M'illumino Natural Medicine + Microneedling PDX

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M'illumino Natural Medicine + Microneedling PDX acupuncture, microneedling, cosmetic acupuncture and natural medicine in Portland, OR Traditional medical systems do.

I am a licensed acupuncturist and board-certified Chinese herbalist practicing in Portland, OR. I’ve been in practice for more than 13 years, and studying natural medicine for close to two decades. The primarily lens through which I view the human body is Classical Chinese medicine. I also have extensive training in mindfulness-based somatic therapy and interpersonal neurobiology, as well as whole foods nutrition, cosmetic acupuncture, and microneedling. I work with humans to help identify the root causes and underlying patterns causing them to feel the way they feel. I understand that many of us have a sense we could feel better in our bodies, but don’t know how to get there. Modern medicine is a godsend and saves lives all day long, yet it doesn’t teach us how to find and maintain health and optimal well-being. The human body is a beautiful mystery, much of which we can never fully understand, but I think it is worth continuing to try to learn how to best care for each of them. In my off time, I like simple things like blue skies and vast, open spaces, and quiet mornings with a mug of something hot. I like to cook fresh food that I think of as everyday medicine, because it helps me get into my hands and away from the screen. I like moving my body, preferably to music, and appreciating small moments and exploring the world with both my sweet dog and similarly sweet husband.

Another super long carousel — I cannot fit everything I want to say in these little slides! This list is not exhaustive,...
10/12/2026

Another super long carousel — I cannot fit everything I want to say in these little slides! This list is not exhaustive, but it’s some of the big stuff I think about when women ask me what I think about HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for perimenopause and menopause. It’s not all black and white for me.

Remember that HRT can be taken for a short period of time, or for a phase in a person’s life. Sometimes that is what’s needed. As far as the last continuing education course I took two years ago on HRT, the risks increase when started later (after 60 or ten years after the onset of menopause—which btw is what skewed all of those original studies/fears about HRT back in the 2000s). So if you’re thinking about it, talk to your doctor sooner rather than later.

And it goes without saying that of course not all of this will apply to all women, and please talk to your doctor.

10/11/2026

I’m thinking about getting together a small circle of women to delve into all of what Chinese medicine has to offer us in terms of preparing for, going through, and making the most of perimenopause and menopause. There’s so much depth that I’d like to get into that we can’t really do here on Insta.

Chinese medicine doesn’t talk about perimenopause, but it gives us an incredibly deep understanding for the changes that are happening at each 7 year cycle of our reproductive lives. When we understand what is happening, we can understand what our bodies need, and how to support the incredible transformation that is happening starting around age 35, and going into the menopausal years.

Let me know if you’re interested in being part of this learning opportunity. My vision is to pass along deep wisdom that comes from the roots of Chinese and Taoist medicine, not the kind of TCM jargon you’ll get from chatGPT. If you join, I want you to walk away feeling a sense of groundedness and confidence in what is happening in your body, and a better sense for how to care for your physical body, and your evolving self as you prepare for, go through, and come out the other side of perimenopause and menopause. ❤️

Btw, when I say “women,” I understand that not everyone who will go through these transitions will identify with this word. All gender identifications welcome so long as this transition applies to you!

Women and people born with uteruses grow, age and _become_ in 7 year cycles. At age 49 (7x7), aligning with the average ...
10/10/2026

Women and people born with uteruses grow, age and _become_ in 7 year cycles. At age 49 (7x7), aligning with the average age of menopause (now 50) what we call tian gui, essentially the reproductive essence or “heavenly water” dries up, making room for a new biological drive, and a new way of being.

For our entire reproductive lives, energy flows from the heart to the uterus. We see this as menstruation, reproduction, and also the prioritization of others, care for others, and the giving of our life force to something outside of us.

In menopause, the energy flow shifts, and our life force gets redirected towards our hearts. We are invited to learn to be intimate with ourselves, our deepest callings, and to enjoy the harvest as we come into our wisdom and power. Menopause is truly a homecoming.

Before this, we see significant shifts happen around age 42 (7x6), and subtle shifts happen around age 35 (7x5). Depending on how deeply we have drawn on reserves (by pushing through, ignoring our bodies, not getting enough sleep or quiet, relying on stimulation, restricting nourishment, and the mere fact of trauma), symptoms may show at this time. Symptoms (anxiety, insomnia, hot flashes, dryness, thinning hair, etc etc) are generally a reflection of waning resources - mainly blood, yin and fluids.

What we call perimenopause is a time of transition, it is not a medical event. Chinese medicine is a wellspring of information on how to best work with this time, how to preserve and replenish our resources so that we can actually come through this portal transformed and available for a deeper connection with ourselves and our true calling in this life.

Perimenopause and menopause are thresholds and times of incredible transformation. The mainstream narrative has forgotte...
10/06/2026

Perimenopause and menopause are thresholds and times of incredible transformation. The mainstream narrative has forgotten this and we seem to have two options there: fear it/hate it/be angry/suffer/stop caring about the ourselves and the world and everything else OR run for our lives and pretend like it’s not happening and stay forever-young, forever-strong, forever-happy. Chinese medicine teaches us there is another way, and in my experience working with women and learning from so many of you, this alchemical transformation I’ve laid out here is actually a real, felt experience for most women. We just need the narrative to help us make sense of it.

When it comes to symptoms and specific ways that people are struggling during this time, there can be a variety of factors at play that this tiny little slideshow doesn’t have space for :) If you want to learn more about how to manage symptoms (hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, name your favorite symptom: ________), balance hormones, replenish and preserve reserves, and work with all of the surprises that come up, I’ll be sharing my framework for approaching perimenopause and menopause in the coming months. Comment below and I’ll make sure you don’t miss the opportunity to dive deeper with me.

Sending love to you! ❤️

Women and people born with uteruses grow, age and _become_ in 7 year cycles. At age 49 (7x7), aligning with the average ...
10/03/2026

Women and people born with uteruses grow, age and _become_ in 7 year cycles. At age 49 (7x7), aligning with the average age of menopause (now 50) what we call tian gui, essentially the reproductive essence or “heavenly water” dries up, making room for a new biological drive, and a new way of being.

Before this, we see significant shifts happen around age 42 (7x6), and subtle shifts happen around age 35 (7x5). Depending on how deeply we have drawn on reserves (by pushing through, ignoring our bodies, not getting enough sleep or quiet, relying on stimulation, restricting nourishment, and the mere fact of trauma), symptoms may show at this time. Symptoms (anxiety, insomnia, hot flashes, dryness, thinning hair, etc etc) are generally a reflection of waning resources - mainly blood, yin and fluids.

What we call perimenopause is a time of transition, it is not a medical event. Chinese medicine is a wellspring of information on how to best work with this time, how to preserve and replenish our resources so that we can actually come through this portal transformed and available for a deeper connection with ourselves and our true calling in this life.

The modern era is scrambling to understand perimenopause, but Chinese medicine has had most of this figured out for over...
10/02/2026

The modern era is scrambling to understand perimenopause, but Chinese medicine has had most of this figured out for over 2000 years, and in my humble opinion gives us way better ideas on how to best take care of our bodies during this time than a lot of the stuff coming out of the internet.

There was a lot of interest in my last post mapping out some of the changes Chinese medicine teaches us happen at ages 35, 42, and 49. I’ve decided to a deeper dive into these phases given all the interest!

PS, it’s too late to edit the slides, but along with the warm, well-cooked foods, I meant to add that foods that are hydrating—think meals cooked with liquids and water (like the ones I listed)—go a long way for building blood. Blood needs fluids, and the best way to hydrate is through food because our bodies absorb water better when it is attached to nutrients and minerals.

If you want to keep seeing more of this stuff, let me know in the comments and the best way to show me you appreciate it is to send it to someone else ❤️

A frayed nervous system like the one laid down in childhood trauma is more likely to be impacted during perimenopause an...
09/29/2026

A frayed nervous system like the one laid down in childhood trauma is more likely to be impacted during perimenopause and menopause. This makes sense from a Chinese medicine perspective. Trauma depletes our resources and reserves—part of this is known as Yin in Chinese medicine. Yin is the grounding, cooling, calming substance that naturally declines as we age, and that acts as a buffer. When reserves are waning, we know longer have the same buffer and the heart and spirit can become unsettled, and fire can flare. All of this shows up in the classic symptoms of perimenopause like hot flashes, insomnia, anxiety, panic, but it is also related to memory, and dreams.

Follow along if you’re interested in learning about how to nourish and preserve your Yin reserves, because we do have control over this!

And for more information on the perimenopause/ACE connection, see the DREAMS and SWAN studies.

❤️

The mainstream conversation around perimenopause and menopause is really missing the mark and it is a disservice to wome...
09/27/2026

The mainstream conversation around perimenopause and menopause is really missing the mark and it is a disservice to women. We deserve to understand what Chinese medicine has taught for centuries. This is a powerful time when we come home to ourselves and reap what we have sown. It is the harvest.

Women and people born with uteruses age in 7 year cycles. At age 49 (7x7), what we call tian gui, essentially the reprod...
09/26/2026

Women and people born with uteruses age in 7 year cycles. At age 49 (7x7), what we call tian gui, essentially the reproductive essence dries up, and this aligns with the average age of menopause (now 50). In menopause, the energy flow shifts, and our life force gets redirected towards our hearts. Up until this time, energy flows from the heart to the uterus to fuel reproduction, menstruation, and an outward focus directed towards others, etc.
Menopause is truly a homecoming.

Before this, we see significant shifts happen around age 42 (7x6), and subtle shifts happen around age 35 (7x5). What we call perimenopause now is a time of transition, it is not a medical event. We begin to see a gradual drying up of resources, and if we have lived a life that has drawn heavily on our resources (skimping on sleep, running on adrenaline, eating too little, over-exercising, over-doing, and also childhood trauma or any trauma really), this transition time, starting around age 35, but often more loudly around age 42 may be accompanied by louder symptoms. Chinese medicine is a wellspring of information on how to best work with this time, how to preserve and replenish our resources so that we can actually come through this portal transformed and available for a deeper connection with ourselves and our true calling in this life.

The bulk of the research on intermittent fasting was done on men. In a woman’s body, this practice can be detrimental, a...
09/24/2026

The bulk of the research on intermittent fasting was done on men. In a woman’s body, this practice can be detrimental, and especially when someone is already running on reserves (see: wired-tired, in perimenopause, on a fertility journey, prone to anxiety, etc). At the most basic level, intermittent fasting revs up adrenaline which can feel like energy, but often when women tune in deeply to their bodies, it can be part of what is fueling anxiety. Blood sugar fluctuations that come along with IF can also feel like anxiety.
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The biggest actionable thing you can do for your anxiety is make sure you are eating enough, eating all the macronutrients, hydrating enough, and understanding how to do these things well.

Anxiety in Chinese medicine is almost always some version of fire flaring because we have burned off the cooling calming grounding yin that keeps fire in check. To rebuild and preserve yin we need to eat nourishing food, that is also hydrating, and keep everything easy to digest. And we need to eat enough of it, at regular, reasonable intervals so that we are not burning reserves every day.

The best way to do this is warm, wet foods like soups, stews, porridges, that are inclusive of all the macronutrients like carbs, fats, and protein.

Intermittent fasting, dieting, calorie restriction, cold and raw foods, detoxing, cleansing will all go against this aim and make anxiety worse.

Try three warm, well-cooked meals per day and see if it makes your body feel more grounded.

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Portland, OR

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Monday 9am - 7pm
Tuesday 9am - 7pm
Wednesday 9am - 7pm
Thursday 9am - 7pm
Friday 9am - 7pm
Sunday 10am - 6pm

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+12062903461

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