Ayurveda & Tibetan Medicine
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The initial visit begins with with an inquiry into the reasons for your visit—your medical history, current concerns, and long-term goals.
After the initial intake is concluded, I conduct a physical examination and traditional diagnostics—including pulse diagnosis, tongue diagnosis, abdominal palpation, and structural assessment. On this basis, dietary and lifestyle adjustments will be recommended alongside an individualized treatment plan including including Tibetan moxibustion treatments, Ayurvedic panchakarma therapies, and Tibetan herbal medicine. The initial visit concludes with a Tibetan Moxibustion treatment.
Student Rates: Students, please inquire about our student rates.
Distance patients: For patients living at a distance, health consultations are offered via Zoom and are focused on dietary, lifestyle, and herbal therapies.
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Classical Five-Element Acupuncture is a style of treatment popularized by J.R. Worsley. I integrate my training in Worsley five-element with Ayurvedic marma therapy and Tibetan moxibustion techniques.
Note: I am currently sitting for my acupuncture board exams. At this time, treatments are only offered with moxibustion and without the use of any acupuncture needles, until I am licensed.
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Follow-up visits focus on moxibustion treatments with ongoing diet and lifestyle counseling, and adjustments to herbal prescriptions.
Package Pricing: Please inquire for package pricing on sets of 5 or 10 sessions.
Distance patients: For patients living at a distance, follow-up consultations are offered via Zoom.
Note: Re-fill of herbal medicines requires a follow-up visit to ensure appropriateness of formula and dosage and efficacy of formula per constitution and seasonal changes.
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Moxibustion is a gentle and warming therapy, where small cones of mugwort are burned on acupuncture points.
The practice of moxibustion likely originated in the folk medicine of Tibet before spreading to China and Japan. The practice of burning herbs on the skin is also found in North American indigenous traditions.
The gentle heat of moxibustion rejuvenates the life-force of the body, aiding digestion and vitality. I use moxibustion as my primary treatment modality.
See my essay, Tibetan Moxibustion, to learn more about the origins and applications of moxibustion.
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Wuji Qigong therapy is a modality of energy healing that is similar to reiki or what is called “medical qigong” in the Chinese tradition.
The practice of Wuji Qigong was developed by a Qigong Master from Beijing, China known as Master Li. Master Li transmitted the healing practice of Wuji Qigong to a small number of students, most prominently to my teachers, Masters Jane Yang and Paul Litchfield.
Wuji 無極is a Chinese philosophical concept articulated in Daoist and Confucian texts. Wuji has been given various meanings––“without ridgepole”, “non-polar”, “limitless”––and is depicted as an empty circle, identical to the Japanese ensō. In Chinese cosmology, Wuji describes the embryonic field of all manifestation, the primordial energy that gives rise to the Taiji (“ridgepole”). The Taiji gives birth to the polarity of yin-yang, three doshas, and five elements. Thus, the Wuji Field is the pre-natal condition of energy, the sphere from which constitution and conditions eventually arise.
One of the most noticeable effects of a Wuji Qigong treatment is the release of psycho-physical tension—patients commonly describe a feeling of deep and even profound relaxation during the treatment. When the body comes into resonance with the golden light of the Wuji Field, the entire being is coming into harmony with the Field of Energy that exists prior to imbalances. It is precisely by "resonating" in this Field of Energy that fundamental and deep-seated tensions are spontaneously released. Wuji treatments are also effective in clearing psychic disturbances from negative environmental influences.
“An uncomplicated way of looking at Tibetan Medicine is to see it as something that communicates with, rather than fights, disease. It makes peace with the disease. The sickness is there and you respect it. You understand it. After understanding it, you give the right medicine for the sickness, the medicine that puts everything in order. Our organs that are sick, and the system that is sick, are not our enemies. The body is out of harmony with itself, that is all. And that is why we experience illness. The purpose of medicine is to communicate respectfully with the body and to do the right thing to balance it.”
Medicine Buddha Mandala. 17th century medical thangka.
Methods of Treatment. 17th century medical thangka. 
Tibetan Medicine (སོཝ་རིགཔ):
A Complete Healthcare System
Tibetan Medicine is one of the oldest medical systems of the world, originating more than 2500 years ago. Tibetan Medicine is known traditionally as "Sowa Rigpa" (སོཝ་རིགཔ), a rich phrase with several meanings—"the knowledge of healing", "the vision of healing", and "the healing arts".
While distinctly Tibetan in its presentation, Sowa Rigpa is a comprehensive healthcare system that transcends cultural barriers, historically integrating the indigenous (shamanic and folk) traditions of Tibet with the medical systems of neighboring countries over many centuries. Tibetan Medicine stands as a summary of the existing medical knowledge of the time—integrating Indian, Chinese, Greek, and Persio-Arabic medical systems with the shamanic traditions of the Himalayan region. Tibetan Medicine is currently the preferred medical system for treating chronic diseases in the Himalayan and trans-Himalayan regions, including Europe and North America, where it is especially valued for its intricate pharmacology and diverse treatment approaches.
The highly nuanced therapeutic approach of Tibetan Medicine views the body, mind, and spirit as an interdependent system governed by an innate energetic intelligence. Tibetan medicine is thus characterized by a holistic and systems-based approach that emphasizes the unique body-mind constitution of each individual. On this basis, Tibetan Medicine employs a multimodal approach to diagnosis—observation, palpation, and inquiry.
Observation refers to a perceptual diagnosis, established via observation of urine, tongue, color, sound, odor, and emotion. Palpation refers to a tactile diagnosis, accomplished via palpation of the radial artery of both wrists—assessing the state of twelve internal organs, five elements, and three humors. Inquiry refers to an investigative diagnosis based on interviewing the patient about their medical history and current concerns.
These three diagnostic modes rely upon the physician’s ability to perceive the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of the patient and thus characterize the person-centered approach of Tibetan Medicine. Once a diagnosis is formed, Tibetan Medicine employs four lines of treatment: dietary and behavioral adjustments, herbal medicines, and external therapies (moxibustion, needle therapies, massage therapies, and medicinal baths).
Anatomy of Marma Points & Internal Organs. 17th century medical thangka. 
Herbal medicines. 17th century medical thangka.“One who is established in the Self—who has balanced doshas, balanced agni (digestive fire), properly formed dhatus (tissues), proper elimination of malas (wastes), properly functioning kriya (bodily processes), and whose senses, mind, and consciousness is full of clarity and bliss—is known as a healthy person. ”