A practical look at how to read the quality of a day using the Chinese almanac (Tong Shu), including destroy days, lunar mansions, and hexagrams.
Therapeutic Fire According To Tibetan Medicine
Absorbing the Qi of Sunlight for Health and Inspiration
The Yang Fire Horse Year: Brave Hearts & The Audacity to Be Yourself in the World
Tibetan Medicine Teachings At Yo San University
Yangsheng: The Art of Living in Season
Monthly online yangsheng class exploring the 24 solar nodes through Chinese medicine teachings, seasonal recipes, and gentle qi gong.
What does it mean to live in rhythm with the world?
A class with Anne Shelton Crute & Tara Bianca Rado.
Classical Chinese medicine describes the year not as a static calendar, but as a living sequence of qi transformations. The 24 solar nodes mark the subtle shifts in climate, light, and movement that shape our bodies, emotions, and spirit throughout the year.
Yangsheng—“nurturing life”—is the art of aligning ourselves with these changes. It is not about fixing symptoms or optimizing performance. It is about learning to live well within the unfolding patterns of Heaven and Earth. In many ways, this is the home and daily-life expression of what we do in the acupuncture clinic with needles.
This monthly class offers a steady, practical way to study and embody the seasonal qi through:
Teachings on the solar nodes and their cosmological meaning
Simple seasonal recipes and food practices
Gentle qi gong and breathwork appropriate to the time of year
Reflection on how to use our energy when it is not consumed by obligation or strain
Over time, the class becomes a kind of living almanac—a place to return each month to recalibrate, nourish the body, and remember the larger rhythms we belong to.
No prior experience is required. This class is open to patients, students, and anyone interested in Chinese medicine as a lived philosophy.
Format & Structure
Course begins after the Chinese New Year in March 2026
Meets monthly for 10 months each year, over a two-year cycle
Participation for the full two years is not required
Classes meet live on Zoom
Recordings are sent a few days later if you miss the live session
Zoom link is emailed before each class
Cost: $65 per month. Payable via Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal
Proposed 2026 Spring Dates: to be confirmed soon
All classes at 1 pm Eastern / 10 am Pacific
March 1
April 5
May 17
About the Teachers
Anne Shelton Crute, LAc, DAOM
Anne is the founder of Ritual Health Acupuncture & Herbalism in Berkeley, California, a Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and a Chinese Polestar astrologer. She is a published author and educator, with a chapter in A Ring Without End: Reflections on Classical Chinese Medicine Mind/Body Mapping, and serves as an editor on several Chinese medicine and astrology texts, including her teacher Liu Ming’s forthcoming book on Chinese Polestar astrology. Anne has been in clinical practice for more than fifteen years and has trained through private apprenticeships in Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, Tibetan herbalism, and astrology in the U.S., Japan, and India. Her work focuses on chronic illness, nervous system regulation, life transitions, and reconnecting patients with their innate sense of spirit.
Tara Bianca Rado, LAc
Tara is the founder and lead acupuncturist of Durham Integrative Health and Acupuncture Center, a nonprofit sliding-scale clinic in Durham, North Carolina. She began studying traditional healing arts in the mid-1990s through Asian bodywork, qi gong, meditation, and community-based Western and native herbalism, and worked for nearly two decades as a massage therapist specializing in shiatsu and tui na. She later completed formal training in Traditional Chinese Medicine, earning her master’s degree from the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. Tara’s clinical work integrates acupuncture, herbal medicine, and bodywork, with a focus on accessibility, partnership, and cultivating resilience, connection, and joy in the healing process. She continues to deepen her studies in Classical acupuncture and Daoist healing, and also practices Chinese Polestar astrology.
What Is View?
Without clarity on View, we might take a thousand-year-old body of wisdom and unknowingly reshape it to match whatever modern ideas feel familiar to us, even if those ideas come from thoughtful places like psychology or Jungian work. This is at the core of how we practice Chinese medicine and astrology in a classically-informed way at Ritual Health in Berkeley, CA.
Yang Fire Horse Celebration & Lunar New Year Talk
Ring in the Year of the Yang Fire Horse with us at Blue Willow Teaspot in Berkeley, CA on Tuesday, February 17 at 6:30. This is Ritual Health Acupuncture & Herbalism’s Annual Lunar New Year Celebration with Dr. Anne Shelton Crute.
Learn about Chinese Astrology! Discover the nature of this time!
Please Feel Your Feelings — and Why It Matters
We need our emotions.
This may sound obvious, but in practice it is increasingly countercultural.
Much of contemporary wellness and pop psychology frames emotional health as the achievement of calm: regulation as smoothing, neutralizing, or quieting experience. The implicit goal is an unruffled state. Yet from the perspective of classical Chinese medicine, this goal is not only unrealistic: it is physiologically misguided.
Switching Action: How to Use Gregorian New Year
🌌 Blue Tea: The Little Leaf with Big Magic
Say hello to Blue Tea, our sweet, vibrant herbal ally with centuries of tradition behind it. We love it because it is delicious and we reach for it for cholesterol and blood sugar issues.
Known in Chinese as Jiao Gu Lan, beautifully translated as “the twisting blue plant,” this resilient climbing vine has long been treasured in mountain villages and traditional medicine alike. 💙🌿
In Chinese Medicine Jiao Gu Lan is described as sweet and slightly bitter, with a neutral to slightly cool nature, entering the Heart and Lung channels. First written about by Zhu Xiao (1406) in Jiuhuang Bencao — listed as a nourishing wild plant.
Sex and Gender In the Classical Texts of Tibetan Medicine
"Ghost Dreams" and the Seasonal Qi of Winter Solstice
Adjusting Our Diet for the Early Winter Season
Traditional Chinese Medicine provides sage advise on how to improve our digestion and promote holistic health according to the natural Qi cycles of the seasons. What are some recommended foods for the early winter? Dr. Adam Okerblom of Ritual Health Acupuncture clinic explains some simple guidelines for dietary health in the wintertime, specifically for the climate of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Jade Circle's Inaugural Celebration Featuring Sujatha Maheshwari
This week, Ritual Health celebrated the launch of our new community network, The Jade Circle, with an intimate gathering at our acupuncture clinic in North Berkeley. We welcomed old friends and new, colleagues and community for an evening of conversation, celebration, and reflection.
Dr. Anne Shelton Crute presented on the Qi of the season, describing the transition from Autumn to Winter as our external environment mirrors the energy of our internal state. We were delighted to welcome our special guest, local classical flutist Sujatha Maheshwari, for a beautiful performance.
Stay tuned for upcoming events and offerings with The Jade Circle community. As always, we are looking forward warmly to seeing you at your next visit to Ritual Health Acupuncture and Herbalism Clinic, at our Berkeley office in the Gourmet Ghetto off of North Shattuck Avenue, our Albany office off of Solano Avenue, or our Mill Valley office in Marin. Until then, many blessings and be well!
Tibetan Medicine Conference
An Evening of Music, Qi, & Connection: Opening Gathering for the Jade Circle
Crossing into the Deep Darkness
Finding the Shape of 2025
Tibetan Medicine Health Considerations for Autumn
By Adam Okerblom, DAOM
Seasonal Health Support for Autumn: Balancing the Fire Element
According to the lunar calendar-based systems, such as Chinese and Tibetan Medicine, we are currently well into the autumn season. As the seasons shift, so too does the energy of our bodies. Each season brings its own elemental characteristics, its own corresponding opportunities, as well as challenges for our health. That is why we always pay close attention to the shifting Qi or energy of each season. In our clinical practice, we adjust our therapeutic and herbal prescriptions to meet the needs of each person, in each season. We can all do the same thing at home, with our dietary and daily lifestyle considerations.
In traditional Tibetan Medicine, autumn is when the sun’s heat becomes more intense, stirring up the natural fire element within us, known as Tripa Nyepa (མཁྲིས་པ་ཉེས་པ།). When this fiery energy rises, we may experience headaches, irritability, indigestion, eye dryness, or a general feeling of malaise. The liver and lungs, in particular, are prone to irritation and stagnation at this time.
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can see this fire-like seasonal quality in action: hotter days, dry landscapes, and winds that strip moisture from both the air and our bodies.
Nourish with Cooling Foods
One of the best ways to stay balanced in autumn is through our diet:
Avoid spicy dishes, alcohol, fried foods, and heavy, oily meals.
Embrace cooling, hydrating, naturally sweet foods. Light porridges, fresh soups, and cooked vegetables are especially nourishing.
Enjoy herbal teas such as green tea, mint, chrysanthemum, or rose, which help to cool and moisturize our system.
While processed sugar should generally be limited, Tibetan Medicine notes that a small amount of natural rock sugar can actually soothe dryness and heat at this time of year.
Gentle Movement & Restorative Practices
Autumn is not the time for extreme workouts. Instead, enjoy:
Walks in nature—parks, forests, or the beach
Gentle cycling or swimming
Restorative yoga and breathwork
These activities support circulation and energy without aggravating the fire element.
Soothe the Senses
To protect your eyes and calm the nervous system:
Limit screen time, especially in the evenings.
Use aromatherapy with cooling, sweet scents such as sandalwood or camphor.
Wear light, soft clothing in calming shades of white, green, or blue.
Final Thoughts
Autumn’s fiery energy can feel both invigorating and overwhelming. By adjusting your diet, lifestyle, and daily practices, you can balance this heightened fire element, protecting your liver, lungs, and overall sense of well-being. Think: less strain, more gentle nourishment, and plenty of cooling influences to keep you grounded as the season unfolds.