A new beginning

Dear readers,
It just dawned on me that I have had this unattended blog sitting here for a long time. What can I say, time got away from me. In my defense, I have been doing other things these past two years: I ended my career on cruise ships, moved back to Cali, started a new job and also began a little side project of writing for examiner.com as their SF Wellness columnist.
The Examiner column is more of a "blast of information" venue for people who want "the goods" in 400 words or less. As useful as these can be, I have stories I want to share that need a greater venue. This desire to tell a more holistic story has brought me back to the blog.
While the mission of this page is still true, and anyone who knows me knows that I love talking about Chinese medicine, I will use this space to advocate the amazing power of Chinese medicine through sharing stories of my treating people on cruise ships over the last four years
Many of these stories will be amusing, as it is important to give light to any grave situation. Most will have a tinge of the sadness/anger/frustration that we feel when we meet someone who has been misdiagnosed or mistreated by a health care system that doesn't know any better. It is my hope that all of these encounters will give you the opportunity to reflect on how incredible Chinese medicine can be.
And if it's not too much to ask, it would be great if you could stop for a moment and put yourselves in these people's stories - pausing in that space between fragile and resilient, where most of us are caught when we are looking for help.

In health and wellness,
Angela

Illness as Amnesia

Diagnostically this is how medicine works – which note is off? You can look at what is awry if you know the distinctions and correspondences. Hum the note to fix it. When the note is sounded, as string that is silent begins to resonate – all of the craziness falls away and you get back to the true note. Be the pitch pipe to the client. It’s not how loud you blow the pipe or how strong you needle the patient it is how precisely you do it. You must do it with Wu Xing Shi Yao (the medicine without form).
Illness, in some way, is always amnesia.
-Thea Elijah, LAc

The most important thing that we can do for our patients is to give them the clearest note to heal themselves. Herbal formulas with additives or formulas with unidentified ingredients have shades of impurity preventing their notes from being clearly heard. When people put their trust in us to reunite them with their true selves, we owe it to them to offer the best tools to heal.