Mindful Wellness Space

10/30/2026

You know the feeling: a tickle in your throat as you’re falling asleep, or that heavy, run-down sense that something is coming. 🤧

Most of us push through and run to the store once we already feel terrible. But support you give your body in the first 24 to 48 hours, while your immune system is just getting started, can help lessen how hard a cold or flu hits and how long it lasts.

That’s why we keep these 5 natural remedies on hand every season:

🌿 Star anise: my flu-season go-to
🫐 Elderberry: gentle for the whole family
🍒 Camu: whole-food vitamin C
🎋 Takesumi: for stomach bugs
🌱 Astragalus: the daily immune builder

In our new blog post, Dr. West DC MS, shares what each one does, what to do the moment you feel something coming on, and the signs that mean it’s time to call your doctor.

👉 Read it here: https://www.mindfulwellness.space/blog/feel-a-cold-or-flu-coming-on-the-5-natural-remedies-i-keep-on-hand

Have questions about which remedies are right for you or your family? Give us a call at 828-357-8199 or book a visit: https://www.mindfulwellness.space/book-an-appointment

Feel a cold or flu coming on? Dr. Kirsten West shares the 5 natural remedies she keeps on hand and what to do in the first 48 hours. Black Mountain, NC. If you’d rather lead with the Asheville search term, here’s another option: 5 natural cold and flu remedies to start at the first sniffle, from...

10/19/2026

🍂The leaves are at their peak here in the mountains, and so is the dryness and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, autumn belongs to the Metal element: the Lungs, the Large Intestine, and the work of letting go. If you’ve been feeling a bit dry, tired or low lately, Pomai explains why in her new blog post, Autumn Attunement, and shares simple ways to support your body this season:

🍲 Eat warm and moistening. Soups, stews, porridges, and poached or mulled fruit. Pears, persimmons, daikon and sweet potatoes are a good start.
♨️ Try steam tenting with eucalyptus, mint, mullein and rosemary to keep your airways moist.
🌬️ Breathe into your belly. In for 4, out for 8.
🧣 Bundle up. Keep the base of your skull, your neck and your upper back covered.

In the full post, you’ll find Pomai’s complete list of Metal-element foods, herbs and spices, plus why she calls grief “a necessary emotion, not a negative one.”

👉 Read it here: https://www.mindfulwellness.space/blog//autumn-metal-element-tcm

10/02/2026

🌺 Meet Pomai, our Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Acupuncturist, pictured here with her husband, Adam.

Pomai was born and raised on Oʻahu. Her father is of Native Hawaiian descent and her mother of Central American descent. In Hawaiʻi there are really only two seasons: kau (summer) and hoʻoilo (winter). She grew up with vibrant reds, oranges and yellows, but in tropical flowers, reefs and island wildlife rather than in the trees.

This is her first year living in Western North Carolina. She's watching the leaves turn honey, russet, amber and scarlet with a sense of childlike wonder.

For a TCM practitioner, that's more than scenery. Living through her first autumn in WNC has given her a closer understanding of the Metal element, the TCM element of this season, and how our bodies follow the same rhythms as the natural world.

She wrote about it in her new blog post, Autumn Attunement: Cultivating Harmony within Our Metal Element 🍂
👉 https://www.mindfulwellness.space/blog//autumn-metal-element-tcm

Please help us welcome Pomai to the mountains! 🤍

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09/01/2026

One of my first memories of learning to meditate, before the popularization of Mindfulness Meditation, is sitting on the green near the Brickyard at NC State, listening to a CD with a Buddha on the cover.

I was a closet meditator. There was so little available back then that my own teachers would say they’d started with a single dharma book.

I had no idea I’d spend the next twenty years in this work — or that I’d end up training other teachers how to teach it.

For a long time, I thought mindfulness would be the complete cure.

Then I was hospitalized in my mid-thirties with an autoimmune condition affecting my nervous system. And I remembered something I’d forgotten: I had never only meditated. My whole life, I’d been quietly weaving practices together — for my body and for my mind.

That’s the part no one tells you. Healing is rarely one thing. It’s usually a team.

So on Saturday, September 12, the three of us at Mindful Wellness Space are hosting a holistic mini retreat here in Black Mountain — one morning of mindfulness meditation, acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and Applied Kinesiology, all aimed at helping your nervous system come out of fight-or-flight. Twelve spots, tea, and every part optional.

I’m curious: have you ever thought you’d found the one thing that would fix it? What did it end up teaching you?

There’s more to the story. Details in the comments 👇

— Emily Horn, CMT-P

I found mindfulness in my early twenties, before the wave — and spent the years since learning that no single practice is the cure. Here's why our next retreat weaves meditation, acupuncture, and Applied Kinesiology into one morning of nervous-system care.

08/07/2026

Feeling better isn't always the same as being healed. 🌿

Dr. Kirsten West has been noticing a theme lately — with patients in the office, and even in the podcasts she listens to on her commute. It's something she's always known and used to explain all the time… until she caught herself assuming everyone already knew it. So she wanted to say it out loud:

👉 Just because a symptom fades doesn't mean the root cause is fixed.

Here's the thing — pain is usually the LAST thing to show up and the FIRST thing to go away. So when the stiffness eases or the stomachache quiets down, it's easy to think the work is done. But often there's still something underneath asking for attention.

Think of it like the check engine light in your car. 🚗💡 You wouldn't just unplug the light and call it fixed — you'd want to know WHY it came on. Your body works the exact same way.

We see this all the time with whole-body symptoms like gut issues, headaches, and thyroid symptoms. We can often calm them down within a visit or two… but calmer symptoms don't automatically mean the underlying dysfunction has been corrected. Cut out gluten and inflammation may drop — then you hit a plateau. Take a pill to lower acid and things ease — then it comes back. Usually that's because the environment of the body itself still needs support, not just the symptom managed.

And if you're being sent from specialist to specialist to specialist? That's often a sign you need someone to step back and look at the whole person — how all the pieces connect. 🤍

That's exactly what we do here at Mindful Wellness Space: 🌱 Nervous system regulation — through chiropractic care and meditation to move you out of fight-or-flight 🔬 Functional testing — like a GI-MAP to see what's really happening inside 💊 Personalized support — supplements guided by applied kinesiology, plus dietary changes

Most of the time, real healing is a combination of all of the above — and a whole-person approach is truly the way to go for any chronic or acute issue that's been bothering you.

💬 Curious how we might be able to help you? We offer a FREE 15-minute consultation — no charge, no pressure — just a chance to see if we're the right fit. Send us a message or give us a call anytime.

✨ And you're always welcome to join Emily's FREE meditation every Monday at 12pm ET — a quick, gentle way to regulate your nervous system and start your week grounded.

07/27/2026

Have you ever left an appointment feeling more like a number than a person? 🌿

Choosing who to trust with your health is one of the most important — and most overwhelming — decisions you'll make. The right practitioner can change everything. But how do you know when you've found them?

In our latest blog post, we share the four questions we come back to again and again when helping people build a healing team that truly supports them:

✨ Do they actually listen — and see the whole you?
✨ Can they honor both Western medicine and holistic approaches?
✨ Are they honest that healing isn't always linear?
✨ Are they willing to collaborate with your other providers?

Your wellness is a practice, not a destination — and you deserve a team that walks alongside you.

Read the full guide here 👉

Learn how to choose the right healing team with four key questions for finding holistic, integrative practitioners who listen and support your wellness journey.

07/21/2026

✨ We're excited to welcome Pomaikaikealoha (Pomai) Nakoa, L.aC., to the Mindful Wellness Space team!

Pomai provides Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine with a compassionate, whole-person approach to healing. Her care is rooted in understanding the underlying causes of imbalance while honoring the connection between mind, body, and spirit.

Inspired by her own healing journey, Pomai is passionate about helping others find hope, resilience, and lasting wellbeing through personalized care.

As our team continues to grow, so does our ability to support our community with integrative, patient-centered healthcare.

Please join us in giving Pomai a warm Mindful Wellness Space welcome! 💛

If you've been curious about acupuncture or wondering if Traditional Chinese Medicine could support your health, we'd love to help you explore whether it's the right fit.

📅 Schedule an appointment or learn more by visiting the link in our bio or our website.

Explore holistic healing and pain relief with our acupuncture services. Book your session today to promote wellness and balance.

06/23/2026

We’re here to help people navigate health with complex and often difficult conditions. ❤️‍🩹💜 🔗 to new blog is in the comments.

06/18/2026

Meditation is one of the most researched wellness practices available. Is it part of your health routine?

We spend time caring for our bodies through movement, nutrition, sleep, and healthcare. But many of us never receive support in training the mind and nervous system.

This summer, we're offering a weekly 20-minute guided meditation to help you cultivate mindfulness, presence, and wellbeing in everyday life.

Whether you're new to meditation or returning to practice, this is an opportunity to pause, reconnect, and begin the week with intention.

☀️ Starting Monday
🕛 Noon ET
💻 Online
🧘 20-Minute Guided Meditation

We'd love to practice with you. Link is in comments.

05/26/2026

“It’s all in my head.”

We’ve heard this from so many patients lately. People struggling with dizziness, exhaustion, inflammation, anxiety, chronic pain, nervous system overwhelm—and yet being told that everything looks “normal.”

Conditions like POTS, MCAS, and EDS are often complex and difficult to diagnose. Many people are left doubting themselves long before they receive support, answers, or validation.

At Mindful Wellness Space, we take these experiences seriously.

We look at the whole picture: nervous system health, adrenal stress, immune function, life events, chronic stress, infections, inflammation, and the body’s patterns over time. Through chiropractic care, Applied Kinesiology, mindfulness practices, functional testing, and whole-person support, our goal is not only to help people feel better—but to help them feel seen again.

Because if your body is asking for help, it matters.

And so often, what people most need to hear is:
It is not all in your head.

🔗 Link in comments/blog to read more.

We offer a collaborative approach to healing with chiropractic, acupuncture, mindfulness, meditation, functional medicine, and Applied Kinesiology. Specializing in autoimmune conditions, chronic illness, PTSD, Lyme, allergies, and mold exposure. Personalized care for your well-being!