Elena Esparza, D.C., is a chiropractor and activist. Born in the late '60's in East Los Angeles, Dr. Esparza was encouraged to play in the green sanctuary of her childhood, hill-top home and dig in her grandmother's garden, where she found a language in her green world. \"My first memory of healing and natural remedies was at six years of age, and I have continued living among the plants and natural world all of my life,\" she says. \"I have had the privilege of living, visiting and studying in may countries, therefore my influences are varied and many. My chief healing influences come through the great women of my family who have carried on the traditions of their grandmothers and family healers: my mother. Ofelia Esaparza, my grandmother, Guadalupe Avilez, and our beloved Maya ancestor, Mama Pola, who never forgot the connection and lessons of the plants for healing.\" Dr. Esparza has studied herbal medicine, manual medicine and energetic medicine throughout the United States, Mexico and Central America. She received her Doctorate of Chiropractic in 1999 from the Southern California University of Health Sciences, Los Angeles. She was first introduced to chiropractic when she suffered injuries in a major motor vehicle accident. Through alternative healing care, Dr. Esparza was able to recover successfully enough to test for her second degree black belt ranking in 1993.