Ivy Lee, MSTCM, LAc is an acupuncturist, herbalist, energy worker, and the founder of Luminae Wellness in Berkeley, California. She draws upon an expertise in Chinese Medicine from her ancestral roots and understands health as an interconnection of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. She is a practitioner and teacher of fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, seasonal wellness, emotional alchemy, and life design. Ivy holds space for transformational healing and for you to feel empowered in health and in life.
How can acupuncture support preconception?
I see that fertility is more than just getting pregnant. Fertility is about being in optimal health to pass on the best possible inheritance to the next generation. Acupuncture can support your health in several ways. It's effective for treating menstrual cycle issues, reproductive health conditions, and hormone imbalances. It's helpful for improving egg quality and sperm quality, improving uterine lining, and increasing chances of conception. It's also supportive for emotions, relieving stress and anxiety, balancing your organ meridian systems and strengthening your body overall. Acupuncture prepares your body to create a healthy baby and carry through a healthy pregnancy.
How does your practice differ once a mama is pregnant?
Pregnancy is a remarkable time of transformation, both physically and energetically. During pregnancy, acupuncture sessions are focused on supporting both the mama and also the baby developing in the womb. Acupuncture works to treat any symptoms and conditions that can arise during pregnancy such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue, back and hip pain, edema, insomnia, indigestion, gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, placenta previa, breech position of baby, etc. Acupuncture also works to support emotional balance, mental clarity, and spiritual evolution. With clients, I see that the transition to motherhood can bring up so many emotions, everything from fears around birth to financial worries to changing generational patterns. Pregnancy can be a great opportunity for deep healing and creative empowerment.
How soon do you recommend acupuncture in pregnancy?
Make an appointment for acupuncture as soon as you find out that you're pregnant to establish care! Acupuncture is completely safe and very supportive through all weeks of pregnancy. In Chinese Medicine, we can diagnose imbalances in the body and address it early on so that it doesn't worsen, and therefore prevent symptoms and conditions from happening later in pregnancy. Acupuncture supports the changes that happen physically and also emotionally through the journey of motherhood. With my clients, I see that it is possible to feel really good during pregnancy, and for this sacred time to be embraced and enjoyed!
What wisdom can you share with us for the first forty days after birth?
I think that postpartum education really needs to be for the village, for family and friends and people who are surrounding the mother. In our modern Western culture, the traditional wisdom of postpartum care has been forgotten. The people around the mother need to learn how to care for the mother - to cook nourishing meals, do the chores and errands, take care of the mental load, create a peaceful emotional environment, prioritize the baby bonding with the mother, and hold the mother through the rebirth into a new identity and way of being. Because for healing and recovery postpartum, the mother simply needs to rest and receive.
What did your own postpartum experience look like?
I gave birth at the height of the pandemic, and my postpartum experience was hard. I felt very isolated and lonely, and even though my partner did as much as he could, I was really missing the presence of my mother and other women. The stress and pressure of trying to care for a newborn and juggle everything without having help put a lot of strain on our relationship. And I felt overwhelmed with a baby that was crying so much and didn't fit into the mainstream baby advice. It wasn't until around six months postpartum, when my mother was able to fly and visit to help care for me and my baby, that I felt like I could surrender to being fully held. And it was then that I was able to reconnect with the traditional practices and values I was raised with, and strengthen my intuition and innate ability as a mother, knowing that I know how to care for my child best. Everything shifted after that.
Who makes up your village?
A reality that's not talked about enough is how much your circle can change after you have a baby. I'm grateful for old friends who accept how my lifestyle is different and how I'm different now being a mother. I'm grateful for new friends I've made along the journey, living both near and far, who resonate with a heart-connection, and are intentional in navigating motherhood and consciously raising children. I'm grateful for my partner who has been with me through the ups and downs, choosing to evolve with me and create our vision for our family together. And I'm grateful to the healing practitioners who I’ve received care and support for healing and being healthy through the years! Sometimes it can be hard to feel a sense of village, so this inspired me to create the new Luminae Wellness location as a space where women and mothers can gather together and feel empowered in health and in life.
What are your foundations for raising your daughter?
I believe there is a special relationship between mother and child, that there is a reason why two souls choose to be bonded in this lifetime. So as a parent, my intention is to honor this. I am guiding and teaching my daughter, and she is also guiding and teaching me. I try to connect with her on an energetic level and tune into what she needs on a deeper level. These days I feel that American society is too focused on standardized academic education and being busy with extracurricular activities to set kids up for "success". I want to raise my daughter to be a kind human being, to connect to the wisdom of her emotions as much as her intellect, to be able to be fully present and have a peaceful mind, and to cultivate her creativity and joy. My hope is that she knows herself, knows her gifts, knows her interconnection with others and with the earth, and knows that she is immensely loved.
What's your current read?
Lately I've been revitalizing my cooking, because my family mostly cooks our meals at home every day. I'm enjoying the recipes in these books: "Asian American Herbalism: Traditional and Modern Healing Practices for Everyday Wellness" by Erin Masako Wilkins and "Foraged and Grown: Healing, Magical Recipes for Every Season" by Tara Lanich-LaBrie.
What's something you're listening to?
I like to listen to inspiring podcasts when I'm driving. There are a lot of great episodes on Healing + Human Potential with Alyssa Nobriga, and my new favorite is the MOTHER podcast with Katie Hintz-Zambrano.
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