Please note that Ann is not practicing in her office at present. Please click HERE to see the video ‘Remote Healing’ for an update on her practice methods during the Coronavirus period. March 18, 2020 “Are you in your office this week?” That’s the question of this month. My answer is yes, of course; that’s
See Ann’s Coronavirus Blog Here March 9, 2020 As efforts at containment of the new coronavirus seem less likely to be effective in the longterm, it’s squarely time to focus on what we can do for ourselves, families, clients, neighbors, and everyone to protect health all around. Although all cases should be taken very seriously,
March 11, 2020 Interesting case today. A patient I’ve known for years came in a sat down on the sofa. The first thing I noticed today was a large dark red mark on his face. He’d presented years ago with severe internal Wind causing daily projectile vomiting and at that time was utterly debilitated, unable
March 2nd, 2020 Even these days, having been in practice a long time, I am often utterly staggered by the results of Sinew treatments. Staggered not just by the increased range of motion and reduction of pain, but by the patient’s pronouncements at the conclusion of the treatment. Today I’m spending a lot of time
What’s your advice about the coronavirus? That’s the question of the month for many practitioners, it seems. No matter what the external pathogen, the body reacts to preserve Qi and life by activating Wei-defensive Qi (the immune system). Wei Qi also governs the musculature and therefore allows us to move. Since viruses have Wind as
My Small Intestine luo seems always to be in gear. That’s the acupuncture channel that acts as the feedback system – the part of you that says, “How am I doing?” If the answer that comes back is, “Not so well, actually…” the body makes an adjustment as that question is answered, concentrating blood into
It’s not often that someone goes into panic in the office. Since the work is with needles and needles are sharp, I’ve tried to minimize the “clinic” component of the office. Although it’s clearly a professional space, it doesn’t look like a medical office. The only give away is the table. Fortunately then, the air
At the last few weeks I had few patients that complained about getting sick all the time. Frequent colds, viruses and other external pathogenic factors are a common complaint. Our society has many agreements we share about how and why one gets sick. Mostly we blame it on the weather. But the weather is the
My last patient of the day just left and I must scrawl a blog before going home. All day I’ve been wishing everyone a “Happy New Year” as is the custom, but I just couldn’t say that to my last patient. Life has been very tough for him; every day brings a whole-body pain that’s
Because I’m in my 50s, the feeling of our current culture where there seems to be so little privacy, decorum, dignity, self-censoring, no quiet realm for deeply personal things, where things that you would never talk about are now common currency on social media—all feels so unbecoming. Is there anything that people think should be
So How Do you Fix That? I really enjoy treating people with Damp-Heat in the joints. In the general population the condition is widely thought be permanent, even incurable, but the Divergent Channels know otherwise. These people can be ill to the point of being crippled, yet relief is usually so fast. A woman came
At first, intention and knowledge seem to contradict one another. What is intention? Is it simply wanting someone to heal? If it is, is it enough?Our intention to help our patients is very strong, otherwise we wouldn’t be in this profession. Yet, how much we care seems to make no difference sometimes. As humans, we
At 7:15am this morning the most remarkable thing happened. I had just finished my morning meditation and was starting on my gratitude practice when I heard a truck coming up the driveway. Looking through the window, I saw it was a red utility van. The driver turned the engine off but didn’t get out of
Sometimes I think we’re in the most humbling of professions. There’s more information than we can possibly master or absorb in a lifetime and then, at every moment of the patient encounter, and all the way through the treatment, we must be ready to be wrong. And then, when we realize we’re wrong, we have
Interesting case today and perhaps the highlight of the week. I saw a homeless man with a mountain of debt and with one single penny and two sticks of beef jerky in his pocket. He’d had a job in a store but neglected to pay his parking fines which accrued so much interest that the
Sometimes people ask whether they’ll be able to “incorporate” classical medicine into their practice, after study. Classical acupuncture involves the
Sorry to be out of touch. It’s been a very full and beautiful past few weeks. The first text today
“You don’t even know if the sun will come up tomorrow,” I wrote yesterday to a student who was having