My work in this space is to co-create a world with you to support each person’s journey to hold greater awareness of their own capacity for ease, inner peace, and spaciousness.
About Michele
Hi I am Michele. I’m an herbalist, master of medical qi gong, Master of public health, a Daoist priest and the creator of Inner Radiance Institute. I am also a mom, an inner alchemist, and an infinite being. I opened my practice as an herbalist in October of 2004. I have been working as an herbalist for nearly 18 years, the past 10 of which have been operating 4 Branches Chinese Medicine Center with my husband and fellow practitioner of Chinese medicine and inner alchemy, Andres. My conceptualization of my role expanded beyond herbalist to practitioner of Chinese medicine as I studied qi gong, inner alchemy, medical qi gong and Daoist mysticism. Each of these not only powerfully expanded (and continues to expand) how I understand myself and the process of healing, but also how I continue to nurture and tend my own inner sanctuary.
In October of 2021, I was ordained as a Daoist priest, 82nd generation Highest Purity sect and 66th generation Celestial Masters sect. I remain a Disciple of the Dragon Heart Temple. Becoming ordained was the culmination of a time, study, and commitment over a period of many years and is a journey Andres and I took together. It was also just another step in understanding my own energy body, the world of spirit/formless, and the natural world. It is not a religion or a dogma for me, but rather another layer in the foundation of spiritual practices and wisdom of Chinese medicine that guides me in the quiet still moments when the world falls away. It has value because it helped me deepen relationship with my inner home.
Healing myself has been a motivator and an accelerator that has sent me inward to figure out how to transform pain into beauty, peace. In Inner Radiance Institute, I seek to create what I longed for on my own journey. And that is a sacred container that honors each person’s body wisdom and inner guidance and acknowledges and supports each of us as unique, multidimensional, magical beings. And even more importantly the tools and resources of a traditional healing system that reflects the innate intelligence of the natural world and of our own bodies and spirits. I have a lifelong love of Chinese energetic and herbal medicine and its elegant practicality. Chinese energetic medicine is a spiritual science that provided a well-articulated map of human consciousness that helps me illuminate my own inner dimensions, just as herbs and plants support my physical body. My work has brought and continues to bring me the honor and privilege of accompanying others in creating and nurturing their own inner sanctuaries with both Chinese energetic medicine and herbal medicine.
I have had the gift of studying with many brilliant and skillful teachers of herbal medicine, Chinese medicine, Chinese energetic medicine, Inner alchemy, and Taoist mysticism. My most profound teacher and partner in all of these areas and in life was and continues to be my husband Andres. He died in June of 2022, but he lives on through me and in everything I do. My other most beloved and profound of teachers is my son, Gabriel. Every single day he not only shows me and gives me opportunity to practice these skills in my daily life but also reminds me why this body of knowledge is so important.
I also extend heartfelt acknowledgement and appreciation to Michael Winn, Wendy Lang, Dr. Laura Johnson McCreary, Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson, Michael and Leslie Tierra, Miles Coleman, Sarah Thomas, and Jeffrey Yuen for their wisdom, ability, and willingness to share the knowledge that I consider to be the foundation of the work I do. I consider it to be my reciprocal gift to integrate, digest and share what I received. I also wish to reflect the other great gift for me in my journey, which has been the courageous and inspiring individuals who have shared their own stories, either in memoirs or in my treatment room, because these individual stories have also been a light that has fed my courage, shown me what is possible, and encouraged me to find my own voice and path forward.
Here are the key values that guide me:
- We can be motivated and driven by our joy and highest purpose
- Our own unique way of being of service to the Earth and each other is shown to us by our passions, our excitement, and our joy
- We have the power to recreate our own inner worlds
- Our inner world reflects and mirrors how we experience the outer world
- Pain can be a powerful motivating force to transform and help us inhabit the peace, calm, stillness, and light of our inner sanctuary. We can turn pain into beauty.
- The issues, emotions, and situations we perceive as blocks can be transmuted into life force energy that serves and nourishes us
- Our ability to grow and evolve ourselves is what allows us to flow with the life force
- We do not have to have deep pain and suffering to grow and evolve but if we do, that pain and has the incredible potential to be reformed into enormous beauty and service to the Earth and to others
- We are resilient beings that are always seeking creative and innovative ways to express our soul’s highest purpose
- Our virtue – defined as our wisdom, inner peace, truthfulness, integrity, loving kindness, and our cohesive vision – is our most powerful protection and strength
- Transforming yourself requires a commitment, daily nourishing attention, and a willingness to change and grow
- Having a deeper understanding and view of the big picture of our own inner roadmap, as well as specific tools makes the process of transformation easier, more joyful, and sustainable
- We are all magical beings who are a part of and not separate from the Divine loving intelligence of the life force energy. Who each of us are is not something that is broken or needs to be fixed but is an expression of the Divine intelligence of the life force energy.
- We have the power to heal ourselves and our ancestral lines and to shape the collective qi field with our own healing and transformation