Qing is one of the most beautiful concepts in Chinese medicine: a quality of clarity that belongs as much to the physiology as to the mind. Berkeley acupuncturist Anne Shelton Crute explores what it means to cultivate clarity through food, season, perception, and our relationship with the world.
Shen is routinely translated as “spirit” or “heart-mind,” but neither captures its meaning in classical Chinese medicine. Berkeley acupuncturist Anne Shelton Crute looks more closely at the Heart, shen, and what is lost when distinct Chinese medical concepts are collapsed into familiar Western categories.
A look at Summer Begins (Lixia), the seventh solar qi node in the classical East Asian calendar, and what early summer reveals about yangsheng, food, and the outward movement of life.
Most of us are not coordinated in time. We organize our lives by obligation, convenience, and weather. But in the classical Chinese medical view, time is not abstract. It is structured.
The Fire Element possesses qualities that express in the world around us and within our own dimensions at all times. The therapeutic functions of the Fire Element are vital to the practice of Tibetan Medicine.
The famous Daoist alchemist and physician, Ge Hong (283-343 CE), recommended meditating on the qi of the morning sun to enhance health and vitality. What a perfect practice for the spring season of the Yang Fire Horse Year!
Dr. Adam Okerblom had the wonderful experience of teaching Tibetan Medicine theory and methods to the acupuncture doctoral students at Yo San University in February 2026.
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.
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!
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.
Here is the nuance: Although January 1 is not the beginning of the lunisolar new year, the days surrounding Gregorian New Year are physiologically and energetically potent. Framing this moment as a kind of newness actually makes sense, if we understand why.
Qing is one of the most beautiful concepts in Chinese medicine: a quality of clarity that belongs as much to the physiology as to the mind. Berkeley acupuncturist Anne Shelton Crute explores what it means to cultivate clarity through food, season, perception, and our relationship with the world.
Shen is routinely translated as “spirit” or “heart-mind,” but neither captures its meaning in classical Chinese medicine. Berkeley acupuncturist Anne Shelton Crute looks more closely at the Heart, shen, and what is lost when distinct Chinese medical concepts are collapsed into familiar Western categories.
A look at Summer Begins (Lixia), the seventh solar qi node in the classical East Asian calendar, and what early summer reveals about yangsheng, food, and the outward movement of life.
Most of us are not coordinated in time. We organize our lives by obligation, convenience, and weather. But in the classical Chinese medical view, time is not abstract. It is structured.
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.
The Fire Element possesses qualities that express in the world around us and within our own dimensions at all times. The therapeutic functions of the Fire Element are vital to the practice of Tibetan Medicine.
The famous Daoist alchemist and physician, Ge Hong (283-343 CE), recommended meditating on the qi of the morning sun to enhance health and vitality. What a perfect practice for the spring season of the Yang Fire Horse Year!
What the Yang Fire Horse Year means in Chinese astrology and how to act with courage, clarity, and purpose in 2026.
Dr. Adam Okerblom had the wonderful experience of teaching Tibetan Medicine theory and methods to the acupuncture doctoral students at Yo San University in February 2026.
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.
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!
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.
Here is the nuance: Although January 1 is not the beginning of the lunisolar new year, the days surrounding Gregorian New Year are physiologically and energetically potent. Framing this moment as a kind of newness actually makes sense, if we understand why.
This Time Offers Medicine for Confusion