About Ben
I attended the Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine (SIEAM) and graduated with a Masters of Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine. Previously, I attended the University of Vermont and double majored in Communication Sciences & Disorders and Psychology.
I have a deep respect for embodied listening, meditative contemplation and the insights that come with paying attention. These awareness practices were instilled in me while growing up at the Folk Art Guild through play, earthing and community living. This love for awareness was then further understood during a two year residency at the Monastic Academy where I engaged in rigorous daily meditation practices, monthly retreats, and a four year vision quest.
Along with these two major influences, it was many seemingly small events that made it clear for me to study East Asian Medicine and the healing arts. One being my first acupuncture treatment, which allowed me to fall into a meditative state and realize acupuncture could serve as a catalyst for relaxation, contemplation and coming to a grounded perspective on life. Highly valuing the insights that come with meditation, and understanding that formal meditation practice is now suited for everyone, I saw acupuncture as a bridge for people to experience their internal world whether they've never meditated a day in their life or whether they're a daily practitioner. Attending the Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine and learning osteopathic acupuncture assessment techniques along with orthopedic acupuncture techniques further deepened my understanding of how acupuncture can serve the individual.
I am proud to be a person who stutters. Stuttering has taught me and continues to teach me valuable lessons. When I come up against the feeling of a stutter, it's a reminder for me to let go and reconnect with myself. In this way, stuttering is one of my greatest teachers.
Open Channels embraces each of our differences as necessary and important pieces of the whole. I acknowledge that -isms (racism, genderism, sexism, etc.) are systemic and no one is exempt from them due to living in our current culture. Open Channels strives to not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, intelligence, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status or military status. Open Channels is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all people and actively deconstructing oppressive frameworks that are unhelpful for connection and friendship.
When I'm not in the clinic, you can either find me in the kitchen whipping up something nourishing and delicious, or outside. I enjoy hiking, views from high mountain tops, and placing myself favorably in nature and practicing qigong or movement practices. In the winter months I enjoy cross country skiing.
