Manning was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. He attended college at Davidson College in North Carolina, majoring in French, and did graduate work in French at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He spent a year studying in France, and two years as a Peace Corp Volunteer in Niger, West Africa. He worked for a number of years as a professional interpreter, traveling extensively both overseas and in the United States. When he moved to New Mexico in the mid 1990's, Manning shifted from the field of languages and literature to take up another of his life callings- healing. He began the four year program for the Masters in Oriental Medicine at the International Institute of Chinese Medicine in Santa Fe, graduating in 2000.
In addition to acupuncture, Manning also has an herbal pharmacy with over 200 individual herbs with which he can build custom herbal formulas to address patients' needs. Over the past three years, he has also worked with a Master Healer group doing in depth study of the integration of essential oils into Traditional Chinese Medicine, creating a powerful combination for treating both emotional as well as physical conditions.
In his work with patients, Manning combines acupuncture, cupping, herbal remedies and essential oils along with his life experience to create a unique system of treatment and healing that focuses on one's entire well-being including physical pain as well as emotional and spiritual distress. A system that can be a truly transformational healing experience.