50 Years of Healing: A Living Tradition
As this new year begins, Tao of Wellness reaches a meaningful milestone: 50 years of healing in America. This is not simply a measure of time, but a living continuity of care, wisdom, and service that has unfolded across three generations of our family.
A Seed Carried Across the Ocean
In 1976, our father, Hua-Ching Ni, also known as Master Ni and OmNi, arrived in California from Taiwan with a clear vision: to bring the healing traditions of Taoism, Chinese medicine, and inner cultivation to the West. At that time, acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine were largely unknown in America.
His first clinic opened in a modest home on the Westside of Los Angeles. From there, the work grew quietly—patient by patient, student by student—rooted in the belief that true healing must address the whole person: body, mind, and spirit.
Alongside clinical practice, our father taught and translated foundational classic Taoist texts, including the Tao Te Ching and the I Ching, making ancient wisdom accessible to a new cultural audience. These teachings formed the philosophical ground upon which the Tao of Wellness was built.
Carrying the Lineage Forward
In the mid-1980s, we (Dr. Daoshing Ni and Dr. Mao Shing Ni) stepped into the responsibility of carrying this work forward. The Tao of Wellness relocated to Santa Monica, and in 1989, we also founded Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine—a nonprofit institution named in honor of our grandfather—to train future doctors of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.
From the outset, education and clinical care were inextricably linked. What we practiced in the clinic influenced what we taught in the classroom, and what we taught shaped how we served our patients.
As the work expanded, so did our commitment to service. New clinics opened in Pasadena and Newport Beach, fellowship programs were established for advanced graduates, and extensive community care partnerships were formed across Los Angeles.
Through Yo San University's partnerships with Being Alive HIV clinics, the Wellness Center at the Historic General Hospital, Wise and Healthy Aging, and community clinics like Venice Family Clinic, we ensure and continue to provide healing that is accessible, compassionate, and of the highest integrity.
Ensuring Quality and Trust
As our clinics and educational programs grew, so did the responsibility to ensure the quality of the remedies we prescribed. To meet this need, we founded the Wellness Living Store, our herbal and nutritional company, with a singular purpose: to provide reliable, high-quality healing formulas for our patients, students, and the public alike.
From its inception, the Wellness Living Store was built upon classical formulation principles combined with rigorous sourcing standards and modern quality controls. Over time, it has become a trusted source of herbal and nutritional remedies for thousands of people, supplying Tao of Wellness clinics and supporting daily wellness, recovery, and long-term vitality, thereby extending the clinic's care beyond its walls.
Sharing the Medicine with the World
As our clinical and educational roots deepened, our responsibility to public education grew. Dr. Daoshing Ni’s work in women’s health and integrative reproductive medicine culminated in the seminal book, The Tao of Fertility, offering a balanced, whole-person approach to reproductive health.
Dr. Mao Shing Ni’s path led him to explore longevity, women’s health, and self-healing through publications such as Secrets of Longevity and Second Spring. These teachings, rooted in Chinese medicine and Taoist philosophy, yet responsive to modern life, have since reached readers around the world.
At every stage, the intention has remained the same: to translate timeless wisdom into practical guidance for living well.
Tested, Renewed, and Rooted
The past decade brought unprecedented challenges. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tao of Wellness and the Yo San Blount Community Clinic remained open, while many practices were forced to close. We pivoted quickly—expanding telemedicine, delivering herbal formulas, and supporting thousands of patients as they navigated illness, fear, and uncertainty.
Like all living systems, we were tested, and we adapted. We shed what no longer served, strengthened what mattered most, and returned to our roots.
It was in this context that the opening of our latest Santa Monica clinic, located near the ocean, became especially meaningful. Created at a time when many clinics were closing, and countless physicians stopped practicing, this new space affirmed our commitment to carry forward our family’s healing tradition. It was built with state-of-the-art air filtration and designed as a calm, intimate healing environment.
A Living Lineage, Looking Forward
Today, the next generation is stepping forward. Dr. Dao’s son, Dr. Yu-Ming Ni, M.D., practices preventive and integrative cardiology in Orange County, collaborating with doctors at Tao of Wellness in bridging modern cardiovascular medicine with Chinese medicine and lifestyle-based care. Dr. Mao’s daughter, Yu-Shien Ni, will be joining Tao of Wellness Santa Monica this spring, focused on functional medicine and women’s health, carrying forward the holistic understanding that healing must honor both physiology and the rhythms of life.
Together with our current team of associates, Dr. Shannon Lawrence and Albert Vaca represent the natural evolution of the tradition and the next generation of healthcare.
Over the coming year, we will be sharing stories from the past five decades as a way of honoring the continuity that has made this healing possible across time.
Thank you for being part of our healing family and this living tradition.
With gratitude,
Dr. Daoshing Ni
Dr. Mao Shing Ni