Middle Way Acupuncture Institute

04/29/2026

We’re excited to support our friends at Coherence Wellness Center as they host their upcoming Spring Health Fair on May 16th, 2026.

This is a great opportunity to connect with local wellness practitioners and explore a variety of services in our community. If you’re looking to discover new resources for your health and well-being, it’s definitely worth checking out.

See the flyer for full details, and we hope you’re able to attend and show your support.

03/23/2026

We love supporting other community acupuncture clinics in our region!

If our clinic is closed, or if this is a bit closer for you, we highly recommend checking out the Community Acupuncture Clinic at Coherence Wellness Center. The clinic is run by Elsa Del Toro, someone we’ve had the pleasure of working with for many years and who provides thoughtful, high-quality care.

Their community clinic offers sliding scale treatments ($20–$40) and is open the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 10am–2pm.

If you’re looking for affordable acupuncture in the Mount Vernon area, this is a wonderful option. Supporting community clinics helps make acupuncture more accessible for everyone.

Learn more or schedule by contacting them directly at (360) 399-7467 or visiting Coherence Wellness Center.

01/28/2026

Nikki Dvorak Larsen, one of our clinic supervisors and a graduate of MWAI, is offering an 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) series this spring.

MBSR is the most well-researched mindfulness program out there. It began over 50 years ago at the University of Massachusetts and is still taught there today. People often turn to MBSR for support with stress, anxiety, chronic pain, sleep, ADHD, mood, and overall wellbeing.

The series runs Mondays from February 16 through April 6, 2026, meeting from 3:00–5:30 PM at MWAI.

All are welcome, and no prior mindfulness experience is needed. Whether you’re brand new or returning to practice, this is a supportive, approachable way to build skills while fostering connection and community.

You can find more details and sign up at www.zenrocks.net.

01/23/2026

Do you ever find yourself thinking of ways to deepen your practice and expand your knowledge? Maybe you want to rack up some CEUs, or perhaps you are looking for ways to generate another income stream from what you are already offering. Maybe you just wish you had a good reason to visit our beautiful new campus. We have the answer for you! We are very excited to announce the start of our 3rd Certificate of Chinese Herbal Medicine (CCHM) program on March 27th, 2026. We have had such an excellent response from our first two cohorts that we wanted to extend an invitation to anyone interested.

Our two-year CCHM program has been designed to be very hands-on. It meets monthly for four days at a time — Thursday through Sunday — just like the MAc program, but the clinical portion is included in those four days, so there is nothing extra for you to schedule.

Because we are now in our new and expanded campus with a lovely and spacious kitchen and several rooms with copious counter space for pao zhi (herbal preparation) as well as appropriate storage in our dispensary for bulk, whole, raw traditional Chinese herbal medicines, and a separate grinding room for creating easy-to-comply-with herbal prescriptions to send home with patients, we are even more enthusiastic about this offering!

We have pulled together a plethora of engaging and knowledgeable veteran herbal practitioners who bring decades of experience, observation, and deep insight into the complex world of traditional Chinese herbs.

Successful completion of our CCHM program qualifies you to sit for your NCCAOM Chinese Herbal Medicine exam! To learn more and apply, click here: https://mwai.edu/certificate-of-chinese-herbal-medicine/

03/03/2025

A huge thank you to one of our incredibly appreciative clinic patients for this delicious gift of smoked salmon! Our talented Helen Sanders turned it into these beautiful smoked salmon Makimono rolls—what a treat!

It’s always heartwarming to receive gestures like this, reminding us of the deep connections we build with our patients. Grateful for our amazing community!

01/22/2025

You’re Invited!

Join us for an exciting Open House & Lunar New Year Celebration hosted by Middle Way Acupuncture Institute!

When: Friday, January 31st
Time: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Where: 617 West Division Street, Mount Vernon

Celebrate with us and enjoy delicious dumplings (vegetarian & meat-based options) made by our very own, Helen Sanders! Along with beverages provided in a warm and festive atmosphere!

We’d love to see you there! Bring your friends and family to share in the celebration.

Call us at 360-336-6129 for more information.

Let’s celebrate our new location and welcome the Lunar New Year together!

12/20/2024

What an incredible journey the past six months have been! As of September 2024, we’re thrilled to share that we’ve officially moved to our own building at 617 West Division Street, Mount Vernon, WA 98273—just a few minutes from our previous location. This new space feels like home, and we absolutely love it!

We’re excited to announce that clinic services will be back in full swing starting January 6th.

And guess what? There’s even more exciting news coming soon, so stay tuned for updates. Thank you for your support during this incredible transition. We can’t wait to see you at our new home!

New Location: 617 West Division Street, Mount Vernon, WA 98273
Clinic Reopens: January 6th

06/03/2024

Tai Lahans, beloved instructor and mentor/debator/friend, passed away on Friday, May 31st at 3:29 pm in her home, surrounded by dear friends and loved ones. Tai witnessed the growth of Middle Way's acupuncture and herbal programs and spent the last years of her life sharing her insightful knowledge of Chinese medicine with students, administrators, and faculty.

She began her studies in medicine by earning a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Medical Anthropology. Her dissertation was on the Ayurveda Shastras. She lived in Mumbai for six years serving the poor of Dharavi Slum as part of a team of medical providers who utilized Ayurvedic, Western medicine, homeopathy, and Chinese medicine. The clinic she co-founded served the very rich of Bollywood in order to subsidize the medical care for the outcaste poor of Dharavi which at that time was the largest slum in the world with over one million people living in it. She began studying Chinese medicine in the 1970s and practiced Chinese medicine for the past 38 years serving mainly patients with chronic viral diseases and cancers.

Tai taught at several schools, including Bastyr University and Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine. She has also taught in several clinical settings including integrated hospital oncology units. She lived in the PRC for four years studying and working on oncology units. She held a Ph.D. in Integrated Oncology from the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in Beijing. Tai also wrote Integrating Conventional and Chinese Medicine in Cancer Care: A Clinical Guide (Elsevier – Churchill Livingstone 2007) and The Geology of the Modern Cancer Epidemic: Through the Lens of Chinese Medicine. She is survived by a sister, and is mourned by the entire school body. She was insightful, kind, sometimes irascible, and always full of wisdom and compassion. We will all miss her dearly.

There is still a fundraiser running for her end of life costs with any additional funds raised going to the Indigenous Student Scholarship at MWAI. The link is below!

https://gofund.me/9ce703eb

05/25/2024

Members of Our Community,

Tai Lahans, one of our beloved faculty members, is coming to the end of her life. She has shared her deep and compassionate wisdom and knowledge with everyone who has come in contact with her through her classes and her work, and now she needs our support.

Her health is deteriorating quickly and we are limited in time and resources to help her have a peaceful ending.

Elisa Weiss has created a GoFundMe which would be helpful to be spread widely. We are hoping people can share the GoFundMe link to their networks as soon as possible.

Here is the GoFundMe link:
https://gofund.me/59c9e9d1

Hallie is also looking for people that know Tai (students and staff) to help provide help and company during the next phase of her in-home hospice care. We hired a round-the-clock caretaker but the additional emotional support is imperative as well. She needs our support right now; please contact Hallie Beaver at: (541)840-5600 or hallie@mwai.edu
Or Elisa Weiss at:
elisa.ann.weiss@gmail.com

Thank you so much for your help and support of Tai at this critical moment.

05/20/2024

Check out this article! New research highlights the significant neurological and anti-inflammatory benefits of acupuncture, particularly for conditions like stroke and chronic inflammatory diseases. Acupuncture has been shown to modulate immune responses, reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines while promoting anti-inflammatory factors, thus aiding in neurological recovery and reducing inflammation. For instance, studies have demonstrated that electroacupuncture at specific points can improve neurological function in stroke patients by reducing infarct volume and promoting neural regeneration​​! Read more about these groundbreaking findings and their implications for integrative medicine in the full article below!

04/03/2024

We had the privilege of hosting the incredible Sabine Wilms at our school for a Guest Lecture with the 2nd cohort of our Herbal Program! Her passion for teaching shone brightly as she shared invaluable insights with our students. She even spoke of our students and her experience in her newsletter, which we have shared here. It is a fantastic read! It is moments like these that truly enrich our learning experience and inspire us to reach for the stars. Thank you, Sabine!

https://imperialtutor.kartra.com/portal/newsletter/post/1576?lid=2916

Newsletter by Sabine Wilms, PhD