I grew up in a small New England town.

 

My family trekked to the Unitarian Universalist church each week with a love for singing, an intellectual fervor for ethics, and a solid commitment that many paths lead to the Divine.

 

I attended a liberal arts college focused on interconnectedness and finding common ground. My undergraduate and first masters degree are both in studio art, but Chinese language, Eastern philosophy, and martial arts training all pulled me in unexpected ways during that time.

​

I found Qigong, and then Chinese Medicine, by happy accident.

 

A good friend signed us up for a class in a studio owned by a Daoist priest, martial arts and Feng Shui master. Simultaneously, I was studying peer counseling, with anti-racism and social justice work. From these two paths I began unwinding the homophobic, sex and body-shaming messages of my youth, as well as getting acupuncture for my own health.

 

At a crossroads in my career, I met with a skilled psychic. She saw me surrounded by thin, silver, falling objects pilling up by the thousands without harm - the spirits were calling them 'needles,' but they were not like any needle she'd ever seen. She told me if I ever found 'those needles,' I would find my Destiny.

​

After moving to Tucson AZ and wanting to learn more about the five branches of Chinese Medicine (especially Feng Shui and Qigong), I registered for acupuncture school. That program incorporated year-long studies in Medical Qigong (healing others), self-cultivation Qigong, Tuina, Japanese acupuncture, and Worsley 5 Element theory. Covering the breadth of East Asian Medicine in general rather than focusing heavily in TCM / CCM / 5 Element was unique; the school also had a strong relationship with Andrew Weil’s Integrative Medicine program, and the ‘defining principles' of his program are a good basis for how I still think about medicine.
 

It was a Zen Priest that confirmed my Feng Shui Mastery in 2004, the same year I began teaching Qigong. My Qigong Mastery was confirmed in 2012 when my own teacher asked why I refused to believe my students, who had called me Master since 2010. He asked rather bluntly, "Did you not train them well enough to see?"

​

My first book was released in 2019. Gender and Sexuality in Chinese Medicine is an empowering and gender fluid/non-binary take on all aspects of sexuality, relationships, and the emotional consequences of oppression. In 2021 I completed my Doctor of Acupuncture in Integrative Medicine through Five Branches University, focused on 'bridging the gap' between eastern and western thinking in healthcare. I have also taught at two acupuncture schools in the USA, designed accredited programs in Gynecology and Medical Qigong, and continue to write and publish.

​

Qigong remains my foundational root; this influence is evidenced in my teaching, my treatments, my writing, and in how I live my every day life. But every time I open a package of acupuncture needles, I remember my psychic's words, and am grateful to have found my Destiny.

 

Thank you for visiting.

- Captain

​