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June 20, 2020 Sorry to have been out of touch. It’s been very difficult to write anything since the murder of George Floyd (and Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, and so many more). Although there is much that warrants our thoughtful attention, everything other than racism in America seems almost frivolous. And there has been

May 16, 2020 A patient emailed with a very interesting plea: “Hi Ann, Is your family okay? Sorry to write a sad sack email but I need your help. Spiraling down. They say this pause is teaching people to feel gratitude, but what I miss more than anything is the feeling of gratitude I had.

April 28, 2020 Yesterday I received an email from a student:Dear Ann, Would you be able to say a little but more about your motto-phrase “Practice like nothing else matters because everything does”? I want to understand with full depth what you mean and how this came about. I have a feeling it would be

April 20, 2020 Mark—my wonderful right hand—sent a pressing email a week and a half ago: “Please send me your blog for this week so I can send it out today. It’s already Thursday!” I had started the blog but couldn’t send, it because I was surprised at what was coming out. It was bleak.

We’re in what is for many a very confusing time. As Chinese Medical practitioners, we know that viruses (Wind-Cold) are agents of change. They come in and elicit anywhere from minor to utterly devastating change. And we know, since Chinese Medicine is applied Chinese philosophy, that these changes are a part of human evolution, that

March 26, 2020 Last week I saw a seemingly healthy, vibrant looking man in his late 30’s presenting with particularly severe arthritis. All his joints were aching, especially hips, shoulders, knees and most of his finger joints. How long have you had this joint pain? Probably five years, maybe six.  What was happening in your life

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

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