About Me
Hello, I’m Miriam.
For over 18 years I have been learning about and practicing traditional acupuncture and I love it.
I continue to study different aspects of traditional acupuncture and medicine. I am ever learning and ever evolving as a practitioner.
I decided to become an acupuncturist after first encountering it as a patient. Throughout my teen years I was an active sportsperson. I competed at a national and international level doing Judo, representing Great Britain, and dabbled in some other sports too. Inevitably I suffered a variety of injuries.
Enter; Acupuncture!
I found it so beneficial for dealing with my back injury, keeping me able to train, and helping me recover.
I had already decided that I was going to do some form of healing and my experience of treatment lead me to choose to study acupuncture.
Accreditations
On graduating from Salford University with my BSc(Hons) degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine (Acupuncture) I relocated to Portsmouth and set up Yin Yang Acupuncture.
I am currently registered to practice acupuncture with Portsmouth City Council. I am insured to practice through Balens and I adhere to strict codes of safe acupuncture practice and a high level of professionalism.
I am currently a Member of the Association of Acupuncture Clinicians (MAAC).
I also hold qualifications in massage and Tui Na (Chinese medical massage).
Interests
Pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period
These are life phases which I have a real strong passion for. I grew up around a very open culture of pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and child-rearing.
I have attended home births, supported women postnatally, and taught acupressure for labour (a technique of direct pressure onto acupuncture points to help support a positive birth, which can be used by the birthing mother or person, or by their birth partners) to couples and to birth workers.
I used acupuncture and Chinese medicine throughout my own, very healthy, pregnancy. It was at this time I joined the Positive Birth Movement Portsmouth (now Informed Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond) and met my Birth Tribe!
We have formed our own community based peer support, completely volunteer run, organisation: Informed Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond (IPBB).
Our aim is to support, inform, and empower local families to have positive experiences of pregnancy, birth, and beyond.
During my own labour, my birth partners and I, used acupressure and I can attest to the potential power of this simple tool to support a relaxed birth.
I was fortunate enough to enter into the world of acupuncture for pregnancy under the very experienced mentorship of two wonderful acupuncturists; Magdalena Lius and Jani White.
Magdalena set up London’s first ever pregnancy multibed clinic – the Shoreditch Spa – I applied as a volunteer and was accepted. I spent over a year commuting to London once a week to work under her guidance with the pregnant clients. Magdalena then went on maternity leave herself and Jani White stepped in to cover.
Jani is an incredibly inspiring and experienced teacher and mentor. I left the year-long volunteer post a very confident and experienced pregnancy acupuncturist. I have since then taken on much study into pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period, providing me with many skills with which I can offer support through all these stages, using Chinese medicine and other traditional and modern ideas.
Classical Acupuncture
In recent years I have been learning about Classical Chinese medicine, sometimes called Advanced Acupuncture. My teachers include Ann Cecil-Sterman, Dr. Hung Tran, and their teacher; Jeffrey C. Yuen.
This style of Chinese medicine has inspired me and filled me with much hope at the potential to heal, accept, and change that each of us holds within our selves. Sometimes all we need is something to help remind us of that potential. I employ these theories and techniques into my practice and am constantly in awe of this style of medicine.
Community
I have a strong belief in community and the power of it to support health and wellbeing for all of us. IPBB is one way in which I am involved with our local community.
I believe so strongly that acupuncture can offer a lot to most people, and finding a way to make it more accessible to my community is one of my dreams.
In the past I ran a low-cost multibed acupuncture clinic and hope to one day revisit this as a community project.