Rachel Woo - Chinese Medicine Practitioner

06/12/2025

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251128-how-singing-can-improve-your-health?ocid=fbfut&fbclid=IwdGRzaAOg2GxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR6iYdgY9_CjAmfnAV_PYYoFrD1PE-MhxY9wisFEIlOozWyvXFe9-Phsz6LlOQ_aem_nROE5HhbYW8ooApCM_vdWw

From boosting the brain to reducing pain, joining others in song can bring some wide-ranging benefits.

04/12/2025

RED AMARANTH SOUP (紅莧菜湯）🌿

Summer has arrived, and Amaranth is perfect for this season as it is cooling in nature.

In TCM terms, the leaves of Amaranth can clear heat, and the seeds can brighten the eyes and promote bowel movement. It can be consumed for summer heat or damp-heat induced issues, such as skin problems, red or irritated eyes, blood in stools etc.

Amaranth is also relatively high in calcium, making it a nourishing addition to meals.

You can make a stir-fry with it, but I’ve made it into a soup and added the following ingredients to balance its cooling nature:
✨ Fresh Chinese Yam (Huai Shan): strengthens the spleen and digestion
✨ Goji berries: tonifies yin and supports the eyes
✨ Ginger: warms the middle burner and protects digestion
✨ Tofu puffs

Comment below if you'd like the recipe.

30/11/2025

ON TURNING 40

Forty laps around the sun.
In ancient times,
that was the average lifespan.

Over four decades I’ve been
an accountant, a musician,
a teacher, a Chinese Medicine Doctor.

I’ve travelled and treated people
from the poorest in remote corners,
to the richest - billionaires, celebrities and royals.
From hearing the purest laughter of a clear heart,
to seeing polished and empty smiles hiding agendas,
I've learnt that the happiest are rarely the wealthiest,
and those with the least often carry the most light.

I’ve loved deeply,
and lost painfully
to betrayal,
to tragic su***de -
the kind of pain that tears your heart in half,
yet awakens and rearranges
the person you thought you were.
And I still choose love.

Watching a small sprout
grow into a wise young man,
I've learnt the responsibility we hold
to raise a generation stronger,
not weaker, than ourselves.

Friends have come and gone,
but the real ones are those who've
seen me at my lowest,
and still stand by me.
If you are fortunate to meet even one,
honour and protect them, always.

I’ve met extraordinary human beings,
superhumans who defy gravity, science,
and turn belief upside down.

I've gone from thinking I was incomplete,
to realising I am whole,
and then realising
I actually know nothing at all.

What will the next forty years bring?
I honestly do not know,
and I will not take for granted that
I may even be given that long.

But this I do know:
Life is either a joke or a lesson.
Never betray yourself -
never do anything you know
your future self will regret.

Nurture your light.
Shine as brightly as you can,
until every part of you
has been given completely with integrity,
and there is nothing more left to give.

- R. Woo

08/11/2025

Making Ondeh Ondeh with Mama Woo, her version is made with mashed sweet potato and glutinous rice flour, with gula melaka on the inside and grated coconut on the outside. Brings back childhood memories! 🥰

05/11/2025

As acupuncturists, we should align treatments with the body’s natural changes in blood and qi throughout the lunar cycle - avoiding draining during the crescent moon and avoiding supplementing at the full moon.

"月始生，则血气始精，卫气始行；月郭满，则血气实，肌肉坚；月郭空，则肌肉减，经络虚，卫气去，形独居。是以因天时而调血气也。" -《黄帝内经·素问·二十六》

"When the moon begins to grow, blood and qi begin to refine, and the defensive qi starts to move.
When the disk of the moon is full, blood and qi are abundant, and the muscles and flesh are firm.
When the disk of the moon is empty, the muscles and flesh wane, the channels and collaterals are vacuous, the defensive qi withdraws, and only the form remains.
Therefore, one should regulate blood and qi in accordance with the timing of Heaven." - Huang Di Nei Jing (Suwen), Chapter 26

04/11/2025

How cute is this sweet gift from a 9 year old?! She drew me at work, and even included the treatment table on the right, buffet table on the left with the acupressure model (stick figure) on top. Totally made my day! 🥰

23/10/2025

Take a moment to check in with your body and mind, are they in harmony?

20/10/2025

🌤 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑸𝒊𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒈

Qigong is a traditional practice that nourishes the body and mind. It combines movement, breath, and mindfulness to balance and cultivate Qi, the body’s vital energy. Regular practice supports physical vitality, emotional balance, mental clarity, stronger immunity, and longevity. 🌿

15/10/2025

What’s one 'w**d' you’re trying to pull, and one good habit you’re nurturing? 🌱

02/10/2025

WARRIGAL GREENS OR NEW ZEALAND SPINACH

Also known as Native Spinach, it's one of my favourite wild finds while hiking! Used by some First Nations people and later adopted by early settlers, and it's still thriving wild today.

✅ Packed with Vitamin C, and a good of iron, calcium, magnesium and antioxidants.
⚠️ Important: Must be blanched for 1-2 mins first before eating to remove oxalates.

Sustainable, nutritious, and delicious, wild food at its best.

29/09/2025

Do you want to be someone’s breath of fresh air… or a splinter in their finger?

26/09/2025

Great read on how to break bad habits!

What are habits? Your brain is fundamentally lazy. When it can, it wires thoughts, emotions, or behaviours into circuits deep below the surface, where they become automated. Automated thoughts, feelings or behaviours are habits. And habits allow your brain to work on autopilot. During a day, hundred...