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Discover Acupuncture

Lost Gem
WTHN 1 Acupuncture undefined

WTHN

Shari Auth has been fascinated by non-Western medicine since a young age. “I was into this even as a teenager, ” she tells me. “I was doing meditation and reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead when I was fifteen, in a family that wasn’t doing any of that. I didn’t have hippie parents. I grew up going to McDonald’s drive-thru and getting a Happy Meal like most Americans. But somehow, if I had any introduction, no matter how random it was, I was immediately hungry for it. I had a deeper calling. ”This calling took Shari to China, Thailand, Japan - where she first received acupuncture - Peru, and India. It led her to get certified as a yoga and pilates instructor and practitioner of shamanism. It also allowed her to develop her own forearm massage technique, to become a licensed acupuncturist and board-certified herbalist. Shari even went on to earn a doctorate in Chinese medicine. Ultimately, it brought her to West 22nd Street in 2018, where she and Michelle Larivee co-founded WTHN, a modern acupuncture and healing center at the heart of the country’s most "stressed-out" city. Like exercise, acupuncture must be practiced regularly to be fully effective. Shari and Michelle found, however, that integrating acupuncture into one’s wellness routine was beyond the reach of many New Yorkers. For starters, the market for acupuncture in New York was starkly divided into high-end and low-end practices. The two women decided to bridge this gap by offering top-notch care at more affordable pricing. Each of the acupuncturists at WTHN have a minimum of three years of experience and a master’s degree in Chinese medicine. With minimalist décor and spotless white walls, WTHN evokes a sense of clean calm. This is a new kind of ancient medicine, the space seems to say. It is easy to see how a newcomer to acupuncture could feel welcome here and those are exactly the sort of people Shari and Michelle want to reach. Healing, according to Shari, starts with that first step towards change. “Healing is transformation. Healing is letting go of what’s not working and adopting something that is. ”