My Story

Hi, I ‘m Nona. I grew up in London and over the last  30 years I have lived, worked and studied in England, France, Ireland, China and Nepal. 

My introduction to Oriental medicine followed after desperately trying to recover from reoccurring gynaecological issues, unresolved from the conventional western medical approach. I had chronic digestive issues stemming from childhood, anxiety, depression & nervousness. I felt my symptoms were dis-improving & spreading as a result of conventional treatment & medications.

A friend recommended I try a traditional Chinese medical doctor. He took my case and said “you have liver qi stagnation & stomach fire” I heard liver cheese stagnation! Horrified I was thinking I had some sort of fungus on my liver! I was given a prescription written in Chinese which I took to Chinatown in London – There the pharmacist pulled out drawers and measured handfuls of dried up roots, leaves & flowers, it looked like some scrapings from a forest floor. I took them home and followed the instructions boiling each herb for different lengths of time to make a brown brew. It tasted so bitter I shuddered but within a short time of taking the herbs, my gynaecological symptoms & fever vanished never to return. As I continued with further herbal formula & Acupuncture my other health symptoms also resolved.  I found this so inspiring I vowed I must study this “magical “ system of medicine.

So began my journey through massage, tuina (Chinese massage), aromatherapy, Qi Kung, Tai Chi, both Chinese & Japanese Acupuncture, Toyahari, traditional Chinese & Vietnamese herbal medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, Tibetan Buddhist meditation & Yoga. This opened up whole new ways of looking holistically at how the body works through interdependence, spiritually, emotionally, mentally & thus how dis-ease manifests physically.

Education & Qualifications

• I qualified as an Acupuncturist in 1993 from the London School of Acupuncture & Traditional Chinese Medicine. Then, went on to do a Clinical Acupuncture Training at First Affiliated Hospital Nanjing, China.

• I studied Chinese Medicine for Children with Julian Scott 1994/5.

• In 2002-3 I began my studies of Chinese Herbal Medicine at the College Integrated Chinese Medicine, Reading UK.

• From 2004-6, I studied with Dr Steve Gascoigne, who trained with the esteemed master of Chinese medicine, Tinh Thong Nguyen, a 3rd generation Vietnamese herbal practitioner, gaining my Diploma in Chinese Herbal Medicine.

• In 2011-12, I began studying Japanese Acupuncture in the style of Kiiko Matsumoto. I then went on to study Toyahari (a subtle style of specific needle techniques and "Meridian Therapy") in Amsterdam under Stephen Birch and Junko Ida.

• In 2015/16 I extended my studies in Japanese acupuncture to include "Dr Manaka's yin yang balancing system".

• I am a member of the ACI (TCMCI ltd) Acupuncture Council of Ireland, IRCMH Irish Register of Chinese Medical Herbalism, ETCMA (European Traditional Chinese Medicine Association).

How I can help…

People come to me, sometimes with the heart sinking words “you are my last hope!” The conventional western medical approach not having given them positive results. Together we explore from the Oriental medicine perspective what your signs & symptoms might be & how these symptoms have come about. We look at the interconnections of emotions & mindset, lifestyle, diet, work, stress & how it is impacting you from the perspective of this ancient system of medicine. What is beneficial for one person can be detrimental to another even though both may share the same western diagnosis. The beauty of this system is there is no one remedy fits all.

Each person is unique and it is this individual customized approach of looking for the possible root  of your condition & then how you can rebalance your specific “pattern” or internal body “climate”

In terms of foods to eat or not consume, herbs to take, meditation or movement or simple lifestyle changes to adopt to help you transform in your healing journey to health.