The path into acupuncture isn’t always clean or linear—sometimes it begins in the grit and confusion of working out just who you are in this world. From anthropology studies in Seattle’s Skid Row to the disciplined intensity of kendo in Japan, Jeffrey Dann’s journey was shaped by curiosity, discomfort, and a search for something deeper. A knee injury, a moment on a subway, and an unexpected recovery became the doorway into a medicine that would take him through Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Beijing in the early days of acupuncture’s global spread.
In this conversation, we follow that winding road—through apprenticeship, cultural exchange, and the evolution of practice. From forceful needling to the subtle power of touch, Jeffrey’s story reflects a broader shift in medicine itself: one that balances tradition with change, and technique with sensitivity.
Listen in as we explore how acupuncture travelled the world, transformed through different cultures, and continues to adapt to the modern body and mind.
“Listening” to the body is primarily a manual skill. In palpation, rather than probing and digging to uncover imbalances, first be open and receptive to the inherent messages coming from the person on your table.
Jeffrey Dann, PhD, L.Ac
I started out as a disillusioned medical anthropologist studying contemporary indigenous alcoholism but thru personal wellness experiences found meaning and professional purpose thru traditional Japanese body-mind healing practices from the martial arts (kendo 4th degree black belt), bodywork Seitai shiatsu and acupuncture (Sorimachi Daiitchi Seitai Shinpo and Meridian Therapy).
Following Shudo Denmei sensei, open awareness and refined palpation is the foundation of personalized acupuncture.
This basis opened my work to include osteopathic visceral , neural muscular into my approach. This was then combined with the missing piece in our work – MOVEMENT -which blossomed thru Dr Keizo Hashimoto’s SoTai Ho system and essential Feldenkrais movement approaches.
My message is that learning and skill development is a lifelong joy. As modern life changes our bodyminds and ways of living our medicine is an open ended experiment of deepening and understanding.
Visit Jeffrey on his website.
He teaches Qi, Blood & Fluids, Sotai and Koshi Balancing through the Traditional Japanese Acupuncture Institute.
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