002: Ancient medicine for modern health: what is Traditional Chinese Medicine?

Whitney Bird, or Auntie Whitney as she’s known as to many, is an acupuncturist, healer, and truly remarkable human being. She received both her Masters and Doctorate in the medicine indigenous to the people of China (otherwise known as Traditional Chinese Medicine) from the  American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine at CIIS (one of the top acupuncture schools in the nation). She has since apprenticed at length under brilliant TCM doctors such as Raymond Himmel and Danny Geren. She’s licensed by the California Acupuncture Board and nationally certified by NCCAOM for acupuncture and herbal medicine. She’s the type of practitioner who is “enthusiastic” about Traditional Chinese Medicine (to say the least), she meets with all types of clients (but has an extra “zest” for pediatrics) and she leverages all modalities of TCM in her practice (which we will dive into in today’s episode!)! She volunteers with Integrative Healers Action Network, Acupuncture without Borders, and works with the Paradigm Treatment Centers. She’s a huge proponent of social health (something we deeply value here at Mira Wellness!) and has some incredible perspectives into the power of community for healing (both emotionally, spiritually, and socially). When not treating patients she can be found outside birding, biking, hiking, sailing, or foraging herbs with her adorable pup, Pippin, or her adventurous cat, The Doctor. 

💫 We cover: 

• What is Traditional Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture + what are some of the healing techniques used
• Talk about career pivot’s and how Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture is Whitney’s 3rd career
• How Chinese Medicine views the body, healing, and how emotions are related to disease
• Whitney’s perspective on integrating both allopathic (Western) and Eastern medicine like TCM
• Whitney’s experience with Grave’s disease and Hashimoto’s disease & how she navigated this experience physically, how she’s integrated both Western/TCM for healing, and how it’s influenced her career path
• The importance of removing ego from the practice of medicine
• Kasia shares her own personal journey with panic attacks, severe eczema, anxiety, and how healing included both mind (therapy) and body (acupuncture) for healing

💫 Mentioned in this episode: 

• Stat’s on loneliness: “...new report suggests that 36% of all Americans—including 61% of young adults and 51% of mothers with young children—feel “serious loneliness.” Not surprisingly, loneliness appears to have increased substantially since the outbreak of the global pandemic. “  (https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/reports/loneliness-in-america) 
• Integrated Healers Action Network: https://www.integrativehealersactionnetwork.org/ 
• Acupuncturists without borders: https://acuwithoutborders.org/
• Paradigm Treatment Centers: https://paradigmtreatment.com/ 

💫 To connect with Whitney:

• @qi_bird (Instagram)
• www.whitneybirdacupuncture.com