What IntentQi Means to Me: Living and Healing with Intention
When I named my practice IntentQi, I was naming more than a business—I was naming a way of life. A healing philosophy rooted in presence and purpose. It’s a path I walk with every patient I treat—and like all of us, I practice returning to it in my own daily rhythms.
This path is grounded in intention, guided by awareness, and shaped by a quiet trust in the body’s innate intelligence to heal.
Chinese medicine gives me the framework and tools to walk that path—both personally and professionally. With over a decade of training and clinical experience, I’ve seen how acupuncture, herbal medicine, and mindful nutrition don’t just treat symptoms—they help reawaken the body’s natural rhythms. They help people return to a deeper relationship with their own healing intelligence.
Qi (pronounced “chee”) is our life force. It flows through the body, the breath, the emotions, and the environment. It moves through meridians like rivers through the land. It animates all things—our dreams, digestion, vitality, and voice. But Qi isn’t random. It’s responsive. It goes where our attention goes—and where my needles take it.
That’s why I believe:
“Intention is one of the most powerful forms of medicine.”
In Chinese medicine and Taoist philosophy, everything is connected. What we think, eat, say, and feel are not separate from our health—they are our health. When we live on autopilot, our Qi becomes scattered, stagnated, or depleted. But when we live intentionally, with presence and purpose, our Qi moves clearly and nourishes us.
This way of living isn’t something we have to force or fabricate—it already exists all around us. Nature itself is intelligent. It holds rhythm, purpose, and adaptability without rushing or forcing. When we pay attention to the natural world, we begin to see: healing isn’t separate from life. It’s built into it.
“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself.”
—Laozi, Tao Te Ching
The Five Elements and the Rhythm of Healing
We see this intelligence expressed through the Five Elements—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—each representing a season, an organ system, an emotion, and a movement of Qi.
Spring’s Wood energy brings growth, direction, and vision.
Summer’s Fire offers warmth, joy, and connection.
Late summer’s Earth grounds us in nourishment and stability.
Autumn’s Metal teaches us to let go and refine.
Winter’s Water draws us inward to rest, replenish, and listen deeply.
These aren’t abstract concepts—they’re living patterns that Chinese medicine recognizes within us. When we live in rhythm with them—eating with the seasons, adjusting our pace, tending to our emotions, and learning to listen to what the body is asking for—we begin to live more intentionally.
We learn the language our body speaks. We soften into awareness instead of overriding it. We begin to move with the flow of nature, not against it. And that’s where healing and health is empowered and grows.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
—Laozi
Mindfulness in Practice
This is why mindfulness and Chinese medicine work so beautifully together.
Mindfulness is not just meditation—it’s moment-to-moment awareness. It’s noticing:
How am I breathing? What am I taking in—through food, thoughts, surroundings? What am I giving out? What is my body asking for right now?
It’s not about perfection, but about choosing presence—again and again. This quiet, steady return to intention is where healing and health thrive.
A Simple Practice: One Intentional Breath
Try this:
Wherever you are right now, pause.
Close your eyes.
Inhale gently through your nose, and imagine your breath traveling through your whole body—like mist nourishing the landscape of your being.
Exhale slowly through your mouth and imagine releasing anything you don’t need at this moment.
Ask yourself:
What is one small intention I want to carry into the rest of my day?
A quality like calm, kindness, focus, or trust?
Name it.
Feel it.
Let your Qi follow it.
“To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.”
—Laozi
The Path of IntentQi
This is the heart of my practice and Chinese medicine—healing with intention, living on purpose, and honoring the quiet intelligence within your body and the natural world around you.
If this way of healing speaks to you, I’d be honored to walk alongside you. Whether you're seeking relief, clarity, renewal, or reconnection, I’m here to support you in cultivating your own IntentQi—one mindful step at a time.
One needle at a time.
