What's cupping?

I place a flaming cotton ball into a glass cup, which creates a vacuum. I pull the flame out, and quickly place the cups at select locations around the body. The suction pulls up superficial tissue. The cups can be quickly moved, left in place, or "glided" across the body with oil.
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Cupping promotes circulation and the release of toxins, tension, and stagnant energy. It encourages relaxation, and often helps relieve pain, especially along the back.
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Cupping can be a stand-alone treatment, or used in conjunction with acupuncture, or other modalities. I usually practice traditional Fire-Cupping, although there are also other forms, such as pump-suction, or silicon-cupping.
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Learn more about cupping or other treatments in a free 15-minute consultation, or come in for a treatment! Thanks for supporting my new woman-owned small business.

Olives

I started noticing them in early autumn, hanging enticingly on the trees, cajoling me to "come back in a month. Bring a bag, and bring your BF."

So, I came back with both. We gathered three huge bags of ripe olives that stained my bags light purple, and made them smell like, well, olive oil.

I brined them that night, individually washing each precious little olive jewel, and cutting down its belly to welcome the brine. They sat on our kitchen counter, smiling fat and purple from their glass jars, oozing slightly with salt and scent, for two months (with 1 brine-change and overseas adventure, in the middle).

I removed the brine last week, and added salt, vinegar, local herbs, and oil. The flavors sit and infuse now, and will be ready to eat shortly. We have enough to last us until the next harvest, next autumn.

I am so grateful for our local bounty.

Creating relationships with our local landscape by gathering, preparing, and eating local food likewise creates an internal landscape of joyful resilience. Plus, the food tastes and feels better. It's FUN.

What are you eating from your home landscape?

Does acupuncture hurt?

"Pain" is subjective. Distal points (hands and feet) are often more sensitive than points closer to the center of the body. Some people feel an initial small "prick," especially on the distal points, but others don't feel anything at all.
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You may feel a dull, achey, or "heavy" sensation around the needled point. This signifies "de qi," or "the qi has arrived." AKA, it's good. The acupuncture point is active, and the needles are doing their work.
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Most people fall asleep or enter a dream-like state during treatment, and come out greatly refreshed.
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Acupuncture needles are usually thinner than a human hair. Our thin filiform needles vary from 0.5 to 5 inches long. Our needle gage varies from 30 (thick) to 40 (thin), depending on location/ intention of the treatment. I mostly use gage 36 (thinner) for my 1-inch needles, and gage 34 (just slightly thicker) for my 1.5-inch needles.
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So no, acupuncture usually does NOT HURT. Come relax and feel better!

"Way of Tea" notes

Here's a few notes from last night's Way of Tea event. 

Tea/ 茶

• Read this article
  for more details about White Tea
• Want to brew with a gaiwan?
   Watch this video
  . 

Dao De Jing/ 道德經

• Click here
   for a list of free online "Dao De Jing" resources (see bottom of post)

Upcoming events

• Please join us for the next Way of Tea, Monday February 3! You can prepare a Dao De Jing passage that you wish to discuss, if you'd like. 
• Please join us for Community Acupuncture
   on Friday January 24. 

Welcome

• Contact me for acupuncture, herbs, and yoga consultations/ treatments! Find more classes/ clinic schedule on 
  my website
  . 
• Follow me on 
  Instagram
   and Facebook
   for beautiful photos + yummy Chinese medicine morsels. 

Have a wonderful first month of 2020!

Jiling 

PS-  Here's the reflection questions that I posed after reading passage 39

• When do you feel "in harmony with the Dao"? (give examples from the past month, or year) 
• How do you "interfere with the Dao"? 
• How do you "let yourself be shaped by the Dao"?

Jiling Lin, L.Ac. 林基玲

acupuncture . herbs . yoga

www.JilingLin.com