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There's a moment I always love when a new patient looks at me — a little skeptical, a little hopeful — and asks, "But how does it actually work?" Click the image to get to the Times article It's the right question. And this week, the New York Times published a piece that gets us closer to a real answer than Western medicine ever has. I'd encourage you to read it — [click the image to get to the article]. It's worth your time. The short version: researchers have discovered tha

By Annalisa Brown, L.Ac., Dipl. Ac. | AB Acupuncture | Upper West Side, NYC Every year around this time I start hearing the same thing from patients: "I should be feeling better — it's finally warm out — but I'm exhausted." If that resonates, you're not imagining it, and there's nothing wrong with you. Spring fatigue is a real physiological phenomenon, and in New York City it hits particularly hard. Why Spring Can Feel Worse Before It Feels Better We tend to think of seasonal

If you're living with chronic pain, anxiety, IBS, or symptoms that never fully resolve no matter what you try, this post is for you. I'm an acupuncturist practicing on the Upper West Side of New York City, and the approach I use at AB Acupuncture is a little different from what most people expect. It's rooted in neuroscience, informed by a framework called Pain Reprocessing Therapy, and centered on something I believe deeply: that understanding your own nervous system is part

A practical guide to photobiomodulation — what it is, how it works, what light therapy treats, and how it fits into a clinical acupuncture treatment on the Upper West Side. If you've been looking into natural pain relief, you've probably come across "light therapy." But the term covers a lot of ground, and most articles online conflate two very different things: sunlight-replacement light boxes (the bright white lamps used for seasonal depression) and photobiomodulation — the

If you’ve tried physical therapy, massage, medication—or all three—and still feel like something isn’t fully resolving, you’re not alone. I’ve met many people in New York who’ve been through the usual healthcare routes but still feel stuck. That’s where acupuncture often comes in as a game changer. A lot of patients who come in for acupuncture in New York aren’t new to healthcare. They’re just new to something that actually changes the pattern, not just manages it. So what’s

If you live in New York, you’re used to pushing through. Through long days. Through stress. Through pain that “isn’t bad enough” to stop everything—but doesn’t go away either. At a certain point, your body stops keeping up. Sleep gets lighter. Muscles stay tight. Hormones shift. Recovery takes longer than it used to. That’s usually when people start looking for something different. Acupuncture has become a go-to for New Yorkers who want a more effective, less medication-depen

We’re in the final stretch of what has been — for nearly everyone I know — a deeply strange and sometimes difficult year. For me, it’s been a time of big transition. I moved to the Hudson Valley and started living at a very different pace. It’s slower. Quieter. Less immediate. Which, as someone who has run on urgency for most of my life, has been its own kind of adjustment. Also, this year my husband Brian joined me in running AB Acupuncture and W72 Wellness. He is our COO,

The Neck as an “Open Window” In Chinese medicine, the back of the neck is like an open window into your system. Cold, wind, and damp — the three big culprits for fall colds and flus — sneak in there first. Modern science backs this up in its own language: when the muscles of your neck tighten against a sudden chill, circulation slows down and immune cells have a harder time getting where they need to go. That’s why you can feel fine one moment and sniffly the next. A

Most people think of meridians like invisible plumbing: static lines inside the body that carry some mysterious fluid or life force...

Before you write it off as spiritual fluff, let’s break down what Qi really is — and why modern medicine is catching up. -Annalisa Brown,...