ABOUT US | the-zen-of-healing

ABOUT

Dr. David A. Tucker, DACM, EAMP

I see myself as truly fortunate that what I'm most passionate about is also what I get to do for a living. This was not always the case. In the summer of 2001, I left the "dot-com" industry to go live at a Buddhist Zen Center. It was then and there that my life clicked into place. I discovered Zen meditation, martial arts, and Chinese Medicine - what would become the natural trifecta of my life to continually guide me.

I did my TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) training, receiving a Masters of Science in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from Bastyr University and my massage training through the Brenneke School of Massage. My clinical residency in Chinese Medicine was finished in Shanghai, China, completing shifts in internal medicine, psychiatry and trauma. More recently, I received my Doctorate of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine.

In pursuit of wanting to work with what felt like a deeper and more holistic system of Chinese Medicine, I sought out Classical Five Element Acupuncture, training in Portland, OR and San Francisco, CA for an additional three years of study. I continue to study Worsley Five Element Acupuncture (WFEA) through the Worsley Institute. It has been a true honor to learn from the inheritor of this lineage, Judy Worsley. For more information on this extraordinary system of medicine, click here.

With a desire to go deeper within myself and how I connect with people and the world around me, 10 years ago I started working with Thea Elijah, a long-time practitioner of Five Element Acupuncture and Sufism. Her "Whole Heart Connection" work has been an integral part of my professional and personal journey.

I have been a practicing Zen Buddhist since 2001, having lived at Buddhist Zen Centers on the east and west coast, practicing in both the Japanese and Korean traditions of Zen. I received my Buddhist name "Won Shim" meaning Original Mind, in 2007 under Zen Master Ji Bong. I have enjoyed teaching meditation and qigong classes at several venues around Seattle, including Starbucks Corporate Offices, Embrace the Moon School for Taijiquan and Qigong, Bastyr University, and Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine (SIOM).

On a more personal note – I train in multiple martial arts, play various musical instruments, am learning to become fluent in Spanish, and striving each day to be a more present father/stepfather and husband.