Acupuncturist Leslie Bower began practicing at Sunflower Massage & Spa in spring of this year.
Sunflower Massage & Spa, formerly Methow Valley Wellness Center, is a village of individual practitioners who offer wellness services intended to treat a wide variety of physical and spiritual needs.
One such practitioner at the Winthrop center is Leslie Bower, who has four sets of descriptors (L.Ac, M.Ac, ABT, LMP) after her name, indicating the extensive wholistic services she offers in her Central Point Acupuncture and Wellness suite.
Bower is a board-certified acupuncturist with a Masters in Acupuncture from the Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine. She is also a Diplomate of Asian Bodywork Therapy from The Wellspring School and is trained in three different types of Asian bodywork therapies.
Amma is a specialized form of bodywork that focuses on balance and movement of energy (qi — pronounced chee) throughout the body using a variety of massage therapy techniques. Amma is the oldest known word to describe massage therapy, which even predates acupuncture.
Tui Na form of massage has been used for more than 5,000 years in China. This massage therapy makes use of various hand techniques in combination with acupuncture and other manipulation techniques as well as recommendation of use of Chinese herbs to enhance the healing process. Tui Na not only relaxes, but also energizes, the person while focusing on maintaining overall balance with physical and mental health.
Shiatsu bodywork originated in Japan. It integrates traditional manual therapies with western medical knowledge. This form of bodywork therapy involves pressing specific points in the body to reduce tension and fatigue by improving blood and lymphatic circulation. It also has its roots in the concept of qi, which in Chinese medicine is the vital life force that drives all life activity.
With extensive training along with 18 years of bodywork and Chinese medicine experience, Bower offers wholistic therapies to individuals seeking relief from pain or injury. She combines all areas of her training to help prevent and/or recover from illness, injury and pain.
Her background includes working as an EMT, physical therapy assistant, strength and conditioning trainer, and trainer in mobility for injury treatment and prevention. She became interested in her personal nutrition, so she took a class in wholistic nutrition based in Chinese medicine.
She says, “It was such a different paradigm. Western culture was all about what foods were bad and what to avoid. Chinese medicine was all about how each food has different healing properties and with individual post-metabolic effects on the body — that food could be medicine.” She loved the concept which steered her career path into acupuncture, bodywork, and Chinese herbs.
When Bowers’ bodywork and acupuncture practice in Seattle was a casualty of the pandemic, she and her family spent more time at their place in Mazama. She became aware of Sierra Breitbeil’s plan to create a wellness-focused resort to include a variety of healing and self-care services. She knew that was the place for her in the valley that also offers the outdoor pursuits she, her wife, and daughter enjoy.
For more information, check out Bowers’ website: www.centralpointacupuncture.com.
