About – Traditional East Asian Medicine

Training & Tutelage

Nada Ashkar is a Registered Acupuncturist, a Psycho-Somatic Spiritual Counsellor and an teacher. She leads classes in Qigong, Taijiquan, meditation, and Yoga, and facilitates workshops integrating wisdom from the East Asian, Vedantic and Islamic traditions supporting personal and spiritual development.

She holds a combined Honours Bachelor’s degree in Humanities and Philosophy from Carleton University (The College of the Humanities), a diploma in Acupuncture, a Diploma in Islamic Psychology (Cambridge Muslim College, UK) and is engaged in ongoing study of Chinese herbal medicine and advanced TCM training. She has additional training in Cosmetic Acupuncture, Neuro-Meridian Acupuncture, yoga and the internal arts and trauma training. Nada has mentored with highly specialized body-mind coach, healer and retired psychotherapist Kristi Magraw. She is a certified Level 1 NARM-Informed Professional. The NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) is an advanced clinical training for mental health professionals who work with complex trauma – attachment, relational and developmental trauma, which cause life-long psychobiological symptoms and interpersonal difficulties. Recognizing the ubiquitous reality of the multitude of mental health challenges we are facing in our lives, there is a fundamental need to address mental health when addressing health holistically, effectively – this is a deep interest and focus in her practice and one she integrates in her approach. Nada is also a faculty member at the Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (OCTCM).

Nada has trained in various martial arts since the age of 10, achieving her 1^st-degree Black Belt in North American Free-style Karate at 15 years of age with the late 10-time World Champion, Steve “Nasty” Anderson. She has more than a decade of training in the classical Chinese Internal Arts system with Sifu Dylan Kirk of Spiritwind Internal Arts. Through Sifu Dylan, Nada has learned Taijiquan (Tai Chi), Qigong, Baguazhang, Kung Fu, Lin Zi Jin Luo Qigong therapy, Dao In Yoga, Neigong (Taoist meditation), I Ching, and Chinese medicine principles. Having taught martial arts since she was a teenager, and Qigong, Taiji, Dao In Yoga and meditation for a number of years, Nada has a love for and natural inclination towards teaching. She has also completed a 200 hr Ashtanga & Vinyasa flow Yoga teacher training.

Nada’s approach to her work has been fundamentally influenced by a unique convergence of her upbringing by her Lebanese parents as members of a large diasporic community, her experience as a child athlete, her academic study of The Great Books, and her encounters through travel, study, and direct experiences of many spiritual traditions and ways of life. She was always naturally inclined towards Taoism as a way of living and relating to nature since early childhood and later, after a friend handed her the Tao Te Ching, became enamoured with Taoist philosophy in its profound simplicity and lucidity. Nada is passionate about traditional, holistic systems of medicine and spirituality and has a deep interest in the mind, its role in affecting health and the body, and the metaphysical process of self-discovery (spiritual psychology). She has sat through several Vipassana Buddhist meditation retreats (traditional Burmese style), and maintains a regular practice of various forms of meditation (ie. self-inquiry, abiding in Presence meditation – muhasaba and muraqaba). She has been strongly influenced by the pointings of Advaita Zen Master, Mooji, and Islamic teachings. She is engaged in ongoing study of the Islamic sacred sciences with various preeminent Muslim scholars from around the world.

Nada is a fully insured Acupuncturist, a registered member of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario (CTCMPAO) and is certified in Clean Needle Technique and CPR. She is a member of the TCMO (Traditional Chinese Medicine Ontario) association, promoting Acupuncture and TCM in Ontario.

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To to setup a free no-obligation phone conversation, call/leave a voicemail message at 647-340-0897 or you can message Nada through the contact form in the “Contact” section.

The initial complimentary conversation is a 15-minute phone appointment to help us establish a connection and get an understanding of your health needs. It will give you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have.