Master’s and Doctorate programs , and financial aid is available to those who qualify. Contact our school today to learn more about how a future in integrative medicine could be right for you.

Before the Tang Dynasty, Ējiāo was Cattle Hide Gelatin; and Vegan Options Are Readily Available Today as Ējiāo Substitutions. The Problem   A Brief History A simple replacement: Bensky Chen & Chen Vegan substitutions Shú dì huáng tài zǐ shēn. Conclusion: . References: Bennett, R. a. (2020, Apr). “The Potential for New Donkey Farming Systems to Supply the Growing Demand for Hides.”. Bensky, D. (2015). Chen, J. K., & Chen, T. T. (2012). Desmond, J. (2020, February 10). Goodrum, F. T. (2022). The Donkey Skin Trade: Challenges and Opportunities for Policy Change. Guohui Liu M.Med., L. (2016). Nuwer, R. (2018, Jan 2). Shennong. (2017). Snyder, G. (1999). Zhang JJ, Z. Y. (2020, May). . Zhang, S. (2014, November 17).

In the wake of recent news of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe. v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court ruling that protected the constitutional right to abortion, we at AIMC Berkeley are processing this historic decision, and committing to action. This decision means that abortion rights in many states have been or will be quickly be rolled back, with many “trigger laws” being enacted to take immediate effect to further ban abortion rights and access. AIMC Berkeley stands firmly in the belief that abortions are a critical form of health and medical care, ensuring that people of all identities deserve to make their own decisions about their bodies. This belief is rooted in traditional East Asian medicine, where the patient is the expert on their experience and health. Fundamentally our medicine is about empowering our patients to live with comfort in their minds, bodies, and spirits, which means their choices and viewpoints are central to treatment. In our treatment spaces, the patient is always the expert on their needs, and we, the practitioners, are there to support their wishes, decisions, and journeys toward optimal health, whatever that means for them. Below is a list of resources for ways to get involved, learn more, and take action. We stand in solidarity with Acupuncture students in states that are feeling the immediate impacts of a loss of access to abortion care & hope to be a resource, both in this document and in our community, to students and patients who may need support to access reproductive care. Local organizations: Access Reproductive Justice: Access connects Californians with information and practical support on all aspects of reproductive health. Exhale Pro-Voice: Exhale Pro-Voice offers nonjudgmental after-abortion support for people who have just had an abortion, their family members, children, or friends. Funds: Abortion Funds in Every State: Find location abortion funds by state to donate to. National Network of Abortion Funds: The National Network of Abortion Funds helps with the financial and logistical aspects of abortion care. Keep Our Clinics: Independent abortion clinics are targets of abortion restrictions and bans, and Keep Our Clinics offers a way to support them and keep them open. Repro Legal Defense Fund: The Repro Legal Defense Fund covers bail and funds strong defenses for people who are investigated, arrested, or prosecuted for self-managed abortion. At-Home Abortion Support and Access: Reprocare Healthline: Reprocare Healthline offers accurate information and compassionate emotional support to those who are having an abortion with pills at home. The Brigid Alliance: The Brigid Alliance will help get people to their abortion appointments by offering help with the logistics, such as travel, lodging, childcare, and more. PLAN C: Plan C provides up-to-date information on how people in the U.S. are accessing at-home abortion pill options online. Hey Jane: Get fast, safe and affordable abortion pills shipped to your home. Consult with a medical provider within 24 hours. Choix: Choix is a telemedicine clinic providing reproductive & sexual healthcare in California, Colorado, Illinois & New Mexico. Abortion Finder: Abortion Finder has a comprehensive directory of safe, trusted, and verified abortion service providers in the United States. Political Actions: Vote! Check your voter status here. Support key election races in states where trigger laws and/or pre-Roes laws are on the ballot, and able to be vetoed by the sitting governor. Michigan: Governor Gretchen Whitmore Wisconsin: Governor Tony Evers Arizona: Candidate Katie Hobbs Pennsylvania: Candidate Josh Shapiro Georgia: Candidate Stacy Abrams Kansas: Governor Laura Kelly The Electoral 2022 Repro Coalition: Planned Parenthood, Emily’s List, NARAL Mobilize and attend events. Find local reproductive justice events, or create your own, here.

What is Seifukujitsu? Seifukujitsu is a deep-tissue bodywork style developed in Japan & Hawaii based in the healing principles of East Asian medicine. It’s also called “Restoration Therapy” for its long-lasting effects on balancing Qi, relief of chronic symptoms, & support for the healing of soft tissue injuries. With its reliance on the development of personal skill and refined technique, it’s easy for the therapist to perform, and it enhances the health of both the patient and longevity of the practitioner. It incorporates many of the same principles of Medical Qi Gong, “Ki” emission, and channel theory of East Asian medicine, alongside deep physical work on the tissues of the body. Seifukujitsu is a characteristically Japanese technique in that it relies on internal medicine understanding & energetic body wisdoms that evolved in China, which were then refined over generations of practice in Japan. It fits neatly into any Acupuncturists practice to enhance clinical outcomes and add value to treatment sessions. The History of Seifukujitsu This style of therapeutic bodywork has been practiced for between 1200-1500 years in Japan. It was the healing method used by Samurai and later martial arts schools because it could address the muscle, tendon, & bone injuries sustained in training. For a millenia, it was a lineage of medicine largely held in the hands of priests & the Samurai Warrior class, and passed down generation by generation through those schools. Due to those influences, it reflects a similar refinement that can be seen in the Samurai practices of tea ceremony, flower arranging, and calligraphy. The practice of Seifukujitsu in the Western world was highly influenced by teacher Henry Seishiro Okazaki, a Japanese martial artist and healer who moved to Hawaii with his family in his teenage years. Okazaki dedicated his life to the martial and healing arts after being healed of a severe lung disease through vigorous jujitsu practice and Asian medical treatments. Okazaki worked as a healer, developing his own style of Seifukujitsu, and created a system of martial arts known as Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. He often trained his students in both the martial and healing arts to provide proper balance in their personal and martial development. His martial arts dojo & Seifukujitsu clinic in Honolulu grew in fame in the 1920’s and 1930’s, and he was well-known throughout the Hawaiian Islands. He famously treated Franklin Roosevelt, who suffered from polio, and who was amazed by the results a handful of treatments provided. Roosevelt asked Okazaki to be his personal physician in Washington, DC. Okazaki turned down the offer as he preferred to remain in Hawaii. The “Kata” A “kata” is a form in Japanese martial arts practice; it’s a sequence of movements that students learn and practice to grow their skills. In this style of therapeutic bodywork, the massage itself has a “kata”, or abasic form known as the General Circulation Massage. It is the basis from which to treat a wide variety of ailments, correct Qi & blood flow, and regulate imbalances. There are also other specific treatment protocols that can be done for common complaints, such as headaches, low back pain, asthma, and menstrual issues. How to Learn Seifukujitsu While there are many dojos across the country that incorporate Danzan Ryu jujitsu into their training programs, there are only a handful of people & places that offer Seifukujitsu training. AIMC Berkeley is partnering with Professor Robert Hudson to offer this training in the Bay Area. Check our Upcoming Events to find out when the next round of classes will begin. Students who take Seifukujitsu at AIMC Berkeley can apply these hours towards our Japanese Medicine Certificate .

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 living practices are documented over 2,000 years ago in the Su Wen of the Huangdi Neijing, a seminal text for the foundation of this traditional medicine. Seasonal living connects us to nature, but also allows for us to pay attention and respond to what is happening inside of us. The Su Wen says: "The 3 months of summer are called prospering and developing the flower. The qi of Heaven and Earth intertwine, the 10,000 beings flower and bring forth fruit. At night, one goes to bed, at dawn one gets up<...> This corresponds with the summer qi. It is the way that maintains the growth of life. To go countercurrent would injure the heart, causing, in autumn, intermittent fever, through an insufficient supply for harvesting. When winter comes, the illness will get worse." -Su Wen, Chapter 2 We were so happy to speak to Sarah, and are excited to share her tips on thriving during summer, some prompts for reflections and intentions as we look to the next seasonal phase of our lives and calendar year. Reflections for the Season Sarah’s beautiful work focuses on the seasonal phases, and how we start, end, and transition through seasons. Each season she offers intention prompts guiding us on how we can set ourselves up for the next season. Sarah shared her reflection of summer transitioning to a brief late summer, and then leading into fall. Is our behavior today nourishing our tomorrow? How are we taking care of ourselves in such a way that is nourishing for what is to come? Here some prompts you can use to reflect on how you are engaging the with the abundant Qi of summer: When was the last time you experienced exuberant joy? Think of ways you can continue to spark this feeling during the summer season. Who is your favorite person to share your time with? Take a moment to come up with some keywords that describe this relationship. Have you let a relationship of yours fall through the cracks? Consider reaching out to this person to rekindle a connection or spend some time journaling to provide closure. Make a list of your favorite summer activities. What is the quality of each one - are they yang (active) or yin (restorative)? Fire Activities for Summer The fire element is rooted in joy and connection, and even the quality of fire can teach us something about activities that uplift fire aspects during this season. Sarah shared that observing the movement of fire can tell us something about the season. “Fire dances, the flames dance, and they reach out towards you. And so it’s about connecting…The bonfire is that great example of bringing warmth and community.” Bonfires and connecting with those we care about during summer time brings about joy, which is associated with this season. Sarah also shared some great questions for thinking about how to cultivate and share joy through connections. “Connection is the thing we have the most energy for this season… Even if we're an introvert, how can we expand relationships? If we're a natural fire element, how can we deepen the many relationships we already have?” Food and Nutrition Sarah also shared some tips for the ways we can nourish our bodies during summer, a time when we want to preserve moisture and maximum nourishment during this season, since the warmer temperatures tend to cause us to sweat more. She recommends seasonal foods with higher water content, like cucumbers and tomatoes. (Check out one of our recent blog articles with a recipe for a delicious summer cucumber salad from Dr. Nishanga Bliss! ) Eating raw foods in East Asian medicine tends not to be recommended, but lightly sauteing food helps retain some moisture. Acupressure and Ways Stimulate the Fire Channels Acupuncture and acupressure treatments can also support the summer season and fire element. All of the fire channels flow through the arms & hands, reflecting our capacity to connect and communicate. Sarah shared that Heart 7 and Small Intestine 3 are two of her favorites right now. Heart 7 is the Earth point on the Fire channel, meaning it can provide nourishment to the heart and help calm over-excited Heart and mental energy. “Heart 7 is a great one for anxiety. I just did the Small Intestine 3 the other day, which is the opening point for the Du channel. So we can think of this as giving us a stronger backbone with our relationships and our goals.” Since Heart 7 and Small Intestine 3 are both on your hands, they’re easy to find and press on yourself! Looking ahead As our students are nearing the end of the Summer term, and we are looking ahead to Late Summer and Fall, Sarah left us with some questions to think about and look ahead. “Is it possible to overdo it in summer? Are we burning out? Are we borrowing from tomorrow just to get through today? That's the biggest lesson summer can teach us is to not burn through our energy so quickly we're only halfway through the year.” About Sarah Sarah is passionate about integrating Chinese Medicine with Narrative Medicine. The Five Elements are a powerful tool for self-discovery. Through Five Element journal prompts, she uses the principles of Narrative Medicine to bring health and healing in a lasting, yet ever-changing way. Seasonal living requires us to check-in, set intentions, and reflect on the journey as we move through each seasonal phase of our individual lives and the calendar year. To learn more about Sarah’s “With the Seasons” work, and to explore more of her narrative journal prompts on your own, you can check out Sarah’s website , and her Instagram @withtheseasons .

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 volume of herbs, or you can infuse the blend in the sunshine for longer. Fewer herbs soaked in the sunshine for a shorter period of time will create a more gentle flavor. You can taste-test the brew as it bakes, and when the tea has reached your desired level of flavor, strain out the herbs to stop the steeping process. Summer Solstice Sun Tea Summer Solstice is the most "yang" day of the year. By brewing a sun tea on that day or in the summertime, you can harness all the power of the yang qi and offer your insides some warm sunshine-energy. One of our creative students came up with a Sun Tea recipe that uses sustainable ingredients to support the energetics of the season. These are herbs commonly used in Western herbal traditions & we'll describe their functions in East Asian medicine. Huang Chu Ju: Chamomile "To cool you from the power of the summer solstice, to relax your muscles and heal any bruises or rashes you may have" • In East Asian Medicine, we consider Huang Chu Ju to belong to the "Regulate Qi" category of herbs. It can help release Qi stagnation, cool inflammation, soothe pain, settle the stomach, clear heat, and calm the Shen. It goes to the Lung, Heart, Stomach, and Liver. It is closely related to the functions of it's Asteracea cousin, Chrysanthemum. As a cooling Qi-regulator that goes to the Lung, Heart, Stomach, and Liver, it can be used as a gentle aid to calm anxiety, soothe headaches and coughs, ease irritability, support digestion, and aid with PMS symptoms. Xun Yi Cao: Lavender "Another cooling & relaxing tonic, healing both skin and aiding your breathing. Aphrodisiac for those Summer nights!" • Lavender's main function in East Asian Medicine is to clear heat, followed closely by it's capacity to descend qi . What does that Qi that needs to be descended look like? It could be an oncoming headache, or anxious, busy thinking, insomnia, or even high blood pressure. In all of these examples, the culprit behind these symptoms may be an abundance of rising qi-- especially if they're happening in the spring or summer seasons when there's a lot of qi rising in the energy of the earth. The relaxing effects of Chamomile & Lavender are thanks to their roles as heat-clearing Qi regulators in East Asian Medicine. Feng Mi: Honey "Antibacterial and antiviral, a powerful natural antibiotic that boosts the immune system" • A touch of Manuka honey adds a nourishing, Qi-tonifying factor to this sun tea. Honey tonifies the Spleen & Stomach and prevents dryness. With the dry environment of the East Bay, it's a great moistening addition to a batch of sun tea. In herbal formulas, honey, like ginger or dates, can be used a harmonizer that blends all the flavors together & assists the Stomach with digestion of the other herbs in the formula. Considering Water In East Asian Medicine, we say that the Stomach is the source of all fluids in the body. If you have dry skin, dry eyes, dry mouth, chronic sinus inflammation, or tight tendons, your Acupuncture practitioner might wonder about the quality of the Jin-Ye, or fluids, in your body. To support proper fluid metabolism in the body, it's important to put an adequate amount of fluid into the Stomach, specifically water. "All living things are born from fluid … Water is the mother of the Three Sources of Heaven, Earth and Humans." -- Chang Ching-Yueh , The Book of Classifications (circa 2nd century B.C.) For her Sun Tea, Leslee used double copper purified & structured water. She says "this structured water passes through copper filtration and also a dynamic pathway that leads to its restructuring post filtration, a return to its natural crystalline like formation." About the Creator Leslee Kurihara lives on Ohlone land in San Francisco, CA. She is a student of Classical 5 Element Acupuncture with the Lingshu Institute, as well as a student of TCM at AIMC in Berkeley. She received her Undergraduate degree at the University of CA at Davis in Environmental Science and Design. Leslee believes in the tenets of healing as guided by the laws of nature and in honoring an individual's unique constitution as integral to the diagnostic and treatment process. Learn More Curious about herbal medicine? Check out our upcoming events to see if there are any Community Classes you'd like to join, or look over our Herbology curriculum to see if AIMC Berkeley could be the right place for you to learn East Asian Medicine Herbology in our Masters or Doctorate programs .

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 experiencing past-month psychological distress, a 35% reduction in the odds of past-year tobacco smoking, and a 44% reduction in the odds of past-year suicidal ideation” in survey respondents who had undergone gender affirming surgery. As we see an increase in the number of these surgeries occurring, we want to ensure that patients have access to the best possible care and resources for their recovery. We want to highlight a few modalities an Acupuncturist might use to help support a post-operative patient, and share a bit of the exciting, early-stage research verifying the efficacy of these ancient (and some more modern!) techniques. Acupuncturists, you can use these articles to inform your treatment choices when working with a post-operative patient. It is important to note that this blog post is not medical advice. Folks interested in learning more about these modalities, as well as gender-affirming surgeries, should find a local, licensed practitioner. Scar Healing Techniques in East Asian Medicine “Surround the Dragon” Acupuncture Techniques: In EAM, scars can cause qi and blood stagnation, which causes pain. For folks healing from gender-affirming surgery, there is evidence that “Surround the Dragon” and other traditional needling techniques can support with scar pain, facilitate wound healing, and reduce loss of sensation. Efficacy of acupuncture in treating scars following tissue trauma The successful treatment of pain associated with scar tissue using acupuncture Dry needling for scar treatment Encircling needling is superior to "Bangci"(focal center-side needling) in promoting wound healing in diabetic mice Acupuncture with e-stimulation: In addition to more traditional needling techniques, modern Acupuncturist may reach for an e-stim device to enhance the effects of treatment. There has been some exciting research conducted to better understand the impacts of acupuncture with the addition of electrical-stimulation on scar and wound healing. The use of acupuncture-like electrical stimulation for wound healing of lesions unresponsive to conventional treatment Electroacupuncture: Applications in the Treatment of Chronic Nonhealing Wounds Moxibustion: Moxibustion is the EAM practice of burning dried mugwort leaves near or on the skin to warm and initiate the flow of qi and clear pathogenic factors in the surrounding areas. One study looked at the ways moxibustion may promote wound healing in rats, and we are hopeful there are more studies to link it’s benefits to healing. Moxibustion Promotes Formation of Granulation in Wound Healing Process through Induction of Transforming Growth Factor-β in Rats Internal herbal medicines: There is a long history of prescribing and ingesting herbal medicines to enhance health and vitality across the world. In East Asian Medicine, we have a number of herbs and formulas we may reach for depending on the patients constitution. One famous formulation for pain relief and wound healing is the patented medicine Yunnan Baiyao. Research Advances in Pharmacology, Safety, and Clinical Applications of Yunnan Baiyao, a Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula Effects of Yunanan Baiyao adjunct therapy on postoperative recovery and clinical prognosis of patients with traumatic brain injury: A randomized controlled trial External application of herbal medicines: Herbs in EAM's materia medica can also be applied topically for dermatological concerns as well as wound healing. One study found that the application of Astragali Radix, or Astragalus root, accelerated healing by suppressing inflammation and stimulating cell growth in the wound area. This is an exciting finding, and we hope to see more studies of topical herb applications! Wound-healing activity of Astragali Radix in rats Bonus: An exciting study tested the development of a band-aid treated with Yunnan Baioyao (see: Internal Medicines above) for an external, topical application on the wound. We are incredibly excited to see a greater emphasis on identifying ways EAM can support LGBTQ+ people in their gender identity exploration, and we are looking forward to further research that will only help our community of practitioners to deepen their practice and understanding of these specific health issues. If you have undergone Gender Affirming Surgery and are still working to recover sensation or reduce pain after surgery, an Acupuncturist could make a great ally on that journey. As with every helping profession, not every acupuncturist practices from a sex-positive, trauma-informed, or radical liberation perspective; we encourage Queer folks looking for East Asian medicine to seek care that will affirm and celebrate their identities. To do so, you could search this growing database from the Queer Circle Podcast, seek care at a POCA-affiliated community clinic* , or look for a local Acupuncturist who includes language around non-discrimination on their website or marketing materials. At AIMC, we strive to make our classrooms and our clinic safer spaces for all who seek care, including those with LGBTQ+ identities. About the Author Molly Pilloton Lam is a first-year Master's student at AIMC with a background in working with BIPOC communities in education, educational leadership, public health, and trauma-informed youth mental health program settings. She is interested in expanding education and equitable access to acupuncture and EAM in BIPOC and communities, particularly to support people with the impacts of trauma. She is excited to be a student at AIMC for her pathway to acupuncture, and looks forward to uplifting its traditional practices and other BIPOC practitioners' voices.

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 summer produce with a high water content like cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, corn, summer squash and berries. This time of year, we can tolerate the largest proportion of raw foods in the diet, and these are best consumed at midday when our systems are the most yang (energetic and warm). Maximum nutrition comes with maximum enjoyment, so take the time to savor your meals, chew thoroughly and give thanks for the abundance of the summer harvest. Here's a recipe for a cooling side dish for summer so you can enjoy the fruits of the season! Cooling Cucumber Salad A few quick tricks for preparation make this one extra digestible, clearing heat without damaging your precious digestive fire. We'll be using all the parts of the vegetables for maximum fiber and benefit to the microbiome. 2 large cucumbers, scrubbed to remove any wax on the peels 1/2 tsp. sea salt 3 scallions 1 bunch mint, basil, parsley, cilantro or a combination 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/2 teaspoon rice or white wine vinegar 1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (optional) red pepper flakes to taste Slice the cucumbers lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Slice thinly on the diagonal and toss with the salt. Place into a colander resting over large bowl and allow to drain for 30 minutes or more while you prepare the other ingredients. Slide the scallions thinly on the diagonal including both the white and green parts. Place in a bowl and cover with water, adding a handful of ice to get it really cold, and allow to soak at least 15 minutes. Pull the herb leaves off the stems and chop the tender parts of the stems finely. When you are ready to assemble the salad, press the cucumbers lightly to squeeze out the extra water and place in a serving bowl. Drain the scallions and dry by wrapping in a tea towel and squeezing gently and add these to the cucumbers. Add the herb leaves and their minced stems, the vinegar and a dash of pepper flakes, then toss together and start tasting for a balance of tart, bitter, salty, herbaceous and heat. Correct the seasoning and finally finish with olive oil and seeds if using. About the Author Nishanga Bliss

On Sunday, May 22, 2022, the AIMC community came together on Ohlone Land at the Berkeley Marina to celebrate the graduation of candidates of the Masters in Science and Doctor of Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine. It was a joyous occasion, honoring the accomplishments of AIMC students, and their new chapters as practitioners. Faculty spoke, families applauded their graduates, our graduates took the Acupuncturist’s Oath, and the celebration also included a Taiko drumming performance by Emeryville Taiko. The summer season is prime for joy, warmth, and connection, and this event captured all of these aspects! The day was particularly poignant as it was the first Graduation Ceremony AIMC has held after cancelling in 2020 due to COVID-19. It was a touching reunion of many classes and classmates from the last few years. After all the joy and celebration of the day was over, we asked some of our graduates about their reflections, next adventures, and tips for folks interested in pursuing a degree in acupuncture. “I am most looking forward to assisting clients with their health and emotional journeys in life, and also rebooting my Buddhist meditation teaching/ practicing. My big dream is to develop a series of short and long retreats for LGBT+ folks to connect deeply with Buddhist practice and repair the community’s relationship with religious practice, much of which has historically disenfranchised us, to say the least.” - Clay Daulton, on his next adventure after school “I hope that many people take up the cause of learning to grow at a very high quality and sustainably as well as supporting families and organizations in Asia that are growing sustainable herbs. We will also need to establish places of higher learning where people can learn the art of Pao Zhi which is essentially completely unknown in the country but takes years of study in China. I would also love to see community acupuncture continue to expand to be available in more hospitals but also nursing homes, college health centers and even high schools as a low tech, very supportive complement to other modalities. I would really like to see greater respect for the herbal formulae, as that is not currently covered by insurance, but is an incredibly powerful tool for health that I think a great number of people could benefit from.” -Peregrine Whitehurst on her hopes for the future of acupuncture and East Asian herbal medicine “None of us could have predicted how the events of the last few years would impact our culture, our community, and our personal lives. And yet, through it all, we persevered. We pivoted, we moved online, we hustled, we found new ways to engage with each other, our education, our patients, our projects, and our communities <…> As we look to the future, I invite my fellow graduates to consider, how will you harness and share all this knowledge, passion, and excitement that you’ve been cultivating? What will you do to help create a better, healthier, more sustainable future for our patients, for our profession, and for ourselves?” - from Ilana Harms' graduation speech We are so proud of our graduates, and look forward to seeing all of the ways they will provide comprehensive care to our community with their new degrees, knowledge, and dedication to our field. Congratulations again to the graduating classes of 2020, 2021, and 2022! If you’d like to connect or follow along with the featured Alums of this article, please contact: Clay Daulton: Clay's Instagram Peregrine Whitehurst: she/her; Cedar Heart Wellness or email info@cedarheartwellness.com. Ilana Harms: she/her/hers. Ilana's website or email hello@ilanaharms.com Ready to Explore a Career in Acupuncture? Explore our Master’s and Doctorate programs or attend our next Open House or Community Class to learn more. Contact Admissions to get more information & receive announcements about upcoming Application deadlines.

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 muscle test a patient’s core, discover “sluggishness” as she called it, gently stimulate a handful of acupuncture points, and re-test. And, voila, the “sluggishness” disappeared and the patient’s core was ready to go for a big sports event the next day. We watched a similar sequence of events for what Dr. Nieters called a “snoozy” adductor. When joking that a muscle is sluggish or snoozy, Dr. Nieters is referring to a muscle that seemed inhibited or slow to fire when tested, and then looking for evidence that the muscle could fire quickly with speed and strength after it was treated. A Sports-focused Acupuncturist like Dr. Nieters will adjust their treatment strategy around a patient’s training & event schedule. Close to an event, she uses fewer needles & a more gentle approach so that little recovery is needed from the impact of the needles; her goal is to make sure that a person is ready in body, mind, and spirit for their event. This could mean activation of the parasympathetic nervous system so the athlete can head into the event calm and clear; providing support for a known injury and ensuring as much healthy range of motion as possible; or making sure that muscles are "turned on" and ready to fire. In the days after a big event, Dr. Nieters works with the athlete to meet their needs, which might include recovery from a crude injury, helping with blood flow and microcirculation for recovery, clearing inflammation and acute edema, or pain management. Assessment So how does a Sports Acupuncturist figure out where to put the needles? If you come into an Acupuncturist’s office pointing to your knee and telling us it’s in pain, you might expect us to stick a bunch of needles in that knee. While it may be the case that some needles can and should be used on and around that joint, you might be surprised to find that we're also incorporating needles on your feet or hands, back, chest, abdomen, and even on the ear to support you & relieve the pain in your knee! The first step to choosing the most supportive points is a thorough assessment looking for the root cause of pain. “If something is tight, that might not mean we need to go in and release it. Why is it tight? Could it be because something else is weak, and the tightness is actually protective? If you find and activate that weakness, the tightness will resolve itself.” To make her assessment and build a treatment plan, Dr. Nieters relies on a number of senses and tools: Listening: First and foremost, Dr. Nieters is always listening to the patient's concerns and assessing where the injury or pain is as well as where the patient is psychologically. Observing: Dr. Nieters watches her patients move from the moment they walk in the door. She may have spotted a hip drop or reduced arm swing by the time the patient has even arrived at the table. Testing: With a clear picture of someone's concern and how they move, Dr. Nieters then often reaches for Orthopedic exams to further clarify the clinical picture. Palpation: Using her knowledge of Western medical anatomy as well as of the channels and points of East Asian Medicine, Dr. Nieters is always using information she finds under her fingers to guide treatment. Pain in a joint or muscle can come from many different places: trigger points, muscle chains, and agonist/antagonist sets of muscles can all create referrals of pain or tension. For Dr. Nieters, it’s not enough to notice where a muscle is tight– she wants to assess why it’s tight. If there’s tightness of the gastrocnemius or soleus in the calf, is it because there's an actual mechanical issue with the tissue-- like an injury, tear, or some scar tissue? Or, could it be because the gastrocnemius and soleus are compensating for weakness somewhere else in the kinetic chain? If there’s back pain & tension, is it due to core instability? Moving through the steps of her examination can help her answer these questions & find the best course of treatment. Dr. Nieters uses exams that would be familiar in a physical therapy or osteopath’s office to assess what muscle, tendon, or ligament may be the true cause of discomfort. She evaluates range of motion, performs muscle tests, and frequently uses Orthopedic exams, such as the Hawkins-Kennedy and Empty Can tests for shoulder issues. Treatment During our day of observation, Dr. Nieters flowed from assessment, to treatment, to re-assessment seamlessly throughout each treatment. She reached for a number of different tools throughout the day: most frequently used were of course acupuncture needles, but there were also topical applications, silicone cups, and various types of e-stim machines. Each of these tools allows an Acupuncturist to bring more Qi, blood, & lymphatic circulation to an area and stimulate the body’s internal healing mechanisms. Students were amazed that she could treat one muscle with two or three needles, briefly run some gentle electrical current through the tissue, remove the needles, and then re-evaluate and find dramatically different results. It’s More than Just the Muscles While she works closely with Western sports medicine providers and speaks their language fluently, she hasn't cast aside the language and wisdom of Traditional East Asian Medicine -- whether her patients realize it or not. She's working with athletes on the body, mind, and spirit level. For example, she acknowledged the stress and pressure that high-level athletes face and noted her most frequently used Acupuncture points to treat these aspects of the “spirit”. One might expect a Sports Acupuncturist to be primarily focusing on treating the "Sinew" level in East Asian Medicine, but Dr. Nieters explained that she's constantly working on more than one layer, from the “sinew” level to the “primary channel” level and even at the level of the 8 Extraordinary Vessels. One of our greatest gifts, she said, as Acupuncturists working in Sports Medicine is that we can marry Osteopathic wisdom with the beauty of the Acupuncture channels and system; we can choose points that will work simultaneously on multiple levels to support an athlete. Connect with Dr. Nieters When she's not on the sidelines of rugby or football games, you can find Dr. Nieters at her clinic Alameda Acupuncture where she sees patients 3 days a week. You can follow Dr. Nieters on Instagram to follow her many adventures in the world of Sports Acupuncture. Ready to learn more? Licensed Acupuncturists can learn more about Orthopedics in AIMC Berkeley’s Doctoral Completion program . Additionally, AIMC Berkeley plans to bring Dr. Nieters back to teach another day of Grand Rounds open to all Licensed Acupuncturists– join our CEU mailing list to find out when registration is open! Lastly, Dr. Nieters' teacher, Whitfield Reaves, offers a 6 month apprenticeship program where Dr. Nieters co-teaches. Ready to start your journey into integrative sports medicine and curious if AIMC is the right place for you to become an Acupuncturist? Explore our Master’s and Doctorate programs or attend our next Open House to learn more. Fill out this form to join our Admissions Information mailing list & receive announcements about upcoming Open Houses and Application deadlines.

From a letter sent to the AIMC Community on March 30th, 2022 "We are writing to share some updates that came out of the March 25th Board of Directors meeting. While we celebrate some new additions to the leadership of the school, our goodbyes to long-time AIMC leaders and visionaries Dr. Shuji Goto & Mr. Yasuo Tanaka have been bittersweet as we wish them each well in their retirement. Changes in the Board of Directors On March 25th, significant changes to the Board of Directors at AIMC were announced. As he now enters retirement, it is with deep gratitude that we thank Dr. Shuji Goto for his decades of service as Chair of the Board. As one of the key pioneers in supporting the growth of East Asian medicine in the United States, Dr. Goto has provided inspiration, guidance and patronage for our school. In a small token of our appreciation, he has been honored with the title Chair of the Board, Emeritus. Mr. Haro Ogawa has also decided to step down from the Board. An AIMC alumnus, we thank Mr. Ogawa for his years of dedication to the welfare of our institution. Moving up from the Vice Chair position is Mr. David Pacheco, who will assume the responsibilities of the Chair of the Board. Mr. Pacheco's decades of experience in higher education, strategic planning, and proud record of service to the community well qualifies him to take the helm. New Members of the Board As we enter this new chapter, the Board has decided to expand its total membership, prioritizing equitable representation and a diversity of perspectives. This is part of a conscious effort to have more stakeholders directly involved in the important decisions involved in school governance. To this end, we are proud to announce that the following community members have been added as voting members: Dr. Glenn Oberman, OMD, LAc., Clinic supervisor & didactic instructor Dr. Joyce Kwok, DAIM, LAc., Clinic supervisor & didactic instructor Dr. Robbyn Kawaguchi, PsyD, Director of Student Services Joyce Wu, L.Ac, AIMC alumna Nina Jung, L.Ac. We look forward to hearing their fresh perspectives on how to best support the interests of our community & thank them for their service to the school. Office of the President March 25th also marked the last day of President Yasuo Tanaka's tenure. With over a decade of service in this position, his impact can not be overstated. He has been honored with the title of President Emeritus & with the founding of the Yasuo Tanaka Excellence Fund, AIMC Berkeley's new Annual Fund, in recognition of his dedication and perseverance. Donate Now The board has initiated a nation-wide search for his replacement, and plans to select the best candidate before the end of April. In the meantime, Vice President of Education and Clinical Director, Joseph Davis, DAOM, will serve as the Interim President. We all know that the health of an individual or an organization is marked by the ability to adapt to change. We are confident that these new developments will allow us the flexibility to embrace a new era of continued success. We eagerly anticipate cultivating the next generation of practitioners and leaders in East Asian and Integrative Medicine together." Do you know someone interested in the nexus of reimagining healthcare, higher education, and non-profit administration? We're looking for qualified candidates for the Presidency now! Visit our Careers page to learn more & help us spread the word! About the Position

While we celebrate Black Acupuncturists & local Black innovators, activists, creators, entrepreneurs, scholars, teachers, caregivers, and community members year round, we're excited to share some opportunities for our community to celebrate Black History Month this year. You can use the links below to educate yourself about the radical Black history of Acupuncture, find Black Acupuncturists near you, and support local Black owned businesses. Ideas to Celebrate Black History in East Asian Medicine & in the Bay Area: Read Maya Zitrin’s Zine: Acupuncture is Activism Watch documentary Dope is Death about the radical history of Acupuncture in the US Listen to the Dope is Death Podcast to dive deeper Find a Black Acupuncturist near you Read about Oakland’s own “People’s Doctor”, Dr. Tolbert Small Visit the Black Power exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California Finally, support local Black-Owned Businesses . Some of our favorites are: AIMC’s neighbor Rasa Caffe (try the Rose Latte, you won’t regret it) Organic Skin & Haircare by Beija Flor Naturals Sustainable, beautiful clothes designed by Aliya Wanek Plants & well-curated homegoods by Blk Girls Green House The Nation’s Oldest Black-Owned Independent Bookstore, Marcus Books Another coffee-slinging neighbor: Alchemy Collective Cafe AIMC Students, if you have a vision for an event, activity, or other project to celebrate Black History at AIMC, you can apply for Diversity Grant funds to bring your idea to life.