How the long way around I became an Acupuncturist!

I often get asked and recently, quite a bit this question, “What made you become an Acupuncturist? “

Well, I have a very brief version on my website, however, for some reason on the way to work I was thinking about this question and thought oh well that is kind of funny!! So I thought I would share because you can’t go past a coincidence now, can you? I started out wanting to become a detective, you know like Scooby Doo, a good who done it, mysteries, love them! Though once at high school I progressed, to thinking I would teach biology, chemistry,  home sciences or art, the subjects I loved the most at school, what I ended up doing was Dental Nursing which satisfied my science nerdiness and martial Arts for fun and fitness. As per my website, I wanted to know more and more about how/why martial arts made me feel so great and when I did not go how that made me feel and why, how can I take care of my sports injuries and is it possible to prevent/lessen others, how can I get the best out of myself and my sport? These are the things I was questioning in myself,  so I went looking I still remember how excited I was when I looked at the Acupuncture subject sheet on Open day at college. It had everything I could have hoped for.

Back to this morning on the way to work, I realised the best thing about becoming an Acupuncturist is that it encompasses all the things I loved from childhood/school, and work, allowing me to better understand what it means to be an Acupuncturist which I am very thankful for each day as who knew doing all the things you love could be found in one package. This is how all that fits into my daily work life as an Acupuncturist. It is the true meaning of holistic to me.

·       Biology – Biomedical sciences of human systems - important

·       Chemistry – pathophysiology of systems, the chemistry of food and Chinese herbal remedies

·       Detective- working out the patterns of disharmony in these systems for a Chinese medicine diagnosis, at times this means being a good detective and asking the right questions to get to the nitty-gritty of the imbalance.

·       Home sciences- nutritional balancing with Chinese Nutrition therapy, how to build a recipe, include flavours and cooking methods for the individual for their imbalance if necessary.

·       Art – marketing, self-care, ambience of clinic space, 5 elements, flow charts, I am going to list point choices here because I think it is an art, an Acupuncturists point choice and understanding of each point makes our treatments individualised for each client.

·       Dental Assistant – observation of a lot of Tongues which is a diagnostic tool in Chinese medicine along with taking the pulse.

·       Martial Arts – the flow of Energy, understanding blockages and stasis of Qi and blood maintaining balance, focus, calmness, fitness/health, respect and humility.