Dr. Riley Smith LAc, DACM

Dr. Riley Smith LAc, DACM Guiding patients on a model of self-care so they can feel like themselves again and thrive.

My word for 2026 is certainty.
Not the kind that comes from controlling everything. The kind that comes from finally kno...
12/31/2025

My word for 2026 is certainty.

Not the kind that comes from controlling everything. The kind that comes from finally knowing who you are—and being unwilling to abandon yourself.

For years, I was the person everyone leaned on. I held space. I showed up. I gave and gave until there was nothing left for me. I thought that was purpose. I thought exhaustion was proof I was doing it right.

It wasn’t.

Here’s what I’ve learned: You cannot pour endlessly without eventually running dry. And running dry isn’t noble—it’s a pattern.

One that often starts in childhood. One that tells us our worth is measured by how much we sacrifice for others.

Somewhere along the way, I also lost myself. I performed the version of me I thought people needed. I edited myself. I shrunk to fit rooms that were never meant for me.

2026 is the year this stops once and for all.

I’m certain now that authenticity is the foundation. That who I actually am is more valuable than who I’ve pretended to be. That the right people will find me when I stop hiding.

I’m certain that my energy is sacred. That saying no is a complete sentence. That I’m allowed to receive as much as I give.

I’m certain that the boring basics still work. That small daily wins compound. That finishing matters more than starting.

I’m certain that not everyone will like me—and I’ve made peace with that.

I’m certain that my health is my wealth. That my body deserves to be honored. That rest is productive.

I’m certain that abundance isn’t earned through depletion. It’s allowed by believing I’m worthy of it.

If you’ve spent your life carrying weight that was never yours—this is your permission slip to put it down. To stop performing. To come home to yourself.

Certainty isn’t arrogance. It’s alignment.

And 2026? It’s already written.

Drop a 🔥 if you’re entering your certain era.

Your sensitivity is a gift that needs protection, not elimination.I spent years wishing I could be less sensitive. The o...
12/31/2025

Your sensitivity is a gift that needs protection, not elimination.

I spent years wishing I could be less sensitive. The overwhelm in crowded places, the way I absorbed everyone's emotions, the physical exhaustion from being around certain people - it all felt like a burden I wanted to get rid of.

I tried numbing my sensitivity with busyness, substances, and emotional walls. But every attempt to shut it down also shut down my ability to connect, create, and offer the kind of support that came naturally to me.

The breakthrough came when I realized sensitivity wasn't the problem - lack of boundaries around my sensitivity was the problem.

I started learning to work WITH my empathic abilities rather than against them. I practiced energetic protection before entering overwhelming environments. I created rituals for clearing absorbed emotional energy. I scheduled solitude for restoring my reserves.

Instead of trying to become less sensitive, I learned to become more skillful with my sensitivity.

This changed everything. I could still offer deep support to others, but without depleting my own system. I could navigate emotional environments without absorbing everything. My gifts became sustainable instead of overwhelming.

Your sensitivity is not too much. The world needs people who can feel deeply, perceive subtly, and connect authentically. But your gifts need conscious protection to remain sustainable.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


Your nervous system doesn't know how to turn off after holding space all day.For most of my adult life, I felt like my n...
12/30/2025

Your nervous system doesn't know how to turn off after holding space all day.

For most of my adult life, I felt like my nervous system was running the show.

Anxiety would hit out of nowhere, my sleep was unpredictable, and my energy felt completely at the mercy of whatever was happening around me.

I thought this was just how sensitive people lived - at the mercy of their nervous systems, constantly reacting to environmental and emotional stimuli without much control.

Then I learned that my nervous system was actually waiting for my leadership. It was responding to my environment and choices, but I'd never consciously participated in guiding those responses.

I started with simple leadership practices: eating breakfast before checking my phone, taking three deep breaths before entering emotionally challenging situations, creating transition rituals between work and personal time.

The changes were subtle at first, then profound. My sleep became more predictable. My energy felt more stable. Most importantly, I stopped feeling like I was at the mercy of my own responses.

My nervous system still responds to stress, but now it also responds to my conscious choices to create safety, take breaks, and prioritize regulation. I'm not controlled by my sensitivity - I'm in partnership with it.

Your nervous system is incredibly intelligent, but it needs your conscious participation to function optimally.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley

Surprising things that spike your cortisol…(Hint: It’s not just your boss or your inbox)If you’re doing all the right th...
12/29/2025

Surprising things that spike your cortisol…
(Hint: It’s not just your boss or your inbox)

If you’re doing all the right things, but still…
🚨waking up exhausted
🚨crashing at 3pm
🚨feeling puffy, anxious, or inflamed…

Your body might be stuck in survival mode.

And no, it’s not just “work stress.”

⚠️ These 5 things can spike cortisol even when life looks calm:
➠Skipping breakfast
➠Too much HIIT
➠Screen time at night
➠Toxic dynamics (even subtle ones)
➠Blood sugar crashes

The worst part?

These are easy to miss because some are disguised as “healthy habits.”

But when your nervous system is already taxed…

Even small stressors feel like danger.

🌿 The good news?

You don’t have to overhaul your life.

You just need to support your adrenals, regulate your rhythm, and listen to what your body is asking for.

If you’re waking up exhausted and crashing by 3pm, your body is waving a red flag. Book a discovery call to find out what’s keeping you stuck in survival mode.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


The most radical act of service is healing yourself first - it gives others permission to do the same.This concept chall...
12/28/2025

The most radical act of service is healing yourself first - it gives others permission to do the same.

This concept challenged everything I believed about being a good person. I thought self-sacrifice was noble, that putting others first was the mark of someone with strong character.

But I started noticing that my constant availability was actually enabling unhealthy patterns in the people I was trying to help. They weren't developing their own coping skills because I was always there to provide emotional regulation for them.

My nervous system was chronically dysregulated from constantly managing others' emotions, which meant I wasn't offering my best self anyway. I was giving from depletion rather than abundance.

The shift happened when I realized that my healing wasn't separate from my service - it was the foundation for authentic service. When I addressed my own trauma patterns, I could hold space for others without absorbing their pain. When I regulated my own nervous system, I could offer genuine presence instead of anxious help.

Most importantly, when I started prioritizing my own needs, the people around me began taking better care of themselves too. My modeling of self-care gave them permission to stop looking outside themselves for what they needed to develop internally.

Your healing isn't selfish - it's the most generous gift you can offer. You can't serve others sustainably from an empty cup.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


The emotional residue from each difficult interaction accumulates in your nervous system.I used to think I was imagining...
12/27/2025

The emotional residue from each difficult interaction accumulates in your nervous system.

I used to think I was imagining the exhaustion I felt after emotionally intense conversations. It didn't make sense that talking could be as tiring as physical labor, so I dismissed my body's signals and kept pushing through.

Then I learned about the actual metabolic cost of empathic engagement. Every time I held space for someone's pain, my nervous system was responding as if I were experiencing the trauma directly. My cortisol would spike, my immune system would activate, my inflammatory markers would increase.

The emotional residue wasn't just psychological - it was physiological. My body was keeping score of every difficult story I'd absorbed, every crisis I'd helped navigate, every emotion I'd processed that wasn't originally mine.

I started tracking my physical symptoms alongside my emotional labor and the patterns became undeniable. My autoimmune flares correlated with periods of high empathic responsibility. My sleep disruption followed emotionally intensive days.

Understanding this connection was validating and liberating. My exhaustion wasn't weakness - it was biological reality. Emotional labor has metabolic consequences that require intentional recovery.

Now I schedule physical rest after emotional intensity the same way I'd schedule recovery after a workout. Because that's essentially what empathic engagement is - exercise for your nervous system.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


🙄If “just relax” actually worked… you wouldn’t be reading this.When your nervous system is in survival mode, deep breath...
12/26/2025

🙄If “just relax” actually worked… you wouldn’t be reading this.

When your nervous system is in survival mode, deep breaths and positive thinking aren’t enough.

You need physiological tools that shift you out of fight-or-flight…without needing a full spa day or a week off work.

This post gives you 5 tools I actually recommend to clients dealing with:
✔️ Anxiety or emotional overwhelm
✔️ Burnout recovery
✔️ Adrenal dysfunction + hormone imbalances
✔️ HPA axis dysregulation
✔️ …or anyone who can’t just “think their way calm”

Inside you’ll find:
🫁 The breath pattern that changes your cortisol curve
💧 Why electrolytes matter more than affirmations
🧠 A simple sensory trick to stop spirals
🧘‍♀‍ What to do when your body feels too wired to rest
🎶 The sound frequency your vagus nerve craves

💡 Nervous system healing isn’t fluffy, it’s foundational.

Start with 1 tool today. Anchor safety. Build capacity.

Comment “YES” if you’ve ever tried to “just relax” and felt your body tense up even more.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


My metabolism wasn't just about weight - it was about life force.I used to think metabolism was just calories in, calori...
12/25/2025

My metabolism wasn't just about weight - it was about life force.

I used to think metabolism was just calories in, calories out. But I started noticing that my energy, mood, and even my capacity for handling stress all seemed connected to something deeper than just what I was eating.

When my blood sugar was stable, I could navigate difficult conversations with grace. When it was dysregulated, the smallest challenges felt overwhelming. My metabolism was affecting my emotional resilience in ways I'd never connected.

I discovered that the emotional labor I was performing throughout the day was literally consuming my body's energy reserves. Every empathic connection, every crisis I helped someone navigate, every boundary I didn't set was having a metabolic cost.

My fatigue wasn't just about being busy - it was about the energetic expenditure of constantly managing others' emotional states while neglecting my own metabolic needs.

Learning to support my metabolism wasn't just about eating differently. It was about setting energetic boundaries, regulating my nervous system, and recognizing that my sensitivity required specific metabolic support.

When I started treating my metabolism as the foundation for everything else - my mood, my energy, my capacity for helping others - everything began to shift.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


I discovered my anxiety and my blood sugar were secret companions.For years, I thought my afternoon anxiety was just par...
12/24/2025

I discovered my anxiety and my blood sugar were secret companions.

For years, I thought my afternoon anxiety was just part of my personality. I'd feel this wave of overwhelm around 3pm, usually accompanied by sugar cravings and difficulty concentrating.

As someone who understood nervous system regulation intellectually, I kept trying to think my way out of the anxiety. I had all the tools, knew all the techniques, but somehow couldn't apply them effectively to my own experience.

The breakthrough came when I started tracking my blood sugar alongside my anxiety patterns. I discovered that my anxiety wasn't random - it was my body's response to glucose crashes that happened predictably when I'd skip breakfast or eat while stressed.

My nervous system was trying to tell me something about my metabolic health, but I'd been treating it as purely an emotional issue.

This integration of functional medicine with nervous system understanding changed everything. When I stabilized my blood sugar, my anxiety naturally decreased. When I supported my adrenals, my emotional regulation improved.

Sometimes our expertise creates blind spots because we think we should be able to think our way out of body-based problems. True healing requires integrating all the systems - metabolic, nervous, emotional.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


Ever feel like your body is working against you… all at once?➡ You’re tired, bloated, inflamed.➡ You keep getting sick o...
12/23/2025

Ever feel like your body is working against you… all at once?

➡ You’re tired, bloated, inflamed.
➡ You keep getting sick or feeling rundown.
➡ And no matter what you try…nothing fully works.

Here’s why:

Your symptoms likely aren’t isolated.

They’re linked by a core triad most doctors overlook:

The Adrenal–Gut–Immune Triangle.

🔺 The adrenals pump cortisol to keep you going, but chronic stress can suppress immunity, spike inflammation, and damage your gut lining.

🔺 The gut controls 70–80% of your immune system, and stress reduces digestive secretions,
leading to bloating, nutrient depletion, and leaky gut.

🔺 The immune system, when dysregulated, creates more inflammation…which raises cortisol and continues the loop.

It’s not just “your stress”…

It’s not just “your gut”…

And it’s not just “your immune system.”

⚠️ It’s the way these three systems talk to each other, and keep each other stuck in a loop until the right root-cause support untangles it.

✨ That’s why functional medicine protocols don’t start with isolated symptoms…they start with restoring balance between these systems.

Book a free discovery call if you’re ready to untangle the adrenal–gut–immune loop and finally get lasting relief.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


The same emotional intelligence you use professionally can transform your personal relationships - if you apply it to yo...
12/22/2025

The same emotional intelligence you use professionally can transform your personal relationships - if you apply it to yourself first.

I spent years helping others identify unhealthy relationship patterns while staying in dynamics that drained my energy and triggered my abandonment wounds. I could see codependency, poor boundaries, and emotional unavailability in others clearly, but somehow missed these same patterns in my own life.

The breakthrough came when I started asking myself the same questions I asked others: "What are you getting from this relationship that keeps you staying despite the red flags?" "What childhood patterns might be driving your attraction to emotionally unavailable people?"

The answers were uncomfortable but illuminating. I was recreating familiar dynamics from childhood, choosing partners who needed fixing over ones who could offer genuine reciprocity.

My nervous system had learned to equate love with being needed, which kept me in relationships where I was performing rather than being authentic.

Using my professional skills on my personal life felt vulnerable at first, but it was the most powerful healing work I'd ever done. The same tools that helped my clients could transform my own relationships once I gave myself permission to apply them inward.

Your professional wisdom isn't just for others. You deserve the same quality of insight and care you offer everyone else.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


You attract people who need what you give, but struggle to receive what you need.I started noticing a pattern in my rela...
12/21/2025

You attract people who need what you give, but struggle to receive what you need.

I started noticing a pattern in my relationships - I was surrounded by people going through crises, processing trauma, needing emotional support. Meanwhile, when I was struggling, I felt like I had to handle it alone.

My nervous system had become so accustomed to being in output mode that I didn't know how to receive care without feeling guilty or like I owed something in return. I was comfortable being needed but uncomfortable needing.

This pattern was exhausting my adrenals, disrupting my sleep, and creating resentment in relationships that I genuinely cared about. I was giving from depletion rather than abundance, which served no one well.

The shift came when I realized that always being the giver was actually preventing others from developing their own capacity for reciprocity and emotional intelligence.

Learning to receive support, set boundaries around my emotional availability, and attract more balanced relationships required rewiring nervous system patterns that had been formed in childhood.

You deserve relationships where energy flows both ways. Your capacity to give is not infinite, and that's not a character flaw - it's human biology.

I’m so glad you’re here.
-Dr. Riley


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Acupuncture In San Diego

Welcome! You have a lot of choices when it comes to healthcare and I thank you for seeking me out. It is a privilege to work with my patients and it’s a sacred bond that I value deeply. I am indebted to thousands of trusting patients I have had the honor of treating over the years in my multi-year award winning practice. But most importantly, I want to congratulate YOU on taking a step towards health, wellness and getting the most out of your life.

Lets get real- we live in a hectic world and are bombarded by multiple roadblocks that sometimes make it challenging to live a balanced, healthy life. Whether you are seeking out acupuncture for stress reduction and general wellness, aches and pains or even if you’re a superstar athlete, you have come to the right place.

Perhaps you’re an experienced acupuncture patient or maybe completely new to acupuncture and “alternative” care. Either way I work with all backgrounds and I am happy to answer all of your questions. Acupuncture isn’t always a quick fix but it ispersonalized, intentional and specific. For many, it is the piece of the puzzle they have been missing.

I believe in removing the confusion and mystery from Chinese Medicine to make it an approachable, fun, realistic and rewarding part of your overall healthcare. At any time, you can contact me or go here to learn more about my treatment philosophy. Let’s do this!