About Diego Garcia, L.Ac. | Gateway Acupuncture San Diego

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Diego Garcia, L.Ac.

Medicine that treats the whole person with both rigor and reverence.

I'm a gay immigrant from Venezuela, with a background in engineering, nutrition science, and nearly a decade as a strength and conditioning coach. I have always been fascinated by how the body works, but Western medicine's reductionism left me searching for more: a system precise as a science and practiced as an art, without losing the mystery of what it means to be alive. My acupuncture training was in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and five years past my license it still had not taken hold. I was seeing one patient a month, still coaching to get by, spiritually blocked, and certain I was not yet living the life I was meant to. Looking for the spark I expected and could not find, I enrolled in a class on the 13 Ghost Points.

When I received my own 13 Ghost Points treatment, everything changed.

It released a pattern of spiritual friction that had kept me from fully stepping into my calling as a healer. I stopped fearing failure. I signed a lease, opened my practice, and immersed myself in Daoist Alchemy. That path led me to Classical Acupuncture, which runs through the same lineage as the alchemy I had been studying. In it I found the magic I thought acupuncture had lost, and I have been studying it ever since.

Classical Chinese Medicine sees the body not as broken and in need of correction, but as perfect. Daoist Alchemy goes further, into that mystery, tending the spiritual patterns that live in the body and shape a life.

Together, they are the medicine I had been searching for: rigorous, reverent, and whole.

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Lineage

A living transmission, teacher to student.

Classical Chinese Medicine has always traveled through relationship. Person to person, over years of clinical study and personal practice.

Classical Acupuncture

with Ann Cecil-Sterman

I completed a direct mentorship intensive with Ann Cecil-Sterman, one of the foremost teachers of Classical Chinese Medicine in the West. Her lineage traces to Jeffrey Yuen, an 88th-generation Daoist priest. Classical acupuncture treats the root cause of disease through pulse diagnosis and precise meridian activation across all 61 classical channels.

Daoist Alchemy

with Leta Herman

I completed a three-year Master of Alchemy Apprenticeship Program with Leta Herman, a direct student of Master Jeffrey Yuen. The program combined bi-annual five-day intensives, weekly classes, hands-on clinical supervision, and deep theoretical study. I have received from my teacher every treatment I offer, and continue my own journey through the 9 Stages, because you cannot guide others through what you haven't experienced yourself.

My lineage represents years of rigorous study, personal cultivation, and clinical practice. Applied daily.

Who I am beyond the clinic.

As a gay immigrant, I understand what it means to navigate between worlds: traditional and modern, East and West, who you were and who you're becoming. This lived experience deepens my ability to guide patients through their own transformations.

I maintain a daily spiritual practice and study metaphysics (the I-Jing, Feng Shui, BaZi, and astrology). I continue my own journey through bone marrow washing qigong (Xi Sui Gong) and the 9 Stages of Alchemy. I don't just practice this medicine. I live it.

I'm an avid fitness enthusiast: strength training, acrobatics, capoeira, saber fencing. I cook, build things, and create art. Healing is an art form, and I believe creative expression is at the heart of being a good practitioner.

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Education & Training

The making of this practice.

Years of formal study, direct mentorship, and continued practice.

Degrees

2014–2017

Master of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine

Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM), Portland

2006–2010

B.S., Food Science & Human Nutrition

University of Florida · Full academic scholarship

Mentorships & Apprenticeships

2025

Advanced Classical Acupuncture Mentorship

with Ann Cecil-Sterman

2022–2025

Master of Alchemy Apprenticeship Program (MAP)

with Leta Herman · Alchemy Learning Center

Licensure & Certification

CA

Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac.)

California Acupuncture Board

NSCA

Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)

National Strength and Conditioning Association

Continuing Study

Ongoing

Classical channel work, Daoist Alchemy, and qigong

Continued study with my teachers

Ongoing

Workshops, seminars & advanced trainings

Regularly attended across classical medicine, Daoist Alchemy, and Chinese metaphysics.

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With Gratitude

I did not arrive here alone.

Everything I bring to the treatment room was given to me first. I carry these people into every session, with more gratitude than words can hold.

Ricky, my partner, who has always seen me, and draws out my best.
My mother and grandmother, who gave me the childhood that made me who I am.
Mrs. Rose, my first teacher in this country, who welcomed a new boy in the fourth grade with an open heart.
Mrs. Scott, a second mother, who believed in me without condition and never let me settle.
Mrs. Brookins, who showed me, by example, how to live with integrity and dream without limit.
Jared and Ed, who opened the first doors to Eastern martial arts and Tibetan Buddhism.
Dr. Mitch Stargrove, who brought the magic into this medicine, and told me to keep it alive.
Leslie Monarch, who carried it onto the clinic floor.
Dr. Berletich, who noticed me across the classroom, and believed in what he saw.
Leta Herman, who reawakened me to myself, and gave me back my passion as a healer.
Jaye, who taught me how to take up space in the world.
Ann Cecil-Sterman, who rekindled my love for acupuncture when I had nearly given it up.
Jeffrey Yuen, whose wisdom and generosity carry this jewel of a medicine to the world, to my teachers, and to me.
Master Kao, who opened the path of self-cultivation, and showed me, gently, how to live in my body rather than my head.
My patients, who choose me, trust me, teach me, and stay patient as I master this craft.

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Begin Here

Wondering if we're a good fit?

New patients start with a brief complimentary call to decide together whether this work is right for you.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture Intake

First visit · up to 90 minutes · in person or virtual

Your full history, classical pulse diagnosis, channel assessment, and a complete same-day treatment.

$225

Acupuncture Follow-Up

Up to 75 minutes · in person or virtual

Continued channel-based treatment, adjusted to how your body responded, with ongoing lifestyle guidance.

$180

Learn about acupuncture → In-network with Cigna

Daoist Alchemy

Alchemy Initiation

First visit · up to 90 minutes · in person or virtual

Your entry into the Nine Stages: your full picture, your constitution, and your first alchemy treatment. Begins with a complimentary consultation.

$270

Alchemy Follow-Up

Up to 75 minutes · in person or virtual

Dedicated stage work for active alchemy clients.

$225

Learn about alchemy →