Yangsheng: The Art of Living in Season

Monthly online yangsheng class exploring the 24 solar nodes through Chinese medicine teachings, seasonal recipes, and gentle qi gong.

What does it mean to live in rhythm with the world?

A class with Anne Shelton Crute & Tara Bianca Rado.

Classical Chinese medicine describes the year not as a static calendar, but as a living sequence of qi transformations. The 24 solar nodes mark the subtle shifts in climate, light, and movement that shape our bodies, emotions, and spirit throughout the year.

Yangsheng—“nurturing life”—is the art of aligning ourselves with these changes. It is not about fixing symptoms or optimizing performance. It is about learning to live well within the unfolding patterns of Heaven and Earth. In many ways, this is the home and daily-life expression of what we do in the acupuncture clinic with needles.

This monthly class offers a steady, practical way to study and embody the seasonal qi through:

• Teachings on the solar nodes and their cosmological meaning

• Simple seasonal recipes and food practices

• Gentle qi gong and breathwork appropriate to the time of year

• Reflection on how to use our energy when it is not consumed by obligation or strain

Over time, the class becomes a kind of living almanac—a place to return each month to recalibrate, nourish the body, and remember the larger rhythms we belong to.

No prior experience is required. This class is open to patients, students, and anyone interested in Chinese medicine as a lived philosophy.

Format & Structure

Course begins after the Chinese New Year in March 2026
Meets monthly for 10 months each year, over a two-year cycle
Participation for the full two years is not required

Classes meet live on Zoom
Recordings are sent a few days later if you miss the live session
Zoom link is emailed before each class

Cost: $65 per month. Payable via Zelle, Venmo, or PayPal

Proposed 2026 Spring Dates: to be confirmed soon

All classes at 1 pm Eastern / 10 am Pacific

• March 1

• April 5

• May 17

About the Teachers

Anne Shelton Crute, LAc, DAOM

Anne is the founder of Ritual Health Acupuncture & Herbalism in Berkeley, California, a Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and a Chinese Polestar astrologer. She is a published author and educator, with a chapter in A Ring Without End: Reflections on Classical Chinese Medicine Mind/Body Mapping, and serves as an editor on several Chinese medicine and astrology texts, including her teacher Liu Ming’s forthcoming book on Chinese Polestar astrology. Anne has been in clinical practice for more than fifteen years and has trained through private apprenticeships in Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, Tibetan herbalism, and astrology in the U.S., Japan, and India. Her work focuses on chronic illness, nervous system regulation, life transitions, and reconnecting patients with their innate sense of spirit.

Tara Bianca Rado, LAc

Tara is the founder and lead acupuncturist of Durham Integrative Health and Acupuncture Center, a nonprofit sliding-scale clinic in Durham, North Carolina. She began studying traditional healing arts in the mid-1990s through Asian bodywork, qi gong, meditation, and community-based Western and native herbalism, and worked for nearly two decades as a massage therapist specializing in shiatsu and tui na. She later completed formal training in Traditional Chinese Medicine, earning her master’s degree from the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in Medical Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. Tara’s clinical work integrates acupuncture, herbal medicine, and bodywork, with a focus on accessibility, partnership, and cultivating resilience, connection, and joy in the healing process. She continues to deepen her studies in Classical acupuncture and Daoist healing, and also practices Chinese Polestar astrology.

This Summer, Discover "Song," Our Sheng Puerh Tea

Our clinic’s signature sheng puerh with a beautiful statue carved by our friends in Assi Ghat

By Dr. Adam Okerblom

At Ritual Health, drinking tea is part of our lifestyle and our clinical practice. As most of our patients and friends can attest, we are particularly enthusiastic about our special line of puerh teas. We often invite our clinic guests and patients to join us for a taste of puerh in the afternoon after their acupuncture treatments.

This summer, Dr. Anne and I are connecting with one of our signature teas, our 2024 sheng puerh, called “Song”. This sheng puerh is perfectly suited for the Qi of summertime. Its light, fresh flavor, harmonizing the warm, dry weather of mid-summer (even here in the Bay Area!).

This tea is named “Song” after the symphonic sounds of the summer season, hence the cricket pictured on the front, which was rendered by our friend and artist Annie Rosenberg. “Song” is also a pun, a play on the name of one of the most influential dynasties in Chinese history in which neoconfucian ideas shaped political and private life and refined how Chinese medicine was practiced.

Song: Spring 2024 Sheng Puerh

Our “Song” sheng puerh comes from the famous, ancestral tea region of the Jingmai Mountain, ManJing Village in China. This young sheng puerh offers bright, vegetal notes with grassy, floral, and sometimes fruity characteristics, accompanied by a pronounced astringency that quickly gives way to a lingering sweetness.

Song puerh is young and a bit wild. Its flavors are strong and potent, like new sprouts in the early springtime. It is invigorating as well as soothing, with potent therapeutic actions.

As this tea ages over years and even decades, it will develop extraordinary complexity, richness, and depth. Aged sheng puerh can offer earthy, woody, and honey-sweet elements that deepen with maturity.

About Sheng Puerh

Sheng puerh, also known as raw or "green" puerh, has a cool, nourishing Qi quality. According to the principles of Chinese Medicine dietetics, sheng puerh helps to harmonize, moisten dryness, and tonify the Qi.

Sheng puerh is a living tea, thriving with diverse probiotics. It is harvested and produced only twice a year—in spring and autumn—when the tea leaves have the perfect quality and potency. It is processed using withering, roasting, and pressing techniques. The tea is alive with beneficial microorganisms that continue to transform the flavor profile over time. This transformation occurs through a fascinating natural fermentation process that creates beneficial probiotics and enzymes, making sheng puerh a living beverage that develops depth of character over time.

Research-Backed Health Benefits of Puerh Tea

Modern research links puerh tea with an impressive array of health benefits. Below are a few more reasons to make enjoying sheng puerh a regular part of our self-care regimen:

Cardiovascular Health and Cholesterol Management:

Research demonstrates that sheng puerh tea can significantly improve cholesterol profiles, reducing LDL cholesterol while increasing HDL cholesterol. A comprehensive study published in Nature showed that compounds in puerh tea work by modulating gut bacteria and bile acid metabolism, leading to improved lipid profiles and reduced cardiovascular risk.

Weight Management and Metabolic Support:

Multiple clinical studies have shown that regular consumption of puerh tea can support healthy weight management. The tea's unique combination of polyphenols and beneficial bacteria helps boost metabolism, improve fat oxidation, and prevent the absorption of dietary fats. In one study, participants consuming puerh tea extract experienced a 3% reduction in total body fat compared to the placebo group.

Digestive Health and Gut Microbiome:

The natural fermentation process creates a rich source of probiotics that support digestive health and promote a balanced gut microbiome. These beneficial bacteria not only aid digestion but also contribute to improved immune function and overall wellness.

Antioxidant Protection:

Sheng puerh is exceptionally rich in antioxidants, including polyphenols, catechins, and vitamin C, which help combat free radicals and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases. The antioxidant content is particularly high in young sheng puerh, providing powerful cellular protection.

Stress Reduction and Mental Clarity:

Despite containing caffeine, sheng puerh also contains L-theanine and GABA, compounds that promote relaxation and mental clarity without the jitters associated with coffee. This unique combination provides sustained energy and focus while supporting stress management.

Conclusion

The ancient Buddhists throughout Asia viewed drinking tea not merely as a culinary indulgence, but rather as an opportunity for self-reflection. When a student displayed behaviors associated with distraction or overthinking, the master would say, “Go drink tea!” They recognized the potential for a cup of tea to inspire self-awareness and a meditative calm state.

This summer, consider trying it! As always, we would love to see you in person at our clinic. Until then, we are toasting your health and wishing you a summer of fun, vitality, and…Song!

Time-Based Medicine: Midsummer ☀️

Where Are We Now? Midsummer!

We’re currently in the Summer Solstice qi node in a Yin Wood Snake Year, just past true summer solstice. In terms of Chinese timekeeping, this is the most yang time of the year—and this year, that peak of light is happening inside the long, coiled body of the yin wood snake.

Snake is yin fire in nature, which means: what is concealed begins to stir… and when it emerges, it can do so with striking force. So this season—summer fire within the fire-natured year—is especially significant.

We’re in the part of the year when the main themes of 2025 reveal themselves. Why? We’re well past wood season (Spring) in a wood element year, and we are starting to make meaning of that chunk of time. Now, midway through fire season which is snake’s native element, we’re experiencing a time of unveiling, skin-shedding. Dormant dynamics burst into view. What’s been unconscious rises up into awareness. Summer is the time of the heart, snake’s organ.

This is the wood snake’s paradox: gentle, cautious, even meek on the surface… but that doesn’t mean nothing is happens in a snake year. Quite the opposite. Things move in quiet, sometimes destabilizing ways, sometimes with sudden changes seeming to come out of nowhere, but they are timed with seasonal and lunar rhythms. For instance:

• Lunar New Year launched in a Tiger month—wild, fast, overwhelming. That first lunation had so much motion, upset, urgency. In the political realm we saw an overwhelming number of presidential declarations, many of which dissolved right away. Those that didn’t have a force to be felt much later.

• Last month was Horse—we saw new, explosive global action, like the military moves in Iran.

• This month is Goat—a time for opportunities for group engagement and collaboration. Ok, congress came together and got something big done this week (whether we agree with it or not). We see the movement of the collective. Use now to access your group.

If you missed my Lunar New Year talk, you might want to watch it now. It’s still relevant—and perhaps even more illuminating now that some of the year’s storylines are ripening. (This is the link to watch.)

What This Means for You

Now that we’re deep in the Fire season, and the yin wood snake is coiled around our calendar, what’s been hiding may strike. This time of year reveals what’s been dormant. We may find a sudden urge to resolve old heartaches—or inflame them further if we’re not careful. But this is also a powerful time for clarity, connection, and courage.

Snake time brings revelation. Big feels from the depths of the heart. The heart lets us hear the its whisper. Whisper? Maybe it comes as a shout or a cry. Were we unskilled in listening before? Moving too fast?

We don’t have to understand things for them to be meaningful. How do we experience value and meaning in circumstances beyond our control? These are what we designate space for, honor, and name. In so doing, we maintain our dignity, our sovereignty. We can let go of having it all figured out (whew!) to engage this process. Just open the space: that’s it.

I know: it feels raw. For me, too. In this fire season, we can go to the heart—the organ of fire season and also the organ of the snake. Be with what arises personally. Maybe something that felt minor suddenly matters. Maybe a hidden desire or wound shows itself. Maybe what you thought was stable... isn't. This is not a mistake. It’s snake season.

So what do we do?

We go through. 🐍

We let it emerge. We don’t force understanding. We sit with it, even if it’s uncomfortable. Snake is still. Snake watches. Snake metabolizes experience with slow, transformative fire. If it is time to strike: you’ll know. 

When we don’t know what to do?

We rest. That’s wisdom too.

Purple Star Club: You’re Invited:

We have a new WhatsApp community called Purple Star Club. Join by emailing Anne directly and we will send you the link. (We used to have it here, but we just got hacked and realize we have to protect it better!)

I’ve created this space as a little constellation—a place where we can gather to look at what’s unfolding in the world through the lens of Chinese Polestar Astrology, seasonal qi nodes, and other old tools that still work. 

It is where we can talk about stuff like this post.

We’ll share memes, questions, insights, and observations about what’s happening out there in the public square—and what’s happening inside ourselves. This space is for serious engagement and playful exploration. Come as you are. 🐍🪩📿

Feel free to introduce yourself, share reflections, ask questions—or just enjoy the ride. If you see a meme, article, or dream that feels right on time, bring it to the circle. Let’s learn and laugh together as we trace time's coils. 🔭💫

Welcome in.

—Anne
Ritual Health 🐝
📍Berkeley · Albany · Mill Valley

Lunar New Year: Year of the Yin Wood Snake Recording!

The Year of the Yin Wood Snake is Here!

View the recording of our Lunar New Year celebration which benefitted San Francisco SafeHouse, hosted by Blue Willow Teaspot in Berkeley, CA. Catch up on what you missed!

In this recording, we discuss the Auspices of the Yin Wood Snake year, what it means for us collectively, with a look at politics, pop culture, business, tech, and romance. We close by discussing how it affects the 12 animals.

Thanks so much for everyone who joined us and helped support sheltering women escaping sexual violence! If you didn’t donate yet, please do so here.

Happy New Year: Yin Wood Snake 2025!

Welcome! Watch the full-length video of Dr. Anne’s Lunar New Year Yin Wood Snake 2025 video here.

We have transitioned to the Yin Wood Snake year, out of the vibrant Yang Wood Dragon annual qi. Let’s explore this profound shift in energy and its implications for our well-being and personal growth. Watch the video HERE!

Our Lunar New Year Talk & Party at Blue Willow Teaspot explored practical strategies for aligning with this year's energy and have a lot of fun doing it.

If You’re Afraid of the Dark: Take a Look!

The Yin Wood Snake year brings a stark contrast to the outward, dynamic energy we've just experienced. This year is characterized by a deeply introspective, "down and in" nature, calling us to turn our focus inward.

The forceful momentum of the previous year gives way to a time for rest, sleep, dream, and recalibration. This is a year for observation, for gathering resources, for rooting deeply into our most authentic truth, perhaps even re-evaluating what our truth may be. In fact, consider allowing a generous not-knowing about how to re-evaluate truth, or whether it is even possible.

Stay in the not-knowing. That’s where the wisdom is this year.

Never Sat Still Before? Give It a Try! 

The world of possibilities we were introduced to last year is still there. We just know now more than ever that we don’t know what to do with it. It is a great year to be a beginner at stillness.

Interestingly, the Yin Wood Snake finds itself in an unusual element. The elemental qi native to the Snake is Yin Fire: a simmering, smoldering quality that waits for its moment to strike. So, Snake energy is comfortable with stillness, even hiding, and waiting. The Snake this year is paired with Yin Wood – an energy more naturally aligned with the Rabbit, which wants to hunker down. Yin Wood Snake is an immature serpent lacking what Ming called “striking force,” not knowing its timing, aware that it needs to re-evaluate itself, but unsure how and wants help doing it.

Generally, we think of a Wood Snake as a harmless snake, but when we apply this elemental value to annual qi, we see that the fire energy is in there. Expect a year of watchful waiting, but look out occasional expressions of wood-like impulsive energy, especially in the springtime. We may see an unripe, striking quality in the summer months or certain lunar months. Wood Snake is generally docile, but think of immature poisonous snakes in the wild which cannot yet regulate the flow of venom. These can be more dangerous than they would be in maturity, but they are also less effective.

This mismatch between the Snake's native element and the year's energy has significant implications:

·      Caution grand new projects or big ventures. Pump the brakes and consider just planning instead. It is a Wood year, so some individuals may nevertheless find success (depending on personal astrology and fate progressions), but in general, new initiatives may struggle or even collapse with little concentrated energy for get-up-and-go.

·      True to the Snake's nature, there's potential for deep, profound learning from these experiences. What is success or failure, really, in the grand scheme of things, haha?

·      When we are in touch with our true nature, we are not dependent upon external gains. The Snake offers us the opportunity to look deeper into reality, embracing truths that lie beneath surface appearances. Snake energy doesn’t care whether we learn the easy way or the hard way. We have the possibility of understanding this truth this year ourselves, rather than just being freaked out.  The main takeaways of the year may be hidden from view—meaning not understood until years later, and/or manifesting as internal transformation.

·      The Yin Wood aspect reminds us not to take ourselves – or the reality we perceive – too seriously. Judicious use of humor can be a valuable tool this year. Fun fact: humor is a great way to fight fascism. Autocrats need us to take them seriously and rely on fear to hold control. There is actual research on this. I encourage you to look at it for the sake of aligning yourself with the qi of the year…this will also help protect against that Yin Wood Snake tendency for depression.

·      While the Yin Fire Snake typically waits for the perfect moment to strike, the Yin Wood Snake may struggle to recognize when to take action. This emphasizes the importance of patience and careful observation.

Humor Undermines Fear!

Let’s break down the energy:

Socially and politically, there will be false-starts. The whip of the dragon’s tail (the end of the previous year) saw a time when leadership threw every idea that it could against the wall. It was a hasty and disorganized exercise: executive orders and proclamations signed which had weird typos and inaccuracies which bear the mark of AI. In Yin Wood Snake year, we will see what sticks—not much. Other things may move forward in a hidden way: backroom dealings, sloppily done.

In terms of health, this time presents an opportunity to observe and concentrate our energy. It's a time for deep healing and internal work. Path dreaming. However, be mindful of the potential for heaviness, depression, or feelings of hopelessness – these are the unhealthy manifestations of this year's energy if not properly balanced. See your acupuncturist.

In tech and business: creativity always abounds in a wood year, but we might not see the work product immediately this time. Snake invites imagination to the way projects are conceived and accomplished. Expect total re-evaluations of how things are done, often coming from the ground up, maybe not released until next year. Creative fields are emphasized. Design, too. In medicine, look for tech developments. AI will obviously transform in this coming year, as it has in the past, but look for a snake signature.

Romantically, snake energy is about seductive energy and mystery. A snake year can be hot! Snake, however, doesn’t normally like to show itself. When it does, there will be deep intimacy. Snakes energy may equally hide in plain sight. Case by case.

The Takeaway: 

If you are afraid of the dark, take a look! If you have never sat still, give it a try! Humor undermines fear!

As we navigate this introspective year, remember that it's setting the stage for the more action-oriented Fire Horse year to follow. We’ll know what to do when we get there. Use this time wisely for observation, organization, and internal preparation.

To learn about how the annual energy affects the 12 animals, watch the video HERE.

Get your personalized reading to learn more about how this year affects you.

We're here to support your journey through this transformative year, helping you cultivate the inner wisdom and strength that will serve you in the more active times to come.

Pulse and Chinese Astrology Mini Session

We’re at the Farmer’s Market this summer! Hope to see you there or in our office nearby!