Quan Yin Healing Arts Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine

Quan Yin Healing Arts Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine Karen Borla is a licensed acupuncturist, is nationally certified in Oriental Medicine and is a Fellow of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine.

She received her Masters in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine from the New England School of Acupuncture in Watertown, MA, the oldest college of acupuncture and Oriental medicine in the United States, and has trained in Chinese Herbal Medicine at the China Beijing International Acupuncture Training Center in Beijing, China and with many masters here in the United States. Prior to opening her

private practice in West Hartford, CT, she practiced acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine for three years at the Winchester Hospital Community Health Institute in Woburn, Massachusetts. Ms. Borla has a lifelong interest in natural and preventive healthcare. She has also studied a variety of Asian bodywork therapies, martial arts, yoga, meditation and energy cultivation techniques. She considers education a lifelong pursuit and welcomes every challenge as an invitation to learn.

Today is the summer solstice — the longest day of the year, and a moment worth pausing to notice.In Chinese medicine, th...
06/20/2026

Today is the summer solstice — the longest day of the year, and a moment worth pausing to notice.

In Chinese medicine, the solstice marks the peak of yang energy: warmth, light, and outward movement at their fullest. It is also the point at which the slow turn toward rest quietly begins.

We wish you a beautiful day. May you find time to be outside, to share a meal, and to feel the season fully.

Happy solstice!

t is finally summer! 🌞 After all of the rain and erratic weather of April and May, we are once again able to get outside...
06/18/2026

t is finally summer! 🌞 After all of the rain and erratic weather of April and May, we are once again able to get outside and enjoy the long days.

According to Chinese medicine, the heart is the organ of summer, with its emotional qualities of joy and expansion — which is exactly what we naturally feel when the sun is shining and we have time to explore nature, tend the garden, get in the water, and enjoy the company of family and friends.

Our bodies also tend to feel better in the warmer weather. We move with greater ease because heat allows a freer flow of energy than the colder seasons that stiffen us up. With that ease, however, comes the tendency to overdo it. Make sure to honor your body by stretching before strenuous activities and prioritizing rest and recovery.

And if you do end up straining your back, elbows, shoulders, or knees while enjoying your favorite summertime activities, remember that acupuncture can help you get back at it with ease! 🌿

June is Men's Health Month! 🩺 a time to encourage the men in our lives to pay attention to their bodies and seek care pr...
06/16/2026

June is Men's Health Month! 🩺 a time to encourage the men in our lives to pay attention to their bodies and seek care proactively.

Statistically, men are far less likely than women to schedule preventive healthcare visits. The CDC reports that men are 24% less likely to have visited a doctor in the past year. This reluctance often means that pain, fatigue, and stress go unaddressed for far too long. Acupuncture offers a practical entry point for men who may be wary of conventional approaches. It is particularly effective for musculoskeletal pain, stress-related conditions, sleep disruption, and low energy — issues that show up frequently in men who are working hard and not recovering well. There is nothing passive about choosing to maintain your health. This month, we encourage the men in your life to take that first step. If you have questions about how acupuncture might support your specific needs, I am always happy to answer questions.
Over my 28 years in practice, I have seen a steady increase in the number of men seeking treatment. They may come in for something specific, but many stay long after their condition resolves — finding a sense of peace and tranquility that is difficult to find elsewhere. You too can use acupuncture as a powerful tool to support your mental and emotional well-being. 🌿

Farmers’ Market time!!June is one of my favorite months for many reasons, but I especially love that it is the first mon...
06/11/2026

Farmers’ Market time!!

June is one of my favorite months for many reasons, but I especially love that it is the first month of Farmers’ markets and eating locally.
If you are not fortunate enough to have your own garden, we are very fortunate in Connecticut to have access to so many wonderful farmers’ markets and CSA opportunities.

The markets are filling up with strawberries, snap peas, radishes, early summer greens, and the first zucchini of the season. Eating what is grown nearby and harvested recently is not only incredibly tasty, it has genuine implications for nutrition and wellbeing. The nutrient content of produce declines significantly during transport and storage. Locally grown fruits and vegetables harvested at peak ripeness contain measurably higher levels of vitamins C and E, folate, and antioxidants compared to their long-traveled counterparts.

From a Chinese medicine perspective, eating seasonally is one of the foundational principles of maintaining health. Fresh, lightly prepared foods in summer support the Heart and Small Intestine - the organ systems associated with this season - and help the body stay cool and clear as the external temperatures start to rise. Join me in enjoying the fresh flavors of the season. Here’s to good eating and your health!!

Acupuncture is preventive medicine! One of the things I love most about Chinese medicine is that it was designed, from t...
06/09/2026

Acupuncture is preventive medicine! One of the things I love most about Chinese medicine is that it was designed, from the beginning, to keep people well — not just to intervene when things go wrong. The ancient Chinese text Huangdi Neijing, considered the foundational classic of Chinese medicine, states that treating illness after it has arisen is like digging a well after you are already thirsty. The highest form of medicine, in this tradition, is preventive.

Regular acupuncture visits — even monthly, once a baseline of health is established — can help regulate the nervous system, support immune function, maintain hormonal balance, and address the small imbalances that, left unattended, often grow into larger ones.

Modern research supports this framing. A 2020 study in PLOS ONE found that regular acupuncture reduced healthcare utilization costs and improved quality-of-life scores in participants tracked over 12 months. I am grateful to be part of so many of your ongoing health journeys. If you have been meaning to come in, or if you have a friend who has been curious about acupuncture, June is a wonderful time to begin. I look forward to seeing you.

June is Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, which means it’s a great time to discuss what many of my patient’s know f...
06/04/2026

June is Migraine and Headache Awareness Month, which means it’s a great time to discuss what many of my patient’s know first hand.



Migraines are far more than "bad headaches." They are a complex neurological condition affecting roughly 39 million people in the United States, and yet they remain one of the most under-discussed and undertreated conditions in medicine.

Acupuncture has been studied extensively for migraine prevention and treatment. A 2017 Cochrane review analyzing 22 trials found that acupuncture was at least as effective as prophylactic drug treatment in reducing migraine frequency, with fewer side effects reported.

In Chinese medicine, migraines are understood through patterns — they may involve Liver Qi stagnation, rising Liver yang, Blood deficiency, or phlegm obstruction, among others. This means treatment is tailored to the individual, not just the symptom. If you or someone you love experiences recurrent headaches or migraines, I invite you to reach out. I’ve helped many people experience real relief.

🌱 Growing your family is one of the most hopeful — and sometimes most challenging — journeys a person can take.Whether y...
06/02/2026

🌱 Growing your family is one of the most hopeful — and sometimes most challenging — journeys a person can take.

Whether you're in the early stages of trying to conceive, navigating a diagnosis like PCOS or unexplained infertility, or going through IVF, acupuncture has become a meaningful part of many people's fertility journeys.

And the research is catching up.

📊 What the science says:
A 2024 systematic review and network meta-analysis (published on NIH/PubMed) found that acupuncture significantly improved clinical pregnancy rates, live birth rates, fertilization rates, and high-quality embryo rates in assisted reproductive technology (ART) patients.

A 2024 retrospective cohort study found live birth rates of 54.5% in patients who incorporated acupuncture before embryo transfer, compared to 41% in those who did not.

🌿 How acupuncture may support fertility:
✔ Improved uterine blood flow and lining thickness
✔ Hormone regulation (FSH, LH, estrogen, progesterone)
✔ Reduced stress and anxiety — which genuinely affects reproductive outcomes
✔ Support for PCOS, diminished ovarian reserve, and irregular cycles
✔ Reduced anxiety around embryo transfer procedures

We support patients through all phases: preconception preparation, IUI and IVF cycles, and postpartum recovery.

💬 If acupuncture has been part of your fertility story, we'd be honored if you shared it below. 💛

😴 May is Better Sleep Month — and if you've been lying awake at 3am staring at the ceiling, this one's for you.Poor slee...
05/28/2026

😴 May is Better Sleep Month — and if you've been lying awake at 3am staring at the ceiling, this one's for you.

Poor sleep isn't just exhausting. Over time, chronically disrupted sleep affects immune function, mood, metabolism, cardiovascular health, and cognitive sharpness. And yet so many people have simply accepted that they can't sleep well — when there may be very fixable reasons why.

🔍 Common culprits worth investigating:

🍽️ Meal timing: Your body isn't designed to digest a heavy meal and sleep at the same time. Aim for at least 3 hours between your last meal and bedtime, and make dinner the lightest meal of the day. Research shows that a 10-hour eating window (intermittent fasting) can help regulate blood sugar and meaningfully improve sleep quality.

🍷 Alcohol: It might feel like it helps you wind down, but alcohol is processed by the liver during the night — and that metabolic work disrupts your sleep cycles, often causing you to wake in the early morning hours unable to fall back asleep. This effect is more pronounced as we age, since alcohol stays in the system longer.

😣 Unmanaged pain: Pain tends to feel more intense at night without the distractions of the day. If pain is waking you up, addressing the pain is often the real sleep solution.

🧠 Stress and anxiety: An overactive mind at bedtime is one of the most common sleep saboteurs. If your brain starts running through tomorrow's to-do list the moment your head hits the pillow, your nervous system needs some support — not just a sleep aid.

🩺 How acupuncture can help:
Sleep and acupuncture have a surprisingly strong research base. A 2026 meta-analysis published in Frontiers in Medicine found that acupuncture significantly improves sleep quality, increases total sleep time, reduces the time it takes to fall asleep — and measurably modulates melatonin and cortisol levels, the hormones most responsible for regulating your sleep-wake cycle.

Unlike sleep medications, acupuncture works by addressing root causes: calming an overactive nervous system, reducing pain that disrupts sleep, easing anxiety, and helping your body reestablish its natural rhythms. Chinese herbal medicine can be a powerful complement as well, often prescribed alongside acupuncture for a more complete approach to chronic sleep issues.

Whether your sleep struggles are recent or have been going on for years, there's a lot we can do together.

💬 What's the biggest thing that gets in the way of YOUR sleep? Drop it in the comments — you might be surprised how many people share the same struggle. 👇

📌 Meal timing research: https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/meal-timing-for-older-adults/
📌 Acupuncture & sleep: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2026.1807826/abstract

🦴 May is Arthritis Awareness Month — and with over 100 types of arthritis and more than 58 million Americans affected, t...
05/26/2026

🦴 May is Arthritis Awareness Month — and with over 100 types of arthritis and more than 58 million Americans affected, this one hits close to home for a lot of families.

Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States. And yet, it's one of the most misunderstood conditions out there.

Most people think of Osteoarthritis (OA) — the wear-and-tear kind that affects knees, hips, and hands. But arthritis also includes Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Psoriatic Arthritis, which are autoimmune conditions where the body's immune system attacks its own joints, causing pain, swelling, and fatigue that can affect the whole body.

🛡️ Prevention starts earlier than you think:
OA is common as we age, but it's not inevitable. You can protect your joints by:
✔ Staying active — movement truly is medicine
✔ Maintaining a healthy weight to reduce joint load
✔ Limiting foods that fuel inflammation: red meat, highly processed foods, and sugar
✔ Loading up on anti-inflammatory foods: berries, leafy greens, wild salmon, whole grains, and olive oil

🔄 Already dealing with joint pain or stiffness?
Motion is lotion! Regular gentle movement, hot and cold therapies, and judicious use of over-the-counter pain relievers can all help. But if you're looking for something that goes deeper than symptom management, acupuncture is worth a serious look.

🩺 Acupuncture for arthritis — what the research shows:
Studies have found that acupuncture can meaningfully reduce joint pain and stiffness, decrease inflammation, and improve physical function in people with both OA and RA. For many patients, it also reduces the need for pain medications. It works by stimulating the body's natural anti-inflammatory responses and improving circulation to affected joints — and it pairs especially well with movement and lifestyle changes as part of a whole-person approach.

Whether you're trying to prevent joint problems or manage an existing diagnosis, we're here to help.

💬 Do you or someone you love manage arthritis? What strategies have made the biggest difference? Share below — your experience might help someone else. 👇

📌 Learn more: https://www.arthritis.org/about-arthritis/arthritis-awareness-month

🇺🇸 Today we pause to remember.Memorial Day is more than the unofficial start of summer — it's a day set aside to honor t...
05/25/2026

🇺🇸 Today we pause to remember.

Memorial Day is more than the unofficial start of summer — it's a day set aside to honor the men and women of the United States Armed Forces who gave their lives in service to this country. Their courage, their sacrifice, and their love of something greater than themselves deserve more than a moment's thought.

To the Gold Star families who carry this loss every day, not just today — thank you for your sacrifice as well. The price your families paid is not forgotten.

To the veterans among our patients and community — thank you for your service. We are grateful for you.

May we enjoy the freedoms of this long weekend with full hearts and grateful minds, and take a moment today — at the cookout, at the parade, or in the quiet of the morning — to remember why we're able to gather at all.

🕯️ Honor. Gratitude. Remembrance.

Wishing everyone in our community a safe, meaningful, and restful Memorial Day weekend. 🌺

Address

45 S Main Street, Ste 206
West Hartford, CT
06107

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 8pm
Tuesday 11am - 8pm
Wednesday 11am - 8pm
Thursday 8:30am - 3pm
Friday 8:30am - 3pm

Telephone

+18605239424

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