Aculand

Happy New Year! I have never really introduced myself here on IG, so here we go! Hi! I’m Kara Moramarco-Kendrick.
✨Both of my parents are acupuncturists so I grew up with this medicine.
⛸I was a competitive figure skater for 10 years. For the past 15 years I have been training capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian martial art) I workout with the very best, my husband Alfred ❤️
🎓I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology and I have both my Masters and Doctoral degree in Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine from .
👩🏻‍⚕️I have been in practice for over 10
years, which I named Aculand, located in Los Angeles. I am the creator of , heart shaped cupping cups💕
💗I am passionate about helping my patients feel their best and I love treating pain, menstrual issues, fertility, pregnancy, and facial acupuncture. It is an honor to practice this traditional medicine🙏🏼
🥰I have a 15 month old boy named Jai, he is FULL of ENERGY and is the sweetest, obviously I am completely obsessed and LOVE being his mama!🙏🏼😍.
What else do you want to know!?

Thankful for you SALE!! 💗Fire & Air Love Cups 20% off Sale 💗starts now, ends 11/30. Use discount code THANKFUL2022 at checkout www.lovecupping.com 💗

We are in the midst of the traveling season ✈️🚙! Many of you will be sitting 💺in a car or plane for long periods of time which can make our backs all stiff, painful, and uncomfortable😨. The good news is acupuncture can help! 🙌🏼Back pain is actually the #1 reported reason for seeking acupuncture. With nearly 8 out of every 10 people having low back pain at some point in their life its a good thing that natural medicine is so safe and effective.💯
The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends that physicians and patients should treat acute or subacute low back pain with non-drug therapies such as superficial heat, massage, ACUPUNCTURE , or spinal manipulation. NOT opioids! So come get your acupuncture and cupping therapy to loosen you up before or after your trip. ✨🦄☯️

☀️Summer 🌞Hot Season☀️
🍽🥢Eating according to the seasons is an important aspect in Chinese Nutrition Therapy.
Summer is the season of the big yang and is characterized by the fire🔥 phase and summer heat🔥. Heat feeds on body fluids and harms yin. It is recommended to take in predominately cooling, dampness-providing foods (yin foods) to disperse heat and build up body fluids💦. The bitter flavor corresponds to the fire phase. Mostly bitter-cool as well as bitter-cold fools in moderation should be consumed during the hot season.
🍎Recommended summer fruit foods: apple, lemon, kiwi, melon, orange, pear, pineapple, tangerine
🥒Cooling foods: cucumber, Belgian endive hearts, spinach, tomato, more raw foods and salads are acceptable during the summer, barley, mineral water.
✨Pro Tip: The Chinese have recommended green tea 🍵as the ideal beverage during summer heat for centuries. “It disperses summer heat and can expel toxins, cool the heart fire, calm the mind, remove heat from liver and gallbladder, and relieve stomach and lung.”
❌In the summer it’s best to avoid dry and energetically hot foods such as coffee and acid spices. ( ok, you can have your ☕️in the am but just don’t over do it!)
❌avoid ice 🧊cold foods and beverages and ice cream🍦 because they abruptly block the stomach’s digestive energy.
Symptoms: Sudden diarrhea and vomiting🤢, often in the summer after extensive swimming (external cold), in combination with ice cream and cold drinks.
Nutritional therapy: Fennel tea with spices

Happy Summer Solstice! ☀️☀️☀️ The Yang energy is at its maximum today.
☀️The legendary Yellow Emperor, regarded as the founder of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has these instructive words about the season of summer in the ancient text, The Yellow Emperorʼs Classic of Internal Medicine:
☀️☀️“In the three months of summer there is an abundance of sunshine and rain. The heavenly energy descends, and the earthly energy rises. When these energies merge, there is in*******se between heaven and earth. As a result, plants mature and animals, flowers, and fruit appear abundantly.”☀️☀️

I am pleased to announce that Cynthia Feng has joined Aculand as my new associate! She is a graduate of UCLA, earning her B.S. in Integrative Biology and Physiological Sciences. She studied abroad at China Academy of Art to explore her cultural heritage and to fulfill her inner artist. Cynthia received her Masters Degree, summa cm laude, and is currently a Doctoral Fellow at . Her Doctoral research is in the field of Acupuncture and Fertility🤰🏻👶🏽. Our patients have been so happy and satisfied with Cynthia being a part of Aculand and we now have Saturday appointments available.🙌🏼
Thank you Cynthia for joining!🙏🏼🙏🏼

Aculand: the euphoric, dreamy, deeply relaxed and calm feeling induced by acupuncture. 🦄😴☁️🌈💕✨
Model:

Kidney 13 ~ Qixue (Qi Cave)
✨Meeting point of the Kidney channel with the Penetrating vessel
📍Location: On the lower abdomen, 3 cun below the umbilicus, 2 cun superior to the superior border of the symphysis p***s, 0.5 cun lateral to the midline (Guanyuan Ren-4)
✨Actions: Regulates the Penetrating and Conception vessels
Regulates the lower jiao
🩸I use this point all the time for amenorrhea, irregular menstruation and its a great point for fertility!
🤰🏻Alternative names used for this point are Baomen (Gate of the Uterus) and Zihu (Child’s Door)
Image and description from Peter Deadman “A Manual of Acupuncture”

Happy Spring Equinox! With the arrival of spring and with all this wind in LA 🌬allergies have been flaring 🤧😩. If you are suffering from sneezing, runny nose, sinus pressure and congestion, itchy eyes, and headaches due to allergies you should try acupuncture ✨and herbal medicine🌿 before reaching for the over the counter pharmaceuticals💊 🙅🏻‍♀️which just dry you up. We 👩🏻‍⚕️like to treat the root of the problem!
🌸Allergies are responses mounted by the body’s immune system, which can be triggered by various elements.
🌸Allergic reactions occur when a person’s immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment.
🌸Acupuncture works really well by treating underlying imbalances and we also treat locally with points on the face to help nasal congestion and itchy eyes.
🌸 Have you tired acupuncture or herbal medicine for allergies, did it work for you?
🦄Throwback pic of my favorite nails I used to get when I went to Thailand 🥰

✨March is Endometriosis awareness month.
✨1 in every 10 women in United States are suffering from Endometriosis.
✨Endometriosis involves the migration and the growth of endometrial cells outside the uterus, which promotes chronic inflammation.
This chronic inflammation can lead to pain during menstruation as well as during in*******se followed by fertility complications. Women suffering with endometriosis will commonly experience severe pains and large clots accompanied with heavy bleeding and even vomiting😭. They may even experience abdominal pain throughout the month. However, some women with endometriosis might not experience any symptoms at all.
✨The good news is that Acupuncture and Heebal Medicine can help! 🙌🏼🙏🏼By regulating the blood flow and reducing inflammation in the body, combined with some dietary, herbs and lifestyle changes it can help reduce the symptoms associated with endometriosis. 👌🏻

Who else loves the coconut🥥🥥!?
I have been drinking lots of coconut postpartum to hydrate with all the breastfeeding. Graphics and info from the fabulous new mama 💕💕💕🙏🏼

Acupuncture treatment for my minor Diastasis recti.
🤰🏻Diastasis recti, (DRA) or abdominal separation, is a common condition experienced by people during and after pregnancy, in which the right and left halves of the re**us abdominis muscle spread apart at the body’s midline.
🤰🏻About 30–70% of pregnant people develop DRA during pregnancy.
🤰🏻What Causes Diastasis Recti?
During pregnancy, widening and thinning of the midline abdominal tissue occurs in response to the force of the growing uterus pushing against the abdominal wall. This, combined with pregnancy hormones that soften connective tissue, creates a small amount of widening of the midline and is normal.
🤰🏻A diastasis is usually measured using fingers.  Some people have a one-finger diastasis, other people have a five-finger diastasis.  Typically, a diastasis remains in the one to five finger-wide range.
🤱🏻I will keep you posted on my healing progress!
🤱🏻Did you experience DRA postpartum, did you even know about it!?  

🖤Pericardium can be translated to various Chinese terms: Master of the Heart~ Xin Zhu/ Envelope of the Heart~ Xin Bao/ Connecting Channel of the Envelope of the Heart~ Xin Bao Luo.
💗In Chinese Medicine this organ is closely related to the Heart. The ‘Selected Historical Theories of Chinese Medicine’ confirms the nature of the Pericardium as the outer covering of the Heart by saying: “The Pericardium is a membrane wrapping around the Heart”.
🖤One of my favorite acupuncture/ acupressure points to help with feelings of anxiety or any heart issues physically and or emotionally is Nei Guan translated as Inner Gate or Inner Pass: Pericardium 6
💗This point calms the heart and spirit , good for anxiety, irritability, insomnia, any heart problem
🖤relaxes the chest and regulates the Qi
💗suppresses rebellious qi and stops vomiting suppresses pain (in stomach/chest pain)
🖤It is commonly used to help relieve nausea, upset stomach, motion sickneess, carpal tunnel syndrome, and anxiety.
📍This point is located about three finger breadths (2 cun) below the wrist on the inner forearm in between the two tendons. You can apply acupressure to this point by gently massaging it while taking some nice deep breaths if you feel anxious, tightness in the chest or nauseous. This point also has an indirect action on the Liver and can therefore be used for irritability due to Liver Qi Stagnation. acupressure

Stomach 36, one of the best points for digestive issues and your immune system. It is a key acupuncture/ acupressure/ moxibustion point to preserve and promote good health.
✨Traditional Actions:
Harmonies the Stomach
Fortifies the Spleen and resolves dampness
Supports the correct qi and fosters original qi
Tonifies qi and nourishes blood and yin
Clears fire and calms the spirit
Activates the channel and alleviates pain
Revives the yang and restores consciousness
✨Commonly used for epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting, belching, fullness and distention of the abdomen, gas, diarrhea, constipation, undigested food in the stool , dizziness, palpitations, shortness of breath, insufficiency of qi.
⭐️The single most important point in the body to stimulate the action of the Stomach and Spleen/ Pancreas in generating qi and blood.
💖I think it’s really interesting and relevant that the #1 point for digestion is also the #1 point for immunity. Coincidence, I think not! 😉
📍located on the Stomach meridian, about 4 finger spaces below the knee in the depression on the lateral side of the tibia
DIY: Gently massage this point for 30-90 seconds. Safe to use during pregnancy. moxibustion

Happy Winter Solstice! ❄️
Eating walnuts can help support your Kidney Qi!
🖤Tradiitional Chinese Medicine ascribes a season to each organ system. Winter is a time of rest and renewal and is the season of the Kidney.
🖤The Kidney is one of the most important organ systems as it stores all of our inborn or “pre-natal Qi” and distributes it to organ systems needing a bit of a boost as they get depleted. It therefore becomes essential that our behaviors and diet in the wintertime are supportive of the Kidney.
🖤It is important to slow down and conserve your energy, especially in the winter season.
🖤In terms of food, black, salty foods relate well to the Kidney, as do bone soups, beans, and nuts, especially walnuts.
🖤In traditional Chinese medicine, walnuts are associated with the Lung, Large Intestine and Kidney meridians, and have sweet and warm properties.
🖤Its functions are to tonify the kidneys, nourish the blood, warm the lungs and moisten the intestines. Typically, walnuts are used to treat pain and weakness in the knees and back, aid in digestion, and relieve asthma.
🖤In Chinese medicine, the energetic functioning of the Kidney supports the brain ( walnuts look like a 🧠!)and the bones💀, and provides energetic support to the entire body.✨
❣️I found this special red variety at the Hollywood Farmers market. You can make your own Kidney and Blood tonic trail mix by adding some goji berries, longan and walnuts together. They are a delicious combo!👌🏻

I make this post every year and these past 2 years it’s EXTRA important due to the 🦠. Yesterday in LA was really the first cold day all year. ( I know our weather is amazing here🙏🏼)
💨Did you know that the external pathogens responsible for cold and flu symptoms in the body are seen as invasions of wind💨 according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. (The other external pathogens are cold, damp, heat and summer heat) It is interesting to note that the ancient Chinese character for ‘Wind’ included an ‘insect’ (i.e. a small organism carried by the wind and causing disease, equivalent to modern bacteria and viruses).
Western medicine sees infectious diseases as being caused by bacteria and viruses whereas Chinese medicine sees them as being caused by exterior climatic factors. We also take into consideration the state of the body’s Qi in infectious diseases, this is something we can improve!
You know how your parents always told you to put on more warm clothing before leaving the house (my dad is STILL always telling me to put on a coat and now he makes sure Jai is warm and cozy 😂), or not to go out with wet 💦hair, it's so you don't catch the wind cold! Protect yourself from the wind by wearing a scarf or a hood🧣( the acupuncture points around the neck and upper back have the name “wind” in them and are particularly vulnerable) and keeping your body warm🧤🧦(don’t walk around barefoot on cold floor either, there are important acupuncture points on the feet that we want to protect). I am also seeing a lot of the young ladies in LA walking around with crop tops even when its cold out😫. This is not great 🙅🏻‍♀️for the reproductive or digestive organs, so cover up that belly and low back from the cold!

Long Yan Rou (in Chinese means Dragon eye meat) aka Longan Fruit ( similar to the lychee fruit)They contain a high content of iron, about 20 times that of grapes and 15 times that of spinach.
💗Category: Tonifying herb: tonifies the Blood and calms the spirit
💗Meridians: Heart and Spleen
💗Taste: Sweet
💗Temperature: Warm
💗Function: Tonifies the Heart and Spleen, tonifies the blood, and calms the spirit
💗Good for insomnia, heart palpitations, forgetfulness, and dizziness, adds luster and beauty to the skin.
💗You can eat them as a snack ( really good mixed with walnuts) or just add them to hot water, or make a tea!
-8oz hot water
-Favorite black or green tea
⁃ 4 dried Longan
To make..
⁃Place tea in a pot
⁃Add hot water
⁃Let steep 2-3 min
⁃Place Longan in the bottom of your teacup
⁃Strain the hot tea into your cup over the Longan
⁃Let steep for 2-3 min.
⁃Sip & enjoy
After the tea is gone, you can scoop the Longan out to eat, it’s really delicious😍. These are also really good added to fresh ginger tea with jujubes.

The Autumn Equinox is here🍂🍁🍂! In Chinese Medicine autumn is associated with the element metal and the lungs. In this season we move from the external expansion of summer🌞, to the internal contractive nature of autumn. Today marks the point at which the decline of warmth and increase of cold ❄️now meet, where yin becomes dominant and yang begins to decline☯️.
Just as nature begins to prepare for the winter months to come, so do our bodies. Our vital energies begin to circulate deeper into the organ systems to guard against colder temperatures. Our health is directly tied to our relationship with the environment. To maintain good health and balance your lifestyle should be adjusted to reflect the seasonal change.
🍜🍲Now is the time to start consuming more warming foods. Instead of all the raw fruits and salads of summer, eat more nuts, root vegetables, cooked soups and stews. Add warming spices such as garlic, ginger, horseradish, cloves and cinnamon.
🧦🧤🧣Stay warm! Wear socks around the house to keep your feet warm and a scarf around your neck especially if it’s windy outside.
Routine acupuncture treatments and herbal remedies are excellent ways to keep you feeling healthy and happy during this season✨.
•
•
•

I am officially on maternity leave and in full nesting mode! 🥰 I am very lucky and grateful to have my wonderful colleague Dr. Elizabeth Fine cover for me while I am out. I know that all of my patients will be in excellent hands with her. 🙏🏼For her detailed bio and how to book your treatments please visit my website.💕

I was reading through “The essential guide to Acupuncture in Pregnancy & Childbirth” by Debra Betts and came across these Woodcut pictures showing points Hegu L.I.-4 and Shaoze SI-1 for the treatment of absence of lactation and points Jianjing GB-21, Rugen ST-18, Yuji LU-10, Hegu L.I.4, Shaoze SI-1, Taxi KID-3 and Zulinqi GB-41 for the treatment of mastitis with painful inflammation. Source from: “Complete Secretly Transmitted Texts on Acupuncture and Moxibustion” by Master Yang of Jing Zhai, Chang Mountain, Newly Engraved, 1591. ( Wellcome Library, London)
🍈🍈Insufficient lactation can present as qi and blood deficiency (breast milk is insufficient because the blood required as its source is deficient ) or as Liver qi stagnation (breast milk is insufficient due to qi stagnation inhibiting its flow.)
✨Specific acupuncture and moxibustion treatments can help with promoting lactation and can also help with mastitis if treated early.
There are also some foods that can be added to the diet to tonify your qi and blood. Here are some examples:
🔥Food to tonify qi: oats, rice, potato, sweet potato, mushrooms, yam, basil, cinnamon, clove, dill, fennel, fenugreek, ginger, nutmeg, rosemary, thyme and jasmine tea
🩸Food to build blood: corn, sweet rice, beetroot, dark green leafy vegetables, apricot, date, kidney beans, sesame seeds, egg and soy milk and iron rich foods such as red meat and spinach.
🍼It can be very important and helpful to get expert advice from a lactation consultant if you are having trouble or pain with breastfeeding.
🤰🏻I am only 2 months away from breastfeeding my little one👶🏽for the first time and I can’t wait! I know it can come with challenges but I’m excited for the experience 🥰🙏🏼.

💗Strong Cupping (Draining Method)💗
One of the most draining techniques, moving cupping is the other. Before deciding on Strong cupping its important for the practitioner to ensure its suitable for the patient. A substantial amount of Blood and Qi are manipulated by this method which can sometimes leave the patient tired. Pulse, tongue 👅and visual 👀diagnosis should all point to an Excess, Full condition. Defensive, (Wei Qi) is the most affected and influenced by this method of cupping.
💕Purpose of Strong Cupping:
•move Blood and Qi
•eliminate internal/external pathogenic factors (internal wind) and stagnation from patients with strong Wei Qi
•suitable for chronic musculoskeletal complaints and blood stasis
💕Conditions most suitable for Strong Cupping:
•excessive heat conditions 🔥
•hypertension🥵
•headache🤯
•blood or qi stagnation patterns
•muscular cramps
•sports injuries
•musculoskeletal pains including low back ache and sciatica
🚫Caution: Because of the strong nature of this method cupping time should be short, 3-5 minutes during the first session. This method should be avoided on the face, stomach, abdomen, children, elderly and frail, and also during the entire period of pregnancy.
(Info from 3rd Edition Traditional Chinese medicine Cupping Therapy by Ilkay Zihni Chirali)

model 🙏🏼

Gallbladder 41~ZU LIN QI 足临泣 “Foot Overlooking Tears”
💚One of my favorite points to use for migraines, headaches, pain around the waist, and regulating menstruation.
💚Actions
Spreads Liver Qi
Benefits the chest, lateral costal region and breasts
Clears the head, benefits the eyes
Transforms Phlegm and dissipates nodules
“The smooth flow of Liver qi assists the ascending and descending of the qi of all the zangfu. If Liver qi stagnates in the chest region, therefore, it may hinder the descent of Lung qi and prevent smooth respiration. GB-41 is the confluent point of the Girdling vessel which encircles the waist and binds the Penetrating and Conception vessels and the Kidney, Liver and Spleen channels all of which channels influence the menstrual cycle.” (Deadman)
📍Location: Posterior to the 4th metatarsophalangeal joint, in the depression lateral to the tendon of m.extensor digiti minimi of the foot ( if you flex your toes up you can find the tendon) This point can also be massaged using acupressure.

One of my favorite conditions to treat in clinic is period problems 🩸because they respond so well to acupuncture✨, herbal medicine 🌿and lifestyle changes.
🩸The term “irregular periods” refers to periods that come with an irregular cycle, sometimes early, sometimes late. One important thing to note is that if the periods come consistently early or consistently late, they fall into a different category of Early or Late Periods. So for example an irregular period might be on day 16 one month and on day 35 another month, and then day 21 the next month. In the old literature the condition was called Jing Luan which means “chaotic periods”.
🩸Irregular cycles are usually related to the Liver and Kidneys since the rhythmic ebb and flow of Blood and Essence give rise to the periods. These two organs are responsible for the internal, biological clock that determines the mensural cycle.
Fu Qing Zhu says in Fu Qing Zhu’s Gynaecology: “The menstrual flow originates from the Kidneys, the Liver is the Child of the Kidneys, when the Liver stagnates the Kidneys also stagnate. When the Kidneys stagnate their Qi does not diffuse, early periods, late periods, stoppage or continuation of the periods all relate to Kidney-Qi being free or obstructed…Whether Liver-Qi is free or obstructed affects whether Kidney-Qi goes or stays.”
🩸If you suffer from irregular periods I recommend looking for a practitioner in your area for treatments. ✨
📗Resource: Giovanni Maciocia: Obstetrics and Gynecology in Chinese Medicine second edition.

Pre-Menstrual Breast Distension
🍈🍈Premenstrual breast distension is a very common problem occurring mostly before the onset of a period. It can vary from mild to severe, with swelling, enlargement, hardness and pain.
🍈🍈Etiology
😩Emotional stress: anger, repressed anger, worry, guilt, frustration and resentment may lead to Liver-qi stagnation, and if stagnant Liver-qi invades the Stomach, this affects the breast because the Liver channel influences the ni**le, and the Stomach channel is the breast itself. This will cause distension and swelling of the breasts before the periods.
😩Overwork: working long hours under stressful conditions without adequate rest.
🍨🥗🍟Irregular diet: the excessive consumption of dairy foods, raw, cold foods, and greasy food may lead to the formation of phlegm. When emotional strain is also present leading to stagnation of Qi, there is an interaction between these two pathogenic factors. Stagnant Qi contributes to the formation of phlegm because there is no free flow of Qi to transform fluids.
🍈🍈The main pathological factors in premenstrual breast distension are:
Liver-Qi stagnation
Lung-Qi stagnation
Heart-Qi stagnation
Liver blood stasis
Damp heat
Phlegm with Qi stagnation
Kidney and Liver Yin deficiency
✨🌿Treatment: Acupuncture and herbal medicine are excellent at treating this condition. You can have a period without these annoying symptoms!
🍈🍈Prevention: One of the most important aspects is the mental-emotional attitude. Treating the stress with relaxation techniques and acupuncture can be highly effective. It is especially important from those suffering from Phlegm to limit dairy foods, raw, cold foods and greasy foods. Those suffering from Kidney-and Liver Yin deficiency should learn to rest more and not work too long hours.
📗Info and picture from Giovanni Maciocia: Obstetrics and Gynecology in Chinese Medicine second edition.

Shoulder pain generally responds really well with acupuncture. I love treating the shoulder because patients can feel results so quickly!🙌🏼😍💯
There are 3 synovial joints of the shoulder: the glena-humeral, acromio-clavicular, and the sterna-clavicular joints. These joints are shallow and potentially unstable. There are also many muscles and tendons that may be involved in shoulder pain. The shoulder can become prone to a variety of disorders ranging from traumatic injury to degenerative problems. The muscles of the shoulder can become overloaded through sudden unaccustomed use, chronic overuse, or postural strain.
If you have been suffering from shoulder pain I highly recommend acupuncture. ✨
Beautiful shoulder in picture is my model and husband 💖

Happy Full M🌕🌕N! April's full moon is known as the Pink Moon💕, but it won’t actually turn pink. The reference comes from the moss pink herb, or wild ground phlox flower, which is widespread in the US and Canada by early spring.🌸🌸🌸 It is also known as Egg Moon, due to spring egg-laying season🐣. Some coastal tribes referred to it as Fish Moon because it appeared at the same time as the shad swimming upstream.
💖According to Chinese Medicine, when the moon is full qi and blood are in fullness. Many menstruators that are in sync with the moon cycles are either starting their cycle in the few days surrounding the full moon or are ovulating during this time. If you are starting your cycle comment with a ❤️and if you are ovulating a 🤍. Beautiful watercolor of this pink moon by .artworks

Thank you all for your birthday wishes💕🙏🏼💕I’m 36 today!🦄💖