Spring time in Chinese Medicine is all about waking up, the start of new growth, the rising of Yang and lots and lots of wind (aka change). And in accordance to the season, new things are in the air at Manhattan Sports Acupuncture too!

As you may have noticed, my schedule has been extremely full since Labor Day 2022. Currently my schedule is full about 5 - 6 weeks out! It is a welcome change after the last three years believe you me, but it does make it really hard to get in for a treatment. And I want you to know I am keenly aware of this.

It is because of this, I am beyond thrilled to announce a new addition to the Manhattan Sports Acupuncture! Maor Livni LAc has been working with me as an apprentice in order to learn my style, techniques and treatment strategies. If you can't get in to see me, I want you to be able to see someone that I can trust to take care of you, and Maor is this person. If you want to learn more about Maor, please click here.

In addition to the addition of Maor, the Cancelation and Rescheduling policy for appointments has also changed. Any changes now must be made 48 hours in advance of your schedule start time. As always, you will received a reminder before this window closes.

I hope these changes will help make it easier for you to get in to be treated, feel better and ready to tackle all the new things this spring will throw your way.

I know it has been a long time since I have seen many of you, I hope  all the best for you and to see you soon!

COVID-19 new infections and hospitalizations have been dropping significantly in New York. This is great news!

In light of this positive turn of events, many of you may have noticed Federal, State and City mandates have been loosening in response to these changes. While it is exciting to feel like we are starting to get ahead of the pandemic, it is important to keep in mind there are still some mandates in place. Specifically,  face masks are still required in health care settings, including acupuncture clinics.

Manhattan Sports Acupuncture's COVID-19 Safety Protocols have changed a bit too. Here is short review our current protocol.

Manhattan Sports Acupuncture COVID-19 Safety Protocol

• All Patients will be asked to fill out a screening form at the time of booking and just before their scheduled appointment.
• Vaccinated patients must wear a mask while in the clinic and will be given hand sanitizer upon entry. Unvaccinated patients must wear a mask while in the clinic, will be given hand sanitizer upon entry, and will be screened for temperature and pulse oxygen levels.
• Staff are all vaccinated, masked and wear face shields while with all patients.
• Rooms will continue to be cleaned and disinfected with CDC approved cleaning products, UV disinfection, Ozone disinfection, and HEPA air filtration.

While these protocols do require some effort, I want to recognize they have been the reason I have not been infected by COVID-19 over that last two years. I find a lot of security in this and hope you do too.

For the last three years I have participated in San Fu, an ancient Chinese tradition to boost my immune system in preparation for the coming autumn and winter months. Personally I have found since starting this tradition, I have not had to deal with cold or flu illnesses. Given the current state of the world, I plan to repeat San Fu again this summer - I thought I would offer it to you all as well.

Dating back to the Qing Dynasty, San Fu is the practice of applying a paste of medicinal herbs on specific points of the body, on special days of the year, to fortify the body's Wei Qi or defensive Qi. The rationale combines Taoist concepts of astrology, medicine and acupuncture to achieve this goal.

The San Fu dates are the days predicted by Chinese astrology as the days of the year that will have the greatest amount of Summer Yang Qi for the year. On these days, we are able to harness and direct Summer Yang Qi in treatments aimed at fortifying our Wei Qi. Ailments that dominate in autumn and winter time tend to involve some form of Yang Qi deficiency, so gathering and storing Summer Yang Qi makes sense.

The herbal paste used in San Fu is often made of a base of mugwort, an important herb in the Chinese Herbal materia medica. This is the same herb used to make moxa for use in moxibustion. Aside from the heat generated when ignited, mugwort is warm and nourishing in nature, perfect for building up Yang Qi.

Finally, the parts of the body we apply the San Fu herbal paste is guided by acupuncture  points, helping us to direct the Yang Qi to specific organs, parts of the body or areas. In San Fu, the Yang Qi is directed to specific organs to store and use over the coming year. I often use Kidney points as the ruler of winter time and Lung points as the ruler of Wei Qi.

San Fu is a simple procedure - a coin sized ball of herbal paste is applied to points on the back and a bandage is applied over it to keep it in place. Patients must remove the paste once the skin in the area become irritated, itchy or feels sunburned. Patients are then to take basic care of the skin where the moxa was applied by keeping it clean and moisturized.

I am offering San Fu as an add-on to a Kiiko-style constitutional wellness treatment.

Patients who want a San Fu treatment must sign up for 3 of the 4 possible San Fu dates - Thursday July 16, Sunday July 26, Wednesday August 5, or Saturday August 15. A deposit for the first session is required in order to secure herbs for your San Fu treatment. Sessions will be 75 minutes long, including acupuncture and San Fu. To sign up, please click here.

You can see some photos of my past San Fu treatments.

With great caution but much joy, I am happy to announce the reopening of Manhattan Sports Acupuncture this week.  

It has been just over three months and what a time it has been! A viral pandemic, 115,472 Americans have died (as of today's figures), and a national race crisis - it's a lot by anyone's measure! All of us, our lives touched in one way or another by the events of this year, can easily find ourselves feeling lost,  powerless, overwhelmed or scared. And that is on top of our normal everyday stuff! I know, I feel it too.  We have lost so much, I would like to at least bring acupuncture back to you in the safest way possible.

At this time Manhattan Sports Acupuncture will operate at 25% capacity. Appointments will be spread out to avoid any overlap between patients. During this time, online scheduling is suspended and all appointments will have to be made via email or text message.

Patients will be screened three times - at time of scheduling, the day before the appointment, and at the start of the appointment - to reassess risk and adjust accordingly. Patients are required to wear a mask at all times while at Manhattan Sports Acupuncture.

In addition to normal cleaning and disinfection, CDC-approved methods for killing the virus that causes COVID-19 have been added. Practitioners will wear N95 or KN95 mask and face shield at all times.

I trust you will be honest with me and care for my safety as I will be honest with you and care for your safety. Together, we can make acupuncture safe and make sure you are getting the treatments you need. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me. I so look forward to seeing you again!