Q: What got you interested in studying acupuncture and oriental medicine?

 

A: I always enjoyed being helpful and in service to others. In my undergraduate studies, I got such a nasty taste of what people can do that poisons our world. I had become disheartened, but God is Merciful and brought me to something that can bring good to the world by alleviating the suffering through healing. My attention was diverted from my concern of politics and social history by my own suffering. I had developed insomnia, anxiety, digestive difficulty, and was tired all the time. At the time I had just started working on an organic farm, providing a healthy environment...but things didn’t get better. I sought out care from doctors with empty findings: no test could show what was wrong. Although initially skeptical of alternative methods, I found effective tools for self-care and healing like diet modification, Qi Gong, acupuncture, herbal therapy, and meditation that changed my life. Now I use them to assist others who are looking to live a more lively, dynamic, and conscious life...my greatest joy is helping them feel as free as a child. 

 

Ali is happily married, enjoys connecting with nature and riding his motorcycle. Enjoying creative activity, he is an avid drummer, guitarist, visual artist and former FM radio DJ. He likewise aspires to treat medicine as the “tea of art and science steeped in the water of prayer and love.” He says “Your life is a concert. Each hour is a movement. Each breath is a song, and each ailment is a bent note calling to be tuned back into key.”