Hi everyone,
I hope you are all well! It’s been a year now since my family’s move to Portland, and a few months since the last newsletter from the Center for Chinese Medicine.
2016 has been the ‘Fire Monkey’ year in the Traditional Chinese Calendar. Not only that, but the Fire Monkey month (7th moon) started 5 days ago. Things percolating should begin to come into action – activity and any clever actions that have been awaiting being sprung should be coming to the forefront. In Robert Fenwick’s talks about the Monkey he shared an image of the ‘Qi’ of the year. He talked about how to approach the Monkey and make use of the potential of the year. If there is some difficulty, some puzzle, something to figure out – its better to give it to the Monkey to figure out without explanation or direction. The Monkey can only solve the puzzle if left alone, not given too much direction. He might not solve it in the way you expected, he might turn it inside out, approach it seeming irrationally, backwards. But if you leave him alone and to his own cleverness..with an almost magical ease…the Monkey has the potential to hand the puzzle back to you with your problems ‘solved’. I hope that might be happening for some of you in this time.
I’ve been continuing to come down to Ashland twice a month (schedule on webpage). My assistant Courtney and I will be back in Ashland Tuesday the 9th and will stay additionally through Friday morning this visit . There are a few openings available – book online appointments in Ashland.
A few months back I opened downtown in Portland at 1033 SW Yamhill St. This office is shared with another acupuncturist and a massage therapist. The place has a very comfortable feel and layout, I have the use of 2 rooms and a nice spot for my herbal granules. We are located on the ground floor, on the Max line and across from the main Portland library, and near the downtown food carts. Central to it all, and there is usually something going on with a festival, outdoor music, kids playing in fountains…. Also new is that a couple of months ago I joined the board of the Oregon Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (OAAOM), which has been a good opportunity to help the profession now that I’m here in the big city.
It’s a time of transitions. In a few weeks my son Zak starts at University of Oregon, and next month my youngest son Gabe starts his final year at the High School here in SE Portland. I’ve been coming down to Ashland for a year now and by next year (Rooster, by the way) it should make clear (as daybreak) if Portland is to be where I am to stay, or if I’ve been keeping my options open for a return south. I’m grateful my practice has remained strong and it seems best to continue as I have.
Thanks to those who have sent friends and family to see me in Portland! I will now have the opportunity to really develop a viable practice here. And my feeling isn’t that there are ‘too many people practicing here’. There are just too many people now have insurance coverage and haven’t tried acupuncture, who don’t know the many benefits of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). but are open to trying something besides what allopathic medicine offers. Plenty of folks around. Now that I have at least a good clinical place to start it seems its about networking, to remove my ‘invisibility’ around here. Time to share my experience with more people about my long practice (30 years in January) and how I approach my work, my teachers, my use of herbs, the likely outcome for scenarios and conditions based on my experience, etc. And to share why I am still so inspired after all this time, and be part of evolving the dialogue between modern and traditional-culture medicines like TCM that have an underlying View of interconnectedness that is truly ‘holistic’. I’ve been able to successfully get on most of the health insurance panels (CHP/Kaiser, Regence, Moda, etc). And Oregon Health Plan has just opened up this July to covering payment for the use of acupuncture as an alternative to opiates – we have some good people at higher levels in this state. Things are opening up for the profession – it’s very encouraging.
I’ll conclude with traditional seasonal Fall advice – basically relax a little, don’t overeat and don’t take in too much heat. It’s time for harvest, refinement, and also for dialing down the yang, the ambition and the ‘story’. If you really want to get inspired, and get a lot of good information on eating (and activity) according to the season – invest in the Santidao (3 treasures) book at some point. And the ancient Daoists seem to always be warning about excessiveness – the main Xiang Er precepts circling around ‘ceasing with sufficiency’. Autumn is the best time for strengthening up the immune system. It’s generally a good idea to get seasonal ‘tuneups’ (and get massages monthly) and especially come around in the Fall if you tend to have Winter issues – catch colds, get cold and depressed or feel fragile and fatigued this time of year. I’ll soon be stocking up on soup herbs for clients 🙂
All the best!
Ken
P.S. We are looking for someone who might want to use the rooms on available days – massage therapists, acupuncturists, or other practitioners. They’d be using my rooms and sharing the office with Jody Herriott, L.Ac.
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