Leslie is able to significantly help people regain their vitality as a result of personally going through the fire of having poor health in her early years. Leslie’s acupuncture teacher, Dr. Lily Chang Yi Hisang, provided invaluable support that finally turned around a health picture from her late teens that included frequent urination ( 1x per every 1/2 hour), extremely low blood pressure (60/40), bloating after every meal, loss of appetite, foggy thinking, acne on back, debilitating menses, & a chronic inability to carry a baby full term. Without the support received it is unlikely Leslie would have been able to have a healthy daughter at the age of 42, nonetheless a vibrant, healthy life in general. Leslie’s mission is to return this tremendous gift in service to her own patients.
Leslie’s career began in the healing arts in 1989 via an extensive 2 year training in diagnostic style massage therapy at the Hawaiian Island School of Body Therapies. During training, Leslie also became a student teacher for the last year. Leslie gained a love for her work through this entry point of massage.
Seven years into the wonderful world of massage therapy Leslie’s skills were significantly deepened as a health practitioner with the addition of acupuncture training, a 4 year program. The impetus for this much larger commitment was inspired by a personal health transformation via her experience of acupuncture. A few years after graduating from Tai Hsuan Foundation College * in 1996, Leslie became a professor for her Alma Mater for a total of 3 years. In 2002, Leslie moved to the Rogue Valley.
Leslie’s special gift, in the realm of acupuncture, is the ancient art of pulse reading on each wrist. This is a method of reading the body’s energy, similar to an MRI, that is directly related to all of the organ systems in the body. Pulse reading also looks at how all the organ systems affect each other so as to reach a deeper understanding of the disharmonies that lead to disease. Even emotional dynamics can be read on the pulse & are distinguished from organic causes.
*(known currently as The World Medicine Institute)
About my Teacher
Dr. Lily Chang Yi Hsiang is the founder of the school and was a 64th generation Taoist and Chi Kung master. Lily began her training into the six healing arts of China via a Taoist Monastery, where she lived full time, beginning at the age of six. The traditional methods Lily learned were passed down orally. This was significant for that era because many important books of healing were destroyed during Mao’s reign. As a young woman, Lily was given the honor to uphold the lineage and was instructed to move to the West to bring forth this important medicine. Lily chose Honolulu, Hawaii. After exploring Honolulu a little, Lily chose a large tree-filled park near the ocean to begin performing Chi Kung. Lily received her first student that first day. After 6 months of teaching Chi Kung at beautiful Kapiolani Park, Lily now had 200 students. At that time she asked the class: “Who wants to learn more about the six healing arts of China?” Of those 200 students, 20 decided to go deeper, and so Tai Hsuan was born. Since that initial first bunch of students Tai Hsuan continued to keep the classes small and intimate with an average of about 20 to 25 students total. The school was closed a few years ago upon her passing, but many report still to this day “seeing” or feeling a special presence during treatments with some of her students.
Acupuncture comes from a very old tradition and when we receive care in this medicine we also have the support of the lineage which has brought it into existence. It is like getting to be part of a very wise family that takes us under their wing and shares knowledge that is beyond words.
Leslie Shanai has much gratitude for her acupuncture teacher, Lily Chang Yi Hisang, her massage teacher Lynn Filkins-Wind, plus the more recent addition of world renowned Family Constellation therapist, Emily Waymire. They each offered tremendous support in helping find a career that continues to inspire. The fusion of the specialized knowledge of these three great women teachers helped Leslie Shanai to create a unique system for helping patients to not just get well, but to thrive. Check out the tab Ancient Root Healings on the home page, for specific details.