Happy Lunar New Year, you all! As in previous years, I'm sharing the analysis and predictions of CT Holman. I appreciate how he breaks it down so it's more digestible for those of us who are not as fluent in astrology.

"2025 signifies the Year of the Yin Green Snake. The snake (si) is the sixth earthly branch in which creativity abounds and our consciousness awakens. Hopefully, throughout 2024, we all have matured and shed old belief systems that were not serving us. As we move into 2025, we step in with young adult energy, bursting with life and overflowing with ideas. The snake offers us more opportunities to expand our intellect and ‘shed our skin.’ By taking the time to achieve your goals, patience comes with ease. This year is ripe with energy, so we must integrate our qi and be open to love. Celebrations for the snake year begin on January 29th, and the snake officially emerges on February 3rd."

If you'd like to read more about predictions for the year in various areas of your life (social, business, etc.), Click through to read his full article!

My regular hours are:
Mondays & Wednesdays 10am-4pm
Tuesdays & Thursdays 10am-7pm


Thrive Will be Closed:
11/25-11/28 for Thanksgiving
12/23-1/2 for my annual winter vacation
​
If you have visits remaining on your insurance, or funds left in your Flexible Spending Account (FSA),
you’ll want to be sure to use them before they disappear on January 1st!

I started Thrive Acupuncture in December of 2006 - I can’t believe it’s already been 18 years!
As a thank you for being a part of the Thrive Family, for every appointment you attend in the month of December, you’ll be gifted a bar of Seattle Chocolates (my favorite!)

It has been a HOT MINUTE since I last updated you all on Maude's progress. Mostly, that's because we took last year off from working on her while I got settled in my "new" office space! I can't believe it's been a YEAR.

So we've been getting back into the swing of things! I forgot to take progress pictures, but we finished all of Maude's insulation!

The temperature inside Maude is MUUUUCH more stable now! It'll be much nicer working on her in more extreme temperatures moving forward :)

After the insulation was all installed, I spent a million hours cutting grooves into the insulation panels in order to get all of the wiring tucked in a taped down to cut down on friction between the wires and the internal skin. Wouldn't want shorts in the wires that TOUCH metal walls! ZAP! It'll also make it MUCH easier to install the inner skins, having the wires not dangling all over the place.  You'll still see SOME dangling wires in photos, but that's because they will be going into some of the interior walls we'll be building out later.

THIS was a SUPER exciting next step! It's time to start getting the inner skins installed!!!!!  It finally feels like we're making forward progress!

HOLYCOWHOLYCOWHOLYCOW! Our biggest worry is/was that the inner skins will be really difficult to get reinstalled. Because we had to kind of guess at the original shape of Maude, particularly at the base of the walls where they meet the floor and the trailer frame where she had been so thoroughly rotted out, we aren't sure if all of the panels will line up exactly. THANKFULLY, the uppermost piece fit PERFECTLY! We didn't have to drill ANY holes to test fit it!  

You'll notice some holes in the ceiling piece - these are where we adjusted the locations of vents and light fixtures. We'll need to patch these soon!

Not shown : we spent some time determining the final positioning of the lights! We used a laser plumb to mark the floor and ceiling where we wanted the lights. Unfortunately, our first placement was not going to work! Once we got that ceiling panel up and test-fitted the AC unit control panels, we realized that the lights would need to shift 2 inches laterally, so that they weren't located under the AC panel ;) Whoops!

We did a test cut with the hole saw to make sure that the puck lights fit properly - WIN!

To cut the holes for the lights, we jammed a scrap piece of wood between the insulation and the inner skin. It worked really well to protect the underlying structure from the saw!

And here they all are! Holes cut, wires attached and lights installed! We were a little bit worried that these little lights wouldn't provide enough light to work under, but they're plenty bright! AND! In the treatment room, the lights are dimmable! 

See? PLENTY bright!

It's pretty exciting to be back to working on Maude, and particularly with the projects we're finally able to be working on. She has been a HUGE project, and it finally feels like we're more than half way done ;)

​Until next time!  <3 Becca

February 10th begins the Lunar New Year of the Yang Green Dragon! 
If you've been following this blog for any amount of time, you know that I dislike setting New Year's Resolutions in January. We're still super deep in hibernation time! Winter is a time of resting and restoration so that we'll be ready for the active time of year. Spring or the Lunar New Year is a MUCH better time for setting goals and expectations, since the energy shifts from hibernation to growth and expansion! 
If you're interested in what the New Year has in store for us as a society, or for you and your specific animal sign, I like this explanation by CT Holman :)
Happy Lunar New Year to you all! <3

17 Years! 

Time is a funny thing - some years crawl, while others fly by. This year has brought me full circle! As you know, I moved my practice at the beginning of this year. But what you may not know is that I moved into the house where this whole thing got started! I made the decision to become an acupuncturist when we lived in this house. I treated my very first patients in what is now the front treatment treatment room almost exactly 17 years ago! Over the years, I've moved my practice a couple of times, and while moving is always hard, the move back into this house has been my favorite :)

As a thank you for letting me be a part of your healing path, for every treatment you receive in the month of December, you'll get to choose a bar of Seattle Chocolate! 

Thank you all for being a part of the Thrive Acupuncture Family!

Spring is finally here!

Do you know how I know? The symptoms that you all are coming in with!

Spring is the season associated with the Liver, in Chinese Medicine. The Liver, when it's out of balance, shows particular symptoms. Have you been experiencing any of these?

• Allergies, especially eye symptoms​
• Worsening or flaring of Eczema symptoms
• Irritability/Easily frustrated
• Increased sense of stress or overwhelm
• Worsening of pain symptoms - particularly those with an immune component
• Trouble sleeping, especially if you're waking between 1am-3am
• In folks who menstruate - increased PMS, clotting, cramping, and a general "That was a weird one!" sense of your cycle
• In perimenopausal folks - temporarily worsening of your hotflash/nightsweats situation

The Liver is associated with the element of Wood. Just like the trees budding, bulbs popping up out of the ground, and grass growing crazy fast, our energy is ready to emerge for the season! Winter time is a time to rest and repair and rebuild. Spring is a time to emerge, grow and expand. Many of us are experiencing worsened symptoms because the weather hasn't been cooperating with our energetic and mental desires to start moving, growing and changing!

In order to help ease your Livery symptoms, consider trying some of these tactics!

• MOVE! - Go for a walk or a run, do some yoga, Tai Chi or Qi Gong. Just be gentle with your first few outings. It's really easy to injure your tendons and ligaments (also associated with the Liver!) after being more stationary for the season.
• Eat sour things! - The sour flavor is associated with the Liver - citrus of all types, but also many fresh fruits and berries can help move your stuck Qi
• Green things! - Green is the color associated with the Liver - Eat leafy greens of all sorts, wear green, paint your nails green, green green green!
• This one is my personal favorite - Garden - Getting your hands dirty while hanging out in the dirt and plant life and getting a bit of exercise can really break up the stuckness that you might be feeling!
• Of course, acupuncture is a FANTASTIC tool for getting our energy moving as well!
• If your body is being PARTICULARLY stubborn, an appropriate Chinese herbal formula might be needed

As you can see from the photo of the office - my family and I spent some time weeding and mowing this weekend. We still have a TON of work ahead of us, but I look forward to my dirt time medicine for the springtime BLAHS!

Until Next Time! <3 Becca

January 22nd is the Lunar New Year of the Yin Water Rabbit! I don't have any experience in Chinese astrology, so here's a link to what in store for us - make sure you scroll through and find your animal sign to get more details for yourself :)

Lunar New Year predictions for the year of the Yin Water Rabbit by CT Holman

I wish you all a very Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope you had some really lovely holidays, set some nice intentions for the year and are ready to feel your best yet in 2023 :)

I'm super excited to be working with you out of my new space - located at 6123 SE 83rd Ave, Portland, OR!

Isn't it sweet? It's the perfect size for an acupuncture clinic! 

I have my very own waiting room now! You'll notice some minor changes in the coming days as I fully get settled into the space - I've got to get the art situation all figured out! :)

Two cozy, cozy treatment rooms! An extra treatment room means more appointment slots for your convenience!

​Once again, Happy New Year, and I'll see you all soon!  <3 Becca

There are a lot of changes happening around here at Thrive! I have decided to go out of network with all Regence/Blue Cross Blue Shield plans beginning January 1st. This means that I will no longer bill them directly for you. Instead, I will provide you with a receipt that should allow you to be reimbursed by Regence.
Let me know if you have any questions!