A lot of people are curious about our practice model. It wasn’t too long ago when patients would typically see doctors or acupuncturists in their home instead of at a separate clinic. This provided a warm, comforting environment for the patient, and it was a way of life for the clinician. While most of the world has moved away from this model, there are still parts of the globe where doctors pay house calls or see patients in their home.
When Glenn and me met that first semester of acupuncture school, starting a home-based practice was all we could talk about. We loved the idea of launching a nonprofit clinic that was built right into the heart of the community. Both of us are homebodies with a deep passion for and commitment to medicine. Our happiest days are spent sitting next to each other on the couch, reading aloud from textbooks and discussing new ideas or treatment plans. A home-based practice just seemed to fit!
Laughing Tao Martial Arts was what Glenn named his business when he started teaching jujutsu, self-defense, and qi gong decades ago. The name spoke to both sides of his personality – his love of goofy jokes and the bright sider of life, as well as his reverence for Taoism. While I wasn’t thrilled about the name initially – I had already started to think of my future clinic as Hummingbird Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (!) – I grew to love all that the name Laughing Tao embodies; laughter, harmony, and a respect for all living creatures.
We started calling our home Laughing Tao, and we are teaching our kids those same values: how to exist in harmony with others that may not agree with you, how to respect both colleagues and elders while forging your own unique path, and how to always save some time in the day for laughter.
For us, acupuncture is not just a job or a way to pay the bills. Acupuncture is our way of life, too. We give acupuncture treatments and herbs to our kids when they are sick (don’t worry – we still take them to get checked out by the doctor regularly, too), we bring an acupuncture travel kit with us everywhere for emergency treatments, and not a day passes when we’re not talking about how to improve the care we provide to our patients.
Laughing Tao is our home, our clinic, our way of living. We invite you in to rest, heal, and leave with a smile that brightens your day.