SERVICES
Your comfort comes first
Our services are grounded in the principles of simplicity and minimalism. We use a gentle style of Japanese acupuncture, which emphasizes fewer needles, subtle techniques and a thoughtful connection between practitioner and patient. Throughout every treatment, we prioritize your comfort and allow your body’s feedback to direct us.
The goal is simple: achieve the maximum amount of change with a minimal amount of intervention.
Acupuncture
Within us all, we possess a flow of vital energy that travels along different channels in the body. When this energy is blocked, weakened or out of balance, it can cause a host of symptoms including pain, fatigue and illness. To bring these pathways back into a state of balance, we insert thin, delicate needles to stimulate specific points on the body. This releases pain-relieving endorphins and encourages healing from the inside out.
Acupuncture has a cumulative effect, meaning that the treatments build on one another over time to create meaningful, sustainable changes.
Master acupuncturists who are influential to our style of treatment include Shudo Denmei, Tsuyoshi Shimamura, Kiiko Matsumoto, Takahiro Funamizu and Anryu “Dr. Bear” Iwashina, among others.
Moxibustion
This powerful therapy uses heat from burning the mugwort plant, artemisia vulgaris, to warm the body and stimulate the immune system. This is a particularly useful tool in the cool, damp climate of Portland.
Moxibustion predates acupuncture. It has been practiced for millennia to alleviate pain, strengthen the immune system, and promote the tonification of blood and qi. In pregnancy, moxibustion is commonly used to help breech babies turn naturally to a head-down position, improving the chances of vaginal birth.
We specialize in the application of rice grain moxibustion or okyu, which is the warming of tiny rice grain-sized cones directly on the body. We have seen firsthand the profound effects of moxibustion in our patients and combine it with acupuncture treatments to maximize the benefits of both.
The lifework and practice of Junji Mizutani is the core of our moxibustion technique.
Pregnancy and Postpartum Care
As mothers and providers, we understand the tender time of pregnancy, childbirth and newborn bonding. We have studied with leaders in the field to understand the tradition of Yang Sheng (Nourishing Life) to nurture the body, mind and spirit in harmony with the natural rhythms of creating life.
We treat fertility and help the body find an optimal alignment for pregnancy. Throughout pregnancy we treat discomforts–nausea, back pain, acid reflux, breech presentation and more. And in the sacred postpartum time, we help the birthing body recover from childbirth be it cesarean or vaginal delivery. The body must rebuild blood and qi from the tremendous process of creating and delivering new life.
Sabine Wilms, Elizabeth Davis, and the work of Debra Betts, are influential in our understanding of nourishing life.
Shonishin (Pediatric acupuncture)
For our youngest patients, we offer non-insertive acupuncture called Shonishin, which traces its roots back to 17th-century Japan. Shonishin uses calming, painless techniques like stroking, tapping and rubbing to restore and strengthen a child’s natural healing mechanisms.
Developed specifically for infants and kids up to the age of fifteen, these treatments can be used to address everything from physical conditions to behavioral and emotional problems. You are welcome to contact us to discuss how Shonishin can benefit your child!
Shonishin teachers we have studied with include Koei Kuwahara, Stephen Birch, Brenda Loew and Bob Quinn.
Herbal Medicine
Our natural environment is truly a garden of healing plants and minerals, which we apply through the art of herbal medicine. Similar to acupuncture, herbal medicine reestablishes homeostasis to allow for healing from within. With both acupuncture and herbal medicine, we select protocols based on abdominal palpation, where tonicity, texture, and tenderness correspond to specific medicinals.
At Heartwood, we utilize the ancient wisdom of Chinese herbalism to address a wide range of conditions, from minor ailments to chronic disease. Where no two individuals are alike, no two formulas are either. Our custom-blended herbs are tailored to the individual and can easily be modified as your concerns shift and change.
Our herbalism practice is guided by our studies of the 200 AD texts, Shanghan Lun and Jingui YaoLüe, by Zhang Zhongjing. The clinical expertise of our teachers, Joon Hee Lee, Heiner Fruehauf and Nigel Dawes, among others, has guided us in the application of these texts in our modern world.
Bodywork
Bodywork and physical medicine effectively reduce pain while also having a phenomenal effect on the autonomic nervous system, inviting a relaxed state of being. We offer a number of different bodywork modalities including craniosacral therapy, Chi Nei Tsang and Sotai therapy.
A combination of these therapies may be incorporated into treatment to best address your specific needs.
The hands of our bodywork teachers have guided us in our study of these modalities. Those most influential include Tiffiny Fyans, Saumya Comer, Bob Quinn, Daniel Silver, Jeffrey Dann and Joyce Thom.
