About Dr. Cass
Dr. Cass Naumann, DACM, LAc is a Doctor of Chinese and Integrative Medicine, contemplative medicine scholar, and the creator of Contemplative Medicine™.
A 23rd generation Daoist priestess of the Longmen Dragon Gate lineage. A wisdom keeper of traditions East and West. A doctoral faculty member, international retreat leader, and author. A recording artist, pianist, vocalist, and vibrational sound healer whose music has appeared in film and television. A ketamine-assisted therapy facilitator, death doula, and ceremonialist of tea and incense trained in Kyoto, Japan.
Her private clientele includes leaders in business, public life, sport, and the arts — held with the discretion their trust requires.
Already whole. Already luminous. Already free.
This is what she helps others remember.
A life shaped by sound, movement & devotion
Dr. Cass was born and raised in Austin, Texas, taking to the arts of sound and movement from the age of 4 when her Nana gifted her a piano. After skipping 2nd to 4th grade and demonstrating unusual aptitude in academia and music, Cassie's father bought her a baby grand piano — turning his office into a music studio and the garage into a dance studio to further her passions.
She studied music and dance formally, composing and choreographing through university — majoring in music and minoring in theatre and dance at The University of Texas at Austin. Her compositions, voice, and likeness appeared in film, television, and commercial work — culminating in invitations to both the Sundance Film Festival and Cannes, where she appeared on screen in two films. In 2008 she released an eponymously titled record.
The Inner Turning
Cass's preference for being behind the scenes — creating rather than performing — was encouraged by her soul-friend George Reiff, a beloved music producer and bassist whose credits spanned the Dixie Chicks, Joe Walsh, and Jakob Dylan. He opened her world to Qigong, Chinese medicine, Buddhism, Daoism, and music as a spiritual practice. Sitting in on world-class recording sessions deepened her capacity to attune to the subtle realms of vibration — a gift that would become central to her clinical work.
It was in George's studio that she first met Ian Moore — a musician and philosopher whose bass player was George himself. That friendship seeded what would become a decade of co-founding and co-facilitating the Ian Moore Songwriting Workshops — annual contemplative creative retreats where music, nature, and inner life converge.
Her affinity for the healing arts of sound and movement led inevitably toward energy medicine, vibrational healing, and herbal plant medicine. During these years Cass lived many lives within one lifetime — mother, yoga teacher, jazz singer, Army wife through two deployments with an infant, and finally death doula to her dearest friend George, who passed of lung cancer in 2017.
She had the great honor of walking him home during the years she was completing her Doctorate in Chinese medicine — a degree she dedicated in his honor.
During these years, something shifted that could only be called an awakening..
The Lineage Path
Throughout this transition, Cass traveled to Kyoto, Japan for doctoral clinical rotations — studying Japanese acupuncture techniques, tea and incense ceremony, and finding herself meditating for hours each day in a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple, seeking answers to the eternal questions.
She spent many years devoted to the Zen tradition. Then the Daoist gate opened.
Through Parting Clouds — a QuanZhen Longmen, Complete Reality Dragon Gate lineage — she received ordination as a 23rd generation Daoist priestess. Her Daoist name is 金宗興 Jin Zong Xing. She carries the Zhu You transmission — a rare healing modality within the tradition working through incantation, talisman, and the imbuement of love-light.
Her contemplative formation continues through active study in Tibetan, Dzogchen, and Mahamudra, interfaith ministry, and psychedelic integration work across traditions. She is an initiated Lakota pipe carrier, a death doula trained through the Love Serve Remember Foundation under Ram Dass's lineage, and a Rinzai Zen Buddhist nun at the Ithaca Zen Center — where she directs the zendo and offers acupuncture within the contemplative community.
Wherever she journeys, she can be found working with the elements, the land, and the living field of nature — priestess, medicine woman, and keeper of the threshold.
Post graduate Clinical Training & Specialization
Veterans Administration (VA) - one year of clinical service; participant in federal pilot program integrating acupuncture into veteran care for pain management
GLO-IMPACT Scholar, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Inaugural Global Cohort 2026—
Oncology Acupuncture, IMPACT ProtocolNADA Detox Certified — auricular acupuncture for stress, nervous system regulation, and addiction support
Trauma Treatment with Acupuncture & Herbs — three-year apprenticeship and Teaching Assistant under Dr. William Morris
Mei Zen Cosmetic Acupuncture — advanced certification and clinical application
Doctoral Clinical Rotations — Emperor's College, Kyoto, Japan: Pediatrics, Oncology, Cosmetic Acupuncture & Moxibustion
Shakuju Therapy — three advanced seminars under Shoji Kobayashi Sensei
Jeffrey Yuen Seminars — shamanism and qigong
Integral Theory and Shadow Work Resolution — Lumina Process Coach, Newfield Network
Certified Trauma + Somatics Practitioner
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Facilitator — Blossom Ketamine, Integrative Psychiatry Austin
Death Doula Training — Love Serve Remember Foundation, Maui (under Ram Dass)
Daoist Death Medicine — certifying practitioner
Tibetan Dzogchen & Mahamudra — active study with Dustin DiPerna and John Churchill
23rd generation QuanZhen Longmen Daoist priestess — Daoist Medicine & Zhu You transmission
Formal Education
Licensure & Core Certifications
Doctor of Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine, DACM — AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine
Doctoral Honors Concentration — Qigong and the Effects of Vibrational Healing
Doctoral Clinical Rotations — Emperor's College, Kyoto, Japan
Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, MAOM — AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine
Diplomate of Oriental Medicine — NCCAOM
Licensed Acupuncturist — State of Texas
Board-Certified Acupuncturist and Herbalist — NCCAOM
Bachelor of Music — University of Texas at Austin
Medical Qigong Master Certification — AOBTA-CP, The Healing Tao Institute
Reiki Master Teacher — 7th generation Usui lineage; authorized to attune and certify students through all levels including Master Teacher
200-Hour Registered Yoga Teacher — Yoga Alliance
Co-facilitator, Exceptional Women Alliance — integrative wellness retreats for senior executives and women leaders · 2025–present
Rinzai Zen Buddhist Nun — Ithaca Zen Center
Initiated Lakota Pipe Carrier
“Doctor Cass” - Dr. Cass Naumann, DACM, LAc., AOBTA-CP, 200RYT
Doctor of Chinese and Integrative Medicine
Licensed and Board-Certified Acupuncturist and Herbalist
23rd generation ordained Daoist priestess, QuanZhen Longmen — Complete Reality Dragon Gate lineage · Daoist name: 金宗興 Jin Zong Xing · Zhu You transmission
Medical Qigong Master Teacher — full transmission authority through all levels
Reiki Master Teacher — 7th generation Usui lineage — authorized to train and certify other teachers
Doctoral honors concentration — Qigong and the Effects of Vibrational Healing
Ceremonialist of tea and incense — trained in Kyoto, Japan
Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Facilitator — Blossom Ketamine, Integrative Psychiatry Austin
Death Doula — Love Serve Remember Foundation under Ram Dass
· Daoist Death Medicine certifying practitionerRinzai Zen Buddhist Nun — Ithaca Zen Center ·
Initiated Lakota pipe carrier
Guest Faculty, Doctoral Program — YoSan University
Faculty, Medical Qigong and Daoist Medicine — AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine, 2018–2024
Author — Rituals for Remembrance · forthcoming
“Cass is an extraordinary human being and has immense potential as a doctor, teacher and model of healing and transformation. Her interests and biases regarding the clinical relevance of the Three Treasures – Jing/Body, Qi/HeartMind, Shen/Spirit are extremely rich and I can imagine how this work will effect the trajectory of her career in very positive ways and even influence “The Medicine”. From my perspective, the Medicine that we all revere so deeply has depreciated some due to the nature of Western Culture, with a loss of The Root. Cass’ work is all about that root. It was a pleasure and an honor to have the opportunity to work with her.
”
“My most gifted student — with a sincere devotion to serving her patients and carrying the traditions of Qigong and Medical Qigong to the highest levels.
”
The Unseen Work
Dr. Cass brings to her practice gifts that cannot be certified or credentialed — developed through decades of contemplative cultivation, lineage transmission, and clinical immersion in the subtle realms.
These include clairvoyant perception, direct knowing, telepathic sensitivity, and the capacity for remote viewing — gifts that inform her clinical work across every modality and are offered explicitly in Intuitive Field Reading sessions and the deeper containers of her practice.
In ancient wisdom traditions, these capacities are not extraordinary. They are the natural fruit of sustained cultivation — what emerges when the practitioner refines herself over time. They are offered in service of the work, held with discretion, and never performed.
Vision
Rooted in Ancient lineages
Opening the gates of transmission
For healing and transformation
via dual cultivation of
the heart- consciousness into wisdom and compassion
the body-form into a refined manifestation of Qi
to guide the sincere one to the return to Source
I hope to be a multi-dimensional presence holding sacred space for others to traverse multiple planes of existence into calm abiding and trust of their inner wisdom, inner teacher, inner healer.
The true medicine is that of the heart — beyond knowledge, beyond wisdom, into the embodiment of the teachings in action. Where presence itself becomes the medicine. This is my aspiration.
Already whole. Already luminous. Already free.
Love,
Cass
A Blessing
May the thoughts of our minds
The words from our lips
The meditations of our hearts
And the actions that pour out;
May they each be a blessing,
To ourselves and to each other.
And may we each come to know
Our radiant true nature:
Boundless peace.
Boundless love.
