My last major update was during the early months of the pandemic in 2020. Much has changed since then. When I closed my practice in February 2020, I thought I was going to continue as an acupuncture practitioner. The pandemic forced a change in those plans, as it made so many of us confront new realities and reassess our priorities.

Here I explain a bit about how I got to where I am now, studying to become a Physician Assistant (or PA, also known as a Physician Associate), and where I hope to be headed next.

Plans change

The initial plan in early 2020 was to transition out of private practice and work for a larger institution. I am so proud of my time in practice and the work I got to do for patients as an acupuncturist. However, being an entrepreneur and business owner was more stressful than rewarding for me. I wanted to find a way to stay in medicine and focus on providing excellent patient care instead of devoting my energy to marketing and operations.

When I was studying acupuncture, the terminal clinical degree was a masters. Soon after I graduated, the clinical doctorate became available and I knew I wanted to complete that both for my own sense of accomplishment and to be a strong candidate for hospital practice. I was accepted to my alma mater for the transitional doctorate program, a completion process to effectively convert my masters to a doctorate with a focused set of coursework.

The most exciting aspect of the doctoral program for me was a new practical experience at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital providing shonishin (insertion-free pediatric acupuncture). I always enjoyed this aspect of acupuncture but hadn’t had a chance to provide it much in my adult-focused practice. I signed up for a continuing education course (CEU) in early March and prepared to start the doctoral program in May.

We all know what happened next. In both my pediatric shonishin class and BLS/CPR class, we washed our hands more, sat farther apart, and whispered nervously. During the latter class, we found out that San Francisco was shutting down and entering quarantine. In an eerily quiet city, I also started IVF treatments the next day.

As the doctoral program faced delays and the prospect of the hospital externship faded, IVF failed as well. I entered the darkest period of my life. Most of us weren’t in a good place that year. The idea of working with children or staying in fertility medicine gradually became unthinkable to me. I had to completely reconsider what I might do with my personal and professional life, now so intertwined.

Why PA?

I reflected on my goals, strengths, and what I could make progress on during quarantine. While I briefly considered leaving medicine, I knew it held work I loved and was well-suited to. As I considered where else I might turn within medicine, I thought about what I loved about acupuncture and what had not been as successful for me. I missed being part of a team. One of the simultaneous rewarding and lonely things about running my own practice was that while I had complete control over treatments and the patient experience, I didn’t have coworkers. This introvert really missed people (I guess I was becoming an ambivert)! So it was strangely ironic that having come to that conclusion, I was now stuck in my apartment and beginning to take recorded online classes (so no teacher or classmates either).

I had looked into a number of different roles in medicine and found that a PA had the mixture of autonomy, flexibility, and teamwork that I was looking for. By design PAs work with other healthcare professionals. We have collaborating physicians and, depending on practice location, work with many other professionals from pharmacists to nurses to social workers. PAs can diagnose and treat, write prescriptions, and perform procedures, even assisting in surgeries. I liked that the training was as a generalist but there were opportunities to specialize, just like with acupuncture. PAs can also switch specialities with ease, compared to other providers who require academic retraining to transition.

Applying to PA school required taking a number of prerequisite courses so I effectively went back to college pre-med from home. I took online classes with lab components from my living room and a number of standardized tests and wrote a lot of application essays. I also worked as a medical scribe in a primary care clinic to surround myself with the medicine and processes I would need to become familiar with. That preparatory process took over two years, but it was a very productive way to spend the pandemic years!

What are you doing now?

In June 2023, my husband, our car-loving rescue dog (the best addition during the pandemic), and I drove cross-country and moved to Atlanta, GA. I have started the 29 month graduate program at Emory University to become a physician assistant (PA). My 50+ classmates and I recently finished our foundation (first) semester, which included a full cadaver dissection and practical courses in conducting medical interviews and physical exams. Much of it was review from acupuncture school, but in additional depth as we will be doing different things with the information.

In January 2024 we begin our didactic or classroom year of study, divided into modules. First is psychiatry, then dermatology, infectious diseases, etc. Each module will cover the major conditions and interventions with some practical instruction as applicable (casts for orthopedics, lumbar punctures and suturing, etc). I’m looking forward to the opportunities for us to talk with and examine real patients within each module. This kind of clinical exposure brings our learning to life and makes it feel more applicable to our future work. Plus, it reminds me why I am doing all this work: to get back to excellent patient care.

Where do you see PA taking you?

I plan to stay open regarding my specialty/ practice area as I still have a lot to experience in school. The most obvious thing for me to do is go into primary care because it is the most similar to what I was doing before and would most likely allow me to treat patients holistically. I like the idea of being back in an area where I can create relationships with my patients and their families over time.

Other areas that interest me right now:

• Oncology: meeting someone on their worst day and providing them with comfort, information, and options feels like a good use of my skills. This area is prone to burnout so I will have to take extra care of myself, but I know PAs who absolutely love it and find it so rewarding they would never do anything else.

• Hematology: in many ways, related to oncology (and often grouped together). But blood and blood disorders specifically have always interested me. There are always new therapies being developed and I like the idea of always learning something new.

• Neurology/Neurosurgery: Neuroanatomy and function is simply fascinating. Again, meeting someone on a scary day and helping to walk them through it feels appropriate and rewarding for me. And I have heard this area described as particularly related to root causes, which aligns well with my way of thinking from Eastern medicine. If it’s a stroke, for example, what kind and what prompted it must be determined to identify the right treatment. As far as surgery goes, I have not yet been in an operating room, but I suspect I may enjoy using my hands and performing or assisting in procedures.

• Hospitalist: A sort of inpatient primary care. The team who ties things together and clarifies and communicates and coordinates. A person may be admitted to the hospital with bladder cancer but they still need their diabetes and hypothyroid conditions managed. Someone has to make sure all the individual decisions make sense as a whole and that the patient understands what is recommended.

We shall see what else seems to fit as time goes on!

Where does acupuncture fit into this?

I will always be an acupuncturist first. My background and the way of thinking I was trained in shapes how I’m learning and approaching allopathic / Western medicine now. I may find a way to use acupuncture and moxibustion in my practice as a PA or they may be therapies I practice part-time outside of my PA role. I can’t be sure yet, but life is full of surprises so I will trust that somehow the threads will weave together.

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac., Dipl. OM. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist. She is currently in the process of becoming a physician associate (PA) as well because of the benefits to patients found in both systems and their points of intersection. Shawna ran an acupuncture practice in San Francisco focused on promoting women’s health, particularly surrounding menstrual health and fertility. She believes in using the gentlest effective methods possible to guide her patients to balance. Get in touch with your questions or comments. To learn more about Japanese medicine and the world of acupuncture, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post and throughout this site are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent any university or other organization the author may be affiliated with.

Here are four very different book options (with a few bonus suggestions) that I recommend to those who wants to explore this beautiful and effective medical system as it works in and beyond the treatment room.

The Web that has No Weaver

By Ted Kaptchuk (1983, 2nd edition 2000)

Best for: Anyone considering going to acupuncture school, People who want to know more after reading the other books on this list

Most acupuncturists I know recommend this book frequently to patients and I certainly picked up a copy very early in my Chinese Medicine education as a result. However, I don’t actually think it’s the best introduction available to the initially interested patient.

For one, it’s incredibly dense. Small print, no shortcuts. I didn’t get around to reading it until after my first term of acupuncture school and was shocked to find that all the important theory I learned was represented in the first half of the book. So I do think it’s a great book, but I don’t think most people start out seeking this level of detail. If you do pick it up, go with the second edition.

Bonus: Everyone should pay attention to Ted Kaptchuk’s research as his work on the placebo effect and harnessing it intentionally is fascinating and has important implications for medicine as a whole. Consider: if the placebo effect results in people feeling better, why not use it on purpose? A space that is quiet, smells good, and provides comfortable spaces to sit or lie down has been shown to decrease stress levels, putting us in a more parasympathetic state, which is more conducive to healing. Designing a waiting room and treatment area with those qualities can therefore be thought of as part of the treatment itself! I certainly saw patients visibly relax (and felt the difference in their pulses coming in off the street vs after being in the room for a bit). It wasn’t just the acupuncture treatment that had them wanting to come back. I designed my clinic to feel like a refuge because that in itself is medicinal. Western medicine is catching up to this idea with companies like One Medical thoughtfully designing offices and waiting rooms that calm mind, body, and spirit.

Wood Becomes Water: Chinese Medicine in Everyday Life 

By Dr. Gail Reichstein (1998)

Best for: Casual readers who want a reference to flip through and read in sections

This is my main recommendation to most patients who are curious to learn more about Chinese Medicine. For one, it has a very classical focus and is organized in such a way that you can read it cover to cover or flip through to different sections and still get a lot out of it. It’s easy to get a sense of which section may apply best to you based on the types of symptoms you experience (which element or organ is most representative for your or best describes your pattern) and has easy to interpret suggestions for how to begin to use diet, lifestyle, and other interventions for yourself.

This type of guide gets to the heart of the medicine for me. It’s accessible and explains to a Western audience what a lot of people growing up in East Asia or the diaspora understand and use in their daily lives.

Bonus: If you like this one you may also enjoy Live Well Live Long: Teachings from the Chinese Nourishment of Life Tradition by Peter Deadman (2016).

The Spark in the Machine: How the Science of Acupuncture Explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine

By Dr. Daniel Keown (2014)

Best for: Scientific minds

Want your mind blown? This book bowled me over again and again and I still can’t get enough of it. There are so many ways that Chinese medicine and Western medicine overlap and ways in which they can explain each other’s complexities. This is my favorite book to come back to when I want to remember how much more we have in common than separates us. I can’t wait to be an ambassador for both fields and find yet more ways that they connect.

Dr. Keown is an emergency medicine doctor who went on to study acupuncture and has since blended the two. Using fundamentals of embryology and anatomy, Dr. Keown theorizes that the best structural explanation of acupuncture channels is fascia.

This connective tissue layer that wraps our muscles and organs also conducts and generates electricity (it is piezoelectric). Keown stresses the importance of that ability in unlocking the regenerative abilities of our bodies and asks if this energy could be considered qi while maintaining and respecting the complexity of the classical concept of qi. Fascia stretches in continuous sheets from, for example, the ankle to the jaw, providing potential Western explanations for how treating the ankle can release the jaw. And in classical fashion, it is both the structure of fascia and the presence of space between it that promotes health. And this is just the first few pages!

Bonus: If you’re an acupuncturist who already loves this book, take Dr. Keown’s continuing education classes. I loved them both and found they built very nicely on what I had learned from reading. In one memorable anecdote he shows visuals of a thyroid surgery that uses the Lung channel, bringing the connections he wrote about into bright focus. He is an engaging lecturer and teacher and the kind of practitioner and thinker I hope to be.

Energy Medicine

by Dr. Jill Blakeway (2019)

Best for: Stripping away skepticism with its focus on the scientific research while still being a very readable travel memoir

Though Dr. Blakeway is a well-known and respected acupuncturist and author, this book is less about acupuncture than about energy medicines as a whole. So if the side of the medicine that intrigues you most is how the intent of the practitioner comes into play or how distance healing or healing without touching the patient as in reiki or medical qigong could possibly work, this book is for you. Just when your inner skeptic starts to balk, Dr. Blakeway outlines the careful research that supports these seemingly strange methods and you find yourself wondering what else we’re going to learn and what implications this research might have on treatments in the future.

This was the first book about acupuncture from a mainstream publisher and while I often wish it spent more time on acupuncture itself, it’s an accessible entry-point into scientific research that is otherwise difficult to imagine and an aspect of acupuncture practice that isn’t often discussed elsewhere.

Bonus: If you like this one you may also enjoy The Energy Cure: Unraveling the Mystery of Hands-On Healing by Dr. William Bengston (2010)

A Note On Finding These Books

Where possible I have linked to each book through Bookshop.org which allows you to find a local bookstore near you to support with your order (go to Choose a Bookstore link at top right). I don’t receive a commission for any of these links. I’d also encourage you to support your public library as many either already stock or would be happy to order these titles.

More to Read

Looking for Children’s Book Recommendations?
Understanding Acupuncture Through Children’s Books is the blog post for you.

Have I missed any acupuncture books that you know and love?
Send me your suggestions! There are many books by Asian and Asian-American authors that I use as a practitioner, but I haven’t found any titles yet to recommend for a general audience. If you have any in mind, please share them with me as I would love to know about and recommend them!

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac., Dipl. OM. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist. She is currently in the process of becoming a physician associate (PA) as well because of the benefits to patients found in both systems and their points of intersection. Shawna ran an acupuncture practice in San Francisco focused on promoting women’s health, particularly surrounding menstrual health and fertility. She believes in using the gentlest effective methods possible to guide her patients to balance. Get in touch with your questions or comments. To learn more about Japanese medicine and the world of acupuncture, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi.

Having gone through the onslaught of multiple daily injections, I realized I may have an approach to injections that the average fertility patient may not know could help them. So here’s how I avoided bruising during my treatment and you can too.

First, this is not a 100% guarantee that you won’t bruise at all. Why? The area that your med teach team has instructed you to use avoids any major veins and arteries so you’re not going to do any serious damage. However, capillaries are still present in this area, individually they’re too small to be seen and avoided, and there’s no reliable map for them. So capillaries can be punctured and produce small areas of bruising. If this happens, you’re fine. This doesn’t interfere with your results. But bruising is just one more thing that may make your IVF experience less comfortable and more stressful and if that can be avoided, I’m all for it. The techniques I’m outlining here will prevent most bruising and I’ll include some notes at the end on treating any bruising that does appear.

Second, if anything I’m saying goes against what your med teach team instructs you to do, go with their advice above mine. You must follow the instructions for your medications. I don’t anticipate any conflicts, but of course I want to make sure you’re using your medications properly and I don’t know your individual case.

The basics? Palpate, ice, alcohol swab, let the alcohol dry, distract, inject, sustained pressure, ice again.

Let’s go over this in more detail including why these steps are helpful:

1. Palpate: Palpation is examining by feeling or touch. Before you’re going to inject a spot, gently but with firm pressure, press with a finger or two until you find an area that’s not tender. Explore your body. If you’ve already done an injection or you’re several days into your stimulation cycle, it may be harder to find a non-tender spot. But there’s going to be some spot that’s less tender than the others. It might be small. But injection needles are smaller than your finger. Your finger might hurt more than the needle does (that’s my goal here, anyway)!

2. Ice: Why ice? Generally acupuncturists don’t like ice because cold constricts and constriction means stagnation and prolonged stagnation will eventually lead to pain. And pain is what we’re often presented with to treat in our patients. So other than acute trauma (for example, right after spraining your ankle or tearing a muscle), we tend to recommend warmth over ice to open up the capillaries, promote bloodflow, and introduce healing to the area (think platelets, endorphins, white blood cells, etc).

   Ah, did you catch that? Warmth will open up the capillaries. Cold constricts them. And in this case we don’t want the capillaries open (briefly) because we want to avoid bruising! So wrap an ice cube in a paper towel or kitchen towel, choose your injection site, and press the wrapped ice cube to your skin until you feel numb when you poke yourself in the area with a finger.

3. Alcohol swab: Alcohol swab because we want the injection site to be clean. Don’t rub the swab around. One neat swipe or a spiral so you don’t go over the spot and then ruin your work by going back over it again with a now not perfectly clean swab.

4. Wait: Make sure you wait to inject until the alcohol is no longer wet! Sometimes I think we have this idea that it’s only clean while it’s wet, but that’s not true! If you inject while it’s wet, it’s going to sting. Wait until it’s dried on the skin (this doesn’t take long - isopropyl alcohol evaporates quickly). 15-20 seconds should do it, which is about how much time it’ll take for you to do the next few steps anyway unless you’re rushing. (Don’t rush. Breathe.)

5. Distraction: Once you have your syringe assembled and ready to go (depending on how long that takes you, you might want to do all that before you start step one), grab the skin around your chosen injection site hard enough to get your attention. I even used my fingernails (not enough to do damage, but enough to notice), something I wouldn’t do with my patients. The trick here is to distract your brain with more sensation than just the needle insertion.

   If you have a partner/ moral supporter with you, have them put their hand on your shoulder, back, knee, or other easy to reach comforting spot and gently massage.

6. Inject: Take a deep breath. Longer than standard inhale and exhale. Do it again if you have to to relax. Your sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight/freeze) will release its hold with longer breaths. As you breathe out, insert the injection needle firmly and steadily (not too fast, not too slow). The med teach instructions I got advised to “insert like a dart.” No one likes to be a dartboard. You’re not throwing it at yourself. Just put it in perpendicularly. But it doesn’t have to be sudden. You can insert the initial aspect of the needle quickly and then slowly continue as you breathe at a calm pace.

   I found having my thumb on the plunger of the needle was the most comfortable and strongest position. So I could insert with the syringe in my palm with fingers wrapped around it (like a fist) and my thumb free for the plunger. That meant that even with the hard pressure pens (like Gonal-F), I didn’t have to reposition if I was having trouble making sure the entire dose was administered.

   Once the needle is fully inserted, slowly and steadily push the plunger to administer the full dose. Pause at the end to ensure the dose has left the needle before beginning to remove the syringe.

7. Sustained pressure: Have gauze standing by. I found it was best to have my partner hand me gauze as I removed the syringe slowly and steadily. Otherwise you can have it on a clean surface already unwrapped from its package within easy reaching distance. As immediately as possible while carefully disposing of the syringe in a sharps container (again, I traded my partner for gauze), place gauze against the injection site and apply pressure. I found it helpful to combine this step with ice.

8. Ice again: Put that covered ice cube over the gauze and use it to apply pressure and re-chill the area (constricting capillaries). If anything was punctured, pressure and cold will minimize bruising. This also helps to distract the brain and resolve pain from the injection, including any burning or stinging sensation from the medication. I also recommend singing, sighing, crying, or cursing. If that injection hurt, make noise! My theory is that this is also a form of distraction as well as a movement of the qi (great for relieving pain). You’ve seen those studies that say people who curse had higher pain thresholds? No? Check it out. Fascinating stuff.

I found that sometimes a minute was sufficient with that last icing and sometimes I wanted to sit with it for longer. You’ll know when you’re ready to take it off. And if you have to do another injection right afterward, just repeat all the steps (you’ll probably need a new ice cube in addition to the obvious new gauze, alcohol swab, etc).

Oh no, I bruised anyway!

Remember, you’re not a failure. We don’t have total control over our capillaries (we generally can’t see them) and you just happened to hit one. You’ll recover and this in the grand scheme of things in this cycle is truly small. You’ll have used some extra gauze and maybe you’ll want a small bandaid, but you’re ok. Breathe.

There are some things that help with bruising, but you may not want to use them and that’s ok. If you’re unsure, discuss with your physician and follow their advice. Even as a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist I was surprised by how many things I would normally feel totally safe doing that I wanted to avoid during IVF because any controllable variables felt like they should be avoided. And there were so many things I couldn’t control or was stressed out by. Decreasing stress and anxiety is key during IVF so if you have a little bruise and you aren’t bothered by it or the thought of treating it is more upsetting to you, breathe and move on.

Some things that address bruising include:

• Arnica gel. This is a homeopathic remedy you can get at most drugstores now over the counter. I would not recommend oral arnica during IVF even though it may be safe. Applying a small dot of the gel on the bruise is intended to help resolve bruising and relieve pain.

• Moxibustion. If you’re working with an acupuncturist who has given you at home moxa tools, they can instruct you on how to use these to treat bruising. Do not use without the aid of a licensed acupuncturist or herbalist knowledgeable about moxa, abdominal acupuncture points, and fertility.

• Mild heat. A hot water bottle at mild to medium heat the day after you bruise may be helpful to resolve bruising.

I hope that your cycle goes well and you feel supported during this time. If this was helpful or you have more questions about IVF, fertility treatment, or acupuncture, please get in touch.

Photo by Alicia Petresc on Unsplash

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

…

It is with mixed emotions that I am announcing the closure of my acupuncture practice, Shawna Seth, L.Ac. After Friday February 21, 2020 I will no longer be seeing patients at my current office. It has been an honor and great pleasure providing for your health and wellness needs. My wish is that my departure be as easy on you as possible.

To my current patients: My priority is continuing to provide quality care for you through Friday February 21. My recommendation for you is to continue with our regular schedule (or more frequent if you want to maximize time together). As part of our work together over the next month, I will make sure you have a personalized transition plan. Then I'll work with your next acupuncturist as appropriate to make continuation of care as smooth as possible.

Even if I'm Not a Current Patient, What Do I Need to Do? At this time, I recommend that you begin to arrange for care with another acupuncturist. I have a set of practitioners I particularly recommend and can provide that list at your request. You may also want to refer to your insurance directory for a list of in network practitioners in the area. You're also welcome to come back and see me while I'm still available (through Friday, February 21).

Your medical records are confidential. To allow Shawna Seth, L.Ac. to transfer or release your medical records, please complete the authorization form I am mailing to you (contact me for an electronic version) and return it to my office as soon as possible. If you do not choose to transfer your medical records, no further action is required and your records will remain on file.

Why? I am so proud of what we've built together. I set out to create a space and experience that anticipated your needs and gave you a place to feel heard, relaxed, empowered, and restored so you could heal and understand why so you were more in charge of your own health. I believe we achieved that. And I have genuinely loved being your acupuncturist. The truth is that running a business is challenging and for that reason I have decided to take my career in a different direction.

What's Next? I have joined Integrative Fertility, a group of local acupuncturists who provide on-site care at fertility centers in San Francisco. So while I determine my next full-time position (and hopefully beyond), I will still be doing fertility acupuncture. I will be returning to the Integrative Fertility Symposium in April to keep updated on the best science and techniques in our field. And I hope to find a full-time position that continues the women’s health work that is so meaningful to me.

I plan to continue sharing my viewpoint and expertise on my A Cuppa Qi blog and Instagram so stay subscribed to keep updated and let me know if there's something you'd like to see from me here.

Staying in Touch

If you have any questions, I can be reached at contact@shawnaseth.com

I have greatly valued our relationship and thank you for your loyalty and trust over the years. I hope there is at least one aha moment or tip or memory that has helped you beyond the acupuncture treatment itself. If you would be willing to share that with me now or in the future that would be amazing. You are amazing and I have been so humbled and grateful to work with you.

Best wishes for your future health and wellness,

Shawna

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Bonus: the ingredients help move and counteract some of the stagnation from heavy holiday meals (so these would also make a great dessert for Thanksgiving or December cookie swaps). Enjoy in moderation, of course.

Sesame Orange Cookies: Recipe

Food-grade Herbs included:

Black Sesame Seeds (Hei Zhi Ma) – Tonify Yin (sweet, neutral)

• Tonifies Liver and Kidneys, nourishes yin and blood, lubricates intestines

• Lightly slows aging signs (graying hair, wrinkles, dry skin), aids constipation

Aged Tangerine Peel (Pinyin: Chen Pi) – Regulate Qi (spicy, bitter, warm, aromatic)

• Promotes the flow of qi, dries damp and transforms phlegm, helps prevent stagnation

• Aids digestion

Cardamon (Pinyin: Sha Ren) – Aromatic to Transform Damp (spicy, warm, aromatic)

• Promotes movement of qi, transforms dampness, and strengthens SP

• Aids digestion

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (or substitute non-wheat flour of your preference)

• 2 sticks unsalted butter

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup baking sugar (or substitute honey or other preferred alternative)

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 large egg

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 tbsp Chen Pi (dried/aged satsuma peel) chopped fine*

• 3/4 cup black sesame seeds, ground*

• 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamon

*Organic is best. I used Hunza organic black sesame seeds and dried my own organic satsuma peels in the oven on low temperature (see instructions above).

Note: You will have to change amounts based on your choice if you make substitutions.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In medium/small bowl, melt butter then stir in sugar.

In large bowl, combine dry ingredients except flour. Add butter and sugar mixture to large bowl. Add egg and vanilla extract. Now, a half cup at a time, slowly stir in flour.

Once all ingredients are blended, hand roll small balls of dough, add at least one additional piece of Chen Pi to each cookie, and place on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 8 min or until bottom is lightly browned.

Adjustments:

In future I would add additional Chen Pi at the end when rolling cookie balls to ensure every cookie has more than one piece of peel. Maybe add in a tsp fresh tangerine juice or zest as well.

Please let me know if you have other suggestions for adjustments!

Inspiration:

• Sha Ren and Chen Pi Cookies: http://lanafarson.com/classes/sha-ren-and-chen-pi-cookies-cardamon-orange-zest

• Black Sesame Cookies: http://joylicious.net/joylicious/2009/12/02/black-sesame-cookies

• Make Dried Orange or Lemon Peel: https://www.thespruceeats.com/make-dried-orange-or-lemon-peel-2017657

Other “Food as Medicine” Articles you may enjoy:

• Why Is Chicken Soup Good for a Cold?

• Why Is There Green Plastic in My Sushi?

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Plenty of herbs in the Eastern traditional medicine pharmacopeia (collection) are very familiar to us: what we call food-grade herbs. These are items most of us have in our spice cabinets, vegetable drawers, and fruit bowls. Using some or only these ingredients in a formula can make for some seriously tasty medicine!

Herbal combinations don’t have to be administered only in tailored treatment for a condition. Cinnamon, fennel, ginger, and black pepper are only a few of our food-grade herbs, which means we are supporting our digestion almost every time we eat. Just as we reach for mint for cool refreshment in the summer, turning to some wintery staples is a great way to nourish your system even while enjoying a sweet treat or hearty meal. Understanding the functions of our food-grade herbs helps us understand why some of our food traditions exist and why choosing one taste over another makes us feel better at a particular time.

Despite the wide variety of ingredients and tastes, the stereotype of Chinese herbal formulas unfairly persists as bitter and unfamiliar concoctions. The best way to counter this is to make and use your own herbs and familiarize yourself with them. Since food-grade herbs are incredibly safe (we eat them all the time), there’s a lot of room for experimentation and finding your own experience.

One of my favorite ways to use food as medicine is with homemade chen pi or dried tangerine peel. Satsuma or mikan (aka California Cuties or those little peelable oranges) are a big New Year’s food in my Japanese-tradition household. It’s easy to make use of the peels so this is a true no-waste food!

Make Your Own Herbs: Chen Pi

Some herbs require preparation to use. Chen Pi is dried and preferably aged. Make a big batch and your medicine will be even better in the future!

First, peel up and eat a bunch of tangerines or satsuma. Yum, so good. Save the peels!

1. Preheat your oven (or toaster oven to save energy) on low (200 degrees is usually perfect).

2. Lay out the peels on a baking sheet in a single layer. You don’t need a sheet of parchment paper, but you can use one.

3. Dehydrate the peels on this low oven setting for about 20-30 min (watch toward the end to make sure they don’t burn).

4. Store in an airtight container with a little bit of rice or other desiccant. Remember, this can keep for years if you make a big batch and keep it free of moisture!

How and When to Use Dried Orange Peel

Chen Pi is helpful for moving energy and supporting the digestion as well as drying dampness (like profuse sputum and mucus). You can enjoy a simple tea with hot water and chen pi if you have just eaten a rich meal that’s not moving through you or making you phlegmy, if you’re bloated, belching, nauseous, or have a phlegmy cough with heaviness in the chest, and/or a poor appetite with loose stools.

NB: Avoid or use chen pi in low dosage if you have a weak or dry cough.

Next Post: Recipe for Sesame Orange Cookies

Other “Food as Medicine” Articles you may enjoy:

• Why Is Chicken Soup Good for a Cold?

• Why Is There Green Plastic in My Sushi?

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Patients sometimes ask me about the most surprising thing I learned in acupuncture school. I was definitely the most blown away by learning that you don’t have to be in pain during your period. You don’t need to have any symptoms, in fact. Just bleed, stop bleeding. That’s it. “WHAT?!” I thought. “Why doesn’t everyone know that? What do I need to do? Sign me up!”

While I was in grad school I had acupuncture treatments every week and took a formula daily for a year. My periods shifted dramatically and my pelvic pain (pain with intercourse or what’s medically referred to as dyspareunia) disappeared. I was in awe. I felt I had been given a key and I wanted to share it SO badly.

Acupuncture Treatments for Painful Periods

Where do I start when we work together to address your menstrual cramps? I begin with a sense that your body is trying to do something, but there's something in the way. We work together to figure out what that is by getting really up close and personal with your symptoms. All cramps are not created equal. So we have to get curious about them. Could it be that other symptoms are showing up too?

These are some of my detective work questions so thinking about them before your first session can be give your practitioner more information to find the right way to help you:

• When do your cramps show up? Do you get cramps only with your first day of full bleed or do they come up more before you even start bleeding? Or are you in the most pain after your heavy bleeding is finished?

• What do your cramps feel like? Are they a dull pain, sharp pain, radiating down your legs, more in your lower abdomen or more like back pain?

• What else comes with them? Do you get breast tenderness? Bloating? Headaches or even migraines? What about irritability or other mood changes like weepiness or anxiety? Do you get really tired before you get cramps, with them, or after them? Does your digestion give you a hard time? Do your bowel movements change? Maybe you get really hungry or lose your appetite completely. Are your periods like clockwork or are they irregular? 

These clustered symptoms start to point us to the overall pattern at play, which is how acupuncture can be a holistic medicine that addresses your overall health, not just one or two symptoms at a time.

We find the right approach for treating you and your cramps by staying curious. There's often a lot of great information we can uncover right at the beginning, but it takes a few sessions of working together and maybe even a few cycles of noting how things change to get to the heart of the issue and solve it.

For the Folks Playing at Home…

In addition to in-office acupuncture care, there are lots of at-home self-care treatments and tools I recommend to help treat and prevent period pain and other PMS symptoms. Here are a few that are generally helpful to begin with for most cases:

KEEP YOUR ABDOMEN WARM

When you're at home that can be with a blanket or light heating helper. I generally advise moist heat over dry heat, meaning a hot water bottle as opposed to an electric heating pad. When you're out and about, though, you could use those adhesive heating pads. But sometimes a heating pad is too hot or you don't want to be tethered or disposing single use mini-heaters. Much better to use a haramaki.

What’s a haramaki?

A haramaki (腹巻き) is a Japanese belly wrap. Think of it as a scarf for your abdomen. We know how much heat we lose through our heads so we wear hats when it’s cold out. But there’s nothing in the American wardrobe that protects our core. Incidentally, this is also a wonderful supplemental treatment for digestive concerns, low back pain, fertility, and postpartum or surgical recovery. So many channels and organs are within or pass through our core so warming our torso prevents cold from “attacking” or constricting our blood vessels and preventing nourishing blood flow.

Haramaki are NOT a tight binder or shapewear, despite the language that a lot of online sellers use. They should be comfortable to wear, the same way you wouldn’t squeeze on a too-tight hat or scarf. It’s just keeping you warm. Haramaki don’t have to be bulky - some are made of cotton jersey or sportswear material instead of sweater material. You can also wear them over or under your clothing.

They used to sell them at Daiso, a sort of Japanese dollar store, locally, but I haven’t seen them there in a long time. You can find them on Etsy and Amazon among other online retailers. Plenty of options to sort a variety of styles and price points.

If you're a fellow knitter and want to make a haramaki (腹巻き), the Makiko pattern by Cirilia Rose for Knitty would be a beautiful top or bottom layer or even a thoughtful gift! It can also be used as a cowl to protect your neck so you might even want to make two. 

Many are tubes of material, but you could have a flat piece with buttons or other fasteners. This would be quite a simple sewing project, too.

Get some movement

As Elle Woods says, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy." One of the reasons you're so happy? Endorphins' main job is to block pain signals!

Very often, I see period pain stemming from stagnation (being stuck). There’s a saying in our medicine that where qi and blood flow freely there is no pain. Where there is pain, there is stagnation and where there is stagnation, there is pain. So a simple and generally helpful way to start treating any kind of pain is to get your qi and blood flowing! Acupuncture is fantastic at unblocking stagnant energy (qi) and substances (blood), but you should also move your qi and blood at home by moving your body.

It doesn't have to be high intensity exercise - try a gentle flowing series from yoga, tai chi, or qigong. Just take a walk outside. At minimum, move your joints. We sit a lot so make sure you’re including your hips and torso in this, not just your arms and legs. Take your joints through their natural (not overstretched) range of motion. When we’re in pain, often the last thing we want to do is exercise. Hey, guess what? You don’t have to call it that. At a minimum it’s range of motion wiggling. At best it’s joyful movement (as I’ve written about in an earlier post).

Magnesium Supplement

Magnesium (especially as magnesium glycinate) can be a helpful supplement for cramping as it is a muscle relaxant and reduces prostaglandins, thus reducing pain. It’s a wonderful anti-inflammatory and is also beneficial for insomnia and anxiety. I take Natural Calm, which comes in a powdered form, myself (not sponsored, just a longtime fan) but there are plenty of quality forms out there so you should find the one that suits you.

Make sure not to take too much as it can loosen your bowels (more of an issue with other forms of magnesium, but not a pleasant side effect if you’re not careful).

A Word of Encouragement

Remember that if you're doing these things and you still have pain, you're not broken. You're not failing. You just need a little extra help. Acupuncture and herbal medicine have centuries of knowledge behind them on women's health and I would love to help you with personalized treatment, in and out of the office. Together, we can find the tools that suit you and help you do something you love with less distraction and pain every day, whether you're currently bleeding or not.

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

If you’ve been diagnosed with unexplained infertility, you’re trying to figure out what you could do to improve your chances of conceiving. Whether you’re continuing to try naturally or as you add in assisted reproductive technologies like medicated cycles with Clomid or Letrozole, IUI, or IVF, make sure these simple tips are on your list:

Make sure you’re using a lubricant that doesn’t harm sperm.

Believe it or not, your lubricant could be a culprit in your fertility struggles. This is beyond frustrating when you’ve already had at least one sperm test and gone through the battery of blood tests, pelvic ultrasound, and HSG (hysterosalpingogram) and everything’s showing up normal. Some experts advise to forego lubricant, but as someone who still occasionally struggles with vestibulitis (a form of painful intercourse) myself, I find that wildly unrealistic.

What you want to look for as you evaluate lubricants are pH and osmolality.

You probably remember pH from science class.

A low pH is acidic (0 – below 7) and a high pH is basic (above 7 – 14). A pH of 7 is neutral. What you’re normally looking for in a lubricant is a pH that suits the vaginal environment (at or just below 4.5 according to the World Health Organization). This is what you should have on hand for general use, especially if you have a history of pelvic pain or other imbalances like yeast infections or UTIs.

However, for conception, healthy sperm has a pH around 7 (according to the World Health Organization). This matches the pH of our fertile cervical mucus as well. That’s a big shift! Aren’t our bodies amazing? So if you’re having challenges getting pregnant, you may find you have success by changing to a different lubricant with a neutral pH. Note that a lot of great lubricants advertise as “pH balanced neutral,” but find out (resource below) if that’s balanced neutral for the vaginal environment (pH around 4.5) or truly pH neutral (7).

Now what on earth is osmolality?

“Osmolality refers to a substance’s ability to draw moisture out of tissues and cells. Exposure to a lubricant with a higher osmolality than normal vaginal secretions can result in vaginal tissue which literally shrivels up because the moisture in those cells is pulled out. This process leads to irritation and a breakdown of the mucous membrane barrier which protects the vagina from infection. Disrupted vaginal mucous membranes have been associated not only with irritation and discomfort but also with increased risks of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV.  Unfortunately, many currently marketed lubricants have high osmolalities which are detrimental to vaginal tissue.” https://www.womensvoices.org/lubricants-womens-health/

Clearly just choosing a lube with the right pH for your needs (whether trying to conceive or not) is only half the issue. Your lubricant shouldn’t be sucking the moisture out of your tissues to do its job (that’s cheating). You want one that’s adding more lubrication! So you want a lower osmolality (below 1200 mOsm/kg is the general recommendation).

What lube should I be using?

If you’ve been using drugstore lubricants, do yourself a favor and hop into a local Good Vibrations (not a sponsored mention, I just love them for how knowledgeable and supportive their staff is). They also have an online store if you can’t make it in person to one of their San Francisco locations.

Here’s a handy chart so you can check pH and osmolality for your current lubricant and get ideas for others that may suit you better. You’re looking for an osmolality below 1200 mOsm/kg and, for conception, a pH of 7.0 (a pH of 4.5 for general vaginal usage).

For a tested fertility lubricant that meets these criteria, one that I hear over and over is BabyDance (sold various places in stores and online from Walgreens to Amazon). It’s not the only one that could work for you, but it is fairly available. Slippery Stuff and Organic Sliquid are some of the other options that make the cut by the criteria above.

Of course plenty of people get pregnant using a wide variety of lubricants and research has not been conclusive, but if you’re having trouble conceiving, a pH 7 lube with low osmolality is one thing you can try adjusting and you may find you have more success!

What else can you do to improve your fertility?

Don’t give up exercise completely.

Movement is so good for you! True, you may need to bring down the intensity a bit depending on the type of activity you’re doing and the challenges you’re having conceiving, but you absolutely don’t have to commit yourself to bedrest! When in doubt, go for walks in your neighborhood or a slow-paced hike in nature. Yin yoga is also wonderful, though you should skip the twists during the two week wait (earlier if you’re doing stimulated cycles to avoid ovarian torsion). There are a bunch of great videos on YouTube if you search for “yoga for conception” or “yoga two week wait.” We can also discuss customized qigong (gentle movement and breathing) exercises for you in your session. Which brings me to:

Come in for acupuncture!

Acupuncture is often recommended by gynecologists and fertility clinics because of its calming effects on the stress and anxiety that you feel while TTC. In addition, acupuncture, supplemented as needed with herbal medicine and moxibustion, has been shown to increase bloodflow to the uterus and ovaries, assisting in the development and release of healthy follicles, increasing the thickness and health of the endometrium, which provides a hospitable environment for implantation, and regulating the desired hormone levels in fertility cycles and early pregnancy. If sperm quality, motility, and/or quantity are concerns, acupuncture and herbal medicine are helpful for addressing those concerns as well.

Trying to conceive can be incredibly challenging and can feel lonely as it’s not an easy subject to discuss, sometimes even with close friends. Adding an acupuncturist to your team means you have a supportive ear and an expert in your corner.


ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Photos from Unsplash

When I visited before deciding to rent here in Spring 2018, there were many things I loved about the whole building right away. It's beautiful with a lot of old-style character. The Sutter Healing Arts building is brick, which always feels warm to me, was built in the 1900s in Beaux Arts style, and originally housed a urology practice on the first floor with the doctor living upstairs. So there’s a lot of history here as a medical space, yet it’s also been a home from the beginning, making it the perfect place to create a clinic that’s not clinical.

I grew up in a 1920s cottage so the turn of the century architecture and period details here make me feel happy and at home. The ceilings also curve upward, like an embrace or that the sky is over you. I painted the room blue to enhance that feeling, like you're floating on a cloud.

The address here is 999 Sutter and in Japanese, the number nine is kyu (pronounced kYOO) which sounds like the word for relief, kyusai. This makes 9 a lucky number for health.

As it happens, I really lucked out on the 9s because the suite number is 306 (adds up to 9) and the zip code is 94109.

See? Memorable, and an indication of how you'll feel here!

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

I think we're so tired in part because we're expected to come out of the gate of the New Year bursting with energy for new projects and self improvement. I've never been one to make New Year's Resolutions, but this year it felt especially off, setting us all up for failure. It's just not the right time. Winter is when we want to curl up in front of a fire with a good book, a blanket, and a hot beverage. No wonder we fail so routinely at most of our resolution setting and everyone coming in in January was so incredibly fatigued!

Then just when we might have recovered a bit we were hit with the spring forward daylight savings time change and I find myself (and most of my patients) still struggling to adjust ten days later.

Be gentle with yourself as we start to spread out into what should start to be warmer weather (we got quite a taste last week)! Picture the plants that are just opening up. Gently stretch your body. Awaken slowly.

Spring is a better time energetically for new growth and taking on new projects. If you didn't have the energy for the changes or intentions you set for January 1 or Chinese New Year, don't lose heart. Try again this Spring, or even Summer. Find the time of year when your energy rises.

And of course, if you don’t have enough energy to complete your daily activities, are stressed, overwhelmed, or anxious, and having trouble falling or staying asleep, please come in for acupuncture. That’s not sustainable and I want you to have a great year! Acupuncture has tools to help you regain some of that rest, rebalance with the season, manage your stress and anxiety, and restore a healthy sleep schedule.

FOUND THIS INTERESTING? RELATED POSTS ON A CUPPA QI:

What Autumn Holds for You

Joyful Movement

Stress Relief and the Pantone Color of the Year

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Header/mug photo: Unsplash

Fatigue photo: Death to the Stock Photo

While it’s tempting to hear that as equivalent to a specific drug being touted as a panacea, it’s really like saying all of medicine can address a wide variety of ailments. We’re much more comfortable with that concept. Western or allopathic medicine can help with lots of things to varying degrees. It’s much the same with acupuncture. That’s one of the reasons it’s more accurately referred to as a complementary medicine, rather than alternative medicine.

Acupuncture and herbal medicine are toolkits based upon a complex theoretical model of the human body as a reflection of the natural world. Primary importance is placed on your symptoms and experience so this is truly a patient-centered approach. For example, it doesn't matter if the thermometer says you don't have a temperature. If you feel too hot, we might call that a fever (and one of a variety of fevers depending on the rest of what’s going on). The practice of this medicine includes asking lots of questions so I can understand as best as possible what's going on for you since I can't feel what you feel for you.

I then also "read" your body through palpation (gently touching your body - usually your legs, arms, and abdomen), taking your pulses, looking at your tongue (the only visible muscle in the body), and other diagnostic methods. This helps to clarify the pattern because lots of things can cause cramps, for example, or headaches. What's causing yours?

The goal is to get a complete picture of the pattern at play, as opposed to treating each symptom individually. Something's not in balance, so there are a variety of expressions of that imbalance. Address the issue at the root and multiple signals can fade back or disappear.

This is why it sometimes looks like I'm doing mental calculus while I'm working. There’s a lot to think about! This is also why becoming an acupuncturist takes 3.5 years of graduate school (that’s the shortest estimate at full time with no summer breaks), clinical hours (our version of a residency), and rigorous study for a comprehensive licensing exam that includes traditional medicine theory, knowledge of hundreds of acupuncture point locations and functions, medical safety measures along with medical ethics and local laws, plus Western terminology, anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and standards of care for every major condition from depression to mastitis to stomach cancer, etc. plus mandatory continuing education. I confess I had no idea how qualified my acupuncturist was when I first started as an acupuncture patient!

Because everything is placed within a pattern, we can get into all the stuff that you've lived with but never known how to describe or where to go to deal with it. I've heard everything from “I’m phlegmy, but only right after I eat” to "my legs feel like they're going to float away" to "I feel completely exhausted after my period" to "I have this reoccurring dream about a boat on fire and it makes me anxious about getting ready for bed."

This theory helps direct us in our selection of channels and points and methods for stimulating them to change and action, including a variety of ways of needling, some involving insertion. There are also a host of other treatment modalities such as internal herbal medicine, topical herbal medicine, moxibustion, cupping, a variety of forms of massage, and beyond.

Under the umbrellas of women’s health and emotional health, my patients come to me with a wide variety of chief complaints – the big need that brings you in the door. We focus our attention on that main thing, but because acupuncture is a holistic medicine, from there we also keep in mind the whole picture of your health. We discuss how you sleep, your diet and digestion, any aches and pains, etc.

I always smile when I've just seen a patient with anxiety and a fertility patient comes in next and asks hesitantly if I think acupuncture might help for their anxious thoughts. And vice versa! Same thing happens when they mention a family member has shingles (I've seen acupuncture reduce the severity of the immediate flare and any post-herpetic neuralgia). The vast coverage of this medicine is one of the things that allows you to rely on me as a resource as your situation shifts and changes. Because changing is part of life!

So while there are some conditions that we'll definitely want you to either seek Western care for first or create an integrative approach, many health concerns could potentially be handled primarily with acupuncture and/or herbal medicine. Please talk to a licensed acupuncturist like myself to figure out the best way forward for you.

that was Great! What’s Next?

• For a sample of conditions patients often seek acupuncture for, visit the Conditions Treated page.

• Interested in how acupuncture might help you or a loved one? Email me to set up time for a free phone consultation.

• Looking for an example? Treating Stress, Anxiety, and Depression with Acupuncture

• Ready to start right away?

About Shawna

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Header image: Death to the Stock Photo
Icons: Freepik and Anatoly from Flaticon

For the second year in a row I am proud to share that I have been named a Top Pro by Thumbtack, a tool that connects customers with local professionals.

Thank you to all the patients who found me through Thumbtack and were generous with their feedback. Only 4% of Thumbtack's professionals are named Top Pro and I'm honored to be recognized.

Read more about Thumbtack and the Top Pro program in my 2018 post.

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. 10 reviews

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

I’m pleased to announce that Tyler Chamberlain, Certified Massage Therapist is now sharing our San Francisco clinic space at the Sutter Healing Arts Building. He’s seeing clients on Saturdays, Sundays, and Tuesdays.

Tyler’s style is in harmony with my approach to gentle, personalized treatments. He offers time-based appointments that are then tailored to your needs on a given day using his massage skillsets including Swedish, Deep Tissue, Ortho-bionomy, Energy, and Lymphatic/Detox. Having experienced his work myself, I highly recommend his thoughtful, effective, and deeply relaxing care.

His introduction to you in his own words:

I'm fascinated with us humans.

Our anatomy is physically structured to work as a cohesive, singular being. Muscles, tendons, and ligaments can be identified, felt, and touched. But it's the layers within, the unexpected (and often magical) connections between the obvious and the less understood, that really excite me: how gentle stretching can allow the opposing muscle to relax; how non-invasive Vagus nerve work can almost immediately relax the entire body; how unraveling the fascia (the stuff that holds it all in place, and is usually neglected in massage) is so critical to overall muscle health; how simply receiving touch can invigorate the soul.

I've heard my role as a massage therapist described as that of a chameleon, and that resonates. Occasionally, we need to get deep into the muscles. There may be painful trigger points to be released, or a specific injury requiring attention. Or you may be pregnant, have tech-neck, or may be holding stress in your shoulders or abdomen. You may have pain walking uphill (but not down), chronic headaches, or unidentified pain in your back. You likely have some combination of "all of the things", and my passion is to work together to tailor the bodywork specifically for your needs, on that day. Then, ideally, a plan to address your goals over time.

Perhaps most importantly, I firmly believe in the power of human touch. It's OK to want that, to simply receive pleasure, to have a safe place where you can just feel good. To have an energetically clean and soft space to relax. It's fascinating how often I observe clients who simply want to receive a relaxing, pleasurable massage, and are almost embarrassed to say it, as if it's not a good enough reason. IT IS!

It's surprising to me how many massage therapists don't put any thought into the music. It's such a critical part, since we're really working with all the senses. From chamber music if you want to be soothed, to nature sounds if you want to zone out, to underground techno if you want to be energized, we'll find the right fit. 

I'm so thrilled to be sharing a space with Shawna, with whom I immediately felt an energetic & professional connection - it feels like we share a similar mindset within the space, with similar goals (and very complementary styles). There's really such great energy already in the space, and I hope to share in that energy with all of you.

Booking Details

Book with Tyler online on his website: www.tylerccmt.com

Rates (subject to change):

• 60 min: $100

• 90 min: $140

• 120 min: $170

• Intro offer: I so strongly believe a 90-minute massage is that much better than a 60, that I'd like to offer your first massage at $100 for 90-minutes.

Availability: Saturday, Sunday, & Tuesday from 10am-10pm

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Eastern Medicine takes its cues from the natural world. As it is in nature, so is it in our bodies and emotional landscapes. Spring and Summer both have an energy of new growth and expansion. There’s a fullness and flourishing. In Autumn, we start to draw back into the interior.

There are five elements (sometimes also called Five Phases) in Eastern Medicine: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood. The Five Elements have corresponding seasons, tastes, channels, energies, diseases, and so much more that there is an entire school of thought in Chinese Medicine defined by this focus.

Autumn is the Metal season. Metal cuts like a knife and holds like a copper cup, dividing and separating, creating boundaries. This season we ask, What do you need that you should keep hold of? What is not yours that you can release?

Classically in cultures around the world this is the season for harvesting. It’s a time to take stock of and appreciate the bounty the year has brought you. What have you accomplished? Be grateful and take pride.

The Metal meridians: Lung and Large Intestine

The emotion of the Lungs is Grief.
As we take stock in this season of our year and our lives, certain goals and accomplishments we may have set no longer serve us. They may be inaccessible or simply no longer appropriate. It’s ok to grieve that loss or change before moving forward. Once you’ve allowed yourself space to grieve, you can become clear and focused, paring back to the essentials to figure out what the new or important goals are and get them done. You can do it! There’s still time!

If you have lost someone or something this year or in this season, you may find that the grief feels larger or has resurfaced. That’s natural, but it doesn’t mean you have to feel it alone or that there isn’t a supportive therapy you can reach to, from speaking that grief with friends and family, to working with a trusted therapist, to seeking acupuncture to balance the emotions and meridians. Grief is a natural emotion, but it also shouldn’t be overwhelming forever. If it’s feeling unmanageable, please ask for help.

The corresponding emotion of the Large Intestine is Letting Go.
Don’t keep it in. Let that sh*t go!

Autumn’s climate is Dryness, which injures the Lungs.
There’s a danger of holding too much in, in that it can dry out and get stuck (sometimes literally, as constipation or dry phlegm). It’s important to keep your Lungs hydrated and strong as they govern your immune system. Lily bulb and pears are wonderful supporters of the Lungs.

My Fall recommendations:

• Make sure your favorite sweater is within reach and put the kettle on

• Always carry a scarf (aka make sure your neck is covered)

• Stock up on pears (amazing just as they are or steamed, baked, or poached with ginger and honey)

• Come in for acupuncture to address your emotional health and strengthen your immune system before you feel yourself coming down with a cold!

FOUND THIS INTERESTING? RELATED POSTS ON A CUPPA QI:

Treating Stress, Anxiety, and Depression with Acupuncture

Why is Chicken Soup Good for a Cold?

Stress Relief and the Pantone Color of the Year

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Header and Pear Images: Unsplash

Positive Vibes Only? Definitely not. Negative emotions are natural and can signal a need to change our relationships, environment, or behavior. It’s when negative emotions become chronic and feel like they arise without cause, that you turn to guiding practitioners like therapists and acupuncturists who can help you figure out what forest of feelings you've wandered into and how you can find your way back out again.

Whether your depression, anxiety, and stress are chronic or not, tamping down negative feelings or denying them in favor of only positive feelings is neither realistic nor helpful. What is helpful and what acupuncture helps facilitate is giving all your feelings a space and distance from yourself to be acknowledged, fully felt, and then allowed to pass. That can be an extended grieving period and or as short as a few minutes to recognize that you're getting frustrated and need to breathe deeper and take a walk.

Understanding what you're feeling, giving that feeling space, and then letting it go is essential in our modern world. With these skills, you can begin to move past the thicket of a bad stretch. And when you have one bad day, you'll realize that's part of being human, not a sign that you're broken.

A First Step

Simply being aware of what it is that you're feeling is a good first step. Rather than putting a label on it (I have depression, I'm an angry person, that's just who I am), try, "What is this that I'm feeling? Am I angry right now? Is it sadness and frustration at the same time?" Then you can take a step back and say, "that sadness and frustration are not who I am. I am not a sad and frustrated person. I just feel those things right now and there's got to be a reason for it."

Next, ideally with the help of a guide, you can put on your detective hat and figure out why those feelings are coming up so the signal doesn't keep coming regularly while you don't understand what it's trying to tell you (a real recipe for frustration).

Acupuncture and Therapy Work Well Together

I am not a therapist. What I am is an acupuncturist and Japanese medicine practitioner.

I recommend that my patients who find themselves in these patterns for longer periods of time or with frequency see a good therapist. Many of you often are in therapy already when you seek my care. Acupuncture works really well in combination with therapy, especially talk (cognitive behavior therapy and other methods) and somatic therapies. The way I tend to explain it is that acupuncture helps you become more centered and clear – more aware of what it is that you're feeling so you can express it in therapy and to yourself.

Acupuncture also helps protect against those feelings settling in and becoming something more (pain, stiffness, adrenal fatigue, cardiopulmonary symptoms, etc). Plus, we can treat the already existing symptomatic expression of your anxiety, depression, and/or stress, whether physical (like headaches, insomnia, and palpitations) or mental/emotional (like a racing or foggy mental state).

Japanese and Chinese medicine look at our emotions as expressions of imbalance in the relationships of our different systems (sometimes called channels, meridians, or organs). So the questions above are the same sorts of diagnostic questions I ask in the office to figure out what channels are out of harmony. That information allows us to help them back into their proper relationship so you feel more centered, grounded, balanced, and clear. And this also gives you the opportunity to make small or large changes that might put you in a healthier space and thus treat that signal/feeling at the root of its expression.
 

What kind of treatments do you offer?

Acupuncture: Gentle correction of the relationships of your physical and energetic body. Using the traditional functions of the points and channels plus modern understandings of physiology, acupuncture helps to regulate the nervous system so that the parasympathetic (rest, digest, heal) outweighs the sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze). Patients report feeling more at ease, rested, calm, and grounded after treatment. Many patients fall asleep on the table during in-office treatment and often sleep better at home as well.

Acupressure: Earseeds and self-massage as coping mechanisms between treatments and as regular care for treatment and prevention of symptoms. These methods are often subtle enough to be performed in the workplace or social gatherings without attracting attention.

Qigong: Breathing exercises and gentle movements. Ranging from short and sweet visualizations and meditative practices to healing sounds and simple movements that target the organ systems and channels that are out of balance. Most of the movements can be done while seated or standing and we can adapt them for your body's range of motion.

Herbal Medicine: Personalized prescriptions for herbal formulas and supplements for symptomatic and deep cause treatment. Protect your system against physical effects of emotions on the body (adrenal fatigue, shortness of breath, palpitations) and amplify the benefits of treatment. Taking a herbal formula regularly can decrease the frequency of recommended in-office visits.

Moxa/ Moxibustion: Depending on the causes and symptoms of your emotional patterns, this herbal heat therapy can be very helpful to increase motivation, combat fatigue, and reawaken interest in activities. Patients have described it as feeling like painful or tight spots are melting or unwinding, that they can breathe deeper, and that they feel more awake. If applicable, I instruct my patients on how to do moxibustion safely at home as well as perform moxibustion in the clinic with you.

Essential Oils: Recommendations for home care to combine with acupressure points. Especially helpful for travel and nighttime symptoms.

How long does treatment take? When will I be better?

My treatment plans are personalized for each patient. I see people at various stages of their emotional journeys. Some people come in soon after a crisis (important to note that I am not a substitute for emergency services such as hotlines or the ER - please see information below if you are in crisis). But the short and honest answer is it depends on you - where you are in your relationship to your emotional health and how much farther you have to go to come to terms with what balance is going to look like for you.

Acupuncture is not here to "fix" you. It's medicine, not magic. I often tell patients when they praise my touch that I'm just getting stuff out of the way so your body can do the work it is already trying to do. Our bodies want to get back to homeostasis. Balance.

You are doing the work and the work can take some time. But it's a lot easier when you surround yourself with experts who can guide and support you, and that's where I see myself on your team.

If you are in crisis

National Hopeline Network: 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433)

If your depression is leading to suicidal thoughts, please call the National Hopeline to connect with a treatment center in your area. Includes live chat feature for anyone who doesn't want to or is unable to call. This hotline can dispatch emergency services to you if needed.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Another resource for anyone dealing with suicidal or other harmful thoughts is the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. They also offer a chat service: 1-800-799-4889.

Acupuncture is not an emergency service. When you need the tools I can provide and a new member of your cheering squad, please be in touch. You are worthwhile and cared for.

Additional resources

• Looking for a good therapist? Psychology Today offers a robust search tool to find therapists, support groups, and treatment centers in your area, including ones who may be in network with your insurance plan.

• Concerned about affording therapy? Need low cost options either with or without insurance? Psych Central has a great list of ways to get help when money or insurance is an issue.

• Acupuncture as a Therapeutic Treatment for Anxiety: a comparative review of clinical and scientific evidence for acupuncture (Evidence Based Acupuncture)

About Shawna

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Photo: Death to the Stock Photo

This paper was originally titled, "Classic Texts: The Foundation of Japanese Meridian Therapy Assessed Clinically in Comparison to Traditional Chinese Medicine." I wrote it during the final years of my masters program in acupuncture at AIMC Berkeley for a course on classical texts.

This paper presumes knowledge of the medicine so is most appropriate for other practitioners, but as patients often ask about Japanese vs Chinese medicine, a general audience might find it interesting to skim. I'm happy to discuss any questions you may have after reading.

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Japanese Meridian Therapy and Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Classical and Clinical Comparison

How can Japanese Meridian Therapy and Traditional Chinese Medicine have come from the same classic texts and yet come to such different conclusions for diagnosis and treatment? This is the question I chose to consider by delving into Chapters Sixty-Nine and Seventy-Five of the Nan Jing, considered the foundation of Japanese Meridian Therapy.

Meridian Therapy was founded in the 1930s out of a desire to “reexamine the classics and to clinically test the knowledge gained therein in order to extract the truth” (Kuwahara, xvii). The principle methods of Japanese Meridian Therapy (JMT or MT) are to palpate and assess the meridians, using the pulse for both diagnosis and continual assessment of the progress of treatment, and to use the meridians in this way to understand the balance of deficiency and excess caused by pathogens, the seven emotions, and the fundamental interaction of the meridians and organs to themselves and each other (the Five Phases). This is fairly different from Eight Principle and Zang Fu Diagnosis as interpreted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In the TCM approach, we utilize the four diagnostic methods (asking, looking, listening, and palpating), base our diagnosis on the collection of symptoms and signs based on the chief complaint, and identify a specific pattern based on the organs, yin/yang, and body elements (like blood, body fluids, and qi) in disharmony, all of which determines the course of treatment. Depending on the TCM practitioner, palpation may be used to refine the choice of points (this is common at least in the case of choosing local ashi points) or at the extreme they may only use the trusted points in texts from Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (CAM). I admit this is a gross simplification of the vast differences within the practices of TCM and JMT respectively, but seeing from the extremes can help to highlight the differences between the disciplines.

The Sixty-Ninth Difficult Issue of the Nan Jing is the first passage to deal with needling patterns. Paul Unschuld translates it as follows:

The scripture states: in case of depletion, fill it. In case of repletion, drain it. When neither a repletion nor a depletion are present, remove the [illness] from the conduits. What does that mean?

It is like this. In case of depletion, fill the respective [conduit’s] mother. In case of repletion, drain the respective [conduit’s] child. One must fill first and drain afterward. The removal of [an illness] from the conduits [themselves] because neither a repletion nor a depletion is present is [appropriate] if a regular conduit has fallen ill by itself rather than as a result of having been hit by an evil [influence transmitted from] another [conduit]. In this case one must select [for treatment] just this one conduit. Hence the scripture states: Remove it from the conduit. (Unschuld, 583)

This passage refers first to the Five Phase mother-child relationship of the yin organs HT, SP, LU, KI, and LV in the generating cycle. JMT obviously drew from the passage, “One must fill first and drain afterward,” in understanding that treating deficiency is necessary before treating excess. This builds upon the Su Wen which says in Chapter 62:

“The Yellow Emperor said, ‘All illnesses are caused by deficiency and excess. You [Qibo] just said there are five surpluses and five insufficiencies. How do they come about?’ Qibo answered, ‘They all arise from [disharmonies in] the five zang organs.’ [...] As is understood from the above quotations, disease stems from deficiency of essential [qi] of the five zang organs. That is why the pattern of imbalance in Meridian Therapy is expressed as deficiency of the organs and meridians. (Kuwahara, 36-37)

MT also uses the Five Phase model to choose treatment points. First, the chief deficiency is found in the pulse and the deficiency is filled by choosing an appropriate point on the deficient organ’s mother channel and on the deficient channel itself. Thus, filling the mother and directing the energy to the child.  For example, in a LV deficiency cold pattern according to JMT (a LV blood deficient pattern according to TCM), we would choose the root treatment of KI 3, LV 3. Both of these are source points and earth points and the corresponding taste of earth is sweet. The function of the sweet flavor is to tonify (Ikeda, 37-40). In order to consider how TCM (via CAM) would treat the same case we need to determine the chief complaint because TCM does not have the same concept of a root treatment based on the pulse. For the sake of comparison, I’ll give the example of depression. CAM terms this “Melancholia” and gives an option for a deficiency pattern: Insufficiency of Blood. The HT and LV are the chief organs involved and the points provided are as follows: Ren 14, HT 7, SP 6, LV 3 (CAM, 462). No mention of the KI here despite their role in building the fluid aspect of blood, which nourishes the LV and HT (Kuwahara, 28). The CAM explanation for LV 3 in this point prescription is as follows: “LV 3 is selected to soothe the LV and remove depression” (CAM, 462).

These are marked differences between Meridian Therapy and TCM; however, looking to the latter portion of Nan Jing passage above, both MT and TCM understand the concept of an illness affecting a channel directly. Cold can attack the Stomach directly through eating cold foods, for example. This, at least, has remained the same in both systems of medicine, though again the treatment may differ.

Chapter Seventy-Five of the Nan Jing takes the key concepts of Chapter Sixty-Nine and builds upon them with a seemingly contradictory case.

The seventy-fifth difficult issue: The scripture states: In case of repletion in the eastern regions and depletion in the western regions, drain the southern region and fill the northern regions. What does that mean?

It is like this. Metal, wood, water, fire, and soil should level each other. The eastern regions are [associated with the phase of] wood; the western regions are [associated with] metal. If the wood is on the point of repletion, the metal should level it. If the fire is on the point of repletion, the water should level it. If the soil is on the point of repletion, the wood should level it. If the metal is on the point of repletion, the fire should level it. If the water is on the point of repletion, the soil should level it. The eastern regions are [associated with] the liver. One knows, therefore, [that if the wood of the eastern regions is replete,] the liver is replete. The western regions are [associated with] the lung. One knows, therefore, [that if the metal of the western regions is depleted,] the lung is depleted. [In case of a repletion in the liver,] one drains the fire of the southern regions and fills the water of the northern regions. [One drains] the fire of the southern regions because water is the mother of wood. Water keeps fire in check. A child can cause repletion in its mother; a mother can cause depletion in her child. Hence one drains the fire and fills the water if one wishes the metal to be in a position where it does not have to level the wood. The scripture states: If one is unable to cure a depletion, how could one take care of all the other [illnesses]? That is [what is] meant here. (Unschuld, 617)

Having just learned that the correct treatment is to tonify the mother to treat deficiency in the child, it seems impossible at first to now say that “a mother can cause depletion in her child.” But this passage sets us up for understanding the interactions of the Five Phase controlling cycle. It is also the foundation of the LU xu LV XS pattern in Ikeda Masakazu’s version of Japanese Meridian Therapy. In his Translator’s Introduction to The Practice of Japanese Acupuncture and Moxibustion: Classic Principles in Action, Edward Obaidey explains that “Ikeda Sensei always makes a point of saying that what he is doing is not his own approach or style, but that of the classics, and nothing more.” (Ikeda, xlvi)  So it is appropriate that this pattern is direct from a chapter of the Nan Jing. Here, LU qi circulates poorly, which causes KI fluids to stagnate, which causes LV blood deficiency and heat, which harasses the HT. Stagnant and deficient KI fluids also eventually cause deficient heat, which cause a similar effect on the HT (Ikeda, 48). This is deficiency in the west (LU), excess in the east (LV), with a necessary solution of tonifying the north (KI), and draining the south (HT). According to Statements of Fact in Traditional Chinese Medicine by Bob Flaws, the TCM interpretation of this passage is the pattern HT and KI not communicating (Flaws, 244). The CAM treatment for this pattern of insomnia is first for the chief complaint HT 7, SP 6, and An Mian regardless of pattern plus UB 15, UB 23, and KI 3 specifically for the pattern. If there is upward disturbance of LV fire UB 18, UB 19, and GB 12 may be added or, more likely according to CAM, used instead as it constitutes a separate pattern (CAM, 449). In contrast, Ikeda Sensei uses the root treatment of LU 5 and KI 7, the water point on the metal channel and the metal point on the water channel to tonify and move both fluids and qi. If the condition is severe, KI 10 is also added to the root treatment as the water point on the water channel. Water points move fluids to the correct places and also subdue deficient heat. It is also recommended to shunt LV 8. Shunting is different from sedating as the energy is recycled in the body rather than taken out of the system as an excess pathogen would be. Here, the water point on the wood channel is used to relieve stagnant qi, blood, and fluids, and also nourish the LV with fresh qi, blood, and fluids (Ikeda, xli and 50-51). Despite the commandment to “drain the south,” note that no HT points are shunted as in Chapter 8 of the Su Wen the HT is the Empress/Emperor/monarch so in Japanese Medicine the HT channel is not needled directly, only affected through its relationship with other organs and meridians (Kuwahara, 108). If the HT were diseased, the patient would have a very poor prognosis.

Practitioners are often curious why there is no Heart deficiency pattern in meridian therapy. The answer is quite simple and has to do with the fundamental character of the Heart. This organ stores the spirit and is constantly in motion; consequently, the Heart requires a large amount of yang qi. If either the yang or the qi of the Heart becomes deficient, the person is beyond help. (This is explained in Chapter 71 of Divine Pivot.) This means that a deficiency in the essence of the Heart cannot be at the root of a disease; it does not mean that the Heart is never affected by disease. The Heart can be affected by influences, good and bad, from other organs, as is often indicated in the symptoms and the pulse. (Ikeda, xx).

And in the theory-rich text by the Society of Traditional Japanese Medicine:

There is no Heart excess. However, it is possible for heat to increase in the Heart. Therefore, it would not be impossible to refer to such a condition as excess, but it is called Heart heat. This heat spreads to the Heart from heat generated by a deficiency in the Kidney, Liver, or Spleen (Kuwahara, 41).

Thus, no HT points in this prescription, but KI and LV points are enough to treat the HT.*

It would not be an appropriate study of the classics and these two systems of medicine without a case to test the knowledge clinically. I have been treating a 66 year old man for seven months now and beginning roughly three months ago we resolved an earlier issue and started working with his new chief complaint of anxiety and depression. He was finding it difficult to work through his emotional episodes, having to lie down or leave work for hours before being able to return to normal function. I was able to achieve success with a combination of Japanese and TCM approaches. He falls under the Chapter Seventy-Five pattern of LU xu, LV XS in the Japanese understanding so I treated him with the root of just LU 5, KI 7 at first, but adding KI 10 did make a marked difference in his tongue and symptoms. His tongue was previously very yin deficient, literally shriveled into a collection of deep creases and wrinkles with no coat. It has gradually become less red and has developed the occasional thin white coat. Japanese style treatments generally begin on the front and then are supported on the back with a minimum of the back shu points of the affected organs. In this case, UB 13, 15, 18, and 23. For the TCM portion, I used Dr. Zhang’s maxim of never using UB 18 without UB 17 (and vice versa) to ensure that blood is both moving and nourished. I had early success with introducing Du 11 and the outer HT shu points to treat my patient’s anxiety, sometimes also including the ear points shenmen and sympathetic. Later, I also began adding Du 4 and Du 9, which Dennis von Elgg advised were useful for stoking the ming men fire and reminding the patient of his purpose (Du 4) and also removing the stagnation at the diaphragm (Du 9) and allowing qi to flow freely between the upper and middle/lower jiao. Since LU qi being weak is key to this pattern, this idea resonated with me, especially since the patient has a concave body shape with a marked depression around Ren 15 and a turtle-like rounded back. Du 9 is the high point of this crest on his back. Adding these points unlocked a massive change in the patient. Within two weeks (or two treatments as he is treated weekly), he reported no longer having severe bouts of depression or anxiety. He is not forced to step away from work. It has been almost two months since this shift and while we are still working on his underlying depression and anxiety, I am happy to say that the severe emotions have not returned and he continues to improve within this pattern of presentation and treatment.

Ikeda Sensei also believes in the power of combining elements from styles so long as they work. At his seminar in March 2015, he lamented that we tend to retreat to our camps and not learn from one another’s clinical experience. What does it matter if TCM says this and JMT says that. It is what helps the patient that matters.

To Ikeda Sensei, meridian therapy is simply the use of the meridians to diagnose and treat disease, nothing more and nothing less. Some people think that meridian therapy automatically implies shallow needling; it does not. If the treatment requires deep needling, it should be performed. If moxibustion is necessary, it should also be performed. The same can be said of massage, herbs, exercise, and dietary measures. The tools are many and varied, but the emphasis is always on the use of the meridians (Ikeda, xvii).

Sources

Bob Flaws, Statements of Fact in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Blue Poppy Press, Boulder 1994

Cheng Xinnong (chief editor), Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Foreign Language Press, Beijing 2005

Ikeda Masakazu, The Practice of Japanese Acupuncture and Moxibustion: Classic Principles in Action. translated by Edward Obaidey, Eastland Press, Seattle 1996

Koei Kuwahara (editor), Traditional Japanese Acupuncture: Fundamentals of Meridian Therapy. The Society of Traditional Japanese Medicine, translated by Joshua Margulies, Complementary Medicine Press, Taos 2003

Paul U. Unschuld, Nan-Ching: The Classic of Difficult Issues. University of CA Press, Berkeley 1986

Peter Eckman MD, In the Footsteps of the Yellow Emperor: Tracing the History of Traditional Acupuncture. Long River Press, San Francisco 2007

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Photo credit: Pixabay

I'm proud to announce that I have been named a 2018 Top Pro by Thumbtack, a site that helps customers find the right local professionals for their needs.

To the patients who found me through Thumbtack and shared their experiences: thank you so much. Only 4% of Thumbtack's professionals are named Top Pro and I'm honored to be recognized for the level of service I strive to provide.

I joined Thumbtack soon after starting my practice in 2016 and have met many of you through your inquiries. I appreciate that the brief form allows you to provide information specific to the service you're seeking. In acupuncture's case, this includes your key symptoms, days and times that you'd like to come in for an appointment, how far you're willing to travel, and whether you're new to alternative medicine or have experienced it before. Thumbtack has streamlined the process over the past year, quickly matching you with the best acupuncturist for you in your local area.

There are so many amazing acupuncturists in the Bay Area so it can be challenging to decide on the right provider for you. I'm happy that this is a homegrown tool for patients to make that important decision.

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. 10 reviews

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

I don't know a lot about stones, but I'm just starting to dip a toe in (with a hefty dose of skepticism). At any rate, I started carrying the tiger's eye last year because it was smooth and I've always liked tiger's eye and it was nice to have something to run my fingers over when I got anxious. Anyway, I lost it, probably in someone's car, and I was uncharacteristically ok with it (I normally hate losing things), but my friend had just come back from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show and generously opened her wealth of stones to me to choose a new pocket stone. I've had carnelian on the mind a lot lately because I thought getting an orange crystal to put inside my orange lightsaber would be fun and nerdy (in Star Wars lore, kaiburr crystals are force-attuned and integral to a working lightsaber). I have a friend in my lightsaber group who has a purple crystal in his purple saber and I love the idea. So she not only gave me a beautiful carnelian pocket stone, but two carnelian beads to put in my saber.

It turns out carnelian is linked to fertility (perfect for our women's health focused clinic) and also balances energy levels, stimulates the appetite, and brightens outlook. It's also a little good luck charm. I'm happy to bring that energy into our work together!

Then yesterday I was walking through a neighborhood I don't get to frequent often enough and there was a giant pilea peperomioides in the window! I knew this plant as a moon plant in college and evidently that's only one of hundreds of names this little plant has. It's from the Yunnan province of China (unlike the other plant often called a money tree, Pachira aquatica, which is actually native to South and Central America) and is also thought to bring good luck. Once it gets large and strong enough, it starts to create baby plants that you can separate out and plant separately. Over four years in college I gave several baby moon plants away to friends and was very sad to have to eventually leave mine with a friend's parents before moving back West.

I'm happy to have the perfect plant friend cheering up the new office. I already spy a few baby moon plants that should be ready to go home with a lucky patient at my next open house!

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

The plastic clearly isn't useful and it's not meant to look like a child's drawing of a grassy lawn. It's meant to represent the perilla or shiso leaf, which should be included with your raw fish for far more than aesthetic purposes.

Just in case there's anything wrong with the raw fish, both perilla and ginger are traditionally included with your meal. Taking bites of these combat the effects of bad fish on your system:

Perilla leaf is known as shiso in Japanese and zi su ye in Chinese. It is an aromatic and warm herb that disperses cold and promotes sweating (helpful for the immune system), circulates qi and harmonizes the middle (digestion), detoxifies food poisoning from fish, and calms a restless fetus. So it's a lovely herb for morning sickness or nausea or vomiting with a cold (especially the kind that has chills, coughing, and clear or white phlegm).

Ginger, shoga in Japanese, sheng jiang in Chinese, is also spicy and slightly warm. It has very similar effects to shiso, but a stronger warming effect to stop vomiting and coughing and ginger resolves toxicity or overdose of a wide variety of herbs and foods. If they were only going to leave one herb on the plate, I'm glad it's ginger. But that doesn't mean shiso doesn't deserve to be there too!

So you should eat both ginger and the perilla leaf for their health benefits as well as for their lovely spicy taste! I do see shiso at quality sushi restaurants, but honestly we should be getting shiso in our grocery store sushi of all places!

Found this interesting? Related posts on A Cuppa Qi:

Why is Chicken Soup Good for a Cold?

How to Survive and Thrive in the First Trimester

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.

Header Photo by Jonathan Forage on Unsplash

For most of my life if you asked me to describe myself some of the first words out of my mouth would be, "I'm a dancer." I danced consistently from age 7 into my 30s, first jazz, then contemporary. As much as possible I arranged my work and graduate school schedules around dance. I joined a local company and performed to a paying audience. Then suddenly I couldn't anymore. Or not the way I had, anyway. Thanks to incorrect repetitive movements and a loss in the genetic lottery now sometimes dancing hurts (honestly, sometimes walking hurts too). And even though I've learned to adapt with better body mechanics and supportive footwear, even though most of the time it doesn't hurt anymore because of those changes (and of course regular acupuncture and moxibustion), I feel as though I'm always having to evaluate how I'm doing. I'm in my head instead of my body, thinking, "Is today an okay day? Should I be doing this step this way?" I can't just let go and move the way I used to.

The point of all of this is to say that I had to contend with the challenge of how to get enough exercise only in the last few years. And after trying a wide variety of activities I finally found my new movement obsession that I can complement with occasional yoga, dance, or weights: choreographed lightsaber combat.

Yes, for those of you who don't yet know me well, I am a big giant nerd, which serves me well in collecting and reading a ton of relevant medical literature as well as adoring Star Wars maybe more than is healthy sometimes. I have been obsessed with the galaxy far, far away since I was assigned homework by my seventh grade science teacher to watch at least two of the original trilogy (what were then the only) films over the Halloween weekend. All three movies were on repeat on a TV channel all weekend and right away I was hooked. Thus a love affair with Star Wars, but also with astronomy and physics took hold. My awe and excitement in my teacher's follow-up lesson on binary star systems was just the beginning; it was one of the main reasons I took a summer trading off between mission control and space flight simulations at the Advanced Space Academy (the high school version of Space Camp) and why I wanted desperately to be an astronaut. Though that's unlikely now, I still maintain it's possible (NASA, call me. We need to study the beneficial effects of acupuncture in space)!

But back to exercise.

Enter an offhand comment this summer by a friend mentioning that there are Jedi exercise classes in San Francisco and my immediate decision to sign up. I was nervous to join a new community, but found them very welcoming and equally passionate. Finally a new form of choreographed exercise that builds on my love of dance, the acting, costumes, and character work I was missing from my days as a drama kid, exploring martial arts (something I'd always thought I would enjoy but never got around to), and of course getting to play around with a big glowing sword. And all this with that element I'd been missing at the gym and local yoga classes - a community. Having people who will be happy to see me when I arrive (light and fun, friendship) and bug me if I don't show up to practice (accountability) is essential. A major bonus has been getting to perform for audiences again as well! Perhaps you saw me as Finn at the California Academy of Sciences in December. My 2018 goal is to perform as Rey!

So why am I talking about this here? How does this relate to medicine and wellness?

Our qi is vital energy. When our qi stagnates (gets stuck), that's when we get pain. At first it might be a dull pain and we feel just a bit tight, but eventually it sets in further and that's what we want to prevent with daily movement. Many of my active patients feel terrible when they haven't had their regular level of exercise. That dragging feeling is early stage qi stagnation. To make matters worse, stress also stagnates the qi. So when we're so busy we don't have time to exercise, you're in double trouble. All the more excuse to have a spontaneous dance party at your desk or at least do a few gentle breathing qigong exercises, which I can teach you.

Finding the right form of exercise can be hard. My suggestion is to do something you love that happens to be good for you rather than forcing yourself to do what you think you're "supposed" to do. If you love going to gym and lifting weights because of how it makes you feel and also you get to listen to a pump up the jams mix on your phone go for it! But if you loathe it and can barely get yourself out of bed on gym days, it's time to find something else. Go for a long walk with a friend and use it as catch up time. Bonus if it's in a beautiful green location where the color of spring leaves can help soothe your Liver and promote the free-flow of qi. Walk the long way around your block to drop off a package, giving yourself more time with your favorite podcast. Find a YouTube yoga channel with a personality and pace that suits you. Throw on your favorite song and air guitar and jump around for 2 minutes. Save your knees and punch the air in as many directions as your range of motion allows. Maybe do those arm exercises your trainer gave you years ago, but skip the weights if it's too much (or use cans). My point is simply that you have to figure out what level of activity is sustainable, enjoyable, and effective for meeting the goals you have set for yourself. Think outside the box because exercise can and should be fun.

After you make movement a regular habit, then you'll find you want to slowly increase the difficulty, duration, and intensity. The most important part is doing something active regularly and having it become a seamless part of your lifestyle. So if getting more exercise is on your list of resolutions, think about what brings you joy, breathe, and let it move you. Every step toward better health counts.

Lightsaber photos courtesy of Bianca Hernandez / KQED.

ABOUT SHAWNA

Shawna Seth, L.Ac. is a California state licensed and nationally certified acupuncturist currently pursuing physician assistant training. To better understand acupuncture and how you can use it in your daily life, and to explore the connections between Western and Eastern medicine, follow her blog A Cuppa Qi. She also invites connection via email contact@shawnaseth.com or Instagram @acuppaqi.