I was raised by a chiropractor, and a highly nurturing and intuitive mother. Needless to say, I can’t complain about my childhood! However, like many people, I haven’t always chosen the healthiest lifestyle. When I was in my mid-20’s, my poor choices had already begun to catch up with me. I was overweight, utterly confused, and felt lost and hopeless. Fortunately, I had been raised with the knowledge of how to change this! All I had to do was learn from my mistakes. I already knew the steps I had to take to lead a happier, healthier life, and I did them! ​ When I began my path back to good health, one thing I quickly realized is that everything that I learned through passive experience and considered second nature, was news to most other people. And there began my passion for educating people about how to live a healthier life. ​ That being said, I have the most boring answer when people ask me why I became an acupuncturist. My answer: I just always wanted to. The longer version is that I have a deep admiration for Chinese medicine because it relies on the body’s innate ability to heal itself. When you put the body in charge of healing itself, it knows exactly how to do it, and it does it well. ​ I feel the same way about herbal medicine. Humans have been using herbs as medicine since the dawning of mankind. With this lengthy history of use, there is extensive knowledge on how to use herbs, and how to use them safely. You could consider herbal medicine to have the longest clinical trial in human history. The benefit of herbal medicine over pharmaceutical is that the human body knows how to digest and use herbs, and using a whole plant is more medicinally beneficial than just a single active constituent, they are generally safer than pharmaceuticals, and they are pretty to look at. ​ So there you have it. My uneventful path to becoming a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I’d like to add this, though: through the years, I have tried many, many healing modalities with an open mind. I have always gotten the most relief through Chinese medicine (and chiropractic… Hi Dad!). ​ If you’re considering trying acupuncture/Chinese medicine, but still aren’t sure, or have questions, please feel free to call. I’m happy to help.