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Iris S. Wang | L.Ac, LMT, NASM-CES

@acu.iris

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followers

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🥋 I help BJJ athletes get out of pain & optimize health so nothing is holding them back on the mats and in life!
📍Newton, Bellingham, & Virtual

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Thank you everyone at @gbsouthportland for having us the last two weeks. Lev and I had a really great time teaching/training with you guys. On Lev’s behalf: “I feel so lucky to have been able to spend the time there. I’m really gonna miss those guys. And Taylor (@durtyblawnd) had good toilet stories. Don’t write that in your post though.”

It’s incredible to see what an amazing community that @mariolemosgb built in just a few years. It was really awesome to see familiar faces from when the gym first opened, and to make a lot of new friends as well. We quickly felt like we had known a lot of you for a long time and we were super sad to leave 🥲 but we’ll see you guys again soon— until next time!!

(P.S. Lev chose the music lol) taken in Gracie Barra South Portland, ME by @acu.iris

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7 months ago

It’s rare that you meet someone who truly trains jiu jitsu just for the sake of training. Many people have the next stripe, next belt, next medal or world title in mind. There’s nothing wrong with those goals, but there is something special to be said about the few who truly train purely for the sake of training.

I’ve never met anyone else who has watched literally hundreds of BJJ instructionals and will excitedly wake up at 4am (or earlier) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to study before going to train.

He always tells me he was never one of those people was naturally talented at jiu jitsu.

His technicality, depth, and breadth of knowledge make that hard to believe.

He is the epitome of someone who continually strives not to be better than others, but to continually self-improve, and to lift all of his training partners up along the way.

I owe all of the best parts of my jiu jitsu game to him.

He’s helped me troubleshoot, drill, and come up with solutions to every problem I’ve had, (while citing exactly who and which instructional he learned it from).

And the greatest impact he’s had on me is teaching me to just have fun with training again.

Throughout all of my frustrations at blue belt— injuries, moves, a Masters degree, switching BJJ gyms, and so much inconsistency… the way he approaches jiu jitsu has taught me how to put less pressure on myself and rediscover the joy and privilege in just training for the sake of training and enjoying the journey.

There’s so much more I could say, but I’ll call it here.

Congratulations on your black belt Lev, you earned it and I am so proud of you!!!!! by @acu.iris

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10 months ago

You probably already know what’s good for you but BJJ athletes need to hear it again 🗣️🗣️🗣️

If you’re struggling with the same old sh*t and need a new perspective, a way to cut through all the info out there AND someone to help you make it all happen—

DM me to book a free consult! by @acu.iris

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a year ago

Summer send-off!! Goodbye sweet summer, until next year 🍂

The autumnal equinox was yesterday and I could def feel the shift coming up on us with the incoming cooler and dryer weather.

In TCM, fall is Lung and Large Intestine season, and our focus is on letting go (if you’re developing a dry cough 😷 or dry bowel movement 💩 your Lung and Large Intestine might need some attention 👀)

What are you sending off and letting go of this season, so that you can prepare to chill ❄️ (metaphorically and literally) in peace this winter?

Just like nature has its seasons, so do we. If you want help making sense of your season (in jiu jitsu and in life) and wondering how TCM can help you feel good and thrive through it all, DM me SEASON and let’s talk. by @acu.iris

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a year ago

A routine isn’t always about doing MORE…

A friend recently asked me if I had a “routine”... 🤔
 I do… but it wasn’t like I designed a whole optimal sequence of events that I added onto the way I was already living.

My routine came about from intentional choices and integrating SMALL changes over time.

You don’t need an ✨instagram-perfect✨ aesthetic morning or night routine to change your life.
 You just need to start with one small, intentional choice.

Instead of thinking of all the reasons justifying why you CAN’T have a routine (busy schedule ⏰, kids 👶, too tired 😴)…

I wanna challenge you to think about the one small thing you CAN do.

It could be…
✨ 30 seconds of watching your breath before stepping out of the car 🚗 ✨ A cup of water before your coffee ☕💧 ✨ A mini stretch while you Netflix 📺🧘

Because life isn’t going to wait for you to be ready to “start your new routine”…

Big transformations start with small steps, and the person you dream of becoming is closer than you think.

So… what’s the one small change you’re making today? by @acu.iris

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a year ago

It’s not that you don’t have “enough” energy… it’s your energy balance.

In TCM we call this energy your Qi, and if your Qi is off, your health suffers.

Here are 5 signs your Qi is “out of balance” as a BJJ athlete:

🥱 You feel like morning training is a HUGE struggle, or you crash mid-day 😴 You can’t sleep at night even when you’re DEAD tired after training 🥴 You have changes in your mood and attitude towards training 🤕 You’re constantly nursing injury after injury 😣 You never actually feel “good” 🚩

In TCM, we work with your energy systems to bring you back into balance… which means better training, recovery, and mindset.

This could be that missing piece when you feel like you’re doing everything else “right”…

When we work together, we start with a full body assessment and organ system diagnosis to figure out YOUR individual pattern and exactly what steps to take next.

Combine that with modern best practices for recovery and the results are 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼

👉🏻If you want to learn more about how TCM can help BJJ athletes perform better, recover better, and feel better, follow for more insight grounded in a medical system that has been evolving for thousands of years!

#bjj #jiujitsu #tcm #acupuncture #acupunctureforbjj #holisticathlete #bjjathlete #recovery by @acu.iris

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a year ago

Hot/cold, sun/moon, day/night barely begin to capture the full meaning of Yin and Yang…

☯️ Yin and Yang aren’t just opposites.

They are also…
Interdependent
Mutually consuming
Transforming into one another
Infinitely divisible

🥋 When we look at guard playing vs guard passing in jiu jitsu, the interaction between the two exemplifies the Yin and Yang relationship.

I love thinking about this kind of stuff and relating TCM to jiu jitsu… so lmk if you found this interesting!

#jiujitsu #bjj #yinandyang #acupuncture #TCM #bjjperformance #bjjrecovery #holisticathlete by @acu.iris

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a year ago

My client came to me for chronic left hip pain…

She knew close to nothing about Traditional Chinese Medicine and was intrigued when I not only asked questions about her hip, but everything “unrelated” to it, to form her TCM diagnosis.

I diagnosed her with a Yin-deficient type pattern, and she asked me about Yin and Yang…

I gave her a very basic run-down of how 🌜Yin relates to the nighttime, periods of rest, the moon, coolness, etc… 🌞Yang relates to the daytime, periods of activity, the sun, warmth, etc…

One of her Yin-deficient symptoms was poor sleep… waking up constantly throughout the night with trouble falling back asleep.

Her poor sleep was also slowing down recovery from her lifts and making her more irritable and impatient during the day.

Her hip and her Yin-deficient pattern were impacting her training, her relationships, and her work…

Through a combination of in-person treatment, lifestyle shifts, advice for self-care, and her own self-observation of whether or not she was cultivating enough “Yin” moments for herself in her daily life…

Not only does she now have relief from her hip pain…

Her sleep is improved, she is more patient with the important people in her life, and she’s finally in a place where she can mentally, emotionally, AND physically crush her fitness goals.

When we work together, we will never just treat the one thing.

We come up with a plan together to get you to your best possible self under your unique circumstances.

If you feel like you’re always running on empty… recharging barely enough to catch up, but never getting ahead…

DM me to start off with a FREE consult—
You’ll walk away with more clarity on how you can get to where you want to be. by @acu.iris

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2 years ago

🥋Why use a TCM approach to recovery and performance?

I use TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) principles with all of my athletes because it always considers the WHOLE person and all of their unique experiences.

TCM is more than just acupuncture… a truly TCM approach also includes exercise, mindful movement, personalized dietary recommendations, herbal medicine, lifestyle changes, self-massage, and more.

I use TCM to give my athletes the tools for:
💥 Faster recovery 🧘‍♂️ A nervous system “reset”
🛡️ Injury recovery and prevention
🌊 Improved mobility (feel the flow!) ☯️ Balanced training (no burnout… Yin & Yang!) 🫚 Better digestion (to fuel your training and maximize gains)

…and so much more.

I want to share more TCM-based content for performance and recovery with you! Comment or DM me if there’s a topic you want to learn more about. I’m all ears 👂🏼

In the meantime, train hard, recover harder… Recovery is where the growth happens 💪🏼 
#BJJRecovery #TraditionalChineseMedicine #TCMforAthletes #AcupunctureForBJJ #TrainSmart #BJJPerformance #HolisticAthlete by @acu.iris

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2 years ago

Three months ago, my patient came to me with shoulder pain that she couldn’t figure out for over a year.

Her range of motion was 1/4 of what it was in the other shoulder.

The type of pain and the location was constantly shifting.

It was preventing her from sleeping well.

It was a constant drain on how she felt.

Physical therapy didn’t help her.

The pain was deterring her from lifting.

She was afraid to move the wrong way.

A deep tissue massage from another provider made her pain worse for WEEKS.

FAST FORWARD to three months later:

We’ve fully restored her shoulder ROM.

She’s finally feeling her workouts in muscles she couldn’t access before.

She’s sleeping better and has more energy.

She’s learned how to appropriately self-manage her symptoms.

And most importantly, she feels like she can enjoy her workouts, her hikes, her travels, and daily life without constantly worrying about her shoulder getting worse again.

The key to all this was treating the whole person in front of me, not the pain in the shoulder.

This is what outcomes can look like when patient care goes above and beyond the walls of the treatment room.

When you take the guesswork out of your well-being and work together with a professional who is dedicated to helping you reach your goals, you reach them faster!

Struggling with pain you can’t seem to figure out? Send me a DM! by @acu.iris

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2 years ago

If I could only give my clients ONE piece of advice to get the most out of their recovery, this is what I’d tell them…

“Don’t major in the minors.”

The biggest game changers in your recovery are rooted in the basics. The “boring” stuff… sleep, nutrition, hydration, movement.

Ice baths, saunas, massage, chiro, acupuncture, IASTM, cupping, e-stim, RLT, normatec, etc… YES these are all amazing tools, and I use and often recommend them to others!

But if you’re skipping the fundamentals, no amount of any of these is going to save you in the long-term.

So my advice is… master the fundamentals first, and you’ll get SO much more out of anything else you add.

If you find yourself struggling with your strategies for recovery, I want to hear more!

Drop a comment ⬇️ or DM me with your struggles and successes 😊 taken in Capitol Reef National Park by @acu.iris

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2 years ago

The ZEN Lab! Back to back Friday workshops, offering the ultimate rest and rejuvenation you need!

REIKI AND RESTORE a 90-minute restorative workshop featuring gentle yoga, Reiki healing with Vika, and a calming sound bath. Relax, recharge, and find balance as you sink into soothing poses, accompanied by crystal bowls and Koshi chimes.

ACUPUNCTURE AND SOUND a 90-minute workshop where Iris uses the powerful FOUR GATES acupuncture technique to promote relaxation, pain relief, and emotional balance. Stephanie will enhance the experience with sound healing, meditation, and light stretching to leave you feeling refreshed and revitalized.

Bring pillows, blankets and blocks to provide you the best experience!

#usmma #usmmayoga #usmmaworkshops #reiki #restore #acupuncture #balance #rest #relaxation #soundhealing #soundbath taken in USMMA Martial Arts & Yoga by @acu.iris

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2 years ago