Yangsheng: Art of Living in Season
Monthly online cultivation through the seasonal cycle of the 24 solar qi nodes
Through the 24 solar nodes, we explore food, rest, tea, ritual, medicine, astrology, and daily practice as ways of participating consciously in the unfolding year.
This ongoing monthly assembly approaches the seasons not as abstractions, but as living movements expressed through the body, appetite, mood, sleep, relationship, and rhythm of daily life.
Dr. Anne Shelton Crute & Tara Bianca Rado, licensed acupuncturists in Berkeley, CA and Durham, NC respectively, present teachings rooted in classical Chinese cosmology, seasonal medicine, and the calendar art of Yangsheng, “nourishing life.”
What Is Yangsheng?
Yangsheng, “nourishing life,” is the classical Chinese practice of aligning human life with the movements of nature, season, climate, and time.
Rather than approaching health only through symptoms or crisis, Yangsheng emphasizes daily cultivation through food, sleep, movement, rest, tea, relationship, and ritual life.
In Chinese medicine and acupuncture traditions, these practices were historically considered foundational forms of healthcare — ways of preserving vitality before illness fully develops.
Our assembly approaches Yangsheng not as rigid self-improvement, but as an ongoing relationship with the living movement of the year.
Inside the Practice
Yangsheng is an ongoing monthly cultivation practice rooted in the 24 solar qi nodes, the traditional East Asian calendar system that tracks subtle shifts in climate, light, physiology, and daily life throughout the year.
While each gathering focuses on the season immediately unfolding around us, the deeper aim of the assembly is to develop lasting skills for living in relationship with time, climate, body, appetite, rest, and daily rhythm across the entire seasonal cycle.
Classes include teachings on:
seasonal food and digestion
sleep and activity rhythms
tea and drinking practices
acupuncture and Chinese medical view
ritual and daily cultivation
astrology, cosmology, and calendar systems
practical ways to live more harmoniously within the unfolding year
Live attendance is encouraged whenever possible, but recordings allow participants to continue engaging with the material over time and revisit teachings as the seasons return.
Teachings are grounded in classical Chinese medicine while remaining accessible to both practitioners and the general public.
What Are the 24 Qi Nodes?
The 24 solar qi nodes are an ancient East Asian calendar system dividing the solar year into 24 seasonal thresholds, or microseasons.
Rather than treating the seasons as fixed blocks, the qi nodes track subtle transitions in climate, light, agriculture, physiology, and daily life as the year unfolds.
In this assembly, we use the solar nodes as a practical framework for understanding how seasonal change expresses itself through the body, appetite, sleep, mood, social life, and patterns of activity and rest.
While each monthly gathering focuses on the season immediately unfolding around us, the deeper aim of the practice is to cultivate skills and awareness that continue throughout the entire year.
Structure & Enrollment
Monthly online gatherings
Sundays • 1–3pm EDT / 10am–12pm PDT
Because the teachings build cumulatively across the seasonal cycle, participants are encouraged to remain engaged even when unable to attend live. Live attendance is encouraged whenever possible, but recordings are available for enrolled participants, allowing the teachings to be revisited as the seasons return. Individual recordings may also be purchased separately.
Participants are also welcome to join our ongoing Yangsheng WhatsApp community for announcements, seasonal discussion, and continued connection between gatherings. Existing students may join by emailing us directly here.
Participants may join at any point in the seasonal cycle.
Single session enrollment: $65
Six-month enrollment: $360
Upcoming Sessions
Sundays • 1–3pm EDT / 10am–12pm PDT
July 19, 2026
August 23, 2026
September 13, 2026
October 4, 2026
November 8, 2026