Glossary

The main branches of Chinese Medicine are acupuncture + moxibustion, herbal medicine, medical massage, and Medical Qigong along with meditation,
diet (food as medicine), movement (Qigong and Tai chi), and cosmology (living in accord with nature.)

The following are more in-depth descriptions of each of these modalities.

Acupuncture - Acupuncture is the insertion of micro-fine needles into the body to facilitate a healing response.  From a Chinese Medical perspective the needles are inserted into specific points that have access to various vectors of the body.  These can include basic skin and muscle stimulation, organ response, emotional reaction or as deep as the constitutional (genetic) level of being. These locations act both locally and globally to influence and regulate a wide-range of bio-mechanical and energetic stimulus and functionality.

From a biomedical perspective, as these micro-fine needles are inserted, the body perceives as if it has been wounded.  It then proceeds to instigate a healing response by activating the body’s nervous system, circulatory system, which regulates the production, secretion and transportation of various molecules, including endorphins, neurotransmitters and hormones. By regulating your body’s physiological functions, a state of homeostasis is restored within the body.

The intent of acupuncture is first to promote health and alleviate pain and suffering, and second to provide an effective method whereby disease can be prevented. Cass is trained in Classical, Five Element, Traditional, Japanese, Cosmetic, and Esoteric styles of acupuncture. This includes both insertion and non-insertion techniques. Doctor Cass uses single use sterilized stainless steel needles. Gold needles are available to those who are sensitive. 

Chinese Herbal Medicine - Herbal medicine is an integral part of Chinese medicine and often used in conjunction with acupuncture to restore balance. There are hundreds of medicinal substances- primarily plants but some animal products and minerals- classified by their actions in the body. Different parts of the plants: leaves, roots, stems, flowers, and seed are combined in formulas and given as teas, capsules, tinctures, or powders. The use of herbs with a balanced diet can often be as effective as pharmaceuticals to treat ailments..

Dr. Cass has post graduate training in nutrition, food as medicine, ordering and interpreting labs via functional medicine and supplementing deficiencies. Herbal prescriptions can be drop shipped to your house.  Accounts with Fullscript, Emerson, Wellevate, Crane Herbs, Kamwo, Classical Pearls, Cellcore

Coaching is an exquisitely beautiful leaning into life that happens when we are truly present and awake to the fullness and richness that exists in each and every moment in time. Coaching invites us to be ambitious, not in the sense of pure attainment of a specific goal, but rather, ambitious in the sense of breaking beyond what we see as possible. Daring to truly dream and encouraging us to take a stand for a greater way of inhabiting the earth, where we can experience new ways to collaborate and deeper levels of care, kindness, compassion, and goodness.

Cupping - How Does It Work? Several theories are used to explain how cupping therapy can bring relief, including:

Gate Control Theory of Pain This theory suggests that cupping therapy increases the frequency of pain impulses. The intense, prolonged stimulation causes small and large nerve fibers to counteract each other. This may help reduce the sensation of pain.4

Conditioned pain modulation: This concept, also called diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNICs), is based on the idea that one type of pain can mask another. An area of discomfort may experience relief as pressure or pain is applied to another area of the body.

Reflex zone theory: This theory, often referred to as reflexology, claims that body organs are linked by interactions between nerves, muscles, and chemicals. A problem in one organ limits the flow of blood and other fluids near that organ. Other parts of the body may show uncomfortable symptoms as a result. Cupping therapy may stimulate skin nerve receptors and improve blood flow through nerve connections to the affected body part.

Daoist Medicine & Celestial Medicine (Zhu You/Tian Yi)

Daoism offers a variety of methods and means toward health and happiness.  It is a rich tradition, one native to China which spans millennia.  Over the course of time various practices have been incorporated into the Daoist experience.  Some of these are well known in the west, like qigong, taiji, and other martial arts forms.  There are also the various meditation techniques that are specifically Daoist.  In addition to these there are many other ways of being that exemplify Daoist ideology, through the arts, music, etc. The medicine practices inlcude Talismans, Incantations, and the  Embuement of Love-Light.

I am a 23rd generation ordained priest in the Longmen sect of Quanzhen Daoism. My Daoist family is Parting Clouds.

I’d be honored to share more about this beautiful tradition and community with you.

Dietary Therapy - FOOD AS MEDICINE

 “He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skills of the physician.”- Chinese Proverb. Foods and herbs have a particular taste and tend to have speicifc properties that can treat people with certain ailments. All five flavors are included: pungent, sour, bitter, sweet, and salty. Each flavor will support an organ system as will varied temperatures and directions (hot, warm, cool, cold- outward, upward, downward, inward.) In modern times with teh accesibity we have- eating seasonally, locally, organically, and according to your elemental type will likely be encouraged.

Energy Medicine - Energy is your body's magic! It is your life force. You keep your energy healthy and it keeps you healthy. If you are sick or sad, shifting your energies feels good. When you care for these invisible energies, it makes your heart sing and your cells happy!

Conventional medicine, at its foundation, focuses on the biochemistry of cells, tissue, and organs. Energy Medicine, at its foundation, focuses on the energy fields of the body that organize and control the growth and repair of cells, tissue, and organs. Changing impaired energy patterns may be the most efficient, least invasive way to improve the vitality of organs, cells, and psyche.

Gua Sha is done by placing a salve on the skin to act as a lubricant, the practitioner will then take a tool of some kind, usually with a smooth rounded and gently scrape the skin in the area of the injury or problem to disperse the stagnation of Qi and blood to promote healthy circulation. Chinese medical practitioners will use Gua Sha to treat problems such as acute and chronic pain, strains, injuries, asthma, bronchitis, colds, flu, fever, fibromyalgia, muscle spasms and many other problems. 

KETAMINE /Psychedelic Guide and Integration - At Blossom via Integrative Psychiatry Austin I can serve as your ketamine guide. I provide trauma informed care before, during, and after your journey holding safe sacred space while you integrate these paradigm shifting experiences. 

Please message me to learn more.

https://integrativepsychiatryaustin.com/physician-bio

https://www.blossomketamine.com/ketamine-healing

Medical Qigong - an ancient form of Chinese energetic medicine:

Healing occurs through balancing qi or electromagnetic energy which surrounds and pervades all living creatures.Disruptions in the electromagnetic energy of the body occur throughout our lifetime as a result of poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, injuries, surgery, suppression of emotions, and aging. The goal of qigong is to correct these bio-energetic imbalances and blockages. This enables the body to strengthen and regulate the internal organs, the nervous system and the immune system, relieve pain, regulate hormones, and strengthen and release deep-seated emotions and stress.Medical qigong therapy consists of treatment to regulate your qi. During the treatment you will be given qigong prescriptions to assist in your ongoing healing. Tailored  specifically to your needs. Medical qigong exercises use physical movement, breathing methods and mental intention to correct and restore the function in the body.

Dr. Cass' Doctoral honors concentration was on Qigong and the effects of vibrational healing. This area of medicine is her specialty. She personally studied under Dr.Roger Jahnke and is a longtime student of Jampa Stewart of the Healing Tao Institute.

Meditation - a longtime yogini (since 19 y.o.), raised in the practices of contemplative Christian mystics (including seminary - MARS- Master of Arts in Religious Studies and is an ordained minister); Cass also enjoys monthly inipi ceremonies (sweat lodge) with the Lakota people and chanting at the local Nyingma Tibetan Buddhist temple. Previously a devout Zen Buddhist practitioner, Cass is now an ordained Quanzen Longmen Daoist priest.

Able to bridge gaps from many walks of life and speak the language of many spiritual paths, she has studied altered states of consciousness via meditation, the effects of prayer, and the biology of belief. What she finds as the common thread at the heart of all of the teachings: LOVE. 

Our inner healer. Our connection to Source. The interconnectedness and interdependence of us all.

MOXIBUSTION

Moxibustion is an indirect warming technique use to stimulate acupuncture points and promote temperature balance in the body. Moxa, as it is frequently referred to, is one of the few treatments used with the ability to tonify the body. The use of heat from a burning cone or stick (made dried mugwort) warms the skin at an acupuncture point to stimulate the flow of qi.

Another form is the use of both an acupuncture needle and moxa that is wrapped around the needle and ignited. Acu-Moxa therapy has a long history of practice.

Qigong

Qigong is a combination of "Qi" (life-force, bioenergy, creativity, consciousness) and "gong" (cultivation or practice over time). It is a self-initiated health and wellness practice consisting of a combination of movement, meditation, and breathing. Benefits of Qigong practice include optimizing the delivery of oxygen and nutrition to the tissues, increasing the efficiency of cellular metabolism, altering neurochemistry towards healing, managing pain and mood, reducing heart rate and blood pressure, facilitating relaxation and mental focus, and the expansion of consciousness. It is excellent for stress reduction, prevention of illness, dealing with chronic illness, healthy and active aging, longevity, vitality, and wellbeing

Reiki

Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by means of touch and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. A treatment feels like a wonderful glowing radiance that flows through and around you. Reiki treats the whole person including body, emotions, mind and spirit creating many beneficial effects that include relaxation and feelings of peace, security and wellbeing. Many have reported miraculous results. Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use. It has been effective in helping virtually every known illness and malady and always creates a beneficial effect. It also works in conjunction with all other medical or therapeutic techniques to relieve side effects and promote recovery.

Cass is a 7th generation Reiki Master/Teacher in the lineage of Master Usui. She received transmission and attunements from her herbal medicine and pulse diagnosis mentor, Dr. William Morris. Cass took the pilgrimage to Mt. Kurama, the birthplace of Reiki outside of Kyoto, Japan in 2017 and was moved by the gravity and power of this energy healing and honored to hold the torch of the lineage. Reiki can be offered as a stand alone treatment, an add-on or requested as distance healing.

Spiritual Direction

Spiritual Direction is a form of coaching that works specifically with individuals who are pulled to continually deepen their relationship to the sacred. For some this is through a specific religion or spiritual path, for others it is through the 'pathless path' involving an integration of many traditions. I do not advocate a specific spiritual path or ideology. Rather, meet you exactly where you are and support you to deepen a relationship to the sacred in a way that works for you. 

Spiritual Direction can be very supportive for spiritual seekers who outgrow their spiritual or religious community and the pain and confusion associated with that. It also supports you in working with the common pitfalls of meditation and the internal states (and shadows) that come with this territory. 

Furthermore, I embrace an Integral framework for Spiritual Direction. This includes an embrace of waking up(common to most spiritual traditions), growing up (developmental stages), showing up (being present in our lives without using spirituality as an escape), and cleaning up (shadow work). Doing so allows you to enhance your existing spiritual practice and life to become more whole, transformative, and alive.  

Spiritual Direction includes support through the sometimes painful and confusing transitions to the later stages of development. Although people entering these later stages are becoming more common, it is still a very rare phenomenon. As such, there is often little community support when this happens which can lead to new forms of anxiety and depression, all stemming from newly emerging forms of developmental isolation. I can help spot this and help you widen your context of understanding and discover tools to effectively deal with these unique and magnificent transitions.

For anyone who seeks a deepening of sacredness in their lives, Spiritual Direction is a non-dogmatic approach to living a fulfilling life of awakening and perpetual transformation.-This language is borrowed from Ken Wilbur, Kim Barta, Terri O’Fallon, and Alexander Love- whom I have been working with for years in shadow work, spiral dynamics, integral theory, and what he has coined developmental acupuncture. It is also informed by IFS-SE: internal family systems and somatic experiencing. EOS Wellness is his project and I want to acknowledge the brilliance, leadership, and influence this work has had on mine.

Tuina -

medical massage- Asian bodywork  can include soft tissue massage, manipulation, acupressure in conjunction with herbal compresses, ointments, liniments, and heat. The best part of the therapy is that it relaxes as well as energizes the person. The main benefit of tuina massage is that it focuses on the specific problem, whether it is an acute or a chronic pain associated with the joints, muscles or a skeletal system. This technique is very beneficial in reducing the pain of neck, shoulders, hips, back, arms, highs, legs and ankle disorders. It is a very effective therapy for arthritis, pain, sciatica and muscle spasms. Other benefits of this massage therapy include alleviation of stress related disorders like insomnia, constipation, headaches and other disorders related to digestive, respiratory and reproductive systems.

Vibrational Sound Healing -

MUSIC- VIBRATION- MANTRA- CHANTING- TONING: Gongs, Tuning forks, Tibetan bowls, Swarmandal, Shruti box, harmonium, koshi chimes, tingkshas, bells, keyboards, grand piano (in house), sacred chants, medicine songs, frame drum, rattles, and so much more...

Dr. Cass' Doctoral treatise was written on “Qigong and the effects of Vibrational Healing.” This is a passionate area of interest and study.

Chapter titles of this as of yet to be published paper are: Mystery Within Order; Reiki, Grace and Ling; Yuen Shen- original spirit;  Virtue, Li Shi-Zhen, 8 EV, and NeiDan;  The Return: I Ching and Dao; Vibration, Sound, Nada Brahma; Buddha Nature and Love; The sage as healer; Silence.

YOGA - Cass is a 200RYT, registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance. She has over 20 years of experience teaching yoga in private and group settings from local gyms, corporate offices, to 5 star around the globe. Her style is a blend of Hatha and Vinyasa flow originally influenced by the proper alignment teachings of Iyengar when she was a dance minor at The University of Texas where she studied and practiced both Pilates and Feldenkrais methods to strengthen and heal the physical body. Cass' teaching style is of both gentle grace and controlled strength focusing on meeting your body and spirit where you are at on any given day. She values deep stretching, a  long shavasana  and meditation at the end of each session and loves offering guided meditations and mantra; along with sound offerings.