Meet Minka Robinson Stevens L.Ac.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Minka Robinson Stevens L.Ac. and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Minka, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised on Mountain Drive in Santa Barbara, California. My grandmother was a botanist and taught classes and led walks identifying edible and medicinal native plants. My grandfather was an architect and creative. Both of my parents were are artists, my mother in garden design and my father is a plain air painter. After school I would hike up in the foothills and forage for herbs and native plants. I developed a kinship with nature, and my passion for botany, gardening, cooking, nutrition, and herbal medicine grew. I went on to study East Again Herbal Medicine and now we have a raw herb pharmacy form which I am able create custom formulae for patients everyday. It’s a deeply creative endeavor that is changing all the time, which is what I love so much about it.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I own and run Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Clinic. I am most proud of the work we are able to do as a team, using all of our different specialties and skills to provide an environment for healing, transformation, and growth. I am so thrilled that we have been able to create one of the few Raw Herbal Medicine Pharmacy in our area that offering the most potent form of herbal medicine available to our clients. The range of conditions that are helped and healed with herbs is truly astonishing. This has not been easy. I was discouraged at every turn, “it’s too expensive”, “western people won’t take herbal medicine”, “it tastes awful”, “the only thing people will take is a pill”, “no one is interested”, “you’ll never survive”. We encountered so many challenges trying to show folks a new way to find balance and health, and then so many challenges as a small women owned and run business. From fires, mudslides, covid, lack of funding, and staffing issues, I think we have encountered more than our faire share, but what I have learned is twofold. The first is that it is essential that you believe in what you are offering, and second, you have to have a community that believes in you when you doubt yourself, because we all do. And it always helps to remember that I have been given tremendous gifts and support by my teachers, family, and friends and it is a tremendous honor to give back. What I am most driven by is a desire to share the profound insight that East Asian Medicine provides on how we balance and heal ourselves by observing and following the wisdom of nature.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would start with a sunrise walk, stretch, and swim at the beach. Then we’d head out for a great breakfast at Merci followed by a walk through Lotusland or the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. We’d have Lunch at Satellite and maybe take a stroll through the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and catch one the many inspiring exhibitions. After all that I’d be ready for a little siesta and/or Acupuncture or a massage to relax, we may head to the Spa at the El Encanto, and then head up to the foothills to my favorite hiking trail and catch the sunset over the ocean and mountains. One of my favorite spots for dinner is Apperativo and I love to catch a film at the SBIFF, the Riviera theater, a Summer film at the Sunken Gardens, or an Arts and Lectures event to top it off.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family and community is by far the most powerful source of support, particularly my mom – who started and ran her own business Trace Robinson Landscape Design and has been such a huge inspiration as female business leader, creative, and entrepreneur. Who also showed me how to both support and be supported by a community of women.

Website: pointsofhealth.org

Instagram: pointsofhealthsb

Image Credits
Sophie Fabbri, Lauren Ross, Nancy Neil