Born in Oakland and raised in Berkeley, I was always drawn to the healing arts. My love for plants was shaped by working in the garden with my dad as a child and growing up camping in the woods in the summer.
In April of 2020, I completed my DACM (doctorate in acupuncture and Chinese medicine) through ACTCM (American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine) in San Francisco. I hope to further aid in the integration of Chinese and Western medicine in hospital settings here in the United States and demystify this medicine for the Western mind.
In 2015 I received my master’s in science at AIMC (Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College) in Berkeley and became a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist.
In 2005 I attended The Heartwood Institute, and studied nutrition with Paul Pitchford, author of "Healing with Whole Foods” and completed his "Asian Healing Arts and Whole Foods Nutrition" program. While there I also studied Chinese medicine, shiatsu, massage, polarity, craniosacral therapy, tai chi, meditation, yoga, anatomy and physiology, and much more. This all came at a perfect time for me personally as I had become unfulfilled with the Western medical standard. I suffered from migraines almost daily for many years and was frustrated with the only option my doctor proposed, which was to take extra-strength Tylenol on a weekly basis for the rest of my life. Incorporating Chinese medicine into my life and learning how to eat healthy lead me to my own health breakthroughs including curing my migraines.
Continuing my Chinese Medicine training but expanding into the world of energetics in 2008 I studied in Monterey, CA with renowned teacher Sifu Jerry Alan Johnson, Daoist Master at the International Institute of Medical Qigong. It was there that I first learned to see and feel energy or "Qi" in a physical form.
While at AIMC I studied orthopedic acupuncture at UC Berkeley, working with the athletes at Cal, Berkeley, interned with Dr. Hua Ling Xu studying obstetrics and gynecology, studied Japanese style facial rejuvenation acupuncture with Barbara Martello, and completed a Neurological and Stroke Rehab Internship with Dr. Shi Xue Min at the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Tianjin, China.
AIMC is considered an “integrative” school, where we learned both Western and Chinese medicine, giving me experience in treating a range of conditions, but specialize in mental-emotional issues such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, and orthopedic bodily pain and injuries, being either chronic or acute, digestive upset, menstrual issues, and many other ailments.
My work/search/education will forever continue: in September of 2018 I started my doctorate work at ACTCM (American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine) in San Francisco, CA, and in April 2019, I returned to China on a 2-month scholarship working at a hospital in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. There I interned in many different departments and saw how they incorporate Chinese medicine and western medicine together in the everyday hospital setting, which was extremely inspiring, as I hope this model can be mirrored here in the US someday. I worked in the pain department, doing tuina and acupuncture for many different types of pain, the hepatobiliary department treating mostly digestive upset and various cancers of the digestive tract, the cardiology department where they worked with high blood pressure and post-stroke rehabilitation focusing mostly on facial paralysis.
Outside of my acupuncture and herbal practice I enjoy singing and making music, mushroom hunting, dancing, hiking, being crafty, traveling, and making delicious healthy food.
Artemis was the ancient Greek goddess of herbalism, hunting, the wilderness, wild animals, and the protectress of the children. Artemisia is also a large, diverse genus of plants used in both Chinese and Western herbalism. Historically, the local herbalist in the village would either grow a variety of artemisia in their garden or they would paint an artemisia on the door of their house to signal to the other villagers that this house was a place to go for aid and healing. In Chinese medicine, we widely use mugwort, one of the many varieties of artemisia in the form of moxa, or moxibustion. All this to say that I feel personally connected to this plant for so many reasons, that I decided to name the business after it.
