This month, I (this is Kevin writing) will turn 49 years old. I turned to Chinese Medicine in my mid 30s, starting acupuncture school in 2010. This was a career shift for me, an important one because I had been interested in natural health and healing since I was a teenager. I had worked in a library prior to that and had a career working in public libraries, with a focus on teenagers, clubs for teens, developing collections and book materials for teens, and of course answering any and all questions that people walked in the door with (often, where is the bathroom?)
One reason I was interested in Chinese Medicine, rather than many of the other options available to me (Like Chiropractic or Naturopathy), was that there was such a long, long history of Chinese Medicine. I really enjoyed Chiropractic and often went to a chiropractor. But chiropractic was a quite recent invention… in the early 20th Century. I liked the great ancientness of Chinese Medicine, and the fact that though it is very modern and adaptive, it is also very old and I knew that as a lifelong learner and lover of books, I would enjoy a lifetime of deep diving into this medicine as I developed and deepened my practice of it. To say it is also eclectic is also an understatement – people practice Chinese Medicine a hundred different ways, so there is variety in the work.
Coming to Perfect Point Acupuncture, you will find that we have many decades of experience to share with you. We have ten years of clinical practice, since we graduated in 2013 from the prestigious Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine. But, in the 20 years before that, both Sarah and Kevin had been accruing a lifetime of personal experience and discoveries. Since this is Kevin writing, I’ll share some of my own.
For example, during my 20s and early 30s, I was very much a proponent of Western herbalism, and tried just about every cleanse, every fast, and every therapy you could imagine, and so I can speak to you about many of these things having experienced them myself. My first love of western herbalism came through Dr Richard Schultze, who used to write hilarious newsletters about how messed up people’s bowels were, and how messed up the western medical systems are. I spent several years doing retreats at wheatgrass centers, including the Hippocrates Institute in Florida and the now defunct Creative Health Institute in Michigan. These all make wonderful stories, like how at 6am (at the Creative Health Institute) I was woken up to loud party music, opened my door and found all these wheatgrass devotees jumping up and down on their mini trampolines, this was all part of the program, get up and MOVE!
Indeed, I well remember my very first “natural food meal”, which was at the Mustard Seed Market and Café near Akron Ohio. My friend took me there for what she called some “real food”. I remember wolfing down absolutely every scrap of food, water and all, that was set before me and discovering for the first time that I liked salad. Prior to that, I thought salad was cold, hard, whitish green iceberg lettuce with some glops of thick dressing dumped on it. Wow, I liked salad.
I really amped things up after I ended my time in library work in my early 30s. I had the siren’s call to follow my heart more and do something more directly aligned with my passion. Of course, I looked at some of the other natural careers I could do, like western herbalism, naturopathy, and chiropractic, but I decided that Chinese Medicine was the best approach, because not only was there such an amazing long history, but there was the advanced herbalism. It just appealed to me much more than the rest, and my mom was getting lots of acupuncture for her “violin shoulder”.
After leaving the library, I had one plan only, which was a stint at the now-defunct Kushi Institute of macrobiotics in the Berkshires. I had been to the Cleveland Macrobiotic Center many times in my exploration of natural foods. If you’ve ever been to a macrobiotic center, basically you walk in and there is a unique, unmistakable smell. You know you’re in a macro place, maybe it is the miso soup or the squash or boiling greens, but you know you’re there. I was there in the Berkshires for about 6 months all in all, and never felt better in my life. It was there I really started learning about qi, about the meridians, and even learned some rudimentary shiatsu bodywork.
Fast forward through an internship at a naturopathic office for 6 months. Though I do love naturopathy and we have several NDs as buddies, I realized it was definitely not for me. The light bulb went off when one particular patient walked away with a $1,000 bill – this was in 2009. I was stunned, in disbelief, she had gotten a motherlode of homeopathic remedies. At this particular office, she had some organic raw chocolate sitting by the register. So, this particular patient had the $1000 bill and then decided to add one bag of the chocolate. If it were me, I’d be giving this patient the chocolate for free (or maybe encouraging them to not get the chocolate) and thanking them, but she was charged for the chocolate too. I did not want to become a supplement salesman. This experience has followed us through our professional career. We are herbalists yes, but not supplement salesmen.
So, this is a rather longwinded way of saying that I, Kevin, came to Chinese Medicine after a long investigation of a whole gamut of therapies and approaches to health and healing. Many more too, but I’ll save those for another day. When you come see me, I have those in the back of my mind and can share my opinions if you like. You are coming to see someone who has tried pretty much every therapy, every fast, and every cleanse, and determined that this, Chinese Medicine, is absolutely the best more comprehensive, most affordable and effective approach to health and wellness. For people who want real options, this is the way to go
You want to be sure to see a properly licensed, highly experienced acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist. There are a lot of copycat practitioners out there – a lot of people in New Hampshire use needling in their practice, but you want to see a LICENSED acupuncturist if you want to experience the actual benefits. There are several of us around, but seeing myself or Sarah is a great choice if you want some hardworking experienced practitioners who have been around the block, know how to do advanced Chinese herbalism, and know how to custom modify formulas for your complex and unique condition.
Continuing through July is a HALF OFF your first office call. Text or call us at 603-465-1236, or book yourselves online. See you soon!