Laura Kauffmann

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Laura Kauffmann LK Mind Body Wellness is a wellness brand with expertise in Acupuncture, Nutrition, 5-element Yin Yang Yoga, Microneedling and Thai Massage.

My focus is on women's health, longevity, natural beauty practices, pain and balancing the body with TCM.

10/13/2026

Hammock pose with a lateral neck stretch šŸ‚

This pose quietly works two places that matter right now.

1. The hamstrings.

In Chinese medicine, the back of the legs is Bladder channel territory, and itā€™s a place many of us hold old grief. Grief is the emotion of Metal season, so autumn is when it tends to surface. Let the backs of the legs soften and see what loosens with them.

2.The neck.

The back and sides of the neck are where wind and cold slip in when the weather turns. Points like GB-20(Wind Pool) and UB-10(Heavenly Pillar) sit right here at the base of the skull where your strap cradles your head. Keeping this area open and warm is classic cold season prevention.Think of this as your Metal season tune-up.

Consider creating intention around letting go of what this year has asked of you and let the Bladder channel start readying you for the deep rest of Water season ahead.

How to:
* Lie flat on your mat and lift the hips onto a bolster or block.
* Make a big loop in your strap and use one end to cradle the back of your head, just above the ears and the other cradles the arch of your foot.
* Let your leg stretch gently lateral and the head will follow toward one shoulder. No pulling, just weight
* Stay 2 to 3 minutes, breathing into the back body
* Switch sides for the neck, then rest flat for a few breaths before getting up.

Save this for your next cool evening, and tell me where you felt it most šŸ‘‡

Brooklyn Acupuncture
Womenā€™s Health

10/12/2026

A bolster tower is one of my favorite yin yoga props for a supportive practice on days when the energy is low and the yoga needs are high.

Stack your props at the start, then flow through your entire yin practice without getting up to rearrange a thing. Supported forward folds, twists, chest openers and hip openers are all on offer. Each shape meets you where you are.

The Tao Te Ching reminds us of the concept Wu Wei, ā€œeffortless actionā€. Yin can work the same way.

When we stop fussing and adjusting things around us and give into doing less, the nervous system finally gets the message that it can soften. And this my friend, is pure magic.

As we move into Autumnā€™s Metal Element season, Chinese medicine philosophy offers us the theme of letting go. Fewer props, fewer transitions, more stillness, less effort. End result? More ease. So I say go with the flow and let the tower do the work.

Save this for your next slow practice, and tell me which shape allowed you to let gošŸ¤

08/31/2026

If a picture is worth a thousand words, this says it all.

How did I do it?

For 2 months, I dedicated 5 to 10 minutes, 4 to 5 times per week, to building a Gua Sha practice focused on neck, chest and the meridians associated with those areas. But thatā€™s not it, I focused my yin yoga practice on those regions as well. This was a game changer.

šŸ”„Fire element season was the perfect timeline for this work. The Heart and Pericardium meridians begin in the chest and the Small Intestine and Triple Warmer meridians end in the face. Lung pathways also begin in the chest and its pair, the large intestine traverses shoulder and neck before ending in the face. Focused Meridian stretching is an incredible way to activate meridians before getting localized qi and blood flow to plump up and change the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. At 59 with some deep wrinkles on my chest, I was blown away by the outcome of my little experiment! Working with acupuncture meridians to improve skin texture and glow is the positive side effect of TheMeridian Method by LK, which brings together 5-Element Yin Yoga, facial and body gua sha, Myo-Yin, Acu-Yin and seasonal food wisdom.

Living in your body never felt, or tasted, so good.

Next Yin&Skin class in Brooklyn is scheduled for Sunday Sept 27. Dm for details or type YinSkin to get more info about my in-person and online events.

Hope to yin with you soon!

&skin

08/21/2026

Some days the body isnā€™t asking for effort but rather the permission to stay quiet and slow.

This hip mandala practice moves through a full circle of poses all from a lying down position.

Moving from the side that has the most ease is a Taoist practice style and a Japanese So Tai practice that I find so helpful for my own healing and when treating patients in the clinic.

On those days when energy is sticky, I recommend Wood Element focus for your yin practice. This might be a sequence I give to a post partum mom struggling with fatigue, a peri or menopausal woman struggling with hip pain or one of my fertility clients after ovulation. Three different cases, one practice. This is how I work.

Gentle.
Nourishing.
Meridian Medicine.

Save this the next time you find your energy zapped, stuck, and you just want to lie down.





08/20/2026

Half Saddle, which I use in my Earth Element sequences gets skipped a lot because the traditional shape asks a lot of the knee and hip before they are ready.

These two variations give you the same Spleen and Stomach Meridian release without forcing the joint. Strap, towel, block or nothing at all, thereā€™s a version that meets you where you are today.

Which version do you think I used when I was rehabbing my knee from knee replacement surgery?

And yes, you can do yoga when you are recovering from surgery, just be sure to involve your team to make sure you are ready for the next step.

We tend to think of our senses as ways of experiencing the world around us. But they also offer a way in.In Chinese medi...
08/19/2026

We tend to think of our senses as ways of experiencing the world around us. But they also offer a way in.

In Chinese medicine, each element has a sensory doorway, a place where our inner and outer landscapes meet.

Eyes. Tongue. Mouth. Nose. Ears.

What happens when we begin to listen through them?

šŸ‘ļø The WOOD ELEMENT introduces us to the idea that vision isnā€™t merely eyesight. Itā€™s our capacity to look inward, imagine what is possible, and envision what comes next.

What are you ready to see differently?

šŸ‘… The FIRE ELEMENT opens to the tongue and reminds us that expression is one of the ways the Heart makes itself known. Our words can create connection, reveal joy, and give voice to what has been waiting to be said.

What is your Heart asking you to express?

šŸ‘„ The EARTH ELEMENT opens through the mouth and taste through the experience of taking something in and allowing ourselves to receive it. Earth asks us to consider nourishment beyond what is on our plate.

What are you truly hungry for?

šŸ‘ƒ The METAL ELEMENT opens through the nose. With every breath, we take in what we need and release what we donā€™t. Smell is primal and instinctive, a soft receptivity that happens before the thinking mind gets involved.

What is worth taking in? What are you ready to let go of?

šŸ‘‚ And the WATER ELEMENT opens through the ears. Water invites a different kind of listening, not for the loudest voice or the quickest answer, but for our innate wisdom living underneath all the noise.

What can you hear when you become still enough to listen?

This is one of the things I love about Five Element medicine.

The elements arenā€™t simply correspondences to memorize. They give us a way to experience ourselves.

To notice.

To feel.

To listen.

To move between our inner and outer landscapes with a little more awareness.

Five Elements. Five Sense Doors. Five ways in.

Save this for when you want to experiment with tuning into your sense doors.

Photos by Julia Beck Vandenoever šŸ˜

08/17/2026

A yin yoga practice rooted in Chinese medicine can become an intentional prescription for the deep fatigue that comes with chronic conditions. Lying Butterfly gently opens the Kidney meridians, and after about five minutes here, many people notice a real shift in their energy. The biggest comment I hear from patients and students alike is that their sleep šŸ˜“ improves right after a practice.

Isnā€™t it amazing that lying on the floor in a few simple shapes can have such a strong effect on our energy stores? Add directed breathwork and seasonal food wisdom, and you have a beautiful toolkit for restoring health in the body.

This is why I always recommend a yin yoga practice before anything else. No flexibility required, no experience necessary. You can even practice it in bed.

08/14/2026

Pigeon pose and its variations have always been hard for me. Not because of tight hips, but because of a constrained disposition. Yin Yoga has been my slow practice since 2009, my ā€œCalm Balm.ā€ Even in the poses that are hardest for my body, or in the practice of simply being still, I have gained a deeper understanding of the why.

As a young person, what was modeled for me was that you had to work hard, and it didnā€™t always pay off. What Iā€™ve learned through practice is that finding ease brings fluidity. And through that ease, at any age, real change becomes possible.

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61-A 9th Street, Ste 5
Brooklyn, NY
11215

Opening Hours

Tuesday 1pm - 7pm
Wednesday 2pm - 7pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm

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