Happy Holidays From Ahimsa ✨🍂🧡🦃🍠✨

/

Happy Holidays!
Love,
Ahimsa

The holiday season officially kicks off this week with Thanksgiving and I hope you get to spend some quality time with loved ones, enjoying your favorite seasonal dishes, meals and treats <3

Fall Is Well Underway...

We are very much still in the Fall season, the season of the Metal Element that pertains to the Lung and Large Intestine in Chinese Medicine. 

As you might recall, if there is an imbalance in the Metal element (or any element in a given season) a person might be prone to certain physical or energetic symptoms during the Fall season. 

This season, I've seen a fair amount of acute illness: sinus infections and upper respiratory infections as people's immune systems contend with the extreme changes in weather, as well as whatever the latest "bug" is. Plenty of folks have reported sluggish digestion, indigestion and other digestive imbalances.

Daylight Savings Time always throws us for a loop and as the daylight becomes less and less, physical and emotional energy really wanes as our bodies attempt to align with the rhythms of this season.

In these darker months, we can also really be confronted by how the year has been thus far - has it been full of energetic output, continuous obligations, acute or ongoing stress or any major life shifts?? Also worth noting: life does not have to be a flurry of constant activity in order to feel draining. In any given moment, a person can be grieving a change or a loss, big or small <3. 

Preparing For The Darkest Nights (And A Greater Demand)

While of course I hope your holidays are jolly and full of loved ones, treats and ease, most of the time this season and its commitments are more emotionally complex.

Even in the absence of complicated family dynamics or expectations, this is often a corner of the year where there can be greater demands on our time and resources in a season that so dearly wants us to conserve, consolidate and take stock of our internal reserves. 

As always, Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can be employed as a supportive tool to lighten the load, reduce your stress response (even if for an hour) and to shore up your energetic boundaries.

This is an obvious statement (and I don't mean it flippantly in today's climate) but when we feel well enough, when our nervous system can access a relative sense of safety, when we have support with whatever challenge we are holding, everything changes. We can come to our interactions from a more stable, regulated and generous place. 

Many of you have experienced this first hand, not only in response to an Acupuncture treatment, but in any modality or personal practice you find supportive and resource-enhancing. 

With Sincere Thanks,

In May of next year, my clinic will have been in operation for a full decade. It's heartwarming and moving to reflect on that passage of time. I even began seeing some of you during my first 4 years of clinical practice at another beloved Acupuncture clinic in Madison. 

I know it's such a cliche to express gratitude in a Thanksgiving email (as you age, you realize all the cliches have merit & are mostly true). But, my goodness, what a gift it is to practice Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine and to share that with all of you. 

To say I am grateful for the trust you place in my clinic is a wild understatement. It has been life changing in countless ways. 

It is the honor of my life to witness and support you all through the changing seasons, from major life milestones to the mundane moments, to celebrate your successes, to hold your challenging moments with great care, to help you integrate and recover from any heartaches or losses <3

I have learned a great many things in my first 13 years of practice and I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue learning and integrating modalities and clinical skills that compliment my first medical language of Chinese medicine in the years ahead. It all means very little unless it connects with you and affords you some support, relief and healing - the most noble of pursuits. 

Thank you always and forever. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Warmly,
Katie Fritz

Harvest Time, Shifting Seasons 🤍🫁🍂🌾

/

Late Summer Moves Into Fall 

The Fall Equinox will arrive Monday September 22, 2025. A mere 11 days away, we can already feel and see the season shifting and changing. 

Harvest Time + Late Summer Energy

With the peak energy of the Summer season waning, the daily light is shifting, this corner of the year naturally engenders a time to "take stock."

Amidst all the flurry of activity and the transitions of this time of year, it can also lend itself to gratitude and simple pleasures. In Wisconsin, our local food systems are abundant and there is so much bounty.

This Harvest time in Chinese Medicine theory, is acknowledged as a 5th Season: that of Late Summer. The season is associated with the digestive system, the Earth Element and the corresponding organs are the Spleen and Stomach.

Physiologically, these organ systems govern and are responsible for the quality of your digestion and your metabolism. Their function and energy is required so we can properly digest food, assimilate nutrients and "build" Qi (energy). If these organs are taxed or imbalanced we can experience any number of digestive symptoms: sluggish digestion, slow metabolism, fatigue, brain fog, acid reflux, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, nausea, loose stools or diarrhea. 

Emotionally, our Spleen's energy supports our thoughtfulness, our mental stability and our relative experience of feeling "grounded." If the Spleen's energy is taxed or imbalanced, we can experience that particular type of anxiety that involves rumination, over-thinking and perseveration. 

Spiritually, our Spleen's energy governs our intellect. Our capacity to take in ideas or information, to "digest" that information, sort through facts and data is all supported by healthy Spleen energy from the Chinese Medicine perspective. 

Local Abundance

In Wisconsin we have so many dedicated farmers and local purveyors who make our local foods systems rich and abundant. 

I'd like to give a quick shout out to the lovely folks at Vitruvian Farms for the delicious organic produce they grow and the community they foster. If you've been in clinic the past few years you know that I work a volunteer shift on Fridays in the Summer in exchange for a Community Supported Agriculture share. It has been such a source of goodness in my life <3 If you're ever in McFarland, they have a beautiful farm store curated with local products for you to enjoy year round. 

There are so many exceptional farms in the state of Wisconsin! I hope these resources might connect you to a farm or farms in your area. Our outdoor Farmer's Markets run well into October so there will be plenty of local abundance to take part in :) 

Fall: The Metal Element


The transition to Fall also lends itself reflection and introspection as the one Season gives way to another. 

The Fall Season is associated with the Metal Element which is comprised of the Lungs and the Large Intestine in Chinese Medicine Theory. 

Physiologically, their correspondences are the same as in Western Medicine: the Lungs govern the respiratory system and the Large Intestine is responsible for healthy waste removal. The Lungs also have a role in governing your skin and an aspect of your immune system that we refer to as Wei Qi or "Protective Qi". 

Emotionally, the organs of the Metal Element help us move through and process our experience of grief and sadness. 

Spiritually, the Lungs and Large Intestine supply us with healthy discernment. Just as we take in our next breath and then exhale (or take in nutrients, digest, and eliminate), these organ systems help us sort through and decide what we will keep and what we will let go of. 

Common imbalances of the Metal Element can present as: asthma, allergies, constipation, a lowered immune system or frequent colds, shortness of breath, chronic sinus issues, general dryness or dry skin or dry scalp.

Transitions At Any Age

This time of year often involves a change in routine and getting accustomed to a new rhythm. Transitions can be a real challenge at any age!

Life transitions can happen at any time of year, in any Season and can most certainly be big or small. With any new beginning, there is often an accompanying element of loss that can require some tending and care.

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are here to support you, your Vital Life Force, your Whole Being as you move towards integration with whatever new changes are on the horizon. 

May you be well, I look forward to seeing you in the clinic soon! <3