Connecting the missing dots
that keep your physical life fragmented
Hello, my name is Dr. Lance Westendarp, ND, LAc
I work with individuals in Houston, TX as a mind-body integration specialist. In my practice, I combine acupuncture, manual therapy, herbal medicine, naturopathic care, movement training, and embodied awareness practices to support healing, resilience, and growth.
I’m a naturopathic doctor, acupuncturist, and movement educator with advanced training in mind-body medicine, sports medicine, and complex chronic illness. My approach is shaped by over two decades of mentorship in yoga, movement, and traditional medicine—integrating clinical precision with lived, embodied experience to facilitate meaningful and lasting change.
Integrative care and embodied physical education in Houston, Tx
This is a place for healing—
but also for growth, strength, and deeper connection with yourself.
This work helps you feel better—but that’s just the beginning.
People come here with everything from acute pain to long-standing patterns, and start to feel real relief—sometimes immediately, sometimes as their system begins to unwind. But it doesn’t happen by pushing harder or silencing what hurts. It happens through letting go, listening, and reconnecting with the intelligence of your body. When you stop fighting your system and start working with it, change becomes sustainable.
Your body isn’t a machine to fix. It’s a relationship to tend.
Whether you’re navigating injury, illness, or striving for higher performance, the body is always offering information. This work helps you understand that language—through clinical care, hands-on work, movement practice, and internal awareness—so you can build strength, clarity, and trust with your own system.
This is a space for healing, growth, and everything in between.
Not everyone who walks through the door is in crisis. Many come to deepen their practice, build strength, refine their awareness, or reconnect with parts of themselves that have gone quiet. The Center for Embodiment is a space for learning, healing, and exploration—where people of all experiences and backgrounds are invited to grow.
Services I offer
There are several ways to work with me—through individualized integrative care, movement classes, longer-term embodied programs, or self-paced online study.
Some come here to heal.
Others come because they sense there's more.
This work helps you feel better—but that’s just the beginning.
Your body isn’t a machine to fix. It’s a relationship to tend.
This is a space for healing, development, and deeper exploration.
People come here with everything from acute pain to long-standing patterns and begin to experience real relief—sometimes quickly, sometimes as the system gradually unwinds. But this work isn’t about pushing harder or suppressing symptoms. It’s about learning how to work with your body rather than against it. When that shift happens, change becomes more stable and sustainable.
What my clients say
Lance asks the questions I didn’t realize were missing from my healthcare. He listens deeply and brings Eastern and Western approaches together with real thoughtfulness.
MR
Lance balances care and challenge in a way that feels both intelligent and safe. I regained strength in areas that had felt unreliable for years and trust his guidance completely.
SB
Working with Lance helped me simplify my health rather than add more to it. I felt clearer, more supported, and more confident in my body.
PE
I was initially unsure about acupuncture, but working with Lance quickly put me at ease. He is prepared, knowledgeable, and deeply compassionate, and takes the time to explain his thinking and build a thoughtful plan.
MW
Chronic conditions
Support for complex or long-standing health concerns that haven’t found resolution—helping you experience relief and make meaningful progress where you’ve been stuck.
Mind-Body health
For those wanting a deeper mind-body understanding—whether you feel stuck in your growth, disconnected from your body, or are working through emotional patterns that show up physically.
Areas of focus
While every individual is unique, much of my work centers around the following areas.
Handstand Workshop with Dr. Robert Adams DPT
Handstand Workshop with Dr. Robert Adams, DPT
November 7-8, 2026 | Saturday and Sunday
Center for Embodiment, 3200 Marquart St, Houston, TX
Beginner
Saturday, November 7 | 12:00-2:00pm | $150
Not sure where to start your handstand journey? Or maybe you’ve been practicing for a while but feel stuck and want guidance on building a solid foundation for more challenging hand balancing skills? This workshop is for you.
We’ll break the handstand down into its key components and help you identify what is holding you back and how to address it. We’ll cover shoulder mobility and strength, bodyline position and awareness, and the foundations of balance, while laying out a clear path toward your freestanding handstand.
You’ll leave with a better understanding of your own strengths and limitations, as well as a clear framework for how to approach your training going forward.
This workshop is designed for anyone from complete beginners to those working toward a consistent 5-second handstand.
[Register for Beginner]
Intermediate
Sunday, November 8 | 2:30-5:00pm | $180
Already comfortable getting upside down and ready to build a more consistent freestanding handstand? This workshop will help you develop longer holds, improve your control, and explore transitions between shapes.
We’ll break down the key elements of freestanding balance and shape changes, helping you identify what’s limiting your practice and how to address it. You’ll explore practical drills and progressions to improve your consistency, refine your technique, and gain greater control in your handstand.
You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of what to work on and a practical framework for continuing to develop your freestanding handstand.
Prerequisite: Comfortable holding a 45-second chest-to-wall handstand.
[Register for Intermediate]
About Dr. Robert Adams
PT, DPT, OCS
As a Doctor of Physical Therapy, hand balancer, and teacher, I combine clinical knowledge with more than a decade of teaching experience to help students build greater awareness, resilience, and confidence.
First introduced to handstands through yoga, I taught myself how to handstand as an adult, which gives me a firsthand appreciation for both the challenges and rewards of learning this skill later in life. In 2016 I discovered a more playful approach to hand balancing, acrobatics, and movement at Ape Co Movement School in Colorado, where I continue to train and teach.
Since then, I have continued to study hand balancing and learn from experienced teachers and performance artists. My teaching is rooted in the belief that there are multiple paths to learning a handstand, and finding the right path starts with understanding what is limiting the person in front of me. I use that information to create a practical path toward sustainable progress.
My experience learning handstands as an adult has also shaped how I teach. Building the physical qualities required for balance, including strength, mobility, coordination, and body awareness, is only part of the process. Confidence, fear, and the ability to adapt are equally important. I bring together my physical therapy background and teaching experience to help students understand not just what to practice, but why it matters.
When I’m not coaching or working as a physical therapist, you’ll usually find me baking, reading fantasy novels, or hiking somewhere off the beaten path.
Embodied Intelligence:
The gap between doing and being
Most of us were never taught to listen to our bodies. We were taught to manage them.
And yet the body is always communicating — with a precision and consistency that most of us have never been formally introduced to. Learning to hear it doesn't just change how you move. It changes how you decide, how you relate, and how you inhabit every area of your life.
This three-hour workshop will be a direct exploration of that conversation.
Through movement, partner practice, play, and personal and group inquiry, you'll have a lived experience of what it actually means to close the gap between doing and being — in your own body, in real time. We'll explore the science and theory behind what's happening, but the real work is felt, not explained.
Whether you're new to this work or have been practicing for years — there's something here for you.
No movement experience necessary. Just genuine curiosity about what becomes possible when you start listening.
Come ready to move, to play, to inquire, and to be surprised by what you already know.
Open to everyone — whether you work with bodies and minds professionally, or are simply someone who suspects there's a deeper way to live.
Space limited to 30 participants per session. Choose the date that works for you.
Breath - The First Pillar
Of all the foundations of health, breath is the only one you can't negotiate with. Start here — with a few simple questions worth asking yourself.
The Foundations of Health
What I look for in every patient — and the questions worth asking yourself
What Are We Really Reaching For?
A reflection on longevity, time, and the question underneath the question
Discernment: Pain vs. Discomfort
What if the sensations you've been avoiding are actually trying to help you?
Engaging vs Bracing
On the difference between effort that serves you and effort that quietly works against you.
The Power of Constraint
What if limitation is exactly what your practice needs?
FAQs
The Center for Embodiment is an integrative practice centered on movement, awareness, and connection with the body. It brings together movement education, embodied practice, and supportive health services to help people develop deeper self-connection, physical intelligence, resilience, and clarity in how they move and live.
People come here for different reasons. Some are navigating chronic illness, persistent pain, or health concerns that haven't fully resolved elsewhere. Others are drawn to the movement work — looking to build physical intelligence, deepen their practice, or develop a more intentional relationship with their body. Many arrive somewhere in between. What they share is a desire to engage more fully with their own system.
The clinical work — Integrative Care and Attunement — is one-on-one and focused on your specific health history, patterns, and goals. It may include acupuncture, manual therapy, movement, and other tools selected for your particular situation. Movement classes are group-based and open to anyone interested in developing physical intelligence, strength, mobility, and embodied awareness. Many people do both — and the two sides of the work inform each other naturally.
It sits at the intersection of all three without being fully any one of them. Movement classes involve real physical work but are not a traditional fitness model. The clinical work draws on naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, and somatic practice but is not a replacement for primary medical care or mental health treatment when those are needed. The work is integrative by design.
If you're primarily interested in movement, starting with a group class is often the easiest entry point. For those seeking clinical or integrative care, booking an integrative care session is the most direct place to begin. If you’re unsure, you’re welcome to reach out for guidance.
