Therapies Offered

Individualized herbal formulas
Nutritional counseling
Lifestyle coaching
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Herbs and Herbal formulas
I have a full herbal pharmacy with over 300 western, Chinese, and Indian raw herbs, individual herbal fluid extracts (tinctures), flower essences, as well as traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic formulas available in pill and powder form. Herbal formulas are available in a variety of forms for internal usage, from teas and traditional Chinese tangs, powders and pastes, raw herbs used for cooking, fluid extracts, pills, and syrups, as well as for external usage in the form of liniments, salves, and oils. The delivery method for herbal formulas are tailored to match the individual’s condition, constitution, lifestyle, and preferences.

The following are brief descriptions of the different ways that herbal formulas can be taken:
Fluid Extracts (tinctures) – a form in which the constituents of herbs are extracted in an alcohol or glycerin base

Chinese tangs (teas) – this is a traditional way of taking Chinese herbs in which an herbal formula is extracted in water. Usually herbs are soaked and cooked in water 2-3 times to extract the herbs’ medicinal value. The remaining fluid is taken daily.

Teas a single herb or combination of herbs is steeped to extract the medicinal value in water and drunk warm. The leaves and flower parts of herbs are infused by pouring hot or boiling water over the herbs and steeping for 15-20 minutes. More durable parts of herbs such as barks and stems are decocted by boiling them in water and steeping them for 20-30 minutes.

Powders/Pastes – Herbs are finely powdered and combined into formulas. Powders can be taken a variety of ways, from mixing with hot water and drinking as a tea to sprinkling over food. Pastes can also be made by blending the powder with another tasty substance such as yogurt, ghee, almond paste, honey, or black strap molasses. The substance used to blend pastes are usually determined by a person’s constitutional type and condition.

Patents/Pills – Traditional Chinese or western herbal formulas or single herbs are combined and prepared as pills, tablets, or capsules.

Flower Essences – The essence of a flower is extracted in an alchemical process and distilled in a solution of distilled water and a stabilizer (like brandy or a plant-base substance called Red Shiso).

Liniments - an infusion in which an alcohol is used to extract the medicinal properties of herbs. Liniments are used externally for such issues as bruising and trauma (with unbroken skin) and muscle or joint pain.

Oils – an infusion in which an oil (usually sesame or olive) is used to extract the medicinal properties of herbs. Oils are used externally to promote healing of a wide range of issues, from burns and cuts to internal issues such as arthritis and muscle pain.

Salves – an external remedy in which the medicinal properties of herbs are first extracted in an oil base and blended with beeswax to harden the mixture. Salves are used topically on the skin for issues such as burns, cuts, and bug bites.

Nutritional Counseling
Nutrition and dietary recommendations are an integral part of the strategy we will create to restore and sustain health. In my counseling, I combine both Chinese and Ayurvedic principles and teachings about food and how your body best assimilates and digests food. I educate and advise on the appropriate selection and preparation of foods, given your unique physical constitution and health issues.

Lifestyle Coaching (Behavior Change Counseling) - Assistance and support in making and maintaining diet and lifestyle changes is provided during follow-up sessions. This involves a range of strategies from providing specific help in how to implement changes to exploring and figuring out how to overcome barriers to making and sustaining changes.

Shirodhara
Shirodhara is an Ayurvedic rejuvenation technique in which herbally-infused oil is poured in a steady stream over the third eye in the center of the forehead. Sesame oil is used (sometimes in combination with other oils like sunflower and coconut) and infused with herbs to help maximize the benefits of the treatment for the mind, nervous system, as well as hair and scalp. The entire process lasts about 1.25-1.5 hours and brings a feeling of deep relaxation. Shirodhara treatments can enhance blood circulation to the brain, improve memory, nourish the hair and scalp, bring sound sleep, and calm the body and mind. This treatment is used to soothe stress, anxiety, and tension and their effects on the nervous system.

Reiki
Reiki is a form of energetic healing work and translates as "spiritually guided life force energy". It is a Japanese form of energy work that can be used for stress reduction, relaxation, and for a sense of health and well being. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. The practitioner is a vehicle through which this energy flows to the receiver. A session takes about 1 hour.