TENET Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture

09/17/2025

🌿 Case Highlight: Herbal Medicine for Chronic Cystic Acne (Damp-Heat Pattern) 🌿

A new patient came to me after a decade of battling deep cystic acne. At our first follow-up, I started them on a customized herbal formula based on the Chinese medicine classic, Lian Po Yin.

Why this blend?

In Chinese medicine, stubborn, inflamed, deep-seated breakouts are often rooted in damp-heat—an internal environment marked by excess heat, swelling, congestion, and fluid stagnation.

✨ Key herbs in this formula:

• Huang Lian (coptis rhizome) & Zhi Zi (gardenia fruit): Strong heat and toxin clearers—cool down redness, swelling, and that “hot,” angry feeling.

• Hou Po (magnolia bark) & Jiang Ban Xia (ginger-prepped pinellia): Transform phlegm, drain damp, break up the heavy, deep cysts.

• Chi Shao (red peony): Subbed in for Dan Dou Chi (fermented soybeans) to clear extra heat and cool the blood.

• Lu Gen (reed rhizome): Cools lungs and stomach, supports moving out “thick damp,” while promoting clear skin by supporting the lung pathway.

• Shi Chang Pu: Opens the orifices and moves stagnation—helpful if congestion or stress are triggers.

My Process:

For all new patients, I batch just one week of herbs at a time. Why? Your body shifts fast in the beginning, and we want the formula to match those changes—not fall behind. Week-by-week tracking lets us fine-tune in real time. By weeks 4–6, most patients have a fully personalized monthly formula that fits them exactly.

Do you have breakouts that flare up with heat, humidity, dairy, sugar, or stress? Your “root” may be damp-heat. This is our target.

Curious about herbal solutions for your skin? Drop a comment or DM!

07/18/2025

This is my favorite room in the clinic. It's where we connect our healing to the Earth.

It embodies the TENET approach to Chinese medicine: intentional, engaged, and reverent of our continuity with the world around us.

TENET is home to the only bulk dried Chinese herbal dispensary in the state. With over 170 single herbs, we can design endless formulations to cultivate healing.

Over the past month, we've created formulas to support:
– Anxiety, overwhelm, and burnout
– Restless sleep and insomnia
– Hormonal imbalance (PMS, perimenopause, cycle regulation)
– Fatigue and low energy
– Skin conditions (eczema, hives, acne)
– Bloating and IBS-D/C
– Vertigo and dizziness
– Unexplained infertility
– Allergies and immune reactivity

Herbal medicine is the root of healing—have you ever tried it? Share your story in the comments!
Curious if it could support you too? Send me a message and let's find out!

07/09/2025

Ever wondered what it's like to water fast??

A few weeks ago, I completed a 7-day fast in the tropics — timed with the solstice for maximum yang energy.

Spend some time with the new TENET blog to find:

✨ a personal account on the fasting experience.
✨ guidance on how to fast safely and intentionally.
✨ what I was able to heal in my own body and spirit through the process.

This wasn’t just a fast. It was a realignment.

I share the full journey (with rare Chinese medical insights I translated myself) in the latest blog post.

Link in comments.

03/12/2025

🌿💕 The Legend of Dāng Guī (當歸) ✨

Everyone knows dāng guī is THE herb for women's health. It regulates menstruation, alleviates pain, and nourishes the blood. And, yes, we have it in the clinic in its most potent, raw form as one of the 160 organic, lab-tested herbs in our dispensary. But did you know its name encompasses an entire legend?

The story of dāng guī is one of love, resilience, and healing. Long ago, a husband left his wife to venture into the mountains to gather medicinal herbs. Three years passed, and his wife, believing him lost, remarried.

Shortly after, her husband finally returned, leaving them both heartbroken. As a symbol of deep regret, he gifted her all of the herbs he had collected. Stricken with grief, the woman fell desperately ill. Believing a large dose of herbs would end her suffering, she took all of them—but instead of escape, she found relief. The herbs restored her health and vitality, regulating her cycle and becoming a legend in themselves.

This herb was fittingly named dāng guī (當歸), meaning "time to return." Its name carries the significance of its story, symbolizing reunion, healing, and connection. 千里姻緣一線牽 – even over a thousand miles, a single thread connects fated love. ✨

🌿 Want to see how dāng guī could benefit your health? Visit our blog at the link in our bio to learn all about the medicinal properties of this powerhouse of an herb!

08/12/2024

If you see me in clinic, you know I emphasize the importance of drinking at least 80-100 oz. of water per day.

Staying hydrated is one of the least expensive and most impactful actions we can take to positively influence our health. And this is even more important during the hot summer months.

Keep in mind that, although convenient, water bottled in plastic contains 3x more estrogenic activity than water from the tap or bottles in glass. Endocrine disruptors and other toxins that leach into water from plastic are no joke - prioritize your health by staying safely hydrated this summer! 💧

07/16/2023

Did you get sunshine in your eyes this morning?? ☀️

A 5-30 minute daily dose of morning sunshine is absolutely essential for metabolic, mental, and hormonal health. It also regulates your circadian rhythm and sleep cycles!

I like to go on a walk, bike ride, or run every morning just to get that morning sunshine. 🚲🏃

And don’t forget to come see us for some acupuncture, massage, and chiropractic care today! Sliding scale $0-60 👌🏻

04/21/2023

Did you know that many Chinese herbs are used as ingredients?

Amaretti biscuits are a traditional Italian treat. While most recipes today use almond extract, originally these biscuits featured an important herb, bitter apricot kernels, aka Xing Ren 杏仁.

In Chinese medicine, Xing Ren is known for the following properties:

Flavor: Bitter
Temperature: Slightly warm
Channels entered: Lung, Large Intestine
Actions:
- Stops cough and wheezing
- Moistens the intestines and promotes bowel movements

Alone, the kernel is slightly toxic, but toxicity is reduced upon exposure to heat, removal of the outer coating, and being mixed with sugar.

These biscuits are light and fragrant. Xing Ren may have a reputation for being bitter, but it imparts a floral flavor and aroma that is akin to argan oil. I always take them paired Blue People tea from located in Asheville, NC.

Here is my recipe:

200g almond flower
20g Xing Ren (grind in a coffee grinder)
100g sugar
60g egg whites

Mix the dry ingredients first, then add in the egg whites. Roll the mixture into small balls (about 20g each) and press lightly down onto a greased baking sheet. Dust them with powdered sugar (optional) and bake at 320 Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes.

Isn’t Chinese medicine cool?! Enjoy! 🌿🐉

01/21/2023

HOW TO MAKE A PERCOLATION

Percolations are a quick and easy way to make an alcoholic herbal extraction (tincture), with the entire process taking under 24 hours.

The tincture featured here is one of my best sellers for women - Easy Moon. It includes herbs that move qi and blood, alleviating pain and improving mood. Generally, it makes our cycles much more bearable for us (and those around us! 😉).

You can make a percolation using almost any dry herb other than resins and other sticky/gummy substances. Here’s how:

1. Create a custom formula totaling 150 grams of dried herbs.
2. Grind your herbs to a semi coarse powder. Too fine, and it will be so compact that you ethanol alcohol will not be able to flow through.
3. Add to a glass bowl and wet it with a small amount of 40-50% ethanol alcohol. I like to use tequila because many of my patients are sensitive to grains, from which most other liquors are distilled. Tequila is distilled from agave, which is much more cooling than grains.
4. Mix the ethanol alcohol with the powder until it reaches a consistency of wet sand.
5. Cover and let it sit for about 3-6 hours. This is important because the cell walls of the herbs are expanding as they absorb the liquid. If you did this in the percolator, it would swell so much that it would clog the percolation process.
6. Place a cotton ball at the opening of the percolator, rest the percolator in a 64 oz. glass jar, and add the herbs. Make sure it is not too compact. I just add about a third at a time and then gently shake to even it out. (You can DIY a percolator by cutting off the bottom of a glass bottle of sparkling water.)
7. Place a coffee filter over the herbs and add some stones to weigh it down. You can be selective about the stones you use, consider their energetic and medicinal properties.
8. Pour in 750 mL of the ethanol alcohol, slowly. Allow it to percolate through the herbs until it soaks the cotton ball. Then screw on the cap tightly and allow it to soak for 8-12 hours. Don’t forget to cover the opening at the top with plastic wrap so the ethanol doesn’t evaporate!
9. After 12 hours, adjust the cap so you have a flow of 1 drop every 3-5 seconds that lands into the 64 oz. glass jar.
10. After another 12 hours or so, you should have your finished percolated tincture. Yay!!

Always feel free to reach out if you have any questions about this process or Chinese medicine in general. Happy percolating!!

Dr. Schuyler Ronan Kraus, L.Ac shared a post on Instagram: "HOW TO MAKE A PERCOLATION Percolations are a quick and easy way to make an alcoholic herbal extraction (tincture), with the entire process taking under 24 hours. You can make a percolation using almost any dry herb other than resins and oth...