Tibetan Medicine & Holistic Healing

Meet the Tibetan Doctors of Tibetan & Holistic Healing Clinic ~

Dr. Tsundu Sengye Nyinda TMD was born as a Tibetan Refugee in Southern India.  He attended The Central School for Tibetans for his primary and secondary education.  He wanted to do Tibetan Medicine as a young man because he felt it was a job where he could be helpful to others and stay within work from his culture.

He joined the Chagpori Tibetan Medical Institute in Darjeeling in 1993 and trained under the guidance of Venerable Trogawa Rinpoche. Tsundu earned his Kachupa (Tibetan Medical Doctor) degree in 1997.  After his internship with the Men Tsee Khang clinic in Sikkim Tsundu worked as both a pharmacist preparing medicines and as a clinic doctor for several of Chagpori’s clinics in the Darjeeling hills.  He continued to study acupuncture in addition to his regular work through intensive courses until 2003.

Tsundu holds a Kachupa Certificate (Doctor of Tibetan Medicine) from Chagpori Tibetan Institute, India, and a Kachupa Certificate from Men Tsee Khang, India.  In 2001 he was awarded a Gold Medal by the International Institute of Health and Science, India.  He joined the Central Council of Tibetan Medicine in its inception and has a Qualified Medical Practitioner Certificate from them.  He has Acupuncture Certificates from Sera Gompa in Byalkuppe ,South India. He is a Registered Medical Practitioner with the Indian Board of Alternative Medicine.

Tsundu first began to lecture to western audiences when he traveled to Holland in 2004.   After coming to the USA he has taught medicine preparation, taught private lessons to students of the Shang Shung Institute and traveled to New Mexico on a regular basis to treat patients.

Dr. Nashalla G. Nyinda TMD, LMT has over a decade of study in Tibetan Medicine, Complementary and Alternative medicines. She has studied Chinese 5 element medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine and Purva Karma therapies, emphasizing on learning the Marma Point techniques. She was certified as a teacher of the TARA Approach in 2004 and actively taught this Japanese acupressure system focused on the release of trauma in the body since then.  She studied Plant Spirit Medicine with Eliot Cowen and is a self taught herbalist in addition to having studied nutrition for over a decade.  Her deepest passion continues to be understanding Traditional Tibetan Medicine completely.

Nashalla grew up receiving Taoist Five Element Acupuncture and later worked in the natural health food industry after graduating high school before college. This led the way to her love of Asian medicine and the healing arts. In her early twenties she took many classes in multiple healing modalities for the body-mind-spirit.

She is among a very small handful of  Western persons to complete training as a fully qualified traditional Tibetan Medical Doctor; and to hold certification from a qualified Tibetan Medical College. She obtained her Menpa degree (Doctor of Tibetan Medicine) entitling her to the title of Amchi or Menpa in 2009 after over a decade of study.

Nashalla began her Tibetan Medical studies in 1999 with Dr. Philip Weber MD who has been practicing Tibetan Medicine within his family practice for over 30 years and teaching Tibetan Medicine at Naropa University. Her first study abroad was in 2001 to Nepal to study Tibetan Medicine and Ayurveda while completing the  research for her BA thesis on body-mind-spirit based healing from the Asian medical perspective.

She received permission to practice Tibetan Medicine and to use the traditional dietary herbal medicine supplements in 2003.  Following her completion for her BA, Nashalla began assistant teaching Tibetan Medicine classes at Naropa. Additionally she organized and helped to run visiting clinics and seminars with Tibetan Doctors living thought the US and abroad through Menla Health Professionals. She continues to teach Tibetan Medicine at Naropa University.

When Nashalla first began to study Tibetan Medicine, there were no schools available to her.   Nor were there any study materials available in the English language.  Her strong desire to know the Tibetan Medicine system completely from the original texts led to her move to India in 2005.  She studied for two years in Darjeeling, studying Tibetan Medicine under doctors from the Chagpori Clinic and Tibetan language at Manjushree Center for Tibetan Culture.  She treated patients alongside the Tibetan Doctors at the clinic, other western patients in Darjeeling, and continued to consult with clients vie e-mail and phone in the USA.

Nashalla translated materials from English into Tibetan for Jin Shin TARA and taught a acupressure and massage class to the students of the Chagpori Tibetan Medical School in the fall of 2006.  She was able to again share this Japanese system of acupressure therapy with Tibetan doctors in Amdo, Tibet in 2009.

When Nashalla married Tsundu she returned to the USA to join the Shang Shung Institute of America.  She joined the first group of western individuals to receive full training in traditional Tibetan Medicine as taught in Tibet.  Classes  consisted of reading line by line from the original Tibetan text translated  from Tibetan to English.  This type of institution has never before existed outside of the Himalayan region.  Only a few western people have completed the full study in Asia and earned the title of amchi or menpa.    Nashalla was happy to be a part of the first graduating class and be given the opportunity to complete her dream of being a fully trained Tibetan Medical Doctor.

While at the Shang Shung Institute for Tibetan Medical studies, Nashalla became certified in the art of Tibetan Massage and is a certified LMT in the state of Colorado. Known as Kunye Therapy, it belongs to the group of gentle external therapies taught in the Tibetan Healing Science Tantras.  The function of Kunye Therapy and Tibetan Massage is to soothe and relax tensions, relieve stress, insomnia, nerve disorders and bring balance to the internal elements of the body.  It has great therapeutic value to relieve a variety of ailments in a soft and non-invasive manner.  Kunye Therapy includes not only massage, but treating crucial points in a manner similar to acupressure, applying medicinal oils, gemstones, hot or cold stones, compresses, medicinal vapors and baths.

She traveled with her Shang Shung Institute class to Xining in Amdo, Tibet in the summer of 2009.  There they completed an internship and re-take the final exams.  Though she had already passed her final 4 year medical exams in the USA, the Shang Shung students received testing at the Qinghai Tibetan Medical College to verify that they were of equal training as the Tibetan medicine students studying in Tibet.

In addition to extensive studies of Tibetan medicine are her studies in Alternative and Energy Medicine systems.  She completed teacher training for The TARA Approach Level I Module in 2004.  This Japanese pressure point therapy stems from Jin Shin Jitsu. Jin Shin TARA is specifically geared to release trauma in the body. As an advanced practitioner she uses Jin Shin throughout her evolving career as a TMD.

Nashalla taught and mentored many practitioners who became certified in Jin Shin TARA and practitioners of other Asian healing modalities. Incorporating Tibetan and Ayurvedic medical techniques, as well as integrating her 20 year fascination and study of traditional Taoist 5 Element Acupuncture methods, she works from her own approach. She also trained for 1 year in Plant Spirit Medicine, under Elliot Cowen, founder, and continues to practice PSM in her practice as the need arises.

Much of her hands on bodywork work has involved the treatment of spinal and head injuries, MS and nervous-system disorders, those with long term depression, anxiety and addiction disorders. Nashalla especially enjoys working with children recovering from PTSD, ADD and ADHD. She has experience helping individuals seeking alternatives to come off prescription drugs for depression and minor disorders.  These clients work with Nashalla alongside their licensed MD’s to achieve their goal.

She also enjoys research and corroboration between Tibetan Medicine and western medicine for serious illness that have fewer long term options in modern medicine. These include Hepatitis and liver failure*, diabetes and neurological conditions.

Bodywork and Traditional Tibetan medicine contribute equally within her diagnosis and treatment plans.  Being a westerner allows her to easily navigate between the thousands of years tradition of Tibetan Healing Science and modern understanding of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.  Nashalla believes this is one of her strongest assets.

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