Nashalla began her journey with the Classical Five Element Acupuncture lineage at age fifteen. This connection to receiving began a lifelong devotion to this system for personal self care, health and mental wellbeing. In fact, she credits this style of acupuncture for helping her accomplish the impossble task of fully studying Tibetan medicine long before online or in-person classes or courses were offered to those outside Asia.

Thirty-one years later, Nashalla completed her Masters of Acupuncture from the Institute of Taoist Education and Acupuncture. She is now currently learning the modern day TCM version of acupuncture in order to take the three national board license exams.

WHAT MAKES FIVE ELEMENT SO DIFFERENT?

The Classical Five Element style follows the ancient Taoist principles for life and heath laid out in the text known as the Huangdi Neijing (often given the title: The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine) an ancient treatise on health and disease. Attributed to a famous Chinese emperor, Huangdi who lived around 2600 BC. What makes this modern day style unique was due in large part to a man known as J.R. Worsley. It was Professor Worsley who synthesized this classical Taoist viewpoint of working totally within nature’s natural laws, not focusing on symptoms as seen in modern TCM acupuncture. It is within nature’s own laws of how energy flows and can balance one another that addressing illness and disregulation within the Body-Mind-Spirit is addressed at the very root level of causation.

The result is an elegant system, one that works within the laws of yin and yang, and the five elements own natural patterns of creation and/or control and destruction in order to address disharmony on any level of the Body-Mind-Spirit. The result is not only helping patients be their best selves, but deep interpersonal transformations.

Pre-1950’s Chinese Medicine was heavily influenced by the Taoist system of nature working in harmony with a person’s Body-Mind-Spirit. The elements of water, wood (air), fire, earth and metal (space) are worked with to create balance. The Law of the Five Elements and their association to the Body-Mind-Spirit are the essence of Ancient Chinese Medicine. The modern TCM will use multiple approaches and script of what a point can do to treat signs and symptoms, while with the Five-Element approach we trust in nature’s ability to heal itself. In this way the deeper root causes of disease and disregulation of a body, mental/emotional or spiritual issues are addressed as priority, rather than treating symptoms alone with recipes of how to affect with a point. We honor and utilize the full spirit of a point and what it has to offer humanity. This alternative and yet very ancient paradigm creates lasting results over time and serves to create the best version of the full YOU possible.  Note, we do not work with Chinese herbs.

Acupressure / Acupuncture: Nashalla holds a Dipl. Ac. (NCBAHM)™ from the National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (formally NCCAOM). She completed the requirements for a Masters of Acupuncture, with over 660 hours of internship with needles, supervision alongside extensive classroom theory in Classical Five Element Acupuncture in addition to the rigorous national certification for TCM Acupuncture from NCBAHM. She also completed the LEAF teacher training (Leading Education in Acupuncture for the Future) program in 2023 in order to teach Classical Five Element Acupuncture. She has taught Acupuncture theory and practice in the USA and at Tibetan Medical Schools inside Asia.

Moxa, acupressure, and plant spirit medicine are used in place of needles for small children or when someone prefers that instead.

Transferring Care from Another Five Element Acupuncturist:

Those transferring care from another classically-trained Five Element acupuncturist may skip the initial consult if:

• They have filled out a release form

• Their prior practitioner has provided records to Nashalla to ensure a continuum of quality care in the tradition she practices

Important: Those wishing to transfer care must have received Five Element Acupuncture from a licensed Five Element Acupuncturist only, as the methodology differs from TCM. While we welcome any relevant patient files from any prior practitioners, only Five Element patients transferring from another Five Element Acupuncturist may skip the initial process for the 5 weekly initial treatments.

For Patients with Previous Five Element Experience:

If you have worked with a previous Five Element practitioner, this process and protocols were established. After records are released from the prior Five Element practitioner, we can gauge how treatment has supported your system. In most cases, we can move directly into monthly, 6-week, or seasonal treatments.

How Five Element Acupuncture Treatment Protocols Begin and Why They Matter:

In classical Five Element acupuncture, we consider the beginning stages of treatment to be a platform for establishing inner support systems. Think of this as a fire keeper who carries the fire as guardian of the source of warmth and transformative substance (fire for cooking, for creating tools, etc.). This is creating an inner support system or self-resources.

Initial Commitment and Investment in Self:

To accomplish this, we ask for an initial commitment of 5 weekly treatments. We know this is a time commitment! We are serious about supporting you to the full extent of our skills and capacity so that from the beginning of a course of treatment you feel change at subtle and deeper levels. To that end we ask you for a commitment to yourself. One that provides a space in which we co-create stable ground for change and inviting balance.

Over the course of the first 5 weeks, together we help build your body's inner elemental resources. Consistency helps reframe what balance may look like for you as an individual. Successive treatments in shorter order help create the catalyst for changes on the body-mind-spirit level that are lasting and impactful. You are an active participant in your healing process.

For New Five Element Acupuncture Patients:

We need that critical commitment of five session to co-creating a solid foundation in your body-mind-spirit system. Therefore, we do ask for your self investment to the 5 weekly session protocol. Appointments are made upfront when you purchase a package and this is offered at a substantially discounted rate to accommodate the initial frequency. Following the initial five sessions, we resume a more normal, structured pacing between treatments, all according to your individual needs. We also do this keeping in mind the currently seasons and your own inner cycles.