Fertility

Infertility: The Power of Ritual and Intentional Distancing for Mental Health

April 09, 2025

Struggling to build a family can be one of the most stressful life experiences that a person encounters. One historic study found that the mental health burden of women experiencing infertility was on par with that of cancer or HIV. Research has also shown that stress associated with infertility is one of the main reasons that people drop out of fertility treatments- one study found that stress was the primary reason why insured women ended treatment. While both of these studies were conducted only on women, it’s important to recognize that infertility is stressful for all people.

For this article, I interviewed Dr. Shara Brofman, a licensed clinical psychologist in Westchester County, New York, with extensive training and expertise in reproductive mental health. She was kind enough to share some words of wisdom, which I have paraphrased below. I love Dr. Brofman’s advice- it’s different from what you typically hear. It’s real, compassionate, and eye opening. Read more

Take a Breath: The Lung’s Function in Immunity and so much more

October 29, 2024

As I’ve previously described, East Asian Medicine connects each season to its own organ, emotion, and element. As autumn begins, I wanted to discuss the lung, which is at its energetic peak during this season. In our medicine the lung is vital for healthy immunity but is involved in so many other areas of health.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lung has several functions including: Read more

Acupuncture for Painful Periods: A Holistic Approach

August 21, 2024

When you hear about a holistic approach, images of nature or meditating on a mountaintop might come to mind. But what does holistic really mean? According to Oxford Languages online dictionary, holistic medicine is

“characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of an illness”.

In our clinic, we strive to take this approach when helping people with painful periods (dysmenorrhea, in medical parlance). The primary method we use to help is of course acupuncture- and generally we see patients weekly, throughout the month as a means of improving overall health and emphasizing prevention as it’s not always possible for patients to come in for acupuncture as their cramps are peaking.

Additionally, we utilize other Traditional East Asian Medicine (EAM) therapies such as moxibustion, sometimes cupping, heat therapy and herbal medicine. Read more

Eating Seeds? Yes! Seed Cycling? Not so much.

July 06, 2021

What is Seed Cycling?

I remember first hearing about seed cycling over 10 years ago as a new acupuncturist. The idea of seed cycling is that you can eat different seeds at different parts of your cycle to optimize your hormone balance. Which seed depends on the unique micronutrients in each one, with certain seeds thought to balance estrogen in the follicular phase (before ovulation) and balance progesterone levels in the luteal phase (after ovulation). The concept of being able to truly use your food as medicine and take control of your own health is really appealing of course! Who wouldn’t want a DIY answer to things like irregular cycles, painful periods, or other hormonal symptoms like premenstrual bloating and acne? Not to mention a little help with fertility?

Seed cycling seems to have surged in popularity on social media, so I wanted to take some time to really dig into the research to see if this is worth doing. Also, as a practitioner of East Asian Medicine (TCM), I am excited to discuss our medicine’s view of seeds and how they’re used, as well as some information on how our medicine would approach hormonal health at different phases of the cycle. Read more

Listen Up: Your Cervical Mucus Is Trying To Tell You Something

January 24, 2017

Vaginal discharge, cervical mucus, leukorrhea- it all refers to the same thing. Hereafter I’ll refer to it as “CM” (cervical mucus). It seems that generally speaking, women I see in my practice either are quite unaware of what changes in their CM mean or are worried that any CM is a sign of infection. I hope this article will help to de-mystify your discharge and, just maybe, make you feel a little amazed by it. Possibly even happy to see it? By knowing what to look for and what it all means, you can feel more empowered and make better decisions. Read more

Posts Categorized: Fertility