greetings from bitter melon.
Happy Spring!
We are in full bloom and excited to share that Bitter Melon Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine has been nominated for Oakland Magazine's "Best of Oakland" in 2024! Please take a moment to vote for us (we are in the Health & Wellness category!) and your other favorite local businesses. Voting is free and during a contentious 2024 election year, this ballot is actually fun!
As we prepare to close out Women's History Month, we have a deeply personal share from Bitter Melon Founder / Owner, Xiaojing Wang (she / her), some tips for the Spring season, a highlight of one of our favorite, local woman owned businesses, a book we are currently LOVING and a staff introduction for you.
Thank you for being part of our community.
Bowing To Your Health,
Bitter Melon
honoring women's history month.
March is International Women's Month, and March 8 is International Women’s Day, which is a day that, in my memory, is celebrated with greater fanfare in China than in the U.S. Coming from a family with a strong matrilineal influence, I’m especially grateful for my mother who learned so much about Chinese medicine and herbs from her mother, who managed a Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital in China. Bitter Melon Acupuncture would not exist without both of their wisdom and (usually solicited ;) advice.
At our clinic, we love to work with female identified patients, and it’s particularly rewarding to work with women who are on complicated fertility journeys. We discuss nutritional and lifestyle factors during different phases of the menstrual cycle, what biomedical tests might be helpful, and work with the patients through acupuncture and herbs to help regulate cycles and improve endometrial health. Acupuncture has also been shown to increase success rates for IVF patients* and we frequently treat patients who are getting ready for or are in the process of starting assisted reproduction therapy including IVF.
As a woman owned business, we pause to give thanks to our matrilineal influence and all of the amazing women who contribute to traditional forms of healing including birth workers, massage therapists, herbalists and acupuncturists.
*Paulus, W. E., Zhang, M., Strehler, E., El-Danasouri, I., & Sterzik, K. (2002). Influence of acupuncture on the pregnancy rate in patients who undergo assisted reproduction therapy. Fertility and sterility, 77(4), 721–724.
sinus health during the spring season.
Spring is finally here and my garden is deliriously happy, but the same can’t be said for my sinuses! Many of our patients are coming into the clinic with their top complaint being a resurgence of allergy symptoms, especially sneezing and itchy eyes. Regular acupuncture treatments can be so helpful for reducing these symptoms through its immunomodulatory mechanisms. Research has shown that acupuncture can be effective for regulating our innate immune system and adaptive immune system, and this is particularly helpful when our bodies start overreacting to pollen and dander. Herbs are also key for helping with symptoms of allergies. At our clinic, we love Allerease by Blue Poppy and Bi Yan Pian for Allergic sinusitis. Both formulas include Xin Yi Hua, or magnolia flower, which is a magic herb to help decrease nasal and sinus inflammation.
Pictured: Xin Yi Hua by Bethanie Hines
turning the spotlight to friends we love.
During Women's History Month we are want turn the spotlight towards our friends at Reem's. Reem's is a woman owned Arab street corner bakery that connects people across cultures and experiences through the warmth of bread and hospitality. They believe in the power of food to build strong resilient community, with a vision is to be an anchor space that provides good jobs, delicious, nourishing food, and a home to many.
At Bitter Melon, we are especially loving their new at home delivery service!
Learn More at https://www.reemscalifornia.com/
Photo by Patricia Chang
keeping it lit*
A wonderful patient gifted us with the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and it has been an awe inspiring read. The author is a botanist and a member of the Potawatomi Nation. She writes beautifully about plants, the earth, and human relationships to both. The way she describes Native peoples’ connection to plants through myth and with scientific specificity, is reminiscent to me of the way Chinese medicinal herbs are taught to us. We learn about herbs through stories, and are rigorously trained on their energetic temperatures, and how they interact with various organs and with each other. We recommend this book to anyone interested in ecology, herbal medicine, and human relationships with our planet.
Get your copy here or at your local library.
*literary recommendations from your friends at Bitter Melon!
allow us to introduce you to laura.
We are honored to use this space to introduce you to our phenomenal acupuncturists and practitioners at Bitter Melon.
Say hello to Laura Penna Firme (She / Her).
From Laura: "I chose acupuncture as my career path because it allows me to treat clients as a whole and not a set of body parts or symptoms. I believe we are more than a diagnosis that has been given to us and it is my hope that clients are able to discover the true healing power that resides inside themselves."
Laura enjoys spending time in nature with family and friends, and we deeply honored to have her brilliance with us at Bitter Melon.
Photo by Bethanie Hines.
allow us to introduce you to sapho.
We are honored to introduce you to our wonderful Sapho!
Sapho shared with us a little about what led them to their path of practicing East Asian Medicine:
“I’ve gone through a few different paths including nursing, social work, and massage therapy and wanted to combine these skills and study herbology, which led me to East Asian Medicine.
It also felt aligned with my lineage — my Lola (grandmother) in the Philippines practiced folk medicine and hilot (massage). I consider this work as my lifestyle and feel grateful to feel whole and in my purpose.
I invest a lot of my time in connecting with the earth through gardening and exploring the fiber arts, like knitting and weaving. I also take care of a reptile friend named Ember.”
Photo by Bethanie Hines.
until next time.
We hope that you find our newsletters to be helpful and supportive of your personal journey with health and healing. Thank you for choosing Bitter Melon to be part of your journey.
We are honored to serve you.
your healing lifts up the ocean of existence. when you heal, we all heal.
-yung pueblo