Root Resonance Integrative Medicine

05/10/2021

Hey y’all! My name is Rob Villa, licensed acupuncturist and owner of Root Resonance Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. Within my practice, I see and treat a lot of different things. I find fulfillment in helping people reach their healing goals, however diverse they may be. If I could describe what I do best in a nutshell, it’s that I help people move through whatever it is that is holding them back from living their most optimal life.
There are many factors which prevent us from reaching our highest potential—obstacles that serve as opportunities for us to grow and heal. It could be physical such as debilitating back, neck and shoulder pain. It could be emotional like heart-ache, depression, excessive fear and worry. It could be mental such as a lack of clarity or an anxious mind that ruffles one’s tranquility. Or it could even be spiritual, feeling a lack of connection to oneself or something greater, or an inability to access the well of love within. And typically, it’s a mixture within all the dimensions that make us human where the cause and symptom are not clearly defined.
By looking deeply through the refined lens of TCM, I identify the patterns which detail where one’s multi-faceted being may be out of harmony. Through the use of acupuncture, herbs, bodywork, nutrition, craniosacral therapy, and heart felt listening, I help guide people back to their optimal state of balance. When a person is dialed into their unique wholeness, everything else is easier, like a fine tuned instrument or well-oiled machine (though we are so much more than machines).
My approach is to meet each individual with compassion, understand their goals in seeking treatment, and support them as they walk their unique healing path. My intention is to walk alongside for a brief moment on that path, support the natural healing process, provide the necessary tools and resources, and see them on their way into the sunset.
If any of this struck a chord and you feel this work could help you, I would love to hear your story and talk about what we can do to support you in your healing journey. Send me a DM to set up a free 15 minute consultation and we can get you going on your path.

02/21/2021

I typically always do some form of Tuina with my patients when they come to see me. Reason being:

🔹 It relaxes the body 😌
🔹 Settles the Shen (spirit/mind) 😇
🔹 Activates the parasympathetic healing state 🫀
🔹 Prepares the body to receive acupuncture 👌🏼
🔹 Brings people back to their center 🧘🏽
🔹 It feels amazing! 🌟

🌳🌳🌳

Rob Villa from Root Resonance Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine joined us many months ago and almost immediately grew his practice into something amazing. I joke that I'd like to clone him, but am I joking? Not really. Rob's ability to meet people exactly where they're at and to support them with one of his many tools - such as - is exceptional. In this photo you can *see* the movement of his hand as he uses Tui na to stimulate the flow of qi with his patient. Rhythmic and restorative, this modality originates back to 2300 B.C. making it the oldest known system of and thereby blowing my mind.

02/05/2021

Yin and Yang ☯️
The root of life is rooted in yin and yang. Yang is rooted in yin; yin is rooted in yang (pronounced “yahng”).
Yin and yang represent the two polar complements of the universe. It is not some mythological concept that transcends rationality. They are more so labels to describe how things function in relation to the other. With this logic, it explains how no entity can be isolated from its relation with other entities, because its very definition depends on its relationship.
Yin is associated with qualities such as cold, wetness, contraction, rest, responsiveness, passivity, darkness, inwardness, downwardness, tranquility, and completion. It pertains to the feminine, water, the earth, and the moon. 🌙
Yang is associated with heat, dryness, expansion, movement, activity, excitement, light, vigor, exteriority, outwardness, upwardness, and beginning. It pertains to the masculine, fire, heaven, and the sun. 🌞
The true list of yin yang associations is, in essence, endless. However, yin and yang are not merely a set of correspondences, but more so a way of thinking and perceiving. In this system of thought, all things can be broken down and seen in relationship to each other which make up the whole.
The 5 principles of Yin and Yang are:
1) All things have two aspects: a yin aspect and a yang aspect.
2) Any yin or yang aspect can be further divided into yin and yang.
3) Yin and yang mutually create each other.
4) Yin and yang control each other.
5) Yin and yang transform each other.
Understanding these laws and principles about the fundamental polarities of the fabric and function of the universe allows us in Chinese medicine to transpose these natural laws towards understanding how our bodies function, why disease and dysfunction develop, and how we can work with these forces to bring about balance and optimal health within a person, so that their whole being, yin and yang, can ring harmoniously. 🔔

01/19/2021

There have been many studies that show how acupuncture delivers significant results in reducing the symptoms of anxiety. One of the reasons it’s so effective, and why TCM is effective in general, is because it is never a one-size-fits-all approach.
We look at WHY this person is experiencing anxiety?
In treating anxiety, we are looking at the Shen, or spirit, and how or why it has been compromised. Our Shen is supposed to be held and housed within our Heart, and anchored and rooted within our Blood. In other words, our spirit lives inside our hearts. Many pathologies can disrupt this process, leaving the spirit feeling ungrounded, or without a home, so to speak. With no home for our Shen to feel safely secure, symptoms which we liken to anxiety will inevitably ensue. If the Shen isn’t able to be harnessed properly within the Heart and Blood, that will send signals to the body that something is not right, cuing sympathetic responses of fight or flight, and generating feelings of uneasiness, cautiousness, restlessness, or not feeling safe.
In treating anxiety fully, we have to look at what is the underlying pathology disrupting the Shen, preventing it from feeling safely nestled within the Heart and Blood.
Is it because the Heart Qi is not sufficient enough to hold the Shen?
Is it because there is a Blood deficiency, allowing limited space for the Shen to anchor and root itself in the body?
Is it because the Heart Qi has been so activated from triggering traumatic responses that it depletes the yin, causing an excess of unchecked fire to stir and agitate the heart and spirit?
Or maybe it’s due to a lack of yang Qi from the Gall Bladder that is needed to supply the heart with the fortitude necessary to interact with the world in a courageous, confident, and composed manner.
These are just some of the possible pathologies which can create anxiety.
While acupuncture thrives at alleviating the symptoms, treating anxiety with TCM is really about getting to the root cause as to why these symptoms are presenting themselves in the first place. Understanding the underlying imbalance and how that can be shifted is what brings about lasting change. ❤️