Let’s start at the beginning…
Andy and I had always half talked about him PCSing and us moving overseas for a few years for his work, but then the hum drum of daily life kept beating and we were back to day to day life in DC. And where would we go? Germany was always appealing, but then, the drum would beat and we would be called back to reality.
I began my journey to become an acupuncturist in January 2019. I had applied to Virginia University of Integrative Medicine some months before, as the burnout of working for the District of Columbia government had burned to my soul and not even my lifelong passion of working with wildlife seemed to revive my ambitions for this current career any longer.
After thinking about would I career I could transition to in my late 30’s that fuel my passion as wildlife biology did all those years, I circled back to being an acupuncturist. If I am being honest, becoming an animal acupuncturist is what really drove me to acupuncture. Animals have always been the Yin to my Yang, if we are speaking in TCM terms.
Growing up, I was constantly getting bronchitis and the oh-so-charming phlegm from the chest cough would linger for almost three months later. I had worked for an equine veterinarian during my college years that happened to acupuncture horses. He had also decided to go acupuncture school for humans to learn about TCM, just for his own interested. I had been experiencing back pain while working from him, most likely due to all my gravity fueled trips from the back of the horse to the ground. He suggested I come and see him at the student clinic for acupuncture treatments. Being the good hippy I was those days and remembering my high school days working at The Herb Shoppe, I jumped at the chance to try this new holistic practice.
Shortly before I came to the clinic for my appointment, my lungs were plagued once again by a lovely bout of summer bronchitis. Rather than cancel my appointment, he suggested still coming for treatment so my bronchitis could be addressed. Being young and open-minded, I never questioned that the ancient practice of TCM could treat not only pain, but internal issues such as bronchitis.
A student clinic is quite a bit different than a normal private clinic. There were rooms created by hanging curtains, students with notebooks sharply focused on documenting every word the supervisor preached, all crammed into our make-shift room. I had at least three people take my pulse, look at my tongue, and ask me questions about my every in and out. The first needle placed was Governing Vessel 20 (DU20) at the very top my head. Now there was a new experience. I remember being so relaxed, taking in the smell of moxibustion and the almost silent hustle and bustle of students and teachers moving about outside my curtain room.
After treatment, I was recommended to come once to twice weekly for the next two weeks. I was also given a bottle of herbs that resembled rabbit pellets and liquid herbs that smelled like syrup, reminding me fondly of my Herb Shoppe days. And with all this, within two weeks, all my bronchi phlegm had cleared, and I have never had bronchitis again.
This first experience with acupuncture has stayed with me as my story of what made me fall in love with TCM. So taking that experience and my love for animals, animal acupuncture was where I decided to start looking. But through my research, I became aware that I needed to go to human acupuncture school first. And so I began my three-year journey at VUIM. And while animals were always my driving force, I fell in love with the medicine even more, and decided, okay, I can do people too.
lindsayinthewild 