Ara Katz, L.Ac.
Acupuncture and Traditional East Asian Bodywork
After spending years struggling with poor digestion, inflammation, chronic pain, and fatigue, I realized my mother was right and I should have become a doctor. I had been in a career unrelated to the health field, but I was spending most of my free time learning about the body to unravel my health issues. And the more I learned about new research on the gut-brain connection of our microbiome, new understandings of how our fascia connects us to ourselves, the effects of light, music, and prayer on cell function and signaling and even DNA structure, the more reverence I felt for our bodies and their relationship to our environment.
This reverence drove me to learn more and as fate would have it, I was hit by a car in a high-speed chase while riding my bike. The care I received from two acupuncturists then led me down a path to study Traditional East Asian Medicine. Through them, I experienced a medicine that used touch, connection, and a belief in the body’s own natural capacity to heal that was deeply inspiring. It also pointed to a mind-body-spirit-nature lens to view illness, health, and recovery that felt deeply true. I decided then that I needed a career change and wanted to study Acupuncture and Traditional East Asian Medicine.
While contemplating this career change, I read about the roots of acupuncture in the United States during the ‘70s and felt moved by the Young Lords and the Lincoln Detox Center in the Bronx and Miriam Lee in California taking matters into their own hands to provide accessible healthcare. As a child of immigrant parents who grew up without health insurance and as an adult who can see how the structure of our current healthcare system and its exorbitant costs are not sustainable, I was doubly motivated to pursue a people’s medicine that is accessible to all.
In an age where the dominant culture pushes us towards increasing passivity, consumption, and loneliness, I want to be a part of an antidote culture that centers community care and agency over our lives and our health. I am grateful to be a part of White Phoenix where I can offer acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, and herbal medicine as part of a Holistic approach to care.