Advanced Acupuncture Blog | Ann Cecil-Sterman | Reknowned Acupuncturist

A foundational tenet of my personal philosophy is the great adage “everything happens for us”. It makes possible a perspective of welcoming and curiosity on all happenings. So, of course, I saw my ankle injury as a real godsend and an invitation to be still. My recovery was going beautifully, but to ensure ease on

I’m in the San Francisco airport, soon to board for Korea after a particularly intense weekend on divergent channels across the bay in Berkeley. It was beautifully hosted by Ozben Felek in a relaxed herbal center in the middle of a park, as she breast fed little Oakyanus, while her husband and brother took care

I’m resting in California after four days of teaching spread over five days in a stunning downtown space in Portland, Oregon, warmly hosted by Melinda Iglesias Wheeler and Arista Gates, who even made daily congee.  Everywhere I go I see a pattern that reminds me of a great traditional story. Here it is as told

It’s hard to say goodbye to Andrew over and over, whether he departs first or I do. I love it when he is able to come to class, as he contributes dietary gems and even writes menus for some of the patients on the demonstration table. This past week we had the great fortune of

Greetings from a very hot Athens where the food is wonderful and unique, and the people connect so well. The pulse class here, hosted generously by Maria Giavanoglou was attended by a large number of people, many of whom trained together and so the community feel was off to a great start. Efthymios Foteinos, who

While social media discusses “ozempic-face”, practitioners are talking about ozempic-pulse. My patient demographic doesn’t include many fans of pharmaceuticals, but the side-effects of weight loss drugs are now coming through the door. The o-pulses I am feeling are almost carbon copies of each other. As many practitioners are finding, it’s an alarmingly lifeless pulse, largely

Last Thursday in the mentorship we had a potent discussion about trust.  The word trust in our culture infers expectations of people’s behavior. “I trust you not to: abandon/abuse/assault/disregard/disrespect/steal from/take advantage of/betray/ me.” If one of these things happens, we say, “my trust has been broken”. And so it has. But trust has a much

Some astute whistle blowers are sounding sanity about the runaway train headed for SuperIntelligence, as various current Artificial Intelligences develop private languages and refuse to shut down when instructed. Human beings are designed to love, to express, and to create. How do we know? We know simply by looking at the channels of energy that

Last week the inbox filled with questions about the recently publicized potential cure for pancreatic cancer following a Spanish team’s success in stopping tumor growth in mice. The very kind lead researcher had a motto on his lab coat: “contra el cancer”. There needs to be a revolution in the way people think about cancer.

Sorry to be out of touch. I was preparing and launching this year’s mentorship program, which introduces 80 wonderful souls to the classical view of the channels. Now that we’re at the end of the second week, I can write again. Writing during the mentorship is a experience of contrasts, because the goal of the

Yesterday I visited my superbly skilled acupuncturist, Neena Barua. My chief complaint? Something I can’t remember having experienced for decades: nightmares. The Chinese medicine theory of dreams is closely aligned with Jungian theory, or rather, Jungian dream theory closely aligns with the ancient Chinese medical theory. During the process of falling asleep, wei qi, also

It’s so good to be home after so many months away.  The tour was quite marvelous with wonderful hosts, over 600 students in 16 classes, four Pacific and six Atlantic crossings making a total of 67,000 flight miles (108Kms), which is the equivalent of 2.7 times around the globe. The two central tenets of this

So far this year, probably because my travel schedule appears tough on the website, I’ve received many inquiries about staying healthy during travel. There are lots of things you can do to ease travel stress on the body, but first it’s important to understand the nature of that stress. Wei qi—otherwise known as receptive, warming,