What We Practice
Seitai Shinpo
Seitai Shinpo (say-tie shin-poh) means “correct body needle method.” It is a style of Japanese structural acupuncture developed by Dr. Daiichi Sorimachi, and it is the heart of what we both do. We learned it through a four-year apprenticeship with Dr. Chieko Maekawa, and Jason also studied with Dr. Sorimachi in Japan. Our teachers →
The Idea
Finding Your Center
Many things can pull us away from our center. We all tend to favor one side, from sitting in the car to taking the first step of the day, and over time muscles and fascia pull the body off balance. Stress does the same, keeping us braced in fight-or-flight and making it harder to rest, digest, sleep, and repair. That’s why symptoms often show up far from their cause. Our assessment compares the height of your hips and shoulders, and we treat the long muscles running down both sides of the back, not just where it hurts, using acupuncture and direct moxa to help restore balance, physically and in the nervous system. Every condition is different, and chronic ones usually take longer to respond, but our goal is always the same: to help the body return to its center.
Reading the Body
The Patterns
We begin with you standing while we look from behind. Two things guide us most:
- The primary bias: which hip sits higher.
- The secondary bias: which shoulder blade sits lower, judged by the bottom tip of each shoulder blade.
Together they form a pattern, named by the higher hip first and the lower shoulder blade second. If your right hip is higher and your right shoulder blade is lower, that is a right–right pattern. A higher left hip with a lower right shoulder blade is left–right.
Hips and shoulders both shift
Only one shifts
Seen from behind. The tilts are exaggerated to show the idea; in real life they are usually subtle.
Dr. Sorimachi taught that the more contracted side may crowd the organs on that side and reduce their nerve and blood supply, and that as the body returns toward its center, the organs have more room to do their work. This is not an established idea in Western medicine, but it is how our tradition sees the body, and it guides where we place each needle.
We don’t force anything. Becoming more even is often good, but it isn’t the goal in itself. Some people do best close to where they already are, and the body usually knows best.
More Than Posture
What “Correct” Means
In Seitai Shinpo, “correct” reaches beyond how the body is aligned. We see the body as naturally self-healing when it has what it needs. Our role is to help clear what is in the way.
Breath
Everything in nature has its own rhythm, and so do we. When we breathe deeply, the diaphragm moves down as we inhale, gently pressing on the organs below so the belly softens outward, and the breath leaves slow and easy, with the jaw relaxed. At peace, the breath does this on its own, rising and falling like waves rolling onto the shore.
Food
What we eat matters, and so does how and when. Chew until your food is almost liquid (the stomach has no teeth), aim for five colors on your plate, stop at about 80% full, and take a short walk after eating. Go to bed a little hungry and you wake up hungry and ready.
Movement
Dr. Hashimoto, Dr. Sorimachi’s teacher, taught that the body lets go most easily when we move toward what feels comfortable, not into what hurts. Moving gently in the direction of ease allows the tight side to release on its own. Day to day, movement that is varied and unhurried, done with ease rather than strain, helps keep the body from settling into one side.
Thought
We often live in the world of our thoughts, and they work like a pair of colored glasses. How we think shapes how we feel, and how we feel shapes our health. Choosing gratitude and love, and looking past shortcomings to see the good, isn’t easy at first, but over time it brings a sense of peace. Asking “Why am I so lucky?” feels very different from asking “Why am I so unlucky?”
Connection
Jason once asked a Persian patient why so many people he knew lived such long lives. Was it the food? “Partly,” he said, “but mostly it’s that we feel deeply connected. Family and friends are a big part of our lives, and when our hearts feel connected, they are at peace.” Feeling supported, valued, and able to be of service matters to health more than most people expect.
Every Treatment
What We Aim For
- Ease the tension in muscles and soft tissue that pulls the body’s structure off its center.
- Use moxa to support the body’s own natural defenses.
- Help the nervous system shift from “fight or flight” toward “rest and repair.”
- Ease pain and numbness.
- Support healthy circulation of blood and lymph.
- Help the organ systems settle back into balance.
These are the aims of every Seitai Shinpo treatment. Results vary from person to person.
In the Treatment Room
Assess, Treat, Reassess
Looking at Your Pattern
Standing, we compare your hips and shoulder blades. We also watch how you bend forward, back, and to each side, and, seated, how easily each knee lifts toward your chest.
Needles & Moxa
Most of the work is in the long muscles running down either side of the back, a few inches out from the center, chosen according to your pattern. You may feel a small twitch as a muscle lets go: strongly for some people, barely for others. Some bodies respond best to deeper work, others to lighter needles left in place, so we start in the middle and adjust. Moxa adds deep, soothing warmth.
Looking Again
Afterward we check your pattern and movement again. Often there is a visible change. We are careful not to shift the body too far in one visit: too much change at once can bring discomfort, sometimes on the opposite side.
Honestly
What We Commonly See
When It’s Helping
If the pain eases even a little after the first or second visit, a healing pattern usually follows: with each visit the discomfort keeps decreasing and comes back less often. This can happen quickly or slowly, depending on how severe the condition is, your overall body type, and how well you respond to treatment.
When It Isn’t
We can help many people, but not everyone. We reassess after every visit, and you are always free to choose: only continue if you feel it is of benefit. If things aren’t changing, we’ll tell you honestly. There are many other approaches to care, and we’re happy to talk them through with you.
After Your Visit
What to Expect
Starting Light
We begin on the lighter side, because a treatment that is too strong can’t be taken back. So there may be no change after the first visit, and that’s fine. What matters most is that you are not more sore. If nothing has changed but nothing is worse, we continue, and change often shows up after the second visit.
Settling In
As muscles release, the body keeps adjusting after you leave. Occasionally there is a little more discomfort the next day. It is usually mild and passes within the day.
Watching the Pattern
Notice how long the relief lasts and how strong the pain is when it returns. That tells us more than how you feel walking out the door.
When It Takes Longer
If there is still no change after three visits, it is a more difficult case, and we can’t promise relief. Still, some people who enjoy the treatments and keep coming begin to notice, somewhere around the fifth to eighth visit, that the pain has faded. When we ask about it, they stop, check, and say, “Wait, where did it go?” Sometimes pain seems to be held in the mind as well as the body, and it takes a while to let go.
One Visit at a Time
When to Come Again
There are no packages. We usually recommend weekly visits until the pain stays away for a whole week, then every two weeks until it stays away for two, then every three weeks. From there, monthly visits for maintenance, as needed or as you like. If the pain returns sooner than expected, come back sooner.
Ready to Begin?
Schedule by Phone or Text
Call or text either of us, and we’ll find a time that works.
New patient? Download the intake forms (PDF)
Print them and bring them to your first visit.