The 24 Seasonal Periods

二十四時期 The 24 Periods of The Chinese (Seasonal) Calendar

By the Spring and Autum Period in China (770–476 BCE), two major solar terms were established,日南至 ri nan zhi  (marking the sun at the most southern location) and日北至 ri bei zhi (marking the sun at the most northern location).  By the end of the Warring States Period (475–221 BCE), eight key solar terms were established: (Start of Spring, Vernal Equinox, Start of Summer, Summer Solstice, Start of Autumn, Autumnal Equinox, Start of Winter and Winter Solstice). These markings of the four seasons which we still follow today mapped changing positions of the sun and changes in natural phenomenal. The remaining solar terms to make up 24 ‘seasons’ in one calendar year were initiated in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC–24 CE).

 

Congratulations to Melanie, New Graduate & Acupuncture Practitioner

From Melanie With Love & Goodbye!

Working at the Alternative Clinic for the past three years has been an incredible privilege. Being immersed in the clinic has allowed me to observe how skilled practitioners handle cases, write formulas, and develop treatments. The medicine offered here is world-class and has profoundly shaped my understanding of patient presentations and Chinese medicine theory. Witnessing the health improvements in patients, my colleagues, and myself as a result of these treatments never ceases to amaze me.

My experience working in the pharmacy, in particular, has been invaluable as I learn about herbs. Filling formulas, grinding, smelling, and tasting herbs has given me a deeper appreciation of these remarkable plants, far beyond what a textbook could provide. I was also fortunate to take numerous classes in herbalism, needling techniques, and advanced clinical skills during my time here—knowledge that will inform my practice for years to come.

So, what’s next? I have been offered a job in my home state of Georgia and will begin practicing as soon as I pass my boards. Over the next few years, I plan to return to Asheville to continue taking classes at the clinic and further hone my skills. Eventually, I dream of opening a clinic closer to the mountains in the South East. For now, I am thrilled to start practicing and bring tangible, effective medicine to my hometown. I am deeply grateful for my time here and will miss the staff and patients immensely!

 

Melanie Hatch, Acupuncturist! August 2024

The Fifth Season

If it is Fall already, why is it still hot & how does that affect me?

We have entered the Fifth Season! Growing up in New England, we called it Indian Summer. Known as the Long Summer in Chinese, the fifth season  is not a distinct season of its own, as it crosses demarcations of Summer and Autumn. Yet, the heat of the last weeks of August and the first of September can feel harder to handle than the summer heat of July!

What do we need to watch out for?

  • Heat stroke for school athletes happen more frequently even though the same kids were playing outside all summer on hotter days;
  • Exhaustion for adults who find they can’t keep up with their usual pace in the heat;
  • The feeling of being beaten by the heat as we step out of stores and into the parking lot, leading us to purchase and consume more cold sugared beverages/food;
  • Headaches, sinus pressure, and a depletion of our immune system making us more susceptible to bacterial and viral infections going around.

Why are we so susceptible to the heat of the fifth season? This happens because the afternoons show the heat of Summer, but the mornings and evenings already have the coolness of Fall. Our pores, which play an underrated and misunderstood role in our health and illness, are adjusting to the colder temperatures and thus, trap more of our own heat inside. In addition, just as the Yang Qi is weaker in the trees around us leading to drying and changing of the leaves, our own Yang Qi has less strength to keep out the heat of the day. It penetrates our skin more deeply and overheats us more easily.

Our choices play a role in this, as well. We are underdressed in the early morning and in the late evening, as we remember the heat of the day before.  Thus cold effects us in the early morning and ends up getting trapped inside. Our body’s temperature  mechanisms become disregulated, poorly managing the hot part of the day. Our answer? reach for and consume more cold things to relieve the heat, continuing the body’s confusion and making us worse off despite temporary relief .

What to do?

  • Help the pores transition by dressing according to the time of day, not for the expected heat in the afternoon. If you look down and are in sandals, shorts and a tshirt in the morning but it is still in the 50-60s because you know it will be in the 80s-90s later, your pores have to compensate.
  • Know when to moderate the temperature of your beverages. There is nothing wrong with a well timed cold beverage, but room temperature or even warm beverages in the mornings and evenings help your body transition more effectively.

• Still having trouble with the heat? Schedule an appointment and commit to a week or two of herbs to get yourself regulated!

Fall Began August 8!

Fall Has Started & Your Qi is Changing!

Don’t be fooled by the western calendar that infers summer continues for another many weeks!  For the nature-focused ancient Chinese, the equinox and solstice marks the middle of a season, rather than its beginning! This means Fall actually starts 6 weeks before September 21st.  August 8 marked 立秋 liqiu in the Chinese calendar, indicating the palpable beginning of fall.

How do we know the Chinese were accurate in labeling the seasons?  Just look at the wild cherry tree across from the clinic which is already showing the first colors of yellow!

Why do leaves turn color, wither and fall off the trees? We may believe it is due to cold weather or frost, but actually – it is because the declining yang of fall means the tree loses its ‘umph’ .

Rising Yang of spring and summer pushes Yin into the tree, keeping the leaves green, luxuriant, and growing. As the Qi shifts in fall, Yang’s movement is no longer upward and outward. Less moisture is pushed toward the leaf tips. They shrink in size, begin to dry, and change color to yellows, reds and oranges.

As Fall progresses, less and less energy reaches the leaves. They weaken due to less nutrition, the winds which could not budge them in summer now easily blow them off their stems.

For those of us approaching 60,  this analogy applies to the changes in our skin and the hair on our heads as well! As we age, our tiring Yang has trouble carrying the nourishing Yin up to our hair and extremities. And so, like the leaves, tissue dries out, looses vitality, and changes in color as well–sadly not a bright red or yellow like the maples or birches!

But even young people cannot escape the influence of the seasons:  we may find our skin more dry than just a few weeks ago, our eyes more easily irritated and tired, skin rashes more likely to happen, our hands and feet more cold in the early hours of the morning despite the temperatures not so dissimilar from the temps of July.  We may be more thirsty, our tendons seem less supple.  Our spirits a bit more agitated.

The directional change in Qi at this time of year affects all of us, and for those of us with health conditions, our symptoms may flare.  While it may seem unexpected, conditions that flare during season changes are explained by what the Chinese call the Influence of Heaven Upon the Human.

 

Follow Resident-in-Training Tonia at the Olympics this Weekend!

Clinic resident-in-training and long time student of Andrew and JulieAnn, Tonia Scharpantgen is in Paris! Practitioner to several of the Austrian National Women’s teams, one of Tonia’s athletes has qualified for the Olympics. Tonia is there to support heavyweight Taekwondo athlete Marlene Jahl.
Marlene is currently ranked 10th in Olympic ranking and is competing on Saturday, August 10th at 11:11am PARIS time. Her first match is against China’s heavyweight female, who is ranked 7th. It is going to be a tough match, please help us cheer for her! If Marlene wins her first match, she competes again at 15:19 Paris time against the #02 in the world from Korea! Marlene has one of the most difficult draws, but with Tonia in her corner, we are hoping to see one of the great upsets in the tournament!
Tonia will be at the clinic to continue residency training after the 16th, be sure to come in and schedule an appointment with her and hear all about Paris, being at the Olympics as part of a national team, and how her athlete did!

ATS Celebrates 30 Years!

History of ATS

(and) 30 Years of The ATS Model at Work

While studying Mandarin in Taipei in 1986, Andrew Nugent-Head was hit by a speeding taxi. Realizing he had broken the metatarsals in his right foot, he had to make a choice: go to a hospital and risk pins, screws, and plates in a strange country where he did not yet speak the language or try its traditional Chinese medicine. Along with studying Mandarin, Andrew had been studying martial arts and his teacher was also a practitioner of Chinese medicine. Andrew had been watching patients of every kind be treated by the traditional doctor every day during his training. It was a choice which changed the direction of his life. Through daily treatments of herbs and acupuncture, Andrew’s bones healed in record speed, leaving Andrew reveling in the efficacy of a medicine he knew nothing about. Wanting to learn what he had experienced, Andrew chose to move to China and study the traditional medicine he had experienced first-hand.

Moving to Beijing in 1987, Andrew set out to find the very best doctors in what was once the Imperial City and center of Chinese culture. He worked his way deeply into the traditional circles of medicine, martial arts, and internal cultivation practitioners. In just a few short years, Andrew became the go-to interpreter for them and became one of the leading authorities on where to find China’s remaining authentic traditional practices. By 1994, Andrew had been featured on NBC, ABC, ZDF, Canal+, and the PBS special Healing and the Mind for his dedication to the traditional arts.

The PBS series Healing and the Mind’s episode The Mystery of Qi was a watershed moment for Andrew and the impetus to founding the Association for Traditional Studies. The program aimed to share eastern concepts of health and wellness to the western world, but China’s political reality had different plans for the show. Wanting the foreign producers to only work with officially approved experts, the ministries of health and education required approval of all content. Bill Moyers tasked Andrew with finding traditional doctors outside of the government willing to appear on film and share their traditional practices, but few were willing to discuss practices and ideologies they suffered for just decades prior in the Cultural Revolution.

The struggle of traditional Chinese medicine in the modern world begins with the fall of the last dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China in 1911. Sun Yatsen, Cheng Kaishek, and the other founding fathers of the Republic were foreign educated modernists who had converted to Christianity, eschewing China’s rich culture. They sought to stamp out everything they believed as backward and superstitious in their bid to free China from its past. This included marginalizing traditional medicine as they pushed for the establishment of western run hospitals in the cities and Christian missionary clinics in rural areas. Declaring Chinese medicine unscientific in 1928, it was excluded from government run medicine initiatives. Following a Japanese Invasion, World War II, then a civil war from which the Communists emerged victorious over the Nationalists in 1949, health and medicine was in a shambles in China. Over the next ten years, the fledgling government ran two major initiatives for Chinese medicine and then a political campaign which forever changed how it was practiced and by whom.

The first initiative was the institutionalization of Chinese medicine. Seeking to use western science to parse out what was real and what was superstition, only made sense with modern medicine became the focus of study and research. The second was the launching of the barefoot doctors. Given the lack of any infrastructure, accessibility or electricity in countryside, Chinese medicine was chosen as a band-aid for rural areas. Quickly trained ‘health experts’ were sent out with the most basic of training and became the face of acupuncture in the country and overseas. But the true devastation to traditional Chinese medicine began in 1966 with the launching of the Cultural Revolution. According to the Washington Post, between famine and pogroms, it is now believed that Mao was responsible for the death of 40-80 million people. Among the targets of his pogroms were any who were part of China’s traditional heritage, including its doctors.

Trying to recover from the devastation of Mao’s policies, the ministry of education returned to modernizing Chinese medicine as its focus after his passing in 1976. The belief was a blend of eastern medicine with western science would yield better outcomes. Yet research by other branches of the government revealed this blended medicine was clinically less effective than its traditional counterpart. This clash came to a head in 1989, when the national government stepped in to launch a campaign to save traditional medicine as an important part of China’s cultural heritage. In 1990, 500 doctors were identified whose training pre-dated any modernized Chinese medicine influence. Each old doctor was to be paired with two disciples for deep mentorship, aiming for the disciples to return traditional mindsets and techniques back to the hospitals and teaching institutions. Sadly, politics and corrupt bureaucracies derailed the effort, and the initiative never got off the ground.

By 1992, the heartbreak among the old doctors of this failure and fear of vindictive officials who opposed the initiative changed Andrew’s calling from studying Chinese medicine into a mission to save it. Drawing from his experience with the PBS series and his relationship with the old scholars, Andrew founded the Association for Traditional Studies and set out to accomplish on a small scale what the government could not at the national level. Working directly with individual practitioners, Andrew became their student, documenter, translator, and bridge for their voices and knowledge to reach the outside world. He brought groups of westerners to China to study with the practitioners and organized seminars in Europe and the United States for them to reach an international audience. ATS’ mission: let the world know the difference between modern and traditional Chinese medicine and see the difference in efficacy themselves. The mission was also to generate income for the traditional practitioners through teaching so they could focus on recording their knowledge in their final years. While ATS helped many practitioners during its China years, Andrew focused its efforts on three specific practitioners. Over almost three decades, he archived their writings, treatment notes, herbal formulas, and recorded hundreds of hours of audio and video footage. These three practitioners were:

  • The late Professor Wang Jin-Huai, a classics scholar famous for his commentaries on Daoism. Calligrapher extraordinaire whose pieces are in collections around the world, Professor Wang was also a practitioner of Chinese medicine from a family lineage. Professor Wang shaped ATS’ early preservation years until leaving China for the United States on an O-1 Visa for persons of extraordinary talent to practice his arts free of government interference.
  • The late Dr. Xie Peiqi, the last of one of China’s most storied martial art-Chinese medicine-internal cultivation lineages: Yin Style Bagua. An outspoken critic of the modernizing of traditional Chinese culture, Dr. Xie worked with ATS in its middle years to create a comprehensive video archive of Yin Style Bagua’s authentic lineage. Already in his 70s when he met Andrew, they traveled together to the United States and England to teach his art while he still could. His efforts to record and openly teach the Yin Style Bagua lineage is the foundation of ATS’ in person seminar and online education platform initiatives.
  • The late Professor Li Hongxiang, who was one of the brightest stars of the Chinese government’s attempt to save traditional medicine in 1990. Bitter with its failure, he became a reclusive practitioner, almost impossible to find and see as a patient. Over seven years, Andrew patiently worked to befriend him, convincing him to share his knowledge before he passed. Deeply impressed with Andrew’s dedication and integrity, Professor Li made an unheard-of decision: to name a foreigner his Closing Door Disciple, declaring Andrew the final student he would pass on his knowledge to. Andrew then spent an additional six years with Professor Li as his disciple in the clinic. Along with his wife and fellow practitioner JulieAnn[1], Andrew studied and discussed ancient medical texts with Professor Li in his home, filming years of teaching. Determined that authentic, clinically focused Chinese medicine would not be lost, Professor Li demanded a level of scholarship from Andrew and JulieAnn rarely seen today.

With the passing of these practitioners, Andrew and JulieAnn returned to the United States in 2014. Honoring their teachers’ wishes, they established an open style clinic outside of China dedicated to teaching Chinese medicine free of its influence. Since 2015, practitioners from all over the world[2] have been traveling to the Alternative Clinic in Asheville, North Carolina to learn Chinese medicine the way it was taught to Andrew and JulieAnn. Through generous support in 2020, ATS moved into a two-story clinic and teaching facility, providing intensive training courses for practitioners as well as health and wellness programs for the local community. To combat the use of overharvested, pesticided and often contaminated herbs in the commercial supply chain, Andrew and JulieAnn also established Appalasia Farm. Appalasia Farm grows heirloom quality medicinal herbs, acting as a teaching facility for regional farmers to learn how go from farm to pharmacy, field to finished product. With over 30 years of incredible history behind them, Andrew and JulieAnn are dedicated to taking the three pillars of the ATS mission into the next 30 years:

THE ASSOCIATION:

TEACHING THE AUTHENTIC PRACTICE OF TANGIBLE CHINESE MEDICINE

  • JulieAnn and Andrew teach post graduate training programs in acupuncture, herbs, and manual therapies, exposing practitioners around the globe to clinically focused Chinese medicine theory and techniques.
  • Seminars are filmed and edited into online program content for ATS’ robust online educational platform. Using online learning as well as in person teaching creates broader audience exposure and removes geographical barriers to learning Chinese medicine.

THE CLINIC:

PROVING THE EFFICACY OF TANGIBLE CHINESE MEDICINE

  • The clinic works to influence public opinion about alternative medicine by providing effective Chinese medicine treatments across a wide patient base. The clinic provides over 5,000 treatments each year to local, regional, national, and international patients who come to Asheville to seek care at the clinic.
  • The clinic offers advanced mentorship and real life clinical training opportunities for practitioners of Chinese medicine around the world. By training at the Alternative Clinic, practitioners take a higher level of medicine back to their cities and countries, influencing their patient bases and colleagues with the knowledge they learned at the clinic.

THE FARM:

PRESERVING THE QUALITY OF HERBAL MEDICINE

  • Using its own farm as a model, ATS is encouraging small scale farmers to grow medicinal herbs. The overharvesting and depletion of plants by large scale agribusiness throughout Asia means more and more herbal medicines are hard to source and are of suspect quality. The farm’s work includes the preservation of heirloom quality herbs which are vastly superior in efficacy as well as using indigenous medicinal plants already adapted to growing locally.
  • Leveraging its experience from farm to pharmacy to formula, ATS uses its vertical knowledge to help farmers grow, harvest, process and then access the Chinese medicine market domestically. There is a increasing desire to use locally grown, organic herbs, but there is little training for western farmers on how to grow and process herbs to Chinese medicine specifications, nor training for practitioners on how to use domestically grown and native medicinal plants in their clinics. ATS must fill this void quickly as the herbal supply chain from China is already being restricted due to internal demand, import restrictions and concerns of contamination.

30 YEARS OF ATS HISTORY & ITS FUTURE

IN CONCLUSION

As ATS heads into its next 30 years, growing these three pillars beyond the single efforts of Andrew and JulieAnn into an infrastructure that continues past them is ATS’ most important mission. Recreating the in-depth mentorship the Nugent-Heads experienced in China is the focus of the next phase of ATS.

The last 30 years have spread seeds of traditionally practiced Chinese medicine globally, with the digital material that will last long after the Nugent-Heads. However, to cement the legacy of the traditional practitioners, ensure authentic Chinese medicine is passed on to another generation, and that quality medicinal herbs remain available is the capstone of this great project.

[1] JulieAnn Nugent-Head met Andrew while studying Chinese medicine. After a master’s degree in Chinese medicine and hospital internships run by ATS in Beijing in 2004 and 2005, JulieAnn moved to China full time in 2006. Joining ATS, she became a second student of the old doctors. During her eight years in China, she studied with them in their clinics, helped record their knowledge, and earned a doctorate at the Zhejiang University of Chinese Medicine before returning to the United States in 2014.

[2] Aside from US and Canada based practitioners, the Alternative Clinic has trained practitioners from England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Luxemburg, Holland, Israel, Australia, and China.

Health and Wellness – Lessons from Ancient China

I quote the passage below almost every day in the clinic, to share guidance from the ancient Chinese for cultivating health and longevity.  It is incredible to me that more than four thousand years ago, the sages understood how to live well and live long, and I find it incredibly fortunate that we have their words to guide us today.

It is easy to believe the ancients had powerful elixirs and secret lineage practices that extended life or made one immortal.  It is certain there are those who dabbled in alchemy, and it is undeniable that qi practices are helpful.  However, the Yellow Emperor’s Classic, among the most famous texts of Chinese culture, does not promote anything secret or magical.  The Emperor is told one could live to 100 years of age with an active mind and agile body by simply following the rhythms of nature and being in balance; body and mind.

What is the lesson? Do not spend your resources, do not exhaust your essence. Do not overwork, do not overdrink or overeat, do not over sex, do not over desire.  By not being depleted, illness does not arise, and the body and mind will thrive as it was destined to do.  This is especially apt today in a busy world with so many influences.  We must recognize it is how we live our lives and how we deplete ourselves that results in health or illness.

For more discussion on how to live long, and live well, join JulieAnn on May 17 at the Pollinator’s Hive at Folkmoot in Waynesville, NC to drink tea, chat about longevity and celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month.  For more information and to register for the 2024 wellness challenge, click here.

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From The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine approximately 2600 BCE

The Emperor asks: I have heard the great ancients lived to the year 100, with sharp minds and agile body. Yet, the people of today, at half of that age, are already showing illness and declie. How can this be understood, and how did the ancients achieve such longevity?

The Teacher replies: the generations before us, they understood the DAO, they followed the laws of yin and yang, lived by the rhythms of nature.  Food and drink were not overly consumed, they had regularity in activity and rest. They were not rash in thoughts or action, thus avoiding exhaustion.  They achieved sage-like longevity, living out their full destiny, and did not pass away until the age of 100.

The people of this time are not this way; they are rash in action, quickly following their heart’s desire to attain happiness and joy.  They use alcohol as a daily drink, entering the bedroom intoxicated – and thus exhaust their deep-essence. Depleting the body’s true resources, they do not achieve contentment, and they expire at the age of 50

The ancients understood that avoiding illness begins by not becoming depleted: including prevention of illness from pathogenic influences and sudden weather changes.   The ancients understood that when the rhythms of life are in harmony with nature, the qi is strengthened, the essence and the spirit is stored. By lessening one’s desires,  by being in balance, one is not affected by the influences and thus maintains great health for a great many years.

 

 

Residency Teaching Clinic

2024 Residency Teaching Clinic

Exceptional Medical Care for $75!

As an education focused not for profit, our mission is to raise the bar of medicine through meaningful and hands-on clinical training. Our 2024 resident-practitioners were selected from a competitive pool of highly experienced, licensed practitioners, and will be with us for the entire year as we aim to recreate the in-depth mentorship we had in China!

Meet Our Residents:

Tonia is a practitioner for the Austrian Olympic team, travelling with and treating athletes during competitions throughout Europe, China and beyond!

Loren is a professor at YoSan Chinese Medicine University and is in private practice in Los Angeles. Fluent in Chinese, he is a scholar and translator of ancient medical texts.

As part of their training, we are running a Residency Teaching Clinic focused on physical injuries. Available Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, treatments are overseen by Andrew, JulieAnn or David, creating a platform to practice great medicine and teach others how to do the same. Teaching clinic appointments offer a longer session at a more affordable price!

 

Herbal prescription is not possible in this acupuncture and bodywork focused treatment.  Benefit from excellent care at affordable prices, and help us train a generation of scholar-level practitioners!

The Year of the Dragon & Foot Massages

The Significance of the Chinese Zodiac

This year, the year of the Dragon, is one of the most desired Chinese zodiac signs.  Dragons are believed to be powerful, confident and talented.

In the west, there are astrological associations with personality types as well, matched to a cycle of one year rather than revolutions of twelve. Correlation with a constellation or animal’s personality is not meant to be esoteric or magical.  It is simply the astute recognition of relationships between human and nature. Depending on what zodiac year or constellation you were born into both systems recognize underlying tendencies which reflect the year of your birth, the season, and influence of the moon and stars. Whatever relevance you feel the zodiac plays in your life, the point of knowing astrological correlations was not designed as blind doctrine in either east or the west. A sign neither defines one’s qualities nor excuses one’s behaviour, but rather, informs what we may need to temper or awaken in ourselves to cultivate our greatest health and balance. Zodiac correlations could thus be considered a mirror to inspect one’s strengths, weaknesses and propensities.   A zodiac sign with predilection to stubbornness or jealously, for example, encourages one to be aware of and manage the tendency rather than give in to it as if preordained. A zodiac sign encourages us to ‘tune our instruments’, make conscious choices and observe our actions.

While on the surface the Chinese zodiac is a correlation with the personality traits of an animal, in actuality, it is a method to mark the cycles of nature in small and large revolutions.  This reminds us that the timing of our choices and actions lends to luck or misfortune, encouraging us to be conscious of the changes inside and outside of us to live each cycle in harmony.

The ancient Chinese were constantly searching for patterns and repetitions to understand the world around them and predict and prepare for coming years. Calendaring the movements of sun, moon, and stars was one of the highest mandates in ancient China. Through incredible observation, they recognized patterns in the sun and moon, the stars and seasons, and repetition in a 12 year cycle. Thus, the zodiac has 12 animals.  The ancients noted recurrent changes through 5 cycles of 12 years, as well as 10 revolutions of 12. Thus, to achieve the greatest longevity is to cultivate balance within oneself, to live through 10 cycles of 12 and achieve the ripe age of 120!

Changes for us in 2024

As Andrew and I personally look at whether we are making the choices to age ‘successfully’ in our 5th cycle of 12, we recognize the important balance between self cultivation and our clinic’s not for profit mission to pass on the medicine we learned from our teachers. We thus gently begin to shift away from teaching to large groups around the world, and focus on deeply training select individuals at our clinic in Asheville.

2024 is our first year to welcome long-term residents, and are excited to introduce Loren Stiteler and Tonia Scharpantgen. Both have trained with us for many years, and were selected for an in-depth year long mentorship program. Their mission is not just to learn from us, but to take exceptional medicine back to their home clinics and become the next generation of scholar-practitioners.  We are excited to have them with us as they give back to our community through practice sessions and increased availability for wellness treatments.  We hope you will support their development by booking treatments, giving feedback and helping them hone skills. This, we feel, is the capstone to our mission to continue our teacher’s legacy of great medicine.

 

Foot Massages Now Available!

With Tonia and Loren on board, I am ecstatic to announce we now have foot massages available. If you haven’t experienced a Chinese foot massage, please treat yourself to this fantastic service! Foot massage is truly what I miss the most since returning from China. Andrew and I, with our children Ian and Niame (28 and 25 years old this year), enjoyed foot massages every week when we lived in Beijing, admittedly a much more affordable treatment compared to massage in the west.  In China, rows of reclining armchairs in large open rooms allow business men and groups of friends to relax and chat away over a cup of tea.  Foot massage is not only common for all walks of life, it is a crucial component of successful business deals! As a culture that recognizes the importance of longevity, Chinese foot massage utilizes bodywork and pressing points on the feet to relax feet and legs, improve circulation, stimulate internal organs and enhance the immune system.

While our clinic cannot re-create the vibrant social experience of a foot massage in China, it is the wellness treatment I am most excited to offer. I will be receiving a foot massage as often as I can, and hope to reverse some of the aging my body is humbly revealing!

As New Year holidays, east and west, encourage us to demarcate a moment of time, it is a wonderful excuse to reflect, and return to being conscious of our actions and our choices.  If each day is deemed anew, we have each new day to enjoy as the gift it is. I wish all of you a wonderful year to come.

JulieAnn, Asheville February 2024

Cultivate Wellness in the Year of the Dragon

2024 Is The Year of the Dragon: Are You Ready?

My teacher, Dr Xie Pieqi, used to say: “Age is not the number of years we have lived, but the number of injuries we ignore. As they add up, we slow down. We are able to do less and less, and we blame our age instead of addressing our injuries.”

It is certain we are responsible for how we age, yet our age is not responsible for how we feel. As I personally approach 60, I am taking this to heart in 2024. It is never too late to put our health first and enjoy age without infirmity. My own focus this year is addressing my ignored injuries and illnesses–and I invite you to join me in this commitment to self-care and wellness at our clinic.

To make ourselves healthy again, we are expanding our clinic team. Along with JulieAnn, myself, David and Hannah, we have two seasoned practitioners training with us for a year long residency: Loren and Tonya. Both of these practitioners will focus on treating physical injuries and rebuilding body-health. We also welcome Danielle Hill to our team as massage therapist. Dani is excited for immersion in our clinic while she completes her Chinese medicine degree. We are training her in several Chinese massage techniques to ensure her treatments don’t just make you feel good, but address those old injuries and make you better!

Join me in my commitment to self-health in 2024–whether you see me as a patient or you gift yourself wellness treatments from our excellent staff, I urge you to take charge of how you age. Whether you are young and proactive or aging like me, everyone has something they can work on. Let “Be Well This Year” be your motto.

On behalf of all of us, I thank you for your support of our not for profit clinic.  We in turn are thankful to be part of your health-care team.  Schedule an appointment in this new year and take that first step to living your best–regardless of how old you are.

Sincerely,
Andrew Nugent-Head
founder & Chief Practitioner
Alternative Clinic Asheville