For licensed acupuncturist Kym Kleiman, it’s not enough to merely cure the physical symptoms of a disease. Kym’s background in traditional Chinese medicine—an umbrella that includes holistic disciplines such as acupuncture, cupping, and Tui Na bodywork—has taught her the importance of healing’s spiritual element.
When asked to explain how her acupuncture treatments work, Kym sometimes calls upon the metaphor of a garden. Developed thousands of years ago by a Chinese civilization that took humans’ symmetry with nature for granted, acupuncture charts out the body’s most fertile points of energy. In this metaphor, the acupuncturist is the caretaker, or gardener; her bodywork techniques allow energy to flow more freely, and her needles gently aerate the back while intimidating crows that fly too near.
The second half of Liferoot Acupuncture and Healing Arts’ name also refers to the center’s massage-therapy services. Licensed therapists Marcella Arieta and Gunnar Carlson—like Kym, devotees of holistic healing—work to align the mind, body, and spirit with gentle strokes and firm pressures. Both therapists listen attentively to their clients before melting stress with hot stones or hurling knuckleballs at clumps of tension during sports massages. Fitness trainer Marisa Alcaraz stops sports injuries before they happen by holistically assessing each client’s condition and leading personal training sessions that match their abilities.
