An Internationally Acclaimed Author and Innovative Educator
Chi-Akra Center for Ageless Aging founder Mary Elizabeth Wakefield, L. Ac., M. S., M. M., is one of the leading proponents of facial acupuncture and related techniques in the world today. She is one of only a select few US acupuncturists, including Jeffrey Yuen, to have been awarded the title of Educator of the Year by the American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAAOM), for her contributions to the field of Oriental medicine as a teacher, creator of innovative treatment protocols, writer for acupuncture periodicals, and advocate of acupuncture in the national media.
Making Contact
To contact Ms. Wakefield directly about her seminars or to make a facial acupuncture appointment with her at Chi-Akra Center for Ageless Aging in New York, you may e-mail her at chi.akra@gmail.com or telephone 212-593-1954.
If you have a specific question for Ms. Wakefield, please send a message via the contact form at the bottom of this page. You can also sign up for our mailing list via the pop-up form.
Looking Ahead in 2024 … New Directions, New Projects
In keeping with the changing landscape of continuing education since March 2020, Mary Elizabeth and MichelAngelo will be expanding their online presence in 2024, with several new online course offerings. They will also offer a slate of small group mentorships, featuring the certification series courses from the Somatic level of their 3-tiered Certification Program, as well as another course in Vibrational Acupuncture: Integrating Tuning Forks with Needles. All of these seminars will be presented at their home base on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
A return to California is in the offing, with a prospective event at Yo San University, the site of many successful seminars in the past; the topic will be Constitutional Facial Acupuncture: The New Protocols, which they have not taught in California since 2014. They are awaiting final confirmation of a date in late August.
In addition to their pre-existing webinars featured through Healthy Seminars and Net of Knowledge, the pair is now partnering with CEU Guru, which is co-directed by a former student. They are very pleased to be able to reach the CA acupuncturist market (and others) through this new platform. Two seminars are currently available through CEU Guru.
Other prospective live seminars in 2024 include events include a 3-day certification series in The Alchemy of Healthy Aging: “Sparking the Shen” for FSOMA in 2024. This innovative seminar, which introduces the theory and practice of alchemy from both Eastern and Western perspectives, in the context of a practical hands-on treatment protocol, has never before been offered as a standalone event. They have also submitted a proposal on the topic to their publisher, Singing Dragon UK, and are awaiting developments.
2023: A Transitional Year
2023 featured more live seminars for Ms. Wakefield and her life, business and teaching partner, MichelAngelo, with events at SWAC Boulder (CO) and ESATM in Bloomfield, NJ. They taught a series of 3 small group mentorships at their home base in New York, and online events for ASAOM in Tucson.
2022: A Return to Live Teaching
2022 marked a return to live teaching for Mary Elizabeth and MichelAngelo, with a three-day certification series in Constitutional Facial Acupuncture Archetypes for FSOMA in March; there was great enthusiasm from the participants for a non-virtual format, and the seminar was very well received. A second successful live teaching event occurred in October, a 3-day certification series in Constitutional Facial Acupuncture: The New Protocols for ESATM in Bloomfield, NJ.
Mary Elizabeth appeared once again in March and April as a presenter for the Advanced Cosmetic Facial Acupuncture Program at the newly designated Pacific College of Health and Science in New York, as part of the new FACE Program, offered in partnership with the school. Ms. Wakefield had previously created a facial acupuncture elective for PCOM, which ran for several years*. She and MichelAngelo presented on Japanese scar therapy, yet again virtually, for the 53rd annual TCM-Kongress Rothenburg in mid-May. They also recorded a webinar in June for the Swiss company Complemedis AG on Constitutional Facial Acupuncture: The New Protocols, which is now available here.
The pair were featured online as presenters for the inaugural Radiant Aging Summit in mid-June; their topic was synergies of acupuncture needling and tuning fork applications, drawn from their book, Vibrational Acupuncture: Integrating Tuning Forks with Needles (see below).
The 4th iteration of their highly acclaimed International GOLD STANDARD FACIAL ACUPUNCTURE® Certification Program concluded in late August with the Vibrational level; the group included students from India, Australia, Philippines, UK and the US.
Prior Years
In 2021, Mary Elizabeth and MichelAngelo presented, in addition to their slate of virtual seminars, online for Great River Symposium (Minneapolis, NM), and the Pacific
Symposium (San Diego, CA), and their first live teaching event in 17 months, in Fort Lauderdale, FL, at FSOMACON, where they had a successful live book signing, sponsored by Lhasa OMS.
In March 2020, Mary Elizabeth and MichelAngelo published their ground-breaking new book with Singing Dragon UK, Vibrational Acupuncture: Integrating Tuning Forks with Needles. Here is a link to the book, which has already been rated 5 stars, on Amazon; it is also available from other online booksellers. You may order an autographed copy from them by contacting Chi-Akra Center for Ageless Aging directly.
Short biography:
The author of the long-awaited book on her much sought after and transformative facial acupuncture treatment protocols, Constitutional Facial Acupuncture, published by Elsevier Churchill Livingstone (UK) in January 2014, she is the acknowledged international forerunner in facial acupuncture education, innovation and treatment.
The book is now into its second English printing; please contact Chi-Akra Center for Ageless Aging directly to order an autographed copy, or a copy of Ms. Wakefield’s DVD, An Introduction to Constitutional Facial Acupuncture Renewal.
Mary Elizabeth has personally trained close to 6,000 acupuncturists, bodyworkers and estheticians from 5 continents – North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australasia – in her protocols, and maintains a private practice on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, in New York City.
Mary Elizabeth has 35+ years of clinical professional experience as a healing practitioner, and is a licensed acupuncturist, certified by the NCCAOM, a Zen Shiatsu practitioner, massage therapist, a cranio-sacral therapist, Acutonics® practitioner, opera singer, herbalist and Interfaith minister.
Ms. Wakefield was highlighted in an article on facial acupuncture that appeared in the Style section of the December issue of the New York Times. From 2000-2009, she contributed an ongoing column on facial acupuncture and related topics to Acupuncture Today magazine, and has also written articles for the former California Journal of Oriental Medicine, now JAIM, and Oriental Medicine Journal.
Ms. Wakefield was invited to custom design a Diamond Acupuncture Facial™ in conjunction with the Academy Awards, and traveled to Los Angeles to debut it at the Soho Mansion Diamond Aquifer Suite. Thereafter, she appeared nationally on Fit TV (Discovery Channel), demonstrating the facial on host Gina Lombardi, in a segment entitled “Buying Beauty.”
Ms. Wakefield appeared on national television on the FOX network as a spokesperson for facial acupuncture on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet. Mary Elizabeth’s system of Constitutional Facial Acupuncture™ has been featured during a segment on FOX News that aired nationally; she has also demonstrated her techniques in an interview on EyeWitness News, WABC-TV, in New York.
Her practice and treatment protocols have been highlighted or featured in interviews in a number of prominent magazines – Oriental Medicine Journal, Qi Magazine, Alternative Medicine, American Spa, Luxury Spa Finder, Les Nouvelles Esthetique, Spa Asia (Singapore) and Spa Arabia (Dubai).
*this elective, while still extant, no longer presents Ms. Wakefield’s protocols.