Dr. Sara Hazel
Founder · Integrative & Functional Medicine
Dr. Sara Hazel is a physician of three decades in integrative and functional medicine, specializing in chronic disease, healthy aging, and longevity. A former Dean of General Medicine, she is also an acupuncturist, a certified Raja and Hatha Yoga instructor, and a teacher of Medical Qi Gong in the rare Jinjing lineage of Master Wang Qingyu.
She works from the feet to the head, restoring functional movement patterns to decrease pain and increase longevity — and she built this Center for humans who need to reclaim vital, pain-free bodies and strong minds, in order to live better stories.
Dr. Taylor Pagano, ND
Naturopathic Doctor · Registered Yoga Teacher
Dr. Taylor Pagano is a Naturopathic Doctor and registered yoga teacher, drawn to the places where nature, body, and soul meet. At the Barefoot Sage Center, she teaches classes, offers reflexology, and helps facilitate the online membership, workshops, and group programs.
She loves creating spaces for people to slow down, reconnect with their bodies, and remember the wisdom already alive within them. For her, the natural world is a reflection of truth and full of powerful medicine: a teacher, healer, and guide. She sees the body as wise and whole, always moving toward balance, and trusts that we each have the innate capacity to heal. Reconnecting to nature and coming home to ourselves is where true healing lives.
Dr. Christine Girard
Integrative Medicine · Joining us this autumn
After more than two decades of leading transformative change in healthcare and higher education, I am returning to my first passion: direct patient care. My journey began in an old-fashioned solo private practice in Connecticut, where I served as my parish’s physician, treating everyone from neonates to geriatrics, and providing the personal touch of house calls.
Throughout my career, I have championed the “Whole Person” approach. From my work at Griffin Hospital utilizing the Planetree model to caring for oncology patients at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (now City of Hope), I have always believed that medicine is most effective when integrated and patient-centered.
I believe wellness is cultivated through the integration of science and lifestyle. As a former sous chef and baker, I incorporate nutrition and “food as medicine” into my treatment plans, alongside a focus on intentional movement — a passion I’ve shared as a runner and marathon coach for Team in Training. This connection to lifestyle and nature continues in my role as a Master Gardener in northern Arizona.
I am a Senior Lecturer at the University of Arizona College of Public Health, where I advise MPH students and help lead the AI and Public Health Initiative. Whether serving on the board of the Sojourner Center, as a Piper Fellow, or as treasurer of the Arizona Public Health Association, my life is rooted in service. I look forward to blending my executive experience and academic insights to provide a supportive, comprehensive, and deeply personal experience for my patients.
Mondays and Fridays, 10am – 2pm
Faith Pawlicki, LMT
Cupping · Neuromuscular Therapy · Reflexology
I’m Faith — licensed massage therapist, chiropractic assistant and martial artist. I practice Muay Thai, which taught me a great deal about what bodies that get strained and hurt actually need. My work includes deep tissue, cupping and neuromuscular therapy, and other therapeutic techniques that address pain and inflammation.
I’m happiest tackling the knots and pains that haven’t shifted for anyone else. Outside the Center, I’m training, or out with my dog Midna.
Sebastian Jade-Hazel
Reflexology · Gait & Posture
Hi! My name is Sebastian and I am passionate about helping people’s feet! I’m here to help you find relief for foot and body issues that affect the foot and can transfer pain up the leg and body.
I am a student of advanced medical massage and, under the direction of Dr. Hazel, I combine therapeutic reflexology with gait and posture analysis and reintroduce you to your body after what may be a long period of painful silence.
Kristen Tozer, LMT
Massage Therapy · Deep Relaxation
I’m Kristen — licensed in massage therapy and a certified chiropractic assistant. What I’m best at is taking people all the way down into deep relaxation — not just comfortable on the table, but the kind where you lose track of the hour. Come with specific aches and pains, or come because you need to put the week down; either way, I’ll meet you where you are. Outside the Center I’m usually on a trail with my dogs.
Amber Smith, L.Ac.
Licensed Acupuncturist · Joining us this October
I’m Amber Smith. I hold a Master of Acupuncture and a bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology. For over a decade I have also worked as a firefighter paramedic.
Emergency medicine taught me to assess quickly, say plainly what I am seeing, and recognize when something belongs with a different kind of care. My passion in acupuncture is to bridge the gap between what conventional Western medicine can do and where a deeper, more holistic tradition can transform lives.
I have taught CPR and first aid for eleven years, and I like that work for the same reason — watching someone move from “I would panic” to “I know what to do.”
