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My name is Sunjae Lee and I’m a student of Naturopathy and Chinese Medicine at the National College of Natural Medicine in beautiful Portland, OR. This is the site of my future practice, Fermata Wellness.


A fermata is a symbol in musical notation that means "a pause of unspecified length on a note or rest". As a young musician it was my favorite musical symbol because within the confines of rigid musical notation, it offered a gem of freedom. It signified to me that if I wanted to, I could hold a note or pause forever.


Now, as an aspiring medical practitioner, the fermata symbol resonates with me more than ever. In this day and age, our busy lives dictate that we constantly move, act, talk, and think, with little time to rest and unwind. The thought of pausing indefinitely and experiencing the beauty of a single moment is both uncommon and sometimes discouraged. It is often this lack of meditative slowness that leads to imbalances within our psyches and bodies that then lead to pathologies.


This is the vision for the wellness center i want to create, a respite from the trials of modern life and a center that encourages healing by way of a deep inner pause. By combining medical services such as acupuncture and naturopathy with a teahouse setting as well as a room that can be used for music, art, and yoga, Fermata Wellness will cover the entire spectrum of people who need rest-- from the elderly to the stressed out student to the 50 year old with the mid life crisis.