On February 22, we celebrate a full year of working in the yurt. This has been a year of acupuncture sessions unexpectedly held within the embrace of nature, through shifting seasons, sun and cold, rain and wind. A year of stepping into this space each morning, lighting the fire, brewing tea, and welcoming you in.
Read MoreSometimes it takes a while to end an abusive relationship. I feel like I’m finally able to do this with United Healthcare. As of March 31, 2025, I will no longer be an in-network provider with UHC.
Read MoreIf you're seeing an out-of-network (OON) acupuncturist, you might be able to get reimbursed by your insurance—but you'll need a superbill to do it.
Read MoreThe Lunar New Year and the start of spring remind us to embrace cycles of growth and renewal. Whether reflecting with the YearCompass, purifying your home, moving your body, or practicing acts of kindness, these practices connect us to the rhythms of the earth and its unfolding transformation.
May this spring and the Year of the Wood Snake bring clarity, compassion, and growth into every aspect of your life.
Read MoreI felt so moved and honored to be part of this ceremony with Sushila and Bikas, to share in a ritual so filled with love, protection, and tradition. Being welcomed into such a cherished family celebration is something I will hold close to my heart. As much as I miss my own family, this moment reminded me of how lucky I am to be embraced by loved ones here in Nepal.
Read MoreIf we wish to address broader crises—climate change, political unrest, the survival of uncontacted people, and all other beings we share this world with—we must honor Qi and Shen as much as Jing. We need to allow these living stories to unfold.
Read MoreI’m still learning to let go of the impulse to catastrophize, whether it’s about my shoulder or the outcome of an election. Like many others, I’m navigating unfamiliar waters—this time in a place that is at once familiar and constantly new. My hope for myself and for others is that we can find resilience by focusing on our own responses, rather than the uncertainties swirling around us.
Read MoreWatching the city light up, I am struck by the overlap of these worlds—the beginning of my trip here, my kids’ lives back home, and the relationships fostered through my days in Nepal. It's as if each prayer wheel, each flickering candle, and each shared meal weave together something both old and new, something that binds us in care across time and distance.
Read MoreI’d like to extend this practice further with a Sunday Seasonal Seed Circle—a gathering aimed at supporting potential Circle facilitators in identifying seasonal correspondences, emotions, virtues, and the relationships between our bodies and the natural world. These circles will offer a spiritual and communal space for navigating our personal and collective healing through the lens of Traditional Chinese Medicine’s Five Phases, ecological cycles, and deep reflection.
Read MoreThis polycrisis of the world, as Sophy Banks calls it, seems to be amplifying the sense of vulnerability and uncertainty I’m feeling. I want to relax into the calm of life and metabolize the grief from this most recent loss. Yet, when I relax in and try to be with my feelings, a door opens into deeper and deeper layers of grief for what is happening in the world. It’s as if I am expecting to open a metaphorical door to step onto a porch where I can watch the waves and sunset for a couple of hours, but when I pull the door back, a tidal wave threatens to knock me down and wash away my entire house.
Read MoreImagine a healthcare system where small clinics offering acupuncture, massage, and other somatic therapies also function as community health hubs. These centers could screen for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and other risk factors during routine visits, catching potential health issues early and reducing the need for more costly interventions down the line.
Read More“Sky and Earth are the inn for all things; time is the traveler passing through a hundred generations. Life floats by like a dream—how much joy can it hold?” - Huainanzi Chapter 7
Read MoreAcupuncturists across Oregon are facing significant challenges due to reductions in insurance reimbursement rates. This post provides a draft letter that individual acupuncturists can use and modify to contact our legislators to ask for improved parity laws.
Read MoreThe reduction in reimbursements puts small healthcare providers like me in a difficult position. To continue offering the same level of care, I may need to see more patients, shorten appointment times, or stop accepting insurance altogether. None of these options are good for patient care. Ultimately, this decision by Regence undermines the quality of care you deserve and have come to expect.
Read MoreAt the Yurt Clinic, we’ve been getting more cancellations due to COVID-19 and so I wanted to address where we’re at with COVID-19 in our local area and what we can do to prevent the spread and manage the illness when we know we’ve got it.
Read MoreHibiscus calyx makes an amazingly full-bodied, sour red tea that can be drunk as a cool summer refresher or from a steaming mug in the winter. This article addresses the specific benefits that hibiscus flower can provide for women as we move into and through the transitional years and enjoy the third trimester of life.
Read MoreI left Nepal ten days sooner than I meant to. With a shocked heart and a belly tied down with dimenhydrinate, I sat in the front seat of a grey sumo. Eleven of our bodies jolted up and down, left and right, as our coachman navigated the switchbacks leading northeast to Kathmandu. Below my sunglasses, I saw the driver looking at my hand squeezing the door handle. He had just unified our right tires with the edge of a cliff after passing a truck carrying two buffalo. Momentum alone can be a savior.
Read MoreThe Lunar New Year holiday is tracked with the Moon cycle in respect to our place in orbit around the sun. It occurs on the second new moon after the Winter Solstice. We will be celebrating the holiday on Sunday, January 22.
Starting January 1, 2022, health insurance plans in Oregon are required to cover acupuncture, making this valuable treatment more accessible to those of us who live here.
Read MoreWinter will reach its midpoint on December 22nd this 2019 year (the Winter Solstice) and it will end on February 4, 2020 when Spring begins. Just like every other season, Winter is a wave form. If you imagine yourself sitting on an Earthly surfboard, looking far out at the horizon, today you will see something changing.
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