Meet our team

My journey into being a healer started from the time I can remember, as a 5 year old giving my large extended family (uncles, aunts, brother, mom and grandmother) back massages after long days of work. Having a natural feel for doing bodywork, they gave me the name of "yahk-sohn", which means "medicine hands" in Korean. My great-grandmother was a traditional herbalist who found a "100 year old" wild ginseng root in the mountains of our island in Korea. It didn't cross my mind that I would be doing healing work like her, until later on when I took a year off of college to do a 'walk-about' in the Pacific Islands and Australia. There I met amazing healers who initiated me on a path in healing work. One of them a Fijian medicine man, Watisoni Vuniivi inspired me through his connection with nature and spirit. He told me that "the heart is the compass of the soul" and I had to straighten out my own heart first in the world. So, I set out to do this. 

When I came back from traveling, I had a burning desire to visit all of the active volcanoes in the world. I had already climbed a few of these in Greece and Italy and was drawn to the Big Island of Hawaii. As fortune would have it, I met my first teachers in Chinese medicine there. One of them Angela Longo had studied with Dr. Lam Kong, a Cantonese herbalist before acupuncture was even legal in the states. I attended her school there for a year, studying Dr. Kong's family herbal recipes before moving later to the San Francisco Bay area to continue my studies and complete my degree in the 4 year graduate program at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in SF.   Before i moved back to the mainland, I studied with several life-long teachers in Hawaii, including Ed Kapua Ching, Dane Silva and David Bruce Leonard who continue to guide me. Their practice integrates Hawaiian Lomi Lomi (bodywork), L'au Lapa'au (herbalism), Ho'opono pono (correcting one's relations) and traditional Chinese medicine practices. Scott Miller and Glen Swartwout in Hilo were also very generous to let me apprentice with them in their clinics for a couple years at this time.

When I moved to the SF Bay area, a friend of mine introduced me to Fu Yu-Tai, a renowned tui-na (traditional Chinese bodywork) practitioner in the Outer Richmond of the city. I became his first student, spending every Saturday from 8 am - 8 pm for a year, studying under him, working with his patients. At the same time, I got a job working at Mayway, the largest Chinese herbal company in the country. Mama Lau had become famous in Chinatown a couple decades back selling every traditional herb under the sun. She even started a restaurant cooking traditional herbal soups and dishes next door to their herb shop. What I learned there, by the time they moved to Oakland, was invaluable. I stayed there for 7 years, and it got me through graduate school.  

Since acupuncture licensure, I've taught dozens of graduate courses at three acupuncture colleges for a decade and ran a program to help hundreds of graduates pass their state and national licensure board exams. I also sat on the board of the California State Oriental Medical Association for 5 years, working with others in guiding policy and continuing education for our profession. However, the thing I am most proud of was teaching 3 years at Contra Costa College, a community college, where the academic dean, Susan Lee, now a family friend helped me set up a program for Preventative Health using the principles of traditional Chinese medicine. We saw people who reversed major alcohol and smoking addiction, chronic pain, blood sugar and hypertension issues and anxiety and depression all from utilizing the eight branches of Chinese medicine in their everyday lives. This was nothing short of miraculous in many cases and it still inspires me to this very day in how we can share this.  

My passions include creating community through the art of tea, which I owe a debt of gratitude to my late-tea teacher Winnie Yu, who was one of the first people to bring artisanal tea to the west. She taught me to be generous and authentic and that tea like so many things, can bring us all together and dissolve differences. I continue to refine my clinical practice through ongoing studies with the orthopedic expert Alon Marcus, and Lonny Jarrett - a pioneer in integral medicine.   Both of them have been awe-inspiring mentors, and have been great friends on this amazing journey. My commitment is in translating the depth of all of these teachers into our life practices and look forward to working with you.  

Thank you.

- John 

"Gentle, Precise and Intuitive"

Mariko mentions, if she had a superpower, it would be the ability of her hands to "listen and sense deep into the body, and identify areas of dysregulation, pain, or blockage." She attributes this skill to her many years of dancing and being attuned to her own body. She values the process of authentically building trust with her patients, which is key in finding the root cause of many issues. “Initially, many people come in for physical pain,” she says, “but once the pain is alleviated, we begin to peel back layers of their ongoing chronic conditions. They don’t realize that they can get help, for example, for their chronic shoulder injury, or reduce their hot flashes. They don’t need to just accept and endure their suffering.”

“Needles are an energetic extension of my fingers”

As a child, Mariko was surrounded by artists, activists, and philosophers in her family and community in the Mission District of San Francisco. Her mother is a well-known koto and experimental music artist. Mariko has been a dancer and performer for as long as she can remember, with training in ballet, modern, and Afro-diasporic styles such as samba, salsa, hip hop and house. Early on, her grandfather was influential in sparking her interest and desire to understand the “human condition,” as well as some of the toughest existential questions of life - "how did life begin, how far does the universe expand, how does one truly live, and what can we learn from death?" This set the stage for Mariko’s pursuits in philosophy, humanity, spirituality, nature, food and energy cultivation, which eventually led to her discovery of Chinese medicine - a place she felt “all elements of her interests came together."

Mariko's family name Masaoka comes from "30 unbroken generations of Shinto priests in Japan." During a recent trip, she visited the town of Matsuyama where she met with descendants of her name. From this deep-rooted familial connection to Shintoism, in addition to childhood filled with practices such as koto, shiatsu and traditional cooking, Mariko developed an innate depth in her spirituality and connection to nature.

“Chinese medicine is life and I wanted to live in my work”

In her 20’s, Mariko lived in New York City to be closer to her mother’s family. Here, she completed a Master of Arts at NYU, worked in media arts, and studied Tai Qi Chen with Sifu Xiuming Jin in Columbus Park at the center of Chinatown, Manhattan. This is initially where Mariko began cultivating Qi with intention, and became further immersed in Chinese culture and health practices. It was at this stage of life, she finally felt ready to commit to the 5-year intensive academic journey required to practice Chinese Medicine. Living the medicine’s principles was precisely how she wanted to live hers - "in accordance with the seasons and cycles, with nourishing medicinal foods and herbs, caring for the body-mind-spirit in its entirety, while also sharing this well being with others."

I firmly believe that the path to healing and growth lies in compassionately facing those areas of our lives that, up to now, have caused us the greatest discomfort. Uncovering insights from experiences that have been painful, frightening, or overwhelming can help guide us toward the life we most deeply desire.

The joy, relief, and fulfillment that come from personal growth and healing are not tied to a specific destination—they are part of the journey itself. I know this because I’ve experienced it in my own life, seen it in my clients’ lives, and witnessed it in my peers.

You, too, have the potential to embrace this journey. My role is simply to guide you on your path, helping you confront and address the sources of pain in your life. I’m here to facilitate a space where every part of you feels accepted and welcome.

My sincerest hope is that, with time, you will cultivate the same welcoming space of acceptance within yourself.

Whether you’re new to personal growth or have been on this journey for years, there’s always a new horizon to explore and a deeper level of healing to reach.

Wherever you’re starting, your next step awaits.