DR. TAL BARNSTON, D.C. · CHIROPRACTIC KINESIOLOGIST

I invite you to step into your greatest embodiment of health.

Do you want to move at your best, free of pain? To play with your kids or grandkids, hike your favorite trails, travel, compete, and enjoy everything you love with confidence and no fear of injury?

I help you build a body you can trust — and a mobility blueprint you can sustain for the rest of your life.

But health doesn't stop at the body. The way you move shapes the way you show up: how you handle pressure, how you speak, how you connect with the people around you. I help you feel at home in your own skin, find your voice, relate with more honesty and ease, and lead with confidence — in your work, your relationships, and your life.

Strong body. Grounded mind. Open heart. That's what it means to embody health.

Book a free 15-minute discovery call →

Laguna Beach office · Cohn Health Institute, Mon–Thu · Santa Monica, Fridays

Beyond the Body

Before I became a doctor, I was a competitive basketball player and a professional dancer. The hardest opponent I ever faced wasn't on the court or the stage — it was my own mind and emotions. Learning to handle pressure, fear, and self-doubt, and to stay calm and grounded under stress, became as important to me as any physical skill.

That's why my work goes past the physical. Alongside chiropractic and movement, I teach the skills to:

  • Feel comfortable in your own skin — at ease in your body, in a room, and with yourself

  • Find and use your voice — say what you mean with clarity and confidence

  • Relate to people — how to listen, how to talk to people, how to connect with depth and authenticity

  • Lead — embodied leadership in your family, your team, and your work

  • Stay grounded under pressure — in competition, performance, and everyday stress

These skills come from years of training in the Dance Alive system and its Art of Relating practice, and from my own path as an athlete and performer. When your body feels whole and strong, and you know how to show up as yourself, everything else expands.

Who I Work With

I've worked with people from age 4 to 80. Every program is built around the person in front of me.

Kids & Teens

I have a special passion for working with young people as they grow into who they will become. Through movement, play, and athletic training, they build strength, coordination, and the inner skills to match: staying grounded under pressure, working as a team, speaking up, and relating to others with depth and authenticity.

Young Adults

For those stepping into independence, college, and careers: build a body that performs and the confidence to use your voice, set direction, and handle stress without losing yourself.

Adults & Athletes

Move without pain, recover from injury, and train for the activities you love. Chiropractic, strength, and mobility work come together with tools for leadership, presence, and communication.

Older Adults

Stay strong, mobile, and independent. Keep doing what you love — hiking, traveling, playing with grandkids — with balance, confidence, and a body you trust.

About Dr. Tal

Dr. Tal Barnston, D.C., is a chiropractic kinesiologist who has spent 17 years helping people become the healthiest, strongest versions of themselves — in body, mind, and spirit. His Embody Health approach blends chiropractic and Applied Kinesiology, myofascial integration, functional strength and mobility training, Budokon martial-arts-inspired movement and yoga, animal locomotion, somatic movement, and dance. Known for his intuitive understanding of the body and his grounded, heart-centered presence, Dr. Tal meets each person where they are and helps them move at their best, feel at home in themselves, and live a deeply fulfilling, empowered life. He sees patients at his Laguna Beach office, at the Cohn Health Institute Monday through Thursday, and in Santa Monica on Fridays.

My Movement Story

My entire life has been focused on studying, embodying, and teaching movement.

In search of a deeper connection to my soul, I spent ten years traveling the world to study under masters of yoga, dance, martial arts, naturopathic and Chinese medicine, chiropractic, permaculture, and bio-construction. In Thailand I studied Tantric Hatha Yoga intensively, learning to use asanas to connect to the chakras. I went on to earn my B.S. in Kinesiology from San Francisco State University, and spent more than a decade as a personal trainer focused on functional movement, mobility, rehab, and self-expression.

Dance called me next. I traveled through Colombia and Europe to learn Afro-Cuban salsa, and its rhythm and joy showed me what freedom in the body and mind can feel like. A year-long apprenticeship in Budokon Mixed Movement Arts — an integration of martial arts, yoga, mobility, and yogic and Zen philosophy — gave me the movement range to dance professionally with Jacob Jonas The Company for two years.

For four years I studied with a mentor who was a doctor of naturopathic and Chinese medicine, a Diplomate of Applied Kinesiology, and a yogi. He taught me medicine woven together with meditation and a connection to the source of all creation. That path led me to earn my Doctor of Chiropractic from Southern California University of Health Sciences.

Dance Alive is where it all came together. Its practices — including the Art of Relating — gave me practical tools to love myself and my life, lead, live with integrity, commit deeply, play on a team, and express who I really am. It took me out of performance and into authenticity, and now I teach others to do the same.

Today I bring all of it to my patients and clients: chiropractic care, movement, strength, and the skills to relate, lead, and feel at home in your own skin. I live in beautiful Laguna Beach with my wife, Natasha, and we're expecting our first son. I spend my days with patients, teaching classes and workshops, coaching one-on-one, dancing, and enjoying the ocean and nature.

I look forward to moving with you!

Specialties

  • Applied Kinesiology (AK)

  • NeuroEmotional Technique (NET)

  • Myofascial Integration

  • Budokon Mixed Movement Arts · Martial Arts · Yoga · Mobility · Calisthenics · Acrobatics

  • Functional Strength & Mobility

  • Athletic Performance Training

  • Somatic Movement Training · Dance Alive

  • Embodied Leadership Training · Dance Alive

  • Meditation

Education & Licensure

  • Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.), licensed in California — Southern California University of Health Sciences

  • B.S. Kinesiology, Movement Science — San Francisco State University

  • Athletic Training — Santa Barbara City College

Certifications

  • Budokon Yoga Primary Series

  • Budokon Mobility Levels 1 & 2

  • National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) — Certified Personal Trainer

  • Kettlebell Level 1

  • VIPR (Vitality, Performance, Reconditioning)

  • TriggerPoint Myofascial Release Therapy

  • Functional Movement Systems (FMS)

  • First Aid, CPR & AED — American Heart Association

Let's Move Together

Not sure where to start? Book a free 15-minute discovery call and we'll talk about your goals — for you or for your child.

Seeing patients at my Laguna Beach office, at the Cohn Health Institute Monday–Thursday, and in Santa Monica on Fridays.