Education & Teachers

I am grateful to have studied with some amazing teachers throughout my time in Seattle. Philosophy and spirituality have always been an interest of mine starting from a young age. When I was “too young” as my mother would say, I was asking really difficult questions like “If we all die, then what’s the point of living?” From a young age, I was really interested in what the ‘truth’ behind our existence is. I grew up with a really loud mind and I felt a literal wave of relief when I opened up the first yogic text I ever read, The Yoga Sutras, as it had step by step training on how to tame the mind. As I started studying yogic practices, I felt less alone and less crazy in the world. 

I first studied yoga in 2018 with what was then called PSOM: The Practice School of Magic. The two teachers that lead the 200 hour Vinyasa Teacher Training were Emily Denton and Alyssa Yackley. They were both incredibly knowledgeable and complimentary in their teaching styles. Along with learning the actual physical Asana postures, we studied the Yoga Sutras, The Bhagavad Gita and many other yogic texts. Emily Denton is also my Somatic Experience coach; the SE techniques I have learned with her now permeate every aspect of my life, but especially my healing and movement practices.

My first Dharma teacher was Rachael Savage who founded Rebel Saints Meditation Society. This space quickly became a sanctuary for me; one where I could learn about the teachings of Buddhism and practice different styles of meditation. All in the midst of a sangha. Rachael teaches from the Theravada tradition of Buddhism. Over any other teachings and practices I’ve done in my life, the Buddha Dharma is the one that has and continues to resonate with me the most.

In winter of 2019 I did a 100 hour yoga teacher training for yin yoga, pranayama and yoga nidra with the same teacher duo. In this teacher training, we dove into the “Dark side of the moon” as they called it. 

During this time I was working in corporate America, which I had been since I graduated from college in 2017. I was working at a Marketing agency, making good money, even had my own health insurance. After I did the two yoga teacher trainings, it became clear to me that my path of livelihood needed to change. I wanted to do something that would exemplify my strengths while also helping people; as well as go deep into some ancient philosophy while also learning about the mind-body-spirit of our beings. 

I had acupuncture for the first time in 2016. My chief complaint was anxiety. I learned so so much from my first acupuncturist and also a mentor of mine, Angela Renzetti. Her treatments, attentive listening and dietary/lifestyle advice were such strong supports and influences in my path. During this time I learned things like eating nutrient-rich foods and eating enough can make you feel more grounded and less anxious. This was mind blowing to me at the time. It is so simple yet so effective. 

As these experiences accumulated, I one day googled, “how to become an acupuncturist” and I was surprised by my findings that it was a 3-4 year Master’s/Doctorate program. As many people are, I was way undereducated about Chinese Medicine and the precision and time it took to learn the craft. But, I wasn’t discouraged by the time and life shifting it would take to do the program. 

I started at the Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine (SIEAM) in Fall of 2020. Oh what a time. The first 6 months or so of our program were done online through Zoom. It was quite a challenge to be learning Chinese Medicine online, but thankfully I had some amazing teachers who made it incredibly fruitful and worthwhile. I graduated from SIEAM in August of 2023.

I learned Points and Channels from Jason Robertson, who is an extremely effective Chinese Medicine practitioner now based on Seattle, WA. He studied with his teacher, Dr. Wang Ju-yi in Beijing for many many years; they teach and practice Applied Channel Theory.

I learned Engaging Vitality primarily from Marguerite Dinkins. This style of acupuncture is based on Osteopathy and uses subtle palpation techniques to detect blockages in the body and then precise needling techniques to unblock these blockages. 

My teacher Trevor Sevigny taught us Orthopedic acupuncture, which uses palpation and needling of tight points and patterns in the muscles to relax the whole chain of muscle and tissue; and therefore, resolves the symptoms that were arising due to the tight points/muscular holding. 

Jen Resnick, Kathy Taromina, Josh Lerner and Craig Mitchell taught us Tuina, a Chinese Medical massage. This style uses rhythmic motions and various massage techniques to soften, release and ultimately strengthen the resiliency of the tissue; as well as create space between the muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones, so things can flow freely. We also learned zangfu tuina, which is a subtle visceral technique working to restore balance to the internal organs by encouraging their intrinsic movement to flow freely. Their qi gong and Tuina teacher is Tom Bisio, who I have also studied qi gong, ba gua and Tuina with numerous times.

Daniel Altschuler taught me the Chinese style of needling along with more traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment. 

I learned Chinese herbal medicine from many of the teachers mentioned above along with Greg Livingston and Dan Bensky.

Stephen Brown is a teacher I have studied with since I graduated from SIEAM. I learned Japanese style needle techniques and qi gong from him. I am also highly influenced by Stephen’s close student and my teacher, Ryan Law, who helps me remember the foundations of the medicine and why we are doing it in the first place.

I have 20+ other teachers that I could mention here, but I have chosen to highlight the ones that still very much influence my movement, spiritual and Chinese Medicine practice today.