What is the Apricot Grove?

Apricot Grove is a global community of healthcare professionals, scholars, artists and nature lovers who come together to support human transformation and enhance global well-being through the study, research and practice of ancient Chinese medical knowledge.

Apricot Grove California, located in Nevada City CA, is home to faculty members Rebecca Fettig, L.Ac and Tim McNeely, certified Rolfer.  Along with private acupuncture and Rolfing practices, they offer on-going medical care, training and research, blending an understanding of modern integral anatomy with the ancient wisdom of The Huangdi Neijing. 

Presently there are Apricot Grove clinics and teaching facilities in Barcelona, Spain, and Victoria, Canada, and now California.

The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic (Huangdi Neijing) has been the primary source text of Chinese medicine for over two thousand years. Its writings provide intricate descriptions of the cosmos, nature, and the human body, providing vital new insights into the nature of human health and illness. Many of its descriptions and insights remain unrivaled in their detail, grace, and power.

Founder of the Apricot Grove Dr. Edward Neal, also created Neijing Nature-Based Medicine, (NNBM) based on a model of tissue coherence, biotensegrity, and cyclical patterns of breath that not only form nature, the cosmos, and the human body, but also all phenomena and honors the resonance patterns that make up our universe.

The Story of the Apricot Grove:

In Chinese, the term “Xinglin,” which means “Apricot Grove,” is used to describe competent and compassionate medical care provided with an open heart to improve the condition of the world. This term originates from the “Shenxian Zhuan” (Biographies of Divine Immortals), where the Daoist philosopher Ge Hong (283-343 C.E.) tells the story of the physician Dong Feng who lived during China’s Three Kingdoms period (220-280 C.E.).

Dong Feng was widely recognized for his skill and altruism. When he cured a patient of a disease, he asked that one apricot tree be planted and tended in a nearby grove. For those with a more serious disease, he asked that five trees be planted. During his lifetime, Dong Feng saw many patients, and over time, the apricot grove grew to over 100,000 trees.

Wealthier people who came to the grove to gather apricots were asked to leave a bushel of rice in the public granary, which in turn was used to feed those who did not have enough to eat. Thus, from medical skill and a spirit of compassion, grew a grove of trees that also alleviated food shortages in the local community. Because of his work, Dong Feng is considered one of China’s great sage-physicians.

To this day, in China, the term “Xinglin” and the idea of the apricot grove express the qualities of medical skill, ethics, and humane care, as well as the process of using nature’s patterns to promote meaningful change.

Rebecca Fettig

Rebecca Fettig’s main wish is to help others hold their difficulties with ease and aid them in finding more body awareness and longevity of life.  She is passionate about the process of human transformation leading to a better world for ourselves and communities. She aims to find the root cause of a health concern and also takes into consideration the emotional well-being of all her patients.  Educating others and helping them find a healing path is her primary goal at Golden Point Acupuncture founded in 2010.

With 25 years of experience in western and eastern medicine, Rebecca brings an integrative approach to health and healing.  She has a background in medical microbiology and immunology along with a masters in traditional Chinese medicine. After completing her studies both in San Francisco at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Zhejiang Medical University Hang Zhou, China, she immediately embarked on continuous training in Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion fortunate to have studied with Kiiko Matsumoto,  Koshiishi Sensei, Yuki Itaya, Dr. Mukaino of the Mukaino Method, and others still to this day 15 years later.  She frequents Japan to learn directly from her teachers.

Rebecca is on faculty for the emerging field of Neijing Nature-Based Medicine NNBM teaching Japanese moxibustion.  Her clinic in Nevada City, CA is home to Apricot Grove California. (Link up AGC to our internal link once made)

Over her lifetime she has acquired a vast understanding of meditation practices and somatic tools through 3 decades of performance and study in dance, qi gong, Buddhist and Taoist philosophies, and meditation. Her personal life intentions have become the backbone of compassionate care she strives to impact our healthcare system with every day

Tim McNeely

Tim McNeely began his career as an urban sociologist, and after a major trauma and near death experience devoted his life to the practice and teaching of Dr. Ida P. Rolf’s traditional 10-Series. 

This process – an anatomically informed, and holistic bodywork protocol – organizes and aligns the human being in relationship to itself and its environment for maximum ease and potential. These ten sessions are Dr. Rolf’s lasting gift to humankind.

Tim believes, like the giants of the Human Potential Movement that came before him, that integrated beings create integrated relationships; integrated relationships create integrated communities, and integrated communities create an integrated world. In this spirit he chose western Nevada County as his laboratory a decade ago, and so far has taken 1% of this wonderful population through the transformative experience of the 10-Series. The impact of Dr. Rolf’s legacy there can be seen and felt.

Tim McNeely is a Co-Founder and educator for TensegrityU.  He is certified through the Guild for Structural Integration, and is an Anatomy Trains (ATSI) Advanced Practitioner.  He is a certified Esalen massage practitioner licensed in California. He has also trained in CranioSacral therapy and Visceral Manipulation through the Upledger and Barral institutes, and participates in anatomical dissections with Gil Hedley. He is currently studying Somatic Experiencing. Tim lives and practices in Nevada City, CA.