Dragonheart Herbs & Natural Medicine
​
Margaret Hammitt-McDonald, PhD, MSOM, ND, LAc
Seth Goldstein, DC, Independent Medical Examiner
Janae A. Smith, LMT, DC
1355 S. Hemlock Street, Cannon Beach, Oregon
Call for an appointment: 503-436-2255
Aria Walker, Personal Biography
I have long had a passion for the ocean. With my first visit to the Pacific Northwest, I was immediately enchanted and thrilled with the opportunity to become a part of the Cannon Beach community and to become the owner/acupuncturist for Acupuncture & Natural Medicine Clinic.
Education has taken me many places in life including living across the lower 48 and Alaska. Each place has held great beauty: from lush greenery and thick scents of flowers, to rocky cliffs and fragrant chaparral on desert air, to sunrises and sunsets through salty, crashing waves, to blankets of snow in quiet, curving drifts. My animal companions have traveled with me each place that I have lived. While in undergraduate school, I began to study herbology, indigenous healing techniques, and sustainable agriculture. Since 1989, I have practiced a variety of martial arts including tai chi and qi gong for health and well-being. I graduated from the Boulder College of Massage Therapy in 1996.
I continued my own education through numerous workshops including craniosacral therapy, visceral manipulation, lymphatic drainage, and Neuro Emotional Technique (NET). I began teaching massage and Reiki natural healing in 1998, and started studies in the master of science degree program at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego in 1999. While in California, I was a full-time massage instructor and clinic supervisor. After a severe car accident, I put acupuncture studies on hold to pursue other areas of interest and teaching workshops. In 2008, after over two years of assisting a third-generation acupuncturist from China, I returned to the structured study of Oriental medicine at the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture in Gainesville, Florida. I finished my clinical residency in 2011, having returned to a style and a philosophy of Oriental medicine which had originally inspired me during my days studying Shiatsu in massage school.
In my time off from work and studies, I have traveled throughout much of the United States, as well as in Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Costa Rica, Canada and Mexico. While I lived in Alaska, I explored natural beauty by learning cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and dip netting for salmon. I enjoy hiking, camping, kayaking, canoeing, surfing and other outdoor activities. I continue my passion for parrots, living with a flighted blue-and-gold macaw who also gets out year-round in Oregon. You might even see me out at a local concert or on a Portland dance floor, although that will be without the trusted parrot.
I have a deep acceptance and sense of compassion for people. I sincerely value the opportunity to offer what I have learned, and to share in your healing journey.
I look forward to working with you!
~ Aria