Blake Estape
Diplomate of Oriental Medicine
Licensed Acupuncture Physician
Sometimes it feels like things are supposed to happen. Like circumstance is a river pushing you toward a destination. Being an acupuncturist wasn’t part of my plan but it’s where I ended up. Like many people I turned to it out of desperation for help with my problem, yet the experience ended up defining me.
The issue that pushed me to seek help was neck pain and headaches. It had gotten so bad that I couldn’t turn my head without pain. The stabbing in my temples and the base of my skull was constant. In reality the problem was fear and anxiety; I couldn’t find any comfort in the aggressive, demanding culture of South Florida. I made myself as small as possible and huddled away in front of a computer. Out in the world my shoulders were up by my ears, held tight, ready for any threat.
It started with a book, the Dao De Jing. I plucked this collection of philosophical poems from our family library one day and began reading. I can’t say I understood much of it, but I felt enormously comforted. Strangely no one knew where that book had come from but it was just what I was looking for.
I developed a fascination with Eastern thought. I began taking Tai Chi and Kung Fu lessons with an excellent mentor named Paul Vieira. With consistent acupuncture and these lifestyle changes, my physical pains resolved. I felt more comfortable with the world around me and my anxiety improved. I found the courage to put my fear aside when by chance a friend of the family told me about an opportunity to live and work in China. I decided that there was no better place to learn about TCM and eastern philosophy than the place they had come from.
I earned my degree from one of China’s preeminent medical institutions, Hebei Medical University. Under tutelage from some of the country’s best doctors, I received an education directly from the source with three thousand years of teaching tradition to draw from.
The program included two years of internship; one in a TCM-specific hospital and the other in the primary provincial hospital. I worked closely with experts in the fields of Tui Na massage, Acupuncture, and herbal medicine. I also served rotations in Western medical specialties such as neurology, gastroenterology, and orthopedics.
For ten years I was immersed in the culture, philosophies and medical theories of traditional practice. I am proud to have assisted patients with issues as mild as the common cold, to as serious as pancreatic cancer. In 2015 I decided to return home to Miami in order to help people who were struggling as I had. With the skills I developed, I practice with the goal of improving modern Western living through ancient Eastern wisdom.