Branch to Root Medicine

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Branch to Root Medicine

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Acupuncture
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10/04/2026

Sunday Wisdom ✨ What the Fire Reveals 🔥

I was burning old wax as the sun went down (otherwise all the bees come sniffing), and as the smoke rose, beams of light appeared in the dark. They were there all along. I just couldn't see them until the smoke gave them something to shine through.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, autumn belongs to the Metal element, the season of the Lungs and of letting go. Fire refines Metal the way a smith works raw ore, burning off what isn't needed until only the precious part remains. When we let go with warmth instead of force, what we release rises like smoke, and in that space something hidden can finally catch the light.

So much is always here with us, unseen: the Qi moving through us, the love that holds us, and the quiet support of the land and those who came before. Sometimes it takes a little smoke, a little stillness, or a little darkness before we notice.

This week, sit with a candle at dusk. Breathe in deeply, then exhale slowly with a soft "sssss," the Qigong healing sound for the Lungs, and let something go with the smoke. Then ask yourself: what is here with me right now that I haven't been seeing? 🕯️

With warmth from the Foothills,
Branch to Root Medicine

10/01/2026

My son was waiting in the car for me the other day and decided to film a little serenade to my clinic, complete with shaky camera work and his very own original lyrics. 😂 I couldn't not share it.

That barn he's singing infront of is where Branch to Root Medicine lives. It's my favourite place to work. When you come for a treatment, you're not walking into a sterile office. You're pulling onto a little acreage in the Foothills, where the chickens come to see who's arrived, the crows, magpies and ravens call from the trees, and the gardens and landscaping soften everything around you.

I believe healing starts before you ever reach the treatment table. It starts when you choose to prioritize self care. It starts when your shoulders drop as you step out of the car, breathe in the fresh air, and hear the birds. The land does half the work before I do.

So if you've been to the barn, you know. And if you haven't yet, come see what my son is singing about. 🌲🐓🐦‍⬛

09/27/2026

Sunday Wisdom 🦌

Sunday took us into the Foothills — my daughter behind the wheel, the two dogs in the back working themselves into a full chorus because my 13-year-old was egging them on, my youngest half-covering his ears and half-worried for the deer, and my daughter hollering at her brother to cut it out before she put us in the ditch. Pure, glorious chaos.

And right in the middle of it — this buck. Unhurried. Ears turned toward all that noise, but never once breaking stride. He just walked, let the barking and hollering wash over him, and kept heading toward whatever business a deer has on a Sunday afternoon.

That's what I want to sit with this week: you don't have to match the chaos around you to move through it. The whole back seat was one nervous system doing everything at once — excitement, worry, sibling friction, laughter — and none of it touched him. He stayed in his own rhythm.

The older I get, the more I treasure moments exactly like this one. All three kids just being themselves, that deer just being itself, and me just trying to be still in the middle of it all — soaking in the glory of ordinary life before it's gone.

Grateful for two dogs, three wild and wonderful kids, and an ordinary Sunday drive that turned into Sunday Wisdom. 🍂

09/20/2026

Sunday Wisdom 🍂🍯

We're crossing into Mabon — true harvest time in the Foothills. Frost warnings stacking up, first snow creeping down the peaks, aspens turning gold. Time to bring in the last of the bounty before the freeze.

In Chinese medicine, this is Metal season — Lung and Large Intestine energy. Metal refines. It takes something raw and presses it down to its essence.

That's what was happening on my stove this week. Raw comb, melted slow, strained through cheesecloth again and again until the wax ran clear and gold. Nothing wasted — honey into jars, wax into tapers, a little beehive, an owl, a snowflake, a row of hearts.

Every candle on my counter is stored sunlight, waiting for the dark months.

So this week — what are you straining? What's ready to be refined down to its essence, and what's ready to be left in the cloth?

Grateful for the bees and the slow gold work of it all. 🐝🕯️

09/17/2026

Ever wonder what those circular marks after cupping actually mean? Your skin is telling a story about what's happening underneath — here's the color key I use with patients:

The colors aren't a diagnosis on their own — they're one more data point your practitioner reads alongside your pulse, tongue, and how you're feeling that week. If a mark ever surprises you, that's a great thing to bring up at your next visit.

09/03/2026

Candida from a Chinese Medicine Perspective 🌿

In Chinese Medicine, Candida isn’t simply viewed as an isolated yeast problem. We look at the pattern of imbalance that may be allowing it to thrive.

Often, the picture begins with Liver excess or stagnation affecting the Spleen.

Emotional stress—such as anger, frustration or resentment—can disrupt the Liver’s ability to maintain smooth flow. Over time, this can impact the Spleen and its ability to properly transform and transport fluids and food.

Add in overwork, lack of rest, poor diet and weakened immunity, and the body can become more prone to accumulating Dampness.

That combination of Liver imbalance + Spleen deficiency + Dampness can create an internal environment where Candida may be more difficult to resolve.

So rather than simply asking, “How do we get rid of Candida?”
Chinese Medicine asks:
“Why is the body creating an environment where Candida can thrive?”

This is where treatment becomes much more individualized—supporting the Spleen, regulating the Liver, clearing Dampness and restoring balance throughout the body. 🌿

08/31/2026

Sunday Wisdom 🌿

Sometimes the best moments in life are the simplest ones.

A quiet lake. A beautiful sunset. Time together. No agenda. No rushing. Just being present for the moment you’re in.

We spend so much time looking ahead that we forget to appreciate where we are right now.

Life doesn’t always need to be changed, improved, worked. Sometimes it just needs to be noticed. ❤️

Happy Sunday.

08/27/2026

Neuropathy doesn’t always have to be something you simply learn to live with. 🦶✨

One of the treatments I’ve had some really encouraging clinical success with is acupuncture for peripheral neuropathy — particularly a protocol called the 5 & 3 Point Neuropathy Treatment.

The goal is to stimulate the peripheral nerves, encourage circulation to the hands and feet, and help reduce symptoms such as numbness, tingling, burning, altered sensation and pain.

Research has also shown excellent results for diabetic neuropathy, chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, idiopathic neuropathy and HIV/Aids neuropathy. Symptoms include: numbness, tingling, pain and burning sensations. It can impact fine motor skills causing a loss of balance in the feet and use of the fingers.

If your feet feel like you’re walking on pillows, your toes are constantly tingling, or your hands and feet just don’t feel like they used to, acupuncture may be worth exploring.

Nerves can be stubborn. Treatment takes consistency. But change is possible. 🌿

Pub Med Articles and Research:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40797458/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33511675/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39555482/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36698895/

08/24/2026

Sunday Wisdom 🖤🐦‍⬛

For the past few years, a pair of crows have made this acreage their home.

I’ve named them Nigel and Louise — because obviously if you’re going to live here rent-free, you’re getting names. 😂

This morning I watched them sitting together on the fence, grooming one another, chattering back and forth, completely content in each other’s company.

And I thought… there’s a little wisdom in that.

Find the ones you can sit quietly beside.

The ones who will help pick the crap out of your feathers. 😂
The ones you can talk to about absolutely nothing and somehow feel understood.
The ones who keep showing up, season after season.

Life doesn’t always need to be bigger, faster or more exciting.

Sometimes a beautiful life is simply having someone beside you who knows you, chooses you, tends to you — and stays.

Here’s to Nigel & Louise. 🖤

A little reminder from the fence line that love is often found in the smallest, most ordinary moments.

08/19/2026

Sometimes the universe gives you a little reminder to stop and look. 🐬💙

A pod of dolphins playing alongside us on our family holiday — wild, free, completely in the moment.

These are the memories I want to collect. Not things. Moments.

More wonder. More adventure. More moments that make us stop and say, “Can you believe we get to see this?” ✨

Address

258244 10th Street East
Foothills, AB
T1S

Telephone

+14039709280

Website

http://branchtorootmedicine.ca/

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