I started out as a dancer and evolved from there into healing my body with sound and breathing techniques. Eventually I explored Chinese Medicine theory, studying with Jeffrey Yuen in Chinatown in NY and fell in love with the herbs. I loved the way they looked and smelled and so many of them were roots, with a very earthy quality. Once I got through acupuncture school and started practicing, I grounded my affinity with the plants themselves by doing an internship at High Falls Gardens with Jean Giblette (I’m now on the board of the High Falls Foundation). At some point I decided to dive deeper into the intellectual practice of studying the Shang Han Lun in order to become a more effective herbalist. I think studying with Sharon Weizenbaum helped me feel much more confident in my diagnostic skills and then studying with Dr. Feng Shi-Lun, the SHL formulas and the 6 conformations became even more clear.
The way I treat patients is constantly evolving still after 20 years of practice. Several years ago, in my tiny Brooklyn office, I added a granular herb pharmacy. It was not my ideal, but it was pragmatic for both me and my patients. It enabled me to individualize formulas, provide a small amount of a formula for a few days, to keep the prices down and to keep working on refining my formula modifications. Right now I’m planning to create a database of cases with formulas to use for teaching in the future. In the past I’ve stayed old school and kept paper charts. I look forward to the possibilities of having a database that will enable me to systematically look at modifications of formulas also.