“I was looking for something with a larger perspective, that acknowledges the cycles of nature and the interconnectedness of our minds and bodies and everything else! Somehow I found my way to Chinese Medicine.”
I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. I came to Chinese medicine as a way of bringing many threads of interest and exploration together–medicine,psychology, spirit, cycles of nature, and the wisdom of the body. Before pursuing Chinese Medicine, I studied psychology at Harvard University and then worked with small children as an intervention specialist in autism classrooms in the bay area. While I loved playing and interacting with the kids, I left the work because after 5 years in the field, I was hungry for some higher education, but didn't feel called to pursue a teaching career. I started looking for other types of work that would nourish my interests.
Health has always been in the background for me since both my parents are doctors. My father was an oncologist and my mother is an eye doctor, but I wasn’t so interested in such a specialized view of medicine. I was looking for something with a larger perspective, that acknowledges the cycles of nature and the interconnectedness of our minds and bodies and everything else! Somehow I found my way to Chinese Medicine. And it isn’t such a fluke--my great grandmother was the president of the Hong Kong Acupuncture Society, so it's in my lineage.
To continue to deepen my practice of Chinese medicine I just started a doctorate program in Oakland. We are studying classic texts from something like 1800 years ago. They are so juicy and still totally relevant to treating people today--I love that kind of continuity and depth. I'm especially excited to study herbology through the lens of the classics...and hopefully over time see how it all collides with studying plants in person out in the woods!
I love being in nature. On my recent trip to Anza-Borrego, it was amazing to be in the vastness and quiet of the landscape there. There’s a half hour window right before dawn when everything in the desert is even more beautiful than it already is. I got up early every morning to go hunting flowers in the magical dawn light and later in the day watched the pollen-covered bees reveling in the flower feast too! It was delicious!