Lauren Kaneko-Jones is an acupuncturist and the clinical director of Mitchell Family Acupuncture in Berkeley, where she treats children and parents with a medicine she has been studying for nearly twenty years. She came to Chinese medicine first as a teenager looking for answers Western medicine didn't have, then again in her twenties when a doctor's prescription felt like the wrong tool for the problem. She has studied with teachers including Raven Lang and has spent much of her continuing education on fertility and pediatrics, work that shows up daily in how she cares for her own kids as much as her patients. Her approach is seasonal, practical, and unhurried, which is exactly why we wanted her in MAMAzine.
Your path to Chinese medicine began nearly 20 years ago in New York, before your studies at AIMC here in Berkeley. What first drew you in, and what made you stay?
When I was a teenager I had some health challenges that western medicine didn't address, my parents had me try acupuncture. I hated needles, so as a teen this didn't work well for me. When I was in my early 20s and hit the same point on the spiral, a doctor pretty much prescribed me high dose ibuprofen to deal with some scary symptoms. So I sought out Chinese medicine. The acupuncturist I had explained the Liver to me in Chinese medicine. It made so much sense. When I moved back to Berkeley I worked at a community clinic, and the owner there and I were very close. She was another early mentor of the medicine.
After 20 years of learning the medicine, I am still curious, fascinated, and learning. There is so much depth and complexity to Chinese medicine, which allows us to meet people with complex health issues and help them find relief.
Your practice follows the seasons. How do you think about the weeks after birth as their own season, and how do you help a new mother move through it?
The seasonal framework deeply impacts how I practice the medicine and live my life. The fourth trimester, or postpartum, is such a pivotal, deep time, if we allow the space for it. When you're in that recovery time, each day can feel so long. The depth of the postpartum time is a germinating time, becoming a mother, nourishing oneself after labor and birth. This can feel eternal, yet it's important and gives us a lot of tools to move forward when we dive deep.
You have studied with teachers like Raven Lang, and much of your continuing education has centered on fertility and pediatrics. What have those years taught you about caring for a family in its earliest chapters?
Raven's shonishin teachings give me tools to use when my kids will let me. With my kids, the biggest components of Chinese medicine they have received are herbs and nutrition. They take daily herbs. I was able to help one of my kids get off of an inhaler and stop getting frequent illnesses with herbs. I have been able to help my other kid have daily stools with herbs and supplements. Western medicine is so limited, they often have one tool to treat ailments, and often it has side effects. The herbs and nutrition are built into our routines and life. I love teaching them what it feels like to feel good.
You call yourself an herb and food lover, and your advice often comes down to simple, practical tips. What do you most often suggest a new mother keep on her stove or in her teacup in the first weeks home?
Nettle tea and broth. The easy to digest, building foods and teas are what a new mama wants. New mamas who are breastfeeding need to eat way more calories than what broth provides, but those are the staples.
At Mitchell Family Acupuncture you care for children and parents alike. What do you wish the people around a new mother understood about how to support her?
Each new mother is different, so there is no blanket approach. Some new mamas really need space and quiet. Others need company and social time. Same goes for, some want a break from their babies and others don't want to let go. All ways of being are okay. This comes down to a community knowing the new mother and being flexible. No offense taken if she needs to cancel plans. Dropping food without expectations.
Fall is settling in over Berkeley. What is nourishing you this season, and what are you looking forward to next?
We are in late fall and entering early winter soon in the lunisolar calendar. I find myself reaching towards ginger, soups, and down time.
Lauren Kaneko-Jones is professionally an acupuncturist and clinical director of Mitchell Family Acupuncture in Berkeley. She devotes time outside the clinic to her family and creative projects.
