clinic update + news!

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A few clinic updates!

Out of clinic - June 7th- July 8th

Many of my patients know that I am getting married this June :) Patrick and I are so excited for this next chapter! In order to be really present at our wedding, I am taking a few weeks away from the clinic. My last day in the clinic will be Friday, June 7th and my first day back will be Monday, July 8th. I am so grateful that I get to take time off to really sit in the love and celebration of our wedding with our nearest and dearest. I appreciate your understanding of my time away and can’t wait to have you back in July! 

Slight price increase

We have always worked hard to keep our prices as low as possible at Azalea, but due to the rising costs (of everything!) we will be increasing our prices for our aesthetics treatments by $5 effective May 1st. We are doing so in order to maintain the highest quality of care that is the standard at Azalea. Did you know that the needles we use at Azalea cost 5x as much as your standard acupuncture needle? We hope that you understand and continue to do business with us. Thank you for your loyalty and support.

follow-up cosmetic 60 min appointment- $140 

follow-up cosmetic 45 min appointment - $115

follow-up gua sha appointment- $85

cosmetic acupuncture + cupping 90 min appointment - $200

New merch!

YAY! Y'all wanted crewneck sweatshirts, so here they are. Same as the hats- they are made to order so they take a little longer to ship (1-2 weeks). Just for fun and perfect for your cozy acupuncture uniform! I hope you love them :) 

collaborative care

My patients know that I am a big believer in collaborative care. This is a team approach to health and wellness- acupuncture and Chinese medicine is amazing, profoundly helpful, and in my opinion, oftentimes, just one piece of the puzzle! One acupuncture session is not going to “fix” all of your problems (“I tried acupuncture once, didn’t help”- cue every acupuncturist groaning, [or rolling their eyes, if you’re me, lol.]) And depending on what we are working on, we may need other practitioners involved in your care. If I don’t think I am the right practitioner for you, or if I don’t think I am the right acupuncturist for you- I will refer you to one one of my amazing colleagues in the area. We are spoiled with lots of talented acupuncturists here in MPLS, many with different focuses in their practice. I focus on a few things in my own practice, and if your case seems like it would be a better fit for someone else, I am happy to refer to someone more appropriate for your care.

Sometimes my patients already have a team of practitioners that they work with and trust. Sometimes people need referrals and below I have listed a couple of my favorites :) This team could change, some practitioners you only have to see every once in a while, some practitioners you see a lot for a period of time then you “graduate” out of their care. It all depends. I never want this to feel overwhelming, daunting, or like you “should” have a bunch of appointments with a bunch of different people all the time. No, you do not need that. However, if you are dealing with a long-term, deep-seated health concern, it’s may take more than one practitioner it will almost definitely take more than one appointment. 

Your team could look like some combination of the following: 

OBGYN

Dentist 

Acupuncturist

Naturopath 

Massage therapist

Physical therapist 

Chiropractor 

Food therapist

Mental health therapist 

Esthetician 

and so many other amazing modalities!

A few of my favorites:

Physical therapy: If you are in need of a physical therapist- I highly recommend and refer my patients to Dr. Phil Orenstein, PT- he is an amazing, highly knowledgeable practitioner! 

Nutrition: Sometimes my patients will have major surgery (like gall bladder surgery) and share with me that their doctors have not given them any insight on what to eat- which is really disheartening to me as diet is going to be a huge factor in digestive (and overall) health after major surgery. I regularly use food therapy in my practice, but for more involved cases like the example above, I would direct you to my colleague Nikki Fleck, L.Ac- she offers food therapy & nutrition appointments. Another wonderful, extremely knowledgable practitioner!

As a reminder, our bodies do have innate ability to heal themselves. We should not outsource our power, but it can be helpful to connect with people and professionals who can guide us along the way.

I hope you find this useful! Stay warm <3

new year’s thoughts

Hi! I’m back. After taking a nice break over the holidays to rest and reset, I’m back at the clinic :) And so happy to be here.

I hope you had a lovely holiday season and you are finding some fresh energy in this new year. I actually love New Year. I have a New Year’s birthday so I find the time between Christmas and my birthday to be a really special time to reflect on the past year and plan & create intentions for the year to come. I did a lot of journaling this year. I know not everyone feels that way and a lot of people don’t like New Year- setting goals and intentions may feel more aligned in the spring when the energy is about growth (as we’ve discussed, the energy of winter is rest/hibernation). I just always look at my birthday as my own personal new year? So it feels like the perfect time for me to reflect & set intentions. 

I did Rachel Brathen’s 2 part New Year ceremony that she does on her podcast, From the Heart. The first part is “Processing 2023: A Ritual to Make Space” and the second part is the “2024 Intention Ceremony: Manifesting a Beautiful Year”. I highly recommend doing this around your birthday! It was so lovely and gave me a lot of clarity. Let me grieve, celebrate, plan, dream. So nice. Change can be difficult for me, so processing the past year is super important for me to stay grounded and grateful. 

I regularly set intensions and keep track of goals, so none of my intentions this year were actually new. A lot of it was a continuation or a new, more refined version of something I was already doing. 

My family has been doing a word of the year the past couple years. We share our word on Christmas. I carried this through my birthday/new year journaling exercises which again helped me get clear on my goals, intentions, action steps. I cheated and I actually have 2 words this year- refine and prepare. I am always learning and doing new things in regards to my overall health- mind, body, spirit- and I am now in a stage of refining the things that have been resonating with me over the past ~ year or so. Keeping what makes sense, letting go of what doesn’t feel aligned, but always curious and learning more. Prepare- because I have some fun things I want to do in the next few years- so I am preparing! 

If you did set intentions and feel you would like support with them, come on in for a treatment and we’ll see how we can best support you :)

See you soon! 

Winter solstice

So in my previous blog post I mentioned that winter is the most Yin time of year, with winter solstice being peak Yin.

So what does that mean?

(A wayyyyyy oversimplification for the purpose of this short educational blog post)

Everything, everything everything- nature, our bodies, and every system inside our bodies has both Yin and Yang. Some things are naturally more Yin and some things are naturally more Yang. But there is always some of each. When you look at the Yin Yang symbol that you are familiar with, the dark side of the symbol is Yin and the light side is Yang, but you see that there is a piece of Yin inside Yang, and a piece of Yang inside Yin. They are opposite and separate, they cannot exist without each other. And nothing is absolutely Yin or absolutely Yang.

Yin is female, north, earth, moon, space, matter, darkness, water, rest, contraction, flat, descending, below, quiet, softness, stillness, winter, fall.

whereas Yang is male, south, heaven, sun, time, energy, light, fire, activity, expansion, round, rising, above, action, heat, movement, spring, summer.

Everyday has its own Yin Yang cycle, so morning is more Yang, 12 noon being the most Yang, and then Yang becoming more Yin as the day goes on, with 12 midnight being the most Yin. Makes sense right?

So winter is the season that is the most Yin, with winter solstice being the most Yin day of the year. We understand this with winter solstice being the shortest day of the year (least amount of sunlight, remember sun is Yang, and darkness is Yin)- this will begin the transition from Yin to Yang.

Just a little context to for you before you enjoy the winter solstice this Thursday while you read your book fireside after eating a bowl of homemade soup :)

Seasonal update- winter!

We are officially in the winter season. Right now we are in the middle of a seasonal point called Heavy Snow (大雪), this two week seasonal point will bring us right up to the winter solstice. Winter is the most Yin season in TCM, with winter solstice next week being peak Yin energy. 

(If you are new here, I love giving patients insights into where we are in terms of the 24 seasonal points we have in TCM. Each of these seasonal points is two weeks long and can give us insight on how to best care for ourselves, what to eat, etc.) 

Ok so, heavy snow. Not quite in Minnesota? But a little bit would be nice before Christmas! 

Winter profile: 

• organs- Kidney + Urinary Bladder

• element- water

• flavor- salty 

• sense organ- ears 

• emotion- fear

• spirit- zhi- willpower, confidence, belief in oneself 

• color- black, blue black

Food therapy:

warming, Yang tonifying, foods that are black or dark blue in color - root vegetables, black sesame, beef, bone broth, ginger, garlic. 

Lifestyle notes:

• fun movement outside! walk around the lakes in this bright, cold weather. outdoor winter activities like paddle tennis, skiing, snowboarding, ice skating, snow ball fights, sledding. 

• keep mid/low back and bottoms of feet covered and cozy- warm socks (no barefeet on cold floors inside, this is especially important for women) and undershirts/extra layers to cover and keep Kidneys warm. 

• rest, rest, rest. go to bed early, get extra sleep, slow down, go inward, reflect, journal, meditation, reading, baths, cozy comfy nights at home. 

• stay hydrated with mineral water to support Kidney and Urinary Bladder (Gerolsteiner is my all time favorite) 

I know my fellow Minnesotans low key love this time of year. And I love you for that. Stay cozy <3

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

Clean personal care products that actually work :)

I am hugely passionate about this topic. Eliminating toxic personal care products is tremendously important when it comes to our health. However, much like my previous post on herbs, there is a lot of green washing and pretty marketing to sift through. Ugh. Always check your labels and make sure “fragrance” isn’t listed as an ingredient. You’d be shocked, it’s everywhere. And so detrimental to our health and hormones.

Below I have listed out a few great personal care products!

• Primally pure charcoal deodorant - I have been experimenting with natural deodorant for years. I found one that I liked and worked well for me. But this spring I ran it through the Think Dirty app and it had a bad score :( I complexly missed the fact that it had “fragrance” listed as an ingredient- YIKES. I’ve been using primally pure charcoal deodorant for 2-3 months now? And love it. Smells great and it works. 

• Living Libations facial oil and ozonated dew dab - duh, we’ve talked about this. Obsessed. Dew dab has worked wonders for my acne and hyperpigmentation spots. 

• I buy my tampons and pads from the co-op - there’s a couple good brands but this is very important. Your “standard” brands for tampons and pads have horrible ingredients in them that can actually make bleeding and cramping worse. I opt for Natracare Organic, Seventh Generation, or Honey Pot. 

• I buy my body lotion and body wash from the co-op (always always “fragrance” free) - not brand loyal with this one. 

• makeup - Ilia (mascara, eyeliner, highlighter, bronzer, blush, etc) and Living Libations (obsessed with beach beauty shimmer and pink lady’s slipper shimmer)

• hair- Innersence Beauty - obsessed, I use the hydrating shampoo and conditioner and I feel like it makes my curls much softer. I also love their sea salt spray! I always let my hair air dry and use a microfiber hair towel when I get out of the shower. 

• toothpaste- Boka, Ella Mint

• Living Libations happy gum drops swishing oil- for oil pulling!

• Sunscreen- Badger Balm Mineral Sunscreen cream or Living Libations Everybody Loves The Sunshine Zinc Lotion

For at home cleaning products, we use Branch Basics for everything. Their dishwasher pods did not work for us, so we use Dropps dishwasher pods. But for everything else- countertop cleaner, glass cleaner, bathroom cleaner, laundry detergent, hand soap- we use Branch Basics. This is super important !!

What am I missing?? Let me know what questions you have!!

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

herbs

Herbal medicine and food therapy are huge parts of my practice. There is so much power in herbs and food, when done right. There are a lot of pretty herbal/food therapy products on the market today that are not what they claim to be. I’ve spoken on this briefly before on the blog and wanted to discuss it a bit more today. 

Firstly, I am extremely skeptical about anything marketed as a beauty supplement. There is so much out there with gorgeous marketing that is just not what it claims to be and you basically have to be a scientist to figure that out. It’s so frustrating. Finding brands that you actually trust or finding sources that you actually trust to lead you to good brands is key (i.e: maybe not a celebrity supplement brand and I would be skeptical about influencers promoting certain supplements/herbs). Some are really good, others are not. I swear by Root & Bones products- the owner and creator of Root & Bones is an acupuncturist and herbalist- someone you should be taking your wellness advice from! She is a wealth of knowledge. I swear by her collagen and take it daily. To me, any of her products would be classified as beauty herbal tonics because anything that makes your insides feel better, is going to make your outsides look better. 

In order for herbs to work, they need to be administered at a therapeutic dose. This is a big problem with a lot of the herbs/supplements on the market today, especially the ones I see pushed so heavily on Instagram. Either the way they’ve been formulated/processed makes them no longer effective or the dose at which you are getting the herb is basically useless and not going to do anything. 

Herbal medicine is very real, very effective and very safe- when crafted by a company who is actually interested in the health and wellbeing of their customers, is appropriate for you, and administered at a therapeutic dose by a qualified practitioner. 

Get your herbs and supplements from your acupuncturist, functional medicine doctor, naturopath, etc. People that have access to legit herbs and supplements. Don’t self diagnose and buy your Chinese herbs online- it is likely not the right formula for you and may not work, or might make things worse. Definitely don’t buy your herbs or supplements on Amazon (lots of information out now about products being mislabeled- scary). 

Questions?? I could go on and on about this!!

Love y’all! See you at the clinic <3

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

holiday shopping but make it small & local & conscious

The last few years I have made a conscious effort to try to buy as many of my holiday gifts from small, local stores. I know that this isn’t a possibility for everyone and sometimes the perfect gift for someone has to be ordered online. Regardless, I have made an extra effort to find local businesses that I can support for as much of my holiday shopping as possible.

As a small business owner, I can attest to the fact that this makes a difference. And we have so many cool, interesting, fun places to explore in Minneapolis.

My sisters and I always like to take an afternoon during the holiday season to peruse through the shops in Linden Hills and 50th and France. Last year I bought a few gifts from Foxwell (right across the street from Azalea) that were a huge hit. I’ll buy wine as gifts from France 44th. And Linden Hills Co-op sells Larissa Loden jewelry (local jewelry designer) that is so cute and fun (their shop is in St. Paul if you’re over there). My sisters and I are going to check out Queenie and Pearl and Carousel and Folk this weekend! We’ve never been to either but have heard such good things. I’m so excited.

If we pause for a second during all the chaos and pressure of the holiday season shopping, we will see that there are really special gifts right in our neighborhoods. 

Gift giving can be hard! If I’m struggling with finding a gift for someone in my life, I make a list of things I know they love and then go from there. Gift cards for one of their favorite services is an amazing gift and a great way to support small, local businesses! Of course you know we offer gifts cards and amazing wellness goodies here at Azalea :)

Wishing you a cozy weekend <3 

thanksgiving!

I am so looking forward to this long holiday weekend!! I love Thanksgiving. I love the energy it brings. This year, same as last year, we’ll be splitting time between my parents house and my partner’s parents house. I absolutely love to cook so I actually geek out about these next few days of prep. I did my planning and shopping yesterday, which was so fun. 

This year I’m in charge of making the green bean casserole and stuffing for Thanksgiving at my parents. I made these both last year and they turned out sooo good. I feel so strongly that people that don’t like Thanksgiving food just haven’t found the right recipes yet! We ordered our turkey from TC Farms (super excited), we also ordered our gravy, cranberry sauce and a pumpkin pie from TC Farms- just a few less things to make, and they make all theirs from scratch. For the other sides, we always check out what Half Baked Harvest has and then head to the co-op. She also puts together a beautiful Thanksgiving outline with grocery lists. If anything, it’s just fun to look at. 

What’s on your Thanksgiving menu this year? What are your favorite, must have recipes? 

I hope you have a fun few days leading up to the long weekend! 

permission to wear an obnoxiously large scarf until May

Not kidding!

In TCM, we have many lifestyle behaviors / choices that we incorporate based on the seasons and the weather. Our medicine is based on nature and the seasons, so we turn to nature to give us direction on how to live and what to eat. And of course, nature generously provides and offers us opportunities to eat certain foods that strengthen and support our health during that specific time of year. It also allows us to lean into certain emotions / mental states that help us grow as people.

Covering your neck with a scarf starting when the seasons change in the fall until we circle back to milder weather in late spring is a great way to support immunity, in TCM. This is important in both cold and windy weather. This protects a very important set of acupuncture points on our neck, the acu points name translates to “Wind Gate” or “Wind Pool” - when the neck is uncovered to cold and/or windy weather, external pathogens can enter our systems and we can get sick. And- don’t go outside with wet hair. Same idea- that will leave your neck (and those powerful acupuncture points) especially vulnerable and could lead to compromised immunity! 

So, I’ll see you in the clinic, accessorizing with obnoxiously large scarves until ~May! 

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

current obsessions - late fall + early winter 2023

my late fall + early winter obsessions 

In TCM, we are just winding down with fall and moving towards the beginning of winter in the next week or so. And clearly, we are seeing that in Minnesota :) Of course. 

We’re moving away from Lung/Large Intestine + Metal season and with that, the energetics of grief and sadness, letting go, clear thinking, being open to new ideas. And we’re moving into Kidney/Urinary Bladder, Water season, and the energetics of fear, low motivation, will power, overcoming obstacles, and supporting long term goals. I’ll do a separate post on winter in TCM, but there’s your little intro. 

I wanted to share a few of my late fall/early winter obsessions this year. 

• I’m hyper fixating on Half Baked Harvest Italian Wedding Soup- I make this at least once a month October-April. I’ve already made it twice this fall, and the second time I played with serving it over rice instead of pasta. Amazing. Very Spleen / TCM digestive health friendly. An amazing Wei Qi (immunity) and Spleen/Stomach boosting recipe! Highly recommend. I swap the chicken broth for chicken bone broth in the soup and cook white rice in bone broth.

• Would you want to see the TCM food therapy of this recipe broken down? 

• Can’t get enough 1989 (Taylor’s Version, duh)- Is it Over Now, Say Don’t Go, and You are In Love on repeat. Like all the girlies, my Spotify Wrapped 2023 is going to be Taylor heavy, lol. 

• My morning cinnamon + lemon water. I’ve been religious about my morning lemon water for years now.. like probably 10 years. But this past month I’ve been adding a dash of cinnamon to it and omg. So good. 

• My patients know this- we love room temp or warm water in TCM. Cold water can be very taxing on our digestive system and cause bloating and other unwatered digestive issues. 

• Your TCM food therapy:

• lemon- cold, sour, alkaline. promotes Qi and Blood circulation, clears heat, removes toxins, transforms phlegm. supports Gallbladder, Liver, Kidney, Lung, Spleen. 

• cinnamon- warm, acrid/sweet. Tonifys Qi and Yang, warms cold, drains damp, promotes Qi and Blood circulation. supports Heart, Small Intestine, Kidney, Lung, Spleen.

• and dare I say it… natural nails. I have obsessive about getting my nails done just about every two weeks since probably 2009... I love having freshly painted nails. But I needed a break. Trying to make natural nails a thing, at least for a little bit. Channeling Carrie Bradshaw (although, she expertly accessorized in every other way, whereas I’m pairing my natural nails look with ~scrubs~). My nails grow so fast and are so healthy/strong from being so consistent with my Root & Bones collagen powder so its fun to see them without nail polish. But, when I get back into it, I am loyal to Shaela at Nail Ninja! She’s the best.

What’s grounding or energizing you this late fall / early winter? Would love to hear how you’re staying cozy!

*we capitalized when referring to the organ in terms of TCM, not western medicine. 

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

Beauty Hot Chocolate

How I take my herbs:

I take my Root and Bones collagen powder and beauty tonic herbs powder daily- I’ve talked about the collagen powder a lot before. I’ve been taking it for about a year and half now and absolutely swear by it. I’ve used a bunch of her other herbs off and on but have been sticking with the beauty powder herbs for the past few months and love what it is doing in addition to the collagen for my hair, nails, and especially my skin. Root and Bones has a lot of amazing recipes on their instagram and website if you are needing ideas, but this is how I take my herbs daily in the cooler months. 

Beauty Hot Chocolate

• fill a mug 3/4 full with boiling water 

• 2 tbs organic unsweetened cacao powder (I get the Navitas Organics brand from the co-op)

• 1 scoop of Root and Bones Marine Collagen 

• 1 tsp of Root and Bones Beauty herbal tonic powder

• 1/2 tsp of organic vanilla extract 

• a dash of cinnamon 

• raw honey or organic maple syrup to taste 

• 1-2 tbs of half and half (I like Kaloona Super Natural- again from the co-op)

• blend with a little hand held mixer

It’s sooooo so good. Its such an amazing after dinner treat or pick me up throughout the day and the best way to get your herbs in. I swear once you try it you’ll be obsessed. You can pick up both of these Root and Bones products at the clinic at your next appointment or through our online shop! 

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

Hair!! From a TCM perspective

Hair is something I’ve always kind of been obsessed with. I have naturally curly hair but spent years straightening it (much to my grandma’s dismay). Now, I love my curly hair and hardly ever straighten it. I approach hair health the same way I do skin health, from a TCM perspective. I always start with a focus on health and wellness which leads to naturally beautiful results. If we start with our internal health, naturally it will show externally.

In TCM- hair health comes from strong overall health, with a focus on Blood. Our Qi and Blood first nourish all our necessary organs, which does not include our hair, skin, nails; we don’t need healthy or beautiful hair, skin, and nails to survive. So when under extra stress or when our body’s aren’t being properly nourished, all the nutrients will be sent to our vital organs, which can lead to sad hair, skin, and nails. So I encourage you, if you want to improve the aesthetics of your hair (or skin or nails for that matter) instead of focusing on topicals, first start with properly nourishing your body and giving it the chance to be able to properly encourage beautiful, healthy hair!

How? Food therapy- focusing on Blood building foods.

What are Blood building foods? High quality meat is going to be paramount, grass fed beef (see my food blog post for recommendations on where to source meat from), pastured raise chicken, pastured raised eggs (these yolks will be dark orange in color), wild caught salmon, etc. Liver and if you can’t stomach eating liver (can easily be mixed with ground beef for burgers or in a red sauce with pasta- again see my food blog post, but Northstar Bison makes some great beef liver blends), then beef liver supplements can work well. Dark leafy greens, foods that are red in color. BONE BROTH!!!

And last but definitely not least, collagen. The collagen I highly recommend is by Root and Bones- its a marine collagen blend with pearl, bamboo silica, and tremella- the most gorgeous herbal combination to support hair, skin, and nail health. You can buy this at the clinic, or online through or website, or through the Root and Bone website. I have been taking this collagen for over a year, and combined with a focus on a nutrient-dense diet and other lifestyle choices (acupuncture, herbs, at least 8 hours of sleep, gentle/supportive movement, hydrating with electrolytes, meditation, etc), my hair has never been healthier.

As noted above, regular acupuncture can absolutely support hair health. Additionally, we can use herbal medicine as well to support these concerns.

Products are the last thing I will address, as from a TCM perspective, the internal health choices should be the first step, and at the very lease need to be used in conjunction with product support. I have been using Innersense hair care products for ~6 months now and really like them. I was hellbent on finding a clean but effective haircare line. There are a lot out there that may claim that they are clean, but sneak in “fragrance” in their ingredients. Innersense is legit clean and smells lovely. For hair loss/shedding, I’ve had great luck with Vegamour gro and gro+ line. I will say, these are not 100% clean and some of the products do include fragrance. However, I think used for a period of time when recovering from shedding or hair loss (stress induced, postpartum, etc), this line can be very effective.

And very last but definitely not least!! I get my haircut every 6 weeks on the dot by Caitlin at Haus Salon in North Loop. She is amazing, I freaking love my haircuts with her. I always leave feeling so fabulous and have to take a million selfies to document the amazing hair moment. I absolutely adore Caitlin and feel so strongly that regular haircuts have been a game changer for the health and growth of my hair. Its really nice to have someone who can keep tabs on your hair regularly to see it through periods of stress or postpartum, etc, so that you can have some feedback on what you’re seeing.

Thoughts? Questions? I hope this is helpful!!

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

Why it’s important to keep up with your treatment plan

It can be helpful to think about your acupuncture treatment plan like your workout routine. You expect to feel good after a workout, but you don't expect to be able to do it once and be in great shape forever! This how you can think about acupuncture treatments- you can anticipate feeling awesome after your treatment, but in order to continue to support your body, your skin, and your health and wellness goals, you have to stay on top of your treatment plan, as you would your workout routine. 

"What would my treatment plan look like?"

It depends on what you are coming in for.

Cosmetic acupuncture patients (depending on age, lifestyle, and goals) typically come in once a week for 6-12 weeks, then move to a monthly maintenance appointment- about every 3-6 weeks. 

Patients coming in for microneedling can expect to come in for treatments once a month for 3-6 months (again depending on age, lifestyle, and goals). This series of treatments should be administered every 1-3 years. 

Cupping patients managing chronic tension should come in for treatment every 3-4 weeks. 

Acupuncture patients with acute care concerns can anticipate coming in about once a week to once every 2 weeks for about 3 appointments, with then moving towards a maintenance plan depending on your main health concerns. Maintenance plans typically look like treatment every 3-6 weeks. However, I have patients who see me weekly and once every two weeks because they feel great after acupuncture and use it as part of their regular care routine to support sleep, stress levels, digestion, immunity, and so much more. 

Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine is an incredible effective medicine, but it needs to be administered at the right dosage. One treatment is not going to fix a nagging pain from a 20 year old injury.

If you have questions about your treatment plan or how you should move forward with treatment based on your health concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to hello@azaleampls.com 

I hope this was useful :) See you at the clinic!

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

Fall in Traditional Chinese Medicine

I talk a lot about the 5 seasons of Chinese medicine in my practice and with patients. I find it helps my patients connect to what they are feeling physically and emotional throughout the year. 

In TCM, we have 24 seasonal points throughout the year- we just had the autumnal equinox where daylight and nighttime are about the same length; and we are moving towards the point of “cold dew” on October 8th where the weather is colder, more damp, and potentially foggy. 

Here’s a little profile on fall in TCM-

TCM Organs associated with fall: Lung and the Large intestine

Emotion: letting go, grief, sadness 

Color: white 

Taste: pungent 

Health concerns that tend to come up this time of year: colds/sinus issues, allergies, feelings of grief and sadness, digestive concerns, skin concerns. 

I encourage my patients to listen to their body and take their cues from nature. Slowing down, turning inward, letting go of things that are no longer serving us in preparation for winter. Put on more layers and keep your neck protected from windy weather by wearing scarf, make soup at home (Half Baked Harvest Italian Wedding Soup is one of my all time favorites- I swap the chicken broth for chicken bone broth), stay on top of your acupuncture appointments to use as preventative medicine to keep colds at bay (once every 3-6 weeks is an appropriate maintenance dose for most), also ask your acupuncturist about incorporating herbs to help keep immunity up. Old feelings of grief or sadness may resurface- feel your feelings, use your Lungs to breath through difficult moments and support your Large Intestine by letting go of what you no longer need. 

Food therapy:

• Apples, pears, and honey to support dry coughs that tend to come up this time of year

• Pungent foods like garlic, onion, ginger to support immunity 

• Moving away from the raw, cold foods of summer and towards (patients- you already know what I’m going to say here…..) warm, cooked foods :) 

I hope you find this useful <3 Love y’all

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

Food!

I love food- I love to cook, I love to eat, and there is nothing, truly nothing that I love more than making a nice meal and sharing it with my family. I am pretty particular about where I source my food from and wanted to share some resources on the best of the best that I have found so far. This list is ever evolving as I learn and grow. 

• In general- we always buy organic and try to buy local. The red meat we buy is grass fed, the chicken and the eggs are pasture raised. We do this at the co-op or through TC Farm

• I have previously talked about the co-op- I love it here!! Like I said before, they do a lot of the work for you. They carry high quality food and the people who work there are so kind. It’s my happy place. We buy some produce, some meat, dairy, and other groceries here. We also get our filtered water here- we fill up a few gallon jugs of filtered water and that’s what we drink and cook with- this works for us right now.

• I have also discussed TC Farm- they have been a game changer for us. We get a lot of our meat, produce, and all of our eggs from them. 

• For recipes- I like to keep it simple most of the time. I love Half Baked Harvest and always check to see if she has a recipe for whatever I’m craving (she usually does)- then I will just modify her recipe based on what we have or what we want. Example: we had chicken thighs and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with them, googled Half Baked Harvest chicken thighs and found this recipe that turned out soo good.

• Other random brands we love:

• Baroncinii Import & Co olive oil (order online)

• Celtic sea salt (co-op)

• Kalona SuperNatural dairy products, Kerrygold or Superkoloona butter, mix of cheeses from the co-op (typically raw cow’s milk or sheep/goat’s milk) (co-op or TC Farm)

• Kettle and Fire bone broth (co-op)

• Purity coffee (online)

• Baker’s Field Flour & Bread for cooking, baking, bread, etc (co-op)- the BEST bread ever!!! Seriously so so good we are obsessed. (co-op)

• Recipe I am currently hyper-fixated on:

  • Shut the Kale Up’s Picadillo recipe- so good! I skip the tomato and potato, double the veggies, and serve with rice (white rice cooked in chicken bone broth), Kolona sour cream, Late July chips and salsa (the best ever), and avocado. So easy and so delicious!

I am a big believer in 80/20- this is how we eat most of the time. I feel best mentally, physically, emotionally when we eat this way, but with that being said, we have room outside of this way of eating. We love the MPLS food scene and love going out to dinner or breakfast. Also- all of these choices did not happen over night. This is a shift that has taken years of learning and integrating certain choices into our lives when they make sense for us.

What am I missing? What else do you all want to know about? Let me know!!

Thanks for being here :)

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

A few thoughts on skin & beauty

Skin & Beauty 

I have been passionate about skin health and holistic beauty for ever. I can remember doing face masks in middle school and have been playing with makeup since I was probably too young to play with makeup (but I am pretty good at eyeliner because of it, lol). In high school and college, I would read books on what to eat to improve skin health and became fascinated about what the human body was capable of. This eventually led me to TCM, my true love. In TCM we can see beauty and aesthetics as a byproduct of a healthy, balanced mind, body, spirit. 

My approach to skin and beauty is ever evolving. I love the concept of beauty and skin health coming from the inside out- I actually find that to be so much easier than obsessing over topicals- I like to think that topicals do about 10-20% of the work, whereas lifestyle is 80%.

I have dealt with breakouts my whole life, but they are well managed now due to my lifestyle and approach to beauty. I really do lead with diet and lifestyle to manage overall health and stress levels. An acne/skin friendly diet looks different for everyone, this does not always mean going gluten free, dairy free, etc- some people do just fine with high quality dairy in their diet after healing their gut.

A few things that I find helpful for skin health, acne, graceful aging:

1. Managing glucose levels - The Glucose Goddess is an amazing resource for this.

2. High quality, whole foods diet- we shop mainly at the co-op and recently started ordering food from TC Farm which is pastured based organic farm in MN. We try to focus on organic, local when possible, pasture raised, grass fed, etc, all from trusted sources. Better for us, better for the earth, better for our gorgeous home state of MN. The co-op does an amazing job of doing a lot of the work for you here. TC Farm is also an amazing resource, I highly recommend checking them out. Northstar Bison is also awesome. Our dairy at home is mostly Kalona SuperNatural. 

3. Managing stress levels- this is hard. Life can be incredibly stressful and unexpected stressors come up that are out of our control. I think about trying to make myself as resilient to stress as possible. I do this by: prioritizing sleep (I am very strict about sleep, I am just not the best version of myself if I don’t get enough sleep), walks outside, a lot of time with loved ones, and I really try to prioritize time to do nothing, or just things that I want to do like read. 

4. A word on beauty supplements- I am extremely skeptical about anything marketed as a beauty supplement. There is so much out there with gorgeous marketing that is just not what it claims to be and you basically have to be a scientist to figure that out. It’s so frustrating. Finding brands that you actually trust or finding sources that you actually trust to lead you to good brands is key (i.e: not a celebrity supplement brand and I would be skeptical about any wellness influencer who does not have a degree in a health or wellness related field telling you to buy an expensive supplement). Some are really good, others are not. I swear by Root & Bones products- the owner and creator of Root & Bones is an acupuncturist and herbalist- someone you should be taking your wellness advice from! She is a wealth of knowledge. I swear by her collagen and take it daily. To me, any of her products would be classified as beauty herbal tonics because anything that makes your insides feel better, is going to make your outsides look better. I will do another post on herbs and beauty supplements in general, because there is a lot to say. 

5. Grace and a dose of reality. Grace for my breakouts- I know that I am breakout prone, and its one of the first things to show up for me when I am out of my routine or stress is higher, that’s ok. I have ways I can manage it and it’s really not the end of the world. A dose of reality for the fact that I am getting older, we all are, and that is a privilege. I will continue to look older and that’s a gift as well. I am constantly looking for older female role models who can help expand me on this concept- I think we need more of that. 

6. The topic of topicals is another post as well because its so different for everyone- but a few brands that I am excited about/interested in: Living Libations, Marie Veronique, Cosmedix, Environ. Noy skincare is an awesome resource on instagram for holistic living and skincare! 

7. Of course, regular gua sha/facial massage, cosmetic acupuncture, microneedling- the best! All wonderful graceful aging tools. I do all of these things very regularly (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly- depending on the modality) and I swear by them all.

None of this content is sponsored! Just a few things that I love. Of course, because I feel so passionately about Root & Bones' products, you can now buy them through Azalea’s website or at the clinic. But you should check our her instagram and website- she has so many more products than what I offer and amazing information to share.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a fascination with skin health and beauty too? What works for you? Its so different for everyone and we all have different concerns!

As always, thank you for being here :) I hope something amazing happens to you today.

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.

Azalea is 2 years old!!

Azalea is two years old- I AM SO GRATEFUL! It has been an amazing two years, and there is so much more to come for Azalea Acupuncture & Aesthetics. Azalea is my baby, I am very proud of her, I love creating with and for Azalea.

With that, I have been playing with the idea of putting more time into writing for Azalea. Instagram maybe seems like the obvious choice but for some reason I am more drawn to a blog. For a short period of time in college I had a blog and a matching instagram called “Meaghan the Good Witch” where I would share health and wellness thoughts. It was sweet and confused, but definitely the beginning of what Azalea is now.

Family, friends, and patients often ask me for recommendations for various things- “what do you use for xyz”- I hear this a lot. And I love to share. I do a TON of research, like endless research on all things health and wellness from food, personal care products, etc. I’m always learning more. Better ways to do things, better options for my body, those around me, and the planet. It’s my passion and it’s what I love to do in my free time. I love doing a deep dive into what really is the best of the best and why. I cross reference with a lot of different resources that I trust.

To be clear- this is blog is just examples of things that work for ME, my home, and my life. This does not mean you should do any or all of the things I mention by any means. My goal is to share and introduce you to new things, and then you can do your own research to see if it makes sense for you. :)

-Meaghan Moakley, L.Ac.

*The information contained on this website/page is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide a diagnosis or substitute for medical, nutritional or acupuncture advice or treatment. Any reference to or mention of any particular diagnoses or dysfunctions is intended for informational purposes only and not an attempt to diagnose your particular problems. You should always speak with your physician or other healthcare professional before taking any medicine or nutritional, herbal, or homeopathic supplement, or adopting any treatment for a health problem.