Ars Medica — In person · Portugal
Therapeutic
Bodywork
Touch, heat, sound, movement, and fine needle work
The body is a living process constantly responding to its environment, relationships, and lived experience. These sessions engage the body as a field of sensation, memory, and transformation — both practical and exploratory: restoring ease while deepening awareness of how we inhabit ourselves.
Sessions begin with assessment — of your presenting complaint, your Chinese medicine pattern, and what your body needs at this moment. The practices used are chosen accordingly, not selected from a fixed menu. The intelligence of Chinese medicine is in the combination and sequencing, not the individual technique.
Sessions: 60 or 90 minutes · In person in Portugal · Location and availability on request
Book a free 20-minute introductory call →The tools of this practice
Meridian work
The meridian system — the network of channels through which qi and blood circulate — is the foundational map of Chinese medicine. Working directly with this system through touch, pressure, and movement, the channels are engaged not only therapeutically but diagnostically, offering insight into how qi and blood are moving through the body's own energetic architecture. Sessions may draw on channel palpation, acupressure, and meridian massage depending on presentation.
60 or 90 minutes, or integrated with other practices
Fire cupping
One of the oldest physical therapies in Chinese medicine, fire cupping uses the brief application of flame to create a vacuum within the cup, which is then placed on the skin to lift tissue, release fascial adhesion, and move stagnant qi, blood, lymph, and fluid. The fire is not in contact with the skin — it is used only to create the suction. Cups may be left in place or moved along meridian pathways depending on your presentation. Particularly effective for muscular tension, respiratory congestion, chronic pain, and the movement of fluid stagnation in the superficial tissue layers. The marks left are not bruises — their colour and appearance carry diagnostic information about tissue condition and circulation, and they fade within a few days.
30 minutes, or combined with massage and/or meridian work
Moving cupping
Cups may also be moved along meridian pathways after placement — a technique that combines the lifting action of cupping with the directional movement of massage, particularly effective for clearing stagnation across large areas of the back, hips, and thighs.
Combined with fire cupping or meridian work
Gua sha
A smooth tool pressed firmly along meridian pathways to release stagnation, promote circulation, and clear heat from the surface layers of the body. Like cupping, the temporary redness (sha) that appears is not bruising but diagnostic — it reflects what is held in the tissue and fades within a day or two. Particularly effective for muscular tension, fever, respiratory conditions, and chronic pain.
30 minutes, or combined with other bodywork
Moxibustion
The burning of dried mugwort — Artemisia argyi — at or near acupuncture points and meridian pathways to warm, tonify, and move. Moxa has a particular affinity for conditions of cold, deficiency, and depletion: chronic fatigue, digestive weakness, menstrual irregularity, low immunity. It can be taught as a home practice, extending treatment between sessions.
30 minutes, or combined with other treatments
Dry needling
Fine needles inserted into myofascial trigger points to release muscular tension, reduce referred pain, and restore movement. Particularly effective for chronic muscular pain, tension headaches, postural strain, and restricted movement. While distinct from classical acupuncture in its theoretical framework, dry needling here is informed by a full Chinese medicine training in channel theory and point location — adding diagnostic precision that purely anatomical approaches may lack.
45–60 minutes, or integrated with massage and bodywork
Dry needling with e-stim
Electrical stimulation can be applied through the needles used in dry needling sessions, delivering a gentle pulsed current to the treated area. This enhances the effect of needling on myofascial trigger points, accelerates tissue recovery, reduces referred pain, and supports neuromuscular re-education — particularly useful for chronic pain conditions, muscle weakness following injury, and persistent tension that has not responded to manual therapy alone. E-stim is offered as an addition to dry needling sessions where clinically appropriate and is discussed and agreed at the time of treatment.
45–60 minutes, or combined with other treatments
Sonic bodywork — tuning forks
Calibrated tuning forks applied to acupuncture points and meridian pathways work through resonance and vibration rather than mechanical stimulation — accessible to those for whom needling is not appropriate. The frequencies used are derived from Chinese medicine theory and ongoing research into meridian physiology and sonic healing, rather than from planetary or sacred geometry systems. This work connects directly to my broader practice as a sound artist and researcher, and is currently in active development.
60 minutes, or combined with other treatments — please enquire about current availability
Massage
Deep tissue, Swedish massage, and Chinese acupressure working with the specific needs of your body at this moment — muscular tension, postural strain, recovery from injury, or simply the sustained attentive contact that maintains physical wellbeing. Sessions draw on both Western massage training and Chinese medicine channel and point theory, informing touch quality and sequencing throughout.
60 or 90 minutes
Tai Chi and movement practice
One-to-one instruction drawing on training in Chen style, Yang Sword, Ba Gua Jiang, and Shuang Yang — Fujian White Crane. Taught not as exercise but as a practice of embodied attention: developing sensitivity to qi, breath, and postural alignment that supports and extends clinical work. Suitable for complete beginners and those returning to practice.
Small groups by arrangement.
Full details →Chinese Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine consultation and prescription is available alongside in-person bodywork sessions. A full case history, tongue and pulse assessment, and bespoke herbal formula can be integrated into your treatment plan — or booked as a standalone consultation. Herbs are prescribed as high-quality powdered granules from a regulated specialist supplier and delivered directly to you within the EU.
Herbal consultation (45–60 mins, in person): €100 · Follow-up: €75 · Herbs and delivery: typically €85–110 per two-week prescription
Full details — The Listening Clinic →Current rates reflect introductory pricing while the practice establishes in Portugal — they will be reviewed in early 2027. A free 20-minute introductory call is available to discuss which approach might suit your needs.
Unsure which approach is right for you? A free 20-minute introductory call is the best place to start.
Book an introductory call