“The mind divides the world into a million pieces. The heart makes it whole.”
-Stephen Levine
Elissa Solari
(Pronounced El-ees-ah OR you can just call me Lisa.)
What is the heart of healing and the root of transformation?
I am an acupuncturist and somatic practitioner. For more than fifteen years I have been exploring the relationship between the body, consciousness, and true nature with the ongoing inquiry, “what is the nature of healing?” My work is rooted in Chinese Medicine and in a broad, depth-seeking somatic practice that draws from several lineages. It is also deeply informed by Yogic and Vedic Studies and by Non-Dual, Body-Centered teachings of Awareness, Presence, and Awakening.
In Chinese Medicine, the Heart houses the Shen, the spirit, and is understood as the center that brings the whole person into coherence. This understanding guides my work, a heart-centered practice. Rather than focusing on symptoms, I am interested in the root, in what lives beneath the patterns we experience. Tension, holding, restlessness, pain and fatigue are ways the body communicates. When we listen with care, they often point us toward something more essential.
This work is deeply supportive of the physical body. When we tend the root, the body often responds. Long-held pain patterns can begin to unwind. The immune system can find greater strength and balance. Hormonal rhythms and fertility can be supported as the body returns to its natural cycles. For people living with chronic illness or autoimmune conditions, this work can offer steadiness and meaningful support. Experiences such as depression, stress, anxiety, panic, and obsessive thinking can begin to settle as the body finds more safety, spaciousness, and ease. I don't organize our work around a diagnosis. Instead, I attend to the whole person: how the body is patterned, how energy is moving, and where life is seeking to flow more freely. From there, the body's own intelligence has space to come forward.
My approach is gentle, attentive, and highly individualized. I do not see multiple patients at a time. Each session is shaped around the person in front of me. That may mean focused acupuncture, deeper somatic exploration, quiet presence, or a thoughtful integration of these.
Education is also an important part of my work. Through courses, classes, guided meditation, and written resources, I share practices and understanding that people can carry into their daily lives. I am passionate about translating the wisdom of Chinese medicine, somatic practice, and contemplative traditions into clear, embodied teachings. My hope is that these offerings support people in deepening their own inner knowing, building capacity and resiliency, and continuing to grow beyond our time together.
My lens is trauma-responsive, but not trauma-centric. I honor the ways the body adapts and protects, while also orienting toward vitality, possibility, and the life that is seeking to emerge. For me, healing is not about fixing what is broken. It is about creating the conditions to remember what is already whole, and to live from a more authentic relationship with yourself.
I see my role less as someone who treats and more as a guide, someone who can accompany you back into the essence of your own Heart.
Somatic Training
My foundational training in somatic therapy is through Peter Levine's Somatic Experiencing® model, and I am currently an Intermediate Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner in Training.
I am also engaged in an extended, intensive study of TantraSoma with Thessa Sophia and Fleur Innana, now in its third year. TantraSoma is a somatic container that cultivates awareness through body-consciousness exploration and movement.
I have also studied:
Sexual trauma and sexuality with Ariel Giaretto
Jungian somatics with Jane Clapp
Sensorimotor Art Therapy with Cornelia Elbrecht
Neurodivergence and trauma with Janae Elisabeth
Mytho-somatics with Joshua Schrei
My understanding of somatic experience is broad and depth-seeking. I approach this work with curiosity, reverence, and respect for the complexity of each person's lived experience.
You can read more about my academic and continuing education below.
"May I be in constant service and devotion to the Heart."
“To be embodied is to have awareness at the deepest layers of our being, as it emerges anew in each moment. In health, we are able to respond and move with fluctuations. To be alive, is to touch into the Spirit within the body and to allow it to move forward in pure authenticity.”
— Elissa Solari
I provide this list of licenses, certifications, education, and relevant course work to show my ongoing commitment to self-work and growth that enhances and informs my healing art. I also seek my own regular acupuncture, body-work, somatic therapy, and dual guided meditations.
Licenses and Certifications
Alaska Medical Board Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac)
Certified Diplomate of Acupuncture by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM)
Jungian Somatics Certification with Jane Clapp, Toronto, Canada
Somatic Experiencing® Intermediate Level in Training (ongoing)
Guided Drawing Certificate with The Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy
Academic Education
Master of Acupuncture (M.Ac.), Academy for Five Element Acupuncture, Gainesville, Florida
Bachelor of Arts in Health Sciences, Academy for Five Element Acupuncture, Gainesville, Florida
Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management, Warner University, Lake Wales, Florida
Associates of Arts in Legal Research, Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, Florida
Creative Writing Courses, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana
Law Courses, Florida Coastal School of Law, Jacksonville, Florida
Trainings and Workshops
Chinese Medicine
Treatment of Peripheral Neuropathy with electro-acupuncture: Diagnosis, Mechanisms, and Treatment Protocols with Poney Chaing, 2026
Foundations in Neuro-Meridian Integrative Acupuncture with Poney Chaing, 2026
Yao Shan Herbal Program with Evan Rabinowitz at the Yao Shan Center for Chinese Medicine, Washington D.C., 2022
Chinese Medicine Psychology with Brandt Stickley, 2022-2025
Shadow Resolution in Chinese Medicine with Lonny Jarrett, 2023
Microneedling for Acupuncturists with Josh Nerenberg and AcuMicro, 2022
Mircroneedliing for Acupuncturists with Michelle Gellis, 2020
Sound Healing for Healers with Will Morrris at the Kootenay Sound Healing Centre, 2021
Whole Heart Connection with Thea Elijah, Gainesville, FL, 2016
Spirit of the Points Courses with Thea Elijah, Perennial Medicine, 2020
Five Element Explorations with Alexander Love and EOS Learning Collective, 2021
Psychosomatic / Consciousness Studies
Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Training, Intermediate Level, Somatic Experiencing International, Boulder Colorado ( ongoing)
Beginning I & 2 - with Glendie Nickerson, 2018, 2019
Beginning III - with Ariel Giaretto, 2021
Intermediate I - Ariel Giaretto, 2023
Intermediate II and III- Francine Kelley, 2025
Neurodiversity and Trauma with the TraumaGeek, Janae Elisabeth, 2024
Tantra Soma Courses with Thessa Sophia and Fleur Innana
Mother Become Me: Exploring Yin (currently taking) -5.5 Month Container
The Art of Dreaming, 2026
The Art of Inner Union, 2025
Nine Month Immersion: Immaculate Conception of Self, 2025
Coming Home: Working with intensity 2025
Heart Becoming, Weaving Being, 2025
The Intimacy of Silence, 2024
Expanding Love: Via an alchemical exploration of our relationship with violence, 2024
Womb Work and the Mysterious Pass, 2024
The Mythic Body Year-Long Course with Joshua Schrei of the Emerald Podcast, 2023-2024 and 2025-2026
Andean Foundation Training Series with Christina Allen at the Austin Shamanic Center, 2023
Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing at the Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy, 2022
Advanced Strategies for Working with Sexual Trauma and Sexuality with Ariel Giaretto, 2021
Somatic Courses with Jane Clapp
Jungian Somatics Certification Course, 2023
Breath and Symbolism, 2022
Hand Symbolism, 2022
Neurology and Embodied Spirituality, 2022
Archetypal Somatic Practice, 2022
Social Media and the Psyche, 2021
Somatics of Dreams, 2021
Foundations of the Nervous System Support, 2021
Food and the Unconscious, 2021
Adverse Childhood Experiences Facilitator Training with the Mat-Su Health Foundation, 2019
Foundation of Ritual with Daniel Foor, Ancestral Medicine, 2021
Animist Psychology with Daniel Foor, Ancestral Medicine, 2021
The Conscious Living Program with the Centre for Applied Jungian Studies, 2021
Studies of Time, Space and Frequency
Science of Light Year I with Freedom Cole (Currently Taking)
Horary I with Wade Caves and the School of Traditional Astrology, 2024
Year II with Austin Coppock, 2023
Foundations of Astrology Year I with Austin Coppock, 2022
Beginning Horary with Nightlight Astrology, 2022
Readings and Passages with Adam Elenbaas, 2022
Year One Astrology with Adam Elenbaas, Nightlight Astrology, 2021
Med Astro - Sound Healing for Healers with Will Morrris at the Kootenay Sound Healing Centre, 2021
Relative Employment History
Owner, Acupuncturist and Somatic Therapist at Vessel Healing Arts, Palmer, Alaska
Victim Advocate for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Department of Defense Family Advocacy Program
Legal Researcher/Paralegal, Sex crimes and Post-Conviction Capital Cases, State Attorney’s Office, Daytona Beach
Staff Teacher, The Missoula Writing Collaborative
There is a piece of suffering which is a river that flows through the human condition and is part and parcel of our arising itself.
Conscious awakening does not put a final end to suffering, but rather, allows us to bear it in a way that is luminous, generous, and ultimately sacramental. Through our prayers and our presence, we take our part in bearing the cost of this precious divine finitude, in which and through which infinite love is revealed.
What we do know is that great injustice, cruelty, physical pain, or betrayal, when consciously accepted and generously borne, can give rise to a peculiarly luminous and healing quality of love, and that this love radiates out from the site of the pain as a source of healing and hope for the entire cosmos.”
~ Cynthia Bourgeault, from ‘Conscious Suffering’ in ‘Spiritual Practices from the Gurdjieff Work’