Why Did You Become an Acupuncturist?

Hello,

I'm an acupuncturist and herbal practitioner and my name is Kate. I came upon acupuncture and herbs in my early 20's when I was overcome by health condition that sounded so scary! Like others...maybe even you, I didn't want to take toxic medications, so I looked for an alternative. My acupuncturist (and later teacher and mentor) really helped me with the treatments and guided me to resources for cleaning up my act!

Lately, I've been thinking about change, and why it seems so hard to give up things that we know are not good for us and why we resist creating healthy habits. I've been thinking about pain...and how to reduce it, even though it seems to me, part of being human is going through the pain...so we can grow and change and learn and be our best selves.

Acupuncture is a way to treat pain, and also to re-align your body with the cycles of nature. Acupuncture is a starting point to ease us into change by way of opening the stuck areas of the body. By applying the acupuncture points and lying still for the amount of time, we calm the body and allow space to grow. Acupuncturists say the qi "arrives" and I think that is when you are present, in that moment, in your body.

I would very much enjoy to meet you and hear more about you.

Knowing others is wisdom;

Knowing the self is enlightenment.

Mastering others requires force;

Mastering the self needs strength.

He who knows he has enough is rich.

Perserverance is a sign of will power.

He who stays where he is endures.

To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.

Lao Tsu. A New Translation By Gia-Fen and Jane English. Tao Te Ching, Verse 33. Random House, New York, 1972.

Two open source translations of the Tao Te Ching are available here: (but I found the Gia-Fen and Jane English translation to better hold the meaning.)

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Tao_Te_Ching#Chapter_34_(第三十四章)

https://ttc.tasuki.org/display:Code:gff,sm,jhmd,jc,rh/section:2