Author Archives: Amanda Johnson
Bon Voyage! A few of our favorite things…
Thank you everyone in the greater Walla Walla area for a fabulous 2 years! Thank you for your trust in us, and for your commitment to your health. We have enjoyed many laughs, tears, and moments of celebration with our patients, and wanted to say a big THANK YOU, with a bow of gratitude. We […]
Why you need congee in the Spring
I was asked the other day whether congee was still a therapeutic food for the spring time. The answer is, yes! Congee is generally a great nourishing food for the spleen-stomach system, which is central to our overall health. Because its flavors are not too rich, spicy or extreme in any sense, it can […]
Action needed! Help your friends in pain get better acupuncture coverage.
With the opioid crisis still in full force, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHR) has put together a Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force, whose mission is to determine whether gaps or inconsistencies in acute and chronic pain management exist, and to propose recommendations to address those gaps. This report is currently open […]
One Breath at A Time
Eckart Tolle says “one conscious breath” constitutes meditation. In other words, there are endless spaces we can create during our day for meditation that may be far more effective then trying to sit for 20 minutes, wrestling with the monkey mind. Meditation can happen at any minute of our day, and we can build […]
The Origin of Dis-ease
In the holistic approach of Chinese medicine, we are ultimately looking at the root cause of why the body is manifesting symptoms. The framework to understand disease from a Chinese medicine perspective is what we will briefly explore today. It’s important to understand that influences from any and all categories can be influencing your […]
Organs Have Emotions Too
Emotions have an impact on our health. Whether we’re feeling our heart bursting with joy, or our stomach in knots over anxiety, emotions are as much a part of our health picture as the status of our knee’s cartilage. In Chinese medicine there is a connection between disharmony in specific organ network systems and […]
Winter Rituals
Ah, yes. The freezing fog, the squirrels running frantically around (no one does frantic like a squirrel), the bare trees, and the little patches of ice tell us that winter has arrived. Winter is a quiet time, where all around us in nature things are slowing down, decaying, and hibernating. So, too, should the human […]
Feast Recovery 101
There are ways to make your Thanksgiving more nutrient dense, more digestible, and less of a sleep-for-3-hours-afterwards event. However, since it’s the day before the big event, you’ve probably already made your plans, and prepped. It’s too late to change course now, sailors, so we are going to talk about recovery from the great feast […]
Bringing Back Playtime
There is a lot to be said about how structure and routine serve us. We have clean teeth, pay the bills, keep our jobs, have meals to enjoy, and have tidy houses due to adhering to routines. In the quest for health, regularity with workouts, eating, and mindfulness practices are all of great importance. However, […]
Breath of Life
What is one thing you can do when you are: getting angry during a conflict, frustrated with unchanging circumstances, feeling overwhelming grief, or struggling with pain and suffering in your body? Deep, centering breathing. No one has to know you’re doing it, you don’t have to leave where you are. Yet, the simple act […]
Stick Out Your Tongue 