In my daily acupuncture practice, my patients often ask, “How does acupuncture work?” It’s challenging to speak about Chinese Medicine without using the word “energy.” When I do mention energy within the human body, I expect to see eyes glaze over. We can relate to solar energy, wind energy, electromagnetic energy, or the energy it

If you were sightseeing in China and wanted to receive traditional Chinese medical treatment for your knee osteoarthritis pain after climbing the Great Wall, you may ask for what sounds like, “zhen jiu.” This is a standard term for acupuncture, and can be translated as “warming needle” or “acupuncture and moxibustion.” In this example of

It strikes me how our pets are such an important part of our lives. They are calming, accepting of, and uplifting to us. My family has had our dog for five years and he seems like another child to me, with some simplified needs and easy, unconditional affection for each of us. I see that

Before pursuing my master’s degree in Chinese Medicine, I felt it was important for me to be in China to witness medicine used for thousands of years within its own culture. I lived there for one year (almost twenty years ago now) teaching English to college students, studying Chinese language, and observing in the hospital

Happy New Year to the readers of The World! As a monthly writer, I never quite know who’s reading, so it’s always nice when someone tells me they read the Natural Health column. With this theme, I wanted to share about the importance of relationships in our health. Health and Relationships I was fascinated to

I find the most common question asked to me is, “Can acupuncture help (fill in the blank)?” I imagine any acupuncturist would tell you the same. Some people ask, “How does it work?” but most people want to know if it can help them with whatever they are struggling with. My answer is almost always,

Have you noticed that your eczema begins to get worse in the Fall? You may understand this as related to the changing season, particularly the air becoming drier or the reduction of sun exposure. Each of our bodies is different but I’ve noticed this general trend with skin conditions. The Skin, the Lung, and Chinese

Have you noticed that you feel better when the sun is shining? I think most of us would say so. I’m not referring to your back pain going away when the clouds move (though this may also happen) but rather your mood being lighter and feeling happier in general. In my time as a practitioner,

Without talking about numbers and percentages, clearly, the majority of us are overweight. Some of our bodies may be more genetically prepared for this while others are not, meaning excess weight may affect us in different ways. Both the musculoskeletal structure and the internal organs will have too much demand on what they’re designed to

  When learning about my patients, I may ask if they have children. And I may hear the answer, “No, though I have two dogs.” We can love our pets the same way we do our children, and when they get sick or are in pain we want to know all the options for care.