​When opening a box of Dao Labs herbs the other day, I saw “Health is the greatest possession” and it just didn’t sit well with me.  I just wrote to the company to share my impression.  I think health and balance are important, of course something I help my clients work toward, AND being ill or unwell or imperfect or sick is part of being human.  I don’t want to support ableist, colonialist or capitalist language, even using the word possession is a bit intense for me…..any thoughts? Feel free to share them below.

PS:  Ableist language is any word or phrase that devalues people who have physical or mental disabilities. Its appearance often stems not from any intentional desire to offend, but from our innate sense of what it means to be normal.

To dive deeper, from a website I love: https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/everyday-ableism-and-how-we-can-avoid-it/

And for more info about accessibility, something I am coming up against right now as an acupuncturist looking for an accessible space to see my clients. It is surprising how many offices are not accessible or ADA compliant, which I would like to see change. I will let y’all know which spot I land on.

https://blog.themobilityresource.com/blog/post/how-to-make-your-event-accessible

Thanks y’all!  ~ Erin

 

 

As a practitioner, I have a consent form that gives me permission to treat, which includes to touch, my clients.  In any relationship, whether in a professional or personal setting, consent is vital.  Recently, a friend mentioned “enthusiastic consent”, a concept that has really stuck with me.  What would it be like to to live in a world where consent was enthusiastic, boundaries were respected, and no one was steam-rolled or disrespected?  What can we do to make this so?

https://www.yesmeansyes.com/consent 

Are you a white person looking to learn, grow, and change?  Beyond Separation’s 8-week course is an incredible starting point.  It is a heart-centered and experiential history lesson about the structures that perpetuate racism and oppression.  Now is the time and it is so worth delving into!!  I took the course last year and it changed my life, for the better.

Here are the details:

https://beyondseparation.net/

Programs for white-identified people who are committed to changing the story of separation.

We work with groups of white-identified people, using multiple learning modalities, including multimedia, mindfulness, and a variety of movement-based activities to create a supportive learning community. We unpack the old stories of whiteness that inform our society and our personal lives, and begin to imagine a new way of being human together. We believe real change requires more than changing our individual attitudes or reforming our laws and institutions (both of which are necessary). Creating a racially just society will also require changing the implicit beliefs, mental models, and cultural narratives that shape our attitudes as well as our institutions. Topics covered in this class include: how our personal histories intersect with larger currents of US history, from settler colonialism to gentrification, how to understand white supremacy, as a culture, as a system, and as a collective wound, how we can learn to bear witness to the pain and suffering racism enacts on people of color, and, finally, how racism impacts our own personal and collective well-being.

• Next 8-week class: Wednesdays: March 8 through April 26, 2018, 6:30 – 9:30pm.  Register here.

• Listen to Angela Sevin and Gregory Mengel discussing our programs on Envision Radio.

Hello and Happy Autumn!

I am excited to announce that I will be offering acupuncture sessions in downtown San Leandro on Mondays very soon.  And to kick it off, my dear colleague, Kirsten Cowan, and I will be hosting a workshop at the clinic.  Here are the details:

Join us for a healing afternoon of must-know DIY skills, remedies and recipes to help you recover from our smokey fall and prevent colds + flus all winter. Includes a community style acupuncture treatment session to leave you relaxed, restored and breathing easy.

Sunday, November 19th from 3­-5pm

Vibrant Health and Wellness

500 Estudillo Ave, San Leandro

$30 per person, includes samples, handouts and treatment.

Reserve your spot now and spread the word 🙂
Needle-free treatments also available! The class will be held up one flight of stairs, with a restroom attached to the classroom on the same level. There is free street parking in front and a small parking lot behind the clinic with handicapped parking. Feel free to message us about any accessibility questions. Also, note that we will be using essential oils, so it is not a scent-free event.

November 19th 3-5pm

Vibrant Health + Wellness

500 Estudillo Avenue, in the Heart of San Leandro

Join us for a healing afternoon of must-know DIY skills, remedies and recipes to help you recover from our smokey fall and prevent colds + flus all winter. Includes samples, tea, and a community style acupuncture treatment session to leave you relaxed, restored and breathing easy.

Hosted by Erin Wood, L.Ac and Kirsten Cowan, L.Ac
www.erinwoodacupuncture.com and www.angelicaandpeony.com

Needle-free treatments also available! The class will be held up one flight of stairs, with a restroom attached to the classroom on the same level. There is free street parking in front and a small parking lot behind the clinic with handicapped parking. Feel free to message us about any accessibility questions. Also, note that we will be using essential oils, so it is not a scent-free event.

Reserve your spot and get tickets here!!!

SHRUB: FRUIT AND HERBS IN VINEGAR

From my favorite teacher, Nishanga Bliss and her food blog:

Flavored vinegar can be added to sparkling water, cocktails, or blended into salad dressings.  Drinking a little vinegar before meals is a great way to stimulate appetite and improve digestion.  Nishanga recommends using local honey instead of sugar, an organic raw apple cider vinegar, and avoiding cooking the fruit to maximize the enzyme content of your drink.  In this way, you will consume the most medicinal version.

Makes about 1 ½ quarts

4 cups coarsely chopped fruit, such as berries, grapes, stone fruit, etc.

2-4 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, rose geranium, basil, etc.

4-6 cups raw apple cider, rice, white wine or other mild vinegar

1-3 cups raw honey or sugar, to taste

Combine the first three ingredients in a 2 quart Mason jar and allow to infuse for 2-6 weeks.  Strain, add sweetener to your taste.  Enjoy.  If you are using the shrub as a drink, dilute with 4-5 parts water or mineral water per part shrub, garnishing with sliced fresh fruit or herbs.

Combos to try:  strawberries and thyme is a favorite, basil and rose geranium work well together, so do fig, black pepper and lemon,  as well as peach, rosehip and rosemary.  Get creative!  Cheers!

MAKE BITTERS, FEEL BETTER, ENJOY!

Lemon and Artichoke Bitters

Peels of 1-2 lemons, including pith, coarsely chopped

Artichoke trimmings, 1/3 cup, coarsely chopped, these are the raw tops and outer leaves

Fennel seeds, 1/2 tsp or 2 TBS fresh chopped fronds

Fresh rosemary, 1-2 TBS, chopped

Juniper berries, 1/4 tsp, smashed

3 oz. 90 or 100 proof vodka or 151 rum

Superfine sugar or honey to taste, heaping TBS

Other bittering agents: dandelion root tincture, yellow dock tincture

Place the chopped produce and culinary herbs in a 1/2 pint jar, let steep 3 weeks. Strain and sweeten, can add other bittering agents to taste for more medicinal value. Store in a dark glass bottle with a dropper top.

You can also do this with handfuls of fresh herbs and flowers, like rose geranium leaves, lemon balm, lavender, jasmine flowers, nasturtium flowers, rosemary, pineapple mint, sage, any combo you’d like. Just stuff into a 1 pint jar and cover with vodka or 151 rum.  Steep 3 weeks, strain, sweeten with honey to taste.

Add the bitters to bubbly water and garnish with fresh herbs, like rose geranium, pineapple sage, mint, or rosemary.  Enjoy!

I now have an herbal pharmacy online!

https://wellevate.me/#/

If you’d like an invitation to order high quality supplements at affordable prices, email me at erinlisewood@gmail.com.

HENNA PAINTING, ELIXIR TASTINGS, MINI REIKI

TREATMENTS, SELF-CARE DEMOS, SNACKS, and best of all:

potions, gifts and goodies from local herbalists, makers & healers

Saturday, November 12, 4-7 pm

3947 Opal Street, Oakland

We are:

ERIN WOOD, L.AC.

www.erinwoodacupuncture.com

SAGE STAGGS, L.AC., HANDMADE HERBAL REMEDIES

www.sagestaggs.com

ANGELICA & PEONY

RADIANT NATURAL HEALTH AND BEAUTY

www.angelicaandpeony.com

LINDA KIM, L.AC.

HANDMADE HERBAL REMEDIES FOR COMMON AILMENTS

lindakimacupuncture.com

SUMMER SEQUOIA TALLOW

HANDCRAFTED ORGANIC TALLOW BALMS

www.summersequoia.com

TAPROOT MEDICINE

MEDICINAL HERBAL SYRUPS, INFUSED HONEYS, AND CREAM

www.taprootmedicine.org

SADIE RAY~ JEWELRY FOR BAD ASS WITCHES!

instagram.com/cooper.sadie

JESS WHATCOTT- HANDMADE HANKIES

RAIA KOGAN, MARISSA SPEER

CORDIALS BY MANY FLOWERS MEDICINE

www.etsy.com/shop/ManyFlowersMedicine

EYE OF CROW HERBS BY LIZANNE DELIZ

TASTY OXYMELS, LUSTY ELIXIRS, SALVES FOR PAIN, AND MORE

www.eyeofcrowherbs.com

MITCH THE GARDENER, HOLIDAY WREATHS WITH

DRIED HERBS AND SUCCULENTS

BE REALBODY

www.berealbody.com

THE CANDY

PATE DEFRUITS, MARSHMALLOWS, CARAMEL CORN,

TORRONE,BUTTERMINTS

www.itsthecandy.com

ELENI GEKAS, HENNA PAINTING

www.elaayurveda.com

GOLDEN GODDESS BOTANICALS & FABRIC ARTS

www.wildchildoakland.com

https://www.facebook.com/events/198346337265056/

COME ON BY!!!!

GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF PURE WATER!!!

Finally Get a Water Filtration System from Multipure.

Drink more delicious water, feel better, protect yourself and your family from harmful contaminants such as MTBE, chlorination byproducts, PCBs, chloramine, VOCs, and heavy metals.  Did you know that lead in the soil often seeps into your drinking water through cracks in the pipes?…..scary.

Lifetime guarantee!!!

My favorite filter is the Aquaversa, which is $430.  You install it below your sink and just change the filter each year, which is $70.  There’s also the Aquamini, which costs $170, is easy to install at the countertop and has the same type of solid carbon block filter to give you the cleanest water.

They also have shower filters for those with skin issues. Imagine how your pores open up in a hot shower, making it easier for chlorine and other contaminants to sink into your skin…..Protect yourself, you’ll be glad you did.  

http://www.multipureusa.com/ewood/index2.html