Herbal Medicine + Zen Shiatsu + Acupuncture

Practitioners of traditional East Asian medicine (TEAM) view the body as a unified and connected whole, utilizing different world views that include Ki / Qi, Yin and Yang, and meridians.

TEAM practitioners, like myself, acknowledge and understand that a) there are other approaches to health and healing that developed prior to modern/Western medical understanding, and b) that these approaches were and are still effective and relevant.

I generally recommend acupuncture when you have an issue in an acute (sudden onset) or “flare-up” stage.

For example, if you have a history of headaches I would suggest you see me in-between headaches so we can work on the root causes of the issue. These sessions will also help to lessen the frequency of occurrence.

Of course, you can also choose to come see me while you are experiencing a headache (or before one is just about to start). In this case, I will offer acupuncture along with bodywork in order to effectively reduce and resolve the problem.

It depends on the specific extended health benefits plan that you have. Some extended health benefits plans cover traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners, while others do not. Some plans cover all of my services, others cover only some, for example acupuncture but not herbal medicine.

It is your responsibility to check with your insurance provider to find out what is covered under your specific plan.

Herbal consultations involve many questions plus tongue, pulse, and abdominal assessment to arrive at a remedy. Your initial consultation lasts 75 minutes, and follow-up sessions are 1 hour.

You can learn more by reading my article, What to Expect: Daniel’s Herbal Medicine Process.

If we are working with a specific situation I will recommend a course of treatment and inform you when to rebook. If you are not experiencing a change after three sessions, we need to reassess and perhaps consider other approaches and/or practitioners.

If you are coming for health maintenance / vitality promotion the key is regularity, not frequency. In other words, it is better to come once a month than erratically. This allows us to develop a therapeutic regimen and relationship. If you wish to come more frequently (weekly, every two weeks) that is even better, but it must make sense to you.

With that said, I will always work with you where you are at, whether that means on a regular weekly schedule or once every few months or even years.

The concept of meridians is a way of viewing pathways in the body that link various areas into an integrated whole and through which vital energy (Qi or Ki) flows. Meridians form a core foundation of traditional East Asian medicine (TEAM).

Meridian pathways correspond with muscle chains and fascia, as well as the nervous system, but have a broader application and they do not fully overlap. A lot of excellent work is being done to show how this old system does match modern Western medical understanding of the human body.

Meridians are considered in Zen Shiatsu and acupuncture treatments for both diagnosis and treatment, such as through acupoints during acupuncture treatment. Kampo herbal medicine consultations consider the traditional East Asian medicine theory of the internal organs (which link to the meridians) but does not treat the meridians.

For more information, please see my article on meridian systems.