Health x Wellness began with a question.
Years of caring for patients transformed not only how I practiced, but the questions I began asking.
Why we exist.
The Origin of Health x Wellness
Early in my clinical training, I believed better health would come from finding better treatments and better answers. But over time, working with patients taught me something different.
Again and again, I watched people experience meaningful improvements through treatment. Pain decreased. Sleep improved. Energy returned. Symptoms became more manageable. Yet many still found themselves struggling to sustain those gains once they returned to the realities of everyday life. It wasn't because treatment had failed or because they lacked motivation. More often, they were returning to the same environments, routines, stressors, and circumstances that had shaped their health in the first place.
At the same time, I met many people who had spent years searching for answers. They had seen multiple providers, received thoughtful recommendations, accumulated diagnoses, and learned an enormous amount about their health. Yet many still felt overwhelmed—not because they lacked information, but because no one had helped them make sense of how everything fit together.
Some needed someone to explain the bigger picture. Others needed help integrating years of diagnoses and recommendations into a coherent understanding of their health. Some needed thoughtful guidance through the complexity of a chronic condition. Others simply needed someone willing to walk alongside them as they navigated uncertainty.
I realized that what many people needed was not simply more information or another treatment recommendation. They needed someone who could step back, understand the whole picture, identify meaningful patterns, reduce unnecessary complexity, and help create a realistic, sustainable path forward..
That realization transformed the questions I began asking. Rather than asking only, "What symptom needs to be treated?" I became increasingly interested in another question:
"What conditions need to change for health to emerge and endure?"
That question became the foundation of Health × Wellness.
Over time, I came to understand that the same conditions that allow health to emerge are often the ones that help sustain it. Health is rarely created by a single intervention. It develops—and endures—through the ongoing relationship between physiology, behavior, environment, stress, recovery, relationships, and the everyday choices that shape our lives.
That realization reshaped my understanding of healthcare. Treatment remains essential, but lasting health depends on more than what happens during an appointment. It also depends on helping people understand their health, preserve dignity, build their greatest possible capacity, and create meaningful, sustainable change within the reality of their lives.
What is the measure of Health?
A life well lived.
Health isn't measured only by lab values or pain scores. It's measured by what becomes possible. Returning to work with confidence. Sleeping through the night. Walking without hesitation. Traveling, gardening, playing with your children, or laughing with friends. Dancing simply because your body allows you to.
Those are the moments that make health meaningful—and the moments Health × Wellness was built to protect
Meet the Founder
Frankye Riley, LAc, MAOM, CIAYT
Licensed Acupuncturist | Practitioner of Ayurvedic Medicine | Herbalist | Yoga Therapist
My Philosophy of Care.
"I believe wellness is the infrastructure that makes health sustainable—and that care should cultivate increasing self-sufficiency rather than perpetual dependency.”
Every patient brings a unique story, physiology, goals, and circumstances. My role is to help you make sense of your health, identify what matters most, and develop a practical plan that fits your life.
I believe thoughtful care should preserve dignity, cultivate each person's greatest possible capacity, and support the fullest life possible within the reality they face. Sometimes that means restoring function. Sometimes it means adapting to change. Sometimes it means reducing suffering or supporting the people who walk that journey alongside them.
Many people come to my practice after years of searching for answers or struggling to make sense of persistent symptoms. Along the way, they've often received conflicting recommendations or been left feeling that their situation is simply too complicated—or too unique—to understand.
I'm drawn to that complexity—integrating multiple streams of information, identifying meaningful patterns, and working alongside patients to refine care over time, because I believe lasting care is built through partnership.
More About My Professional Journey
Educational Journey
Following the questions.
My professional journey has been guided by a desire to better understand what allows health not only to improve, but to endure.
After completing my undergraduate education at Duke University, I pursued graduate training in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine at The New England School of Acupuncture at MCPHS University. Along the way, I sought opportunities to study a wide range of complementary perspectives on health, including orthopedic acupuncture, pediatric acupuncture, Japanese acupuncture, therapeutic yoga through the Kripalu School of Yoga, Ayurveda through The Ayurvedic Institute, and clinical research through Harvard-affiliated hospitals.
My interest in the science of pain, recovery, and long-term health later led me to earn a Master of Science in Pain Research, Education, and Policy from Tufts University School of Medicine. Together, these experiences reinforced an appreciation for the complex relationships between physiology, behavior, stress, environment, and the lived experience of illness.
Clinical Experience
Learning through practice
Since 2019, I have provided full-time acupuncture care within an integrative clinical setting, caring primarily for Veterans while collaborating with psychotherapists, chiropractors, nutritionists, nurse practitioners, physicians, and other healthcare professionals. Working alongside patients with persistent pain, complex medical conditions, and overlapping physical and emotional concerns has continued to shape both my clinical reasoning and my philosophy of care.
Those experiences have reinforced my belief that meaningful healthcare rarely comes from a single discipline alone. It comes from thoughtful collaboration, curiosity, and a willingness to understand the whole person before deciding how best to help.
Today, my practice draws from acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, movement, breathwork, lifestyle medicine, and patient education—not as separate services, but as complementary tools selected to support a coherent, individualized plan that reflects each person's health, goals, circumstances, and the reality of their life.
Continuing to Learn
Making Space for Curiosity
I continue to learn from every patient I have the privilege to care for. Their stories continue to challenge my assumptions, deepen my curiosity, and remind me that thoughtful healthcare begins not with having every answer, but with asking better questions.
Outside the clinic, I enjoy reading, creating art, spending time in nature, playing the cello, and exploring with my dog, Lady.
Health is not built in a single appointment.
It is built through the daily relationship between your body, mind, habits, environment, and the choices that shape your life. At Health x Wellness, we provide integrative care designed to help you create health that can be sustained—not just achieved temporarily.