Becoming a Registered Acupuncturist
I'm often asked how I became a Registered Acupuncturist. Today, I’d like to share a little about me and my journey to Chinese Medicine. I enjoy telling the story because the way it unfolded surprised even me.
Every ending is a new beginning.
I was an English teacher for 18 years. I taught immigrants and refugees and international students in Canada and then CEOs, presidents, and thousands of workers in Japan for 11 years. When I came home to Nanaimo in 2002, I was hired by Malaspina University-College (now VIU) to prepare international students to succeed in their academic program.
My contracts were short and every few months I went through an interview process to continue teaching. In April 2004, I was 41 and my contract was up for renewal. At the end of my peer-led interview I was asked if I had anything to add. I paused and looked around the table. What I remember saying was,
“I've been a teacher for 18 years. I’m young. I’m educated. I’m an intelligent and capable woman. If you can't see to rehiring me, I can do something else.”
My contract wasn’t renewed. At first, I was upset but soon my disappointment turned to curiosity and an understanding that a door had closed. I had closed the door when I spoke from my Heart. I was now on a new trajectory full of possibility.
Finding Chinese Medicine
While in Japan, I had experienced a profound depression. As part of my healing, I received Bioenergetic Healing, a hands-on treatment of my energy field, which my Japanese therapist had studied at the Barbara Brennan School of Healing in the US. I returned to wholeness and became intrigued by energy medicine and read as much as I could find about it.
In trying to figure out what I was going to do after teaching, I explored studying energy medicine. Going to the US wasn’t doable so I looked closer to home. I discovered Chinese Medicine, which seemed to be the root of energy medicine, and decided to start with that. I applied and was accepted to the Canadian College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Victoria, the oldest Chinese Medicine school in Canada. I started the 5-year Doctor of TCM program in September 2004.
I AM HOME
In the first week of classes, my Foundations of Chinese Medicine instructor was talking about the worldview that underpins much of Chinese Medicine. I heard him expressing what I had felt and believed within myself for many years. I remember writing I AM HOME at the top of my notebook. I was immediately certain of my place in the world and the work I was here to do. Chinese Medicine was the door.
So, here I am. 15 years into my practice and just starting to feel that I know something. This is one of the things I love about Chinese Medicine. There’s always more to know and learn.