About

About Sōra

A studio that grew out of a question:
what if healing felt like coming home?

Sōra means “sky” in Japanese. We chose it because the sky belongs to everyone — quiet adults, restless kids, exhausted parents, anyone in transition. This studio is our small offering of sky.

Founded 2014 · Brooklyn, NY

“Slow medicine for fast lives.”

01 — Origins

A practice built around listening first.

Sōra started in a 200-square-foot room above a flower shop. One practitioner, one curtain, one teapot. A decade later we still believe the most powerful diagnostic tool is unhurried attention.

When parents began bringing in their children — first one, then ten, then a waitlist — we built a wing just for tiny humans. We trained in pediatric techniques abroad, hand-painted the walls, and replaced the magazine pile with picture books.

Today, Sōra is a working studio of three practitioners and a calmer cat named Miso. We see about 40 families a week, and every single one gets the original promise: a slow, listening room.

02 — How we work

Five principles, written on the wall.

Listen

before we look. Always.

Soft

is not the same as weak.

Children

are tiny grown-ups, not small problems.

Plain

language, no jargon ever.

Slow

is a clinical decision.

03 — The people

The hands you’ll be in.

Three practitioners. One cat. A shared philosophy: medicine is a relationship, not a transaction.

Sōra

Yuki Tanaka, L.Ac.

Founder & lead practitioner

Trained in Tokyo and New York. Specializes in nervous system & women’s health.

Sōra

Marcus Bell, L.Ac.

Pediatric specialist

Pediatric & shoun-ishin certified. Has more sticker pages than chart notes.

Sōra

Anouk de Vries, MS

Herbalist & nutritionist

Bridges classical formulas with modern nutrition science. Bakes a wicked granola.

04 — The path

A short history of Sōra.

2014

A 200-sq-ft studio above a flower shop. One curtain, one teapot.

2017

Outgrew the room. Moved into a converted carpentry studio with a real waiting room.

2019

Trained in shoun-ishin. The first pediatric session — and the first sticker chart.

2021

Added an in-house herbal pharmacy. Anouk joined.

2023

Built the “Sprouts wing” — soft floor, story corner, a beanbag-frog named Frank.

2026

Today: ~40 families a week, three practitioners, one Miso the cat.

Come visit. Tea is on us.

Stop by for a 15-minute meet & greet — see the space, meet the practitioners, sniff the herbs. No pressure to book.