After a severe
flare-up of her lifelong asthma, Elizabeth started acupuncture
treatment. As she approached her fortieth birthday, she wondered
whether her fundraising career (she was fundraising for nonprofits) was
what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She had begun
volunteering to help homeless women in Washington, D.C., and felt the
volunteer work was "feeding" her in a different way. Elizabeth realized
that she wanted a more hands-on approach in her work, a job where she
could help one person at a time. She also recognized that the hands-on
approach of acupuncture could deliver healthcare to those with low
income, as the materials were cheap and portable. One morning as she
rode the Metro, she thought, "I'm going to study acupuncture. "
When Elizabeth visited Tai Sophia, she sat in on a
"Bobservation" class. There, under the direction of Bob Duggan, she
observed a client and experienced a breakthrough in her understanding
of acupuncture: She recognized that the patient's shoulder, neck, and
back pain was the physical manifestation of a larger picture of what
was happening in his whole being, body-mind-spirit; and she realized
that through acupuncture, everything in that larger picture was being
treated and changed.
Tai Sophia's acu detox and community outreach programs
were major selling points in her decision to study at the Institute.
"It's wonderful for students to have experience at Penn North and the
other Community Health Initiative sites," she says. "My vision is to
create a wellness center that offers acupuncture, massage, nutrition,
cooking classes, and tai chi - and one of my classmates is interested
in doing this with me. Maybe we'll offer evening detox sessions and
12-step programs. I'm committed to serving those who can't pay for
healthcare."
"I love this school," Elizabeth says. "It fits with my own goals for how I want to be with clients."
Renee Lehman
Master of Acupuncture
September 2003
As a
practicing physical therapist, Renee recognized a trend in her
patients. They came with complaints of physical pain (low back pain,
sciatica, etc.) and spoke about other things going on in their lives,
such as family difficulties, issues at work, and money problems. She
knew she was trained to address only the physical, and wondered about
the connections among all of these issues. She wanted to serve her
patients on all levels, emotional and spiritual as well as physical.
In 2000, two key events triggered professional and
personal change for Renee. After returning home from Sydney, Australia,
where she had been a member of the medical staff serving the USA
Olympic Team, she realized that her life could be more fulfilled. Also,
upon her return to the States, she worked with a client who had a
"frozen shoulder." She felt that the client was "holding onto
something," and asked her to consider that possibility. During the next
visit, the patient admitted, "Yes, I was holding onto something in my
life, and I've finally let it go." Within two weeks, the client's range
of motion improved, and she completed her physical therapy.
Shortly thereafter, Renee met Tai Sophia graduate
Alison Hartman, who gave an acupuncture presentation at a local
wellness conference. The message that Renee heard felt right in her
mind and body. In her physical therapy practice, she took more interest
in her patient's needs at every level - and she could feel herself
aligning with her heart's desire to go to acupuncture school.
As a Tai Sophia student, Renee says she continually
learned more about herself, how to be a better observer of life, and
the practice of being totally present with others. "I love being in the
treatment room with my clients," she says. "Each day, I look forward to
serving my clients in a holistic way, and building a bridge between
Eastern and Western medicine."
Ann Griffen
Master of Acupuncture
January 2002
Ann
Griffen, entrepreneur par excellence, has decided to become an
acupuncturist. She has found a vocation in which she can continuously
change - without moving. Over a span of seven years she had started
four companies with great success. As her fortieth birthday approached,
a year and a half into her latest venture called "Ellipsis," she began
to think about how she wanted to live, who she wanted to be near, and
how to create a little more stability for herself. Starting companies
was financially rewarding, but she was not satisfied - somehow she
never felt a sense of completion, of fulfillment. Then Ann began having migraines, and someone
recommended acupuncture. She went for treatment saying, "Fix my
headache." However, with the coaching of her practitioner, she learned
to pay attention to what her headaches were telling her - the first of
many invaluable lessons she would learn through acupuncture. Then she
attended Redefining Health. "That weekend was pivotal," she says. "I
thought, 'This is the community I'll be in for the next three years.
Who says I have to be a corporate executive!'" Ann's colleagues knew
that she didn't make decisions lightly. They told her, "If you're doing
this, it must be valid and enormously important - so we support you."
She knew that she had made the right decision. "I've always had the
intuitive sense that when I wake up and listen to my heart, everything
will work out,..."she says. Nonetheless, she confirmed her decision in
conversations with acupuncturists who had backgrounds in business and
law.
While in school she has done some consulting; but
recently, when she entered the clinical phase of the program, she
discontinued that work. Already she is treating patients three days a
week; her patients continue to return and are referring new people to
her. "I really love the journey," she says. "I'm enjoying simplifying
my life, learning, being brave - stirring things up a bit. And I love
being able to inspire change through simple means. This is a wonderful
way of being with people. Many patients have never had someone listen
or speak to them this way. "I've learned that sometimes people are ill
because they've just been stuck," Ann says. "It's all about movement -
and I've always been about movement."
Linnea Varner
Master of Acupuncture
January 2002
My
first exposure to acupuncture was as a patient. I had injured my knee
while training for a marathon, and I was looking for something to
supplement my traditional medical care - something to help me get back
to my training as quickly as possible. I decided to try acupuncture,
and found a practitioner at Tai Sophia. The experience was amazing. Not
only did my knee begin to feel better, but I had more energy, felt less
"stressed," and began to see other positive changes all over my body. As a health-care consultant and nurse, I have always
been interested in alternative/complementary therapies. In my
consulting practice, I work with health-care organizations to develop
programs to meet the needs of chronically ill patients. Through my
consulting work and through coauthoring a book titled Chronic Care
Management: A Toolbox for Action, I have found that people are
healthier if their needs are met on a mind-body-spirit level, rather
than focusing strictly on the treatment of symptoms. I believe that
acupuncture is the perfect complement to Western medical treatment in
caring for those with chronic illnesses.
After receiving acupuncture myself and noticing the
amazing changes, I knew that I had to learn more about it. I believed
that the program at Tai Sophia would give me the skills to integrate
the best of complementary and Western medicine in my treatment of
patients and my consulting practice.
As I've moved through the program, I have noticed that
my family is benefiting from what I have learned at Tai Sophia. My
youngest daughter, who has been having issues with anxiety at school,
is learning to manage it effectively by listening to her own body. She
has learned to take a break, breathe, and have a snack if she feels
that she needs it. And her teachers have become our partners in the
process, recognizing that it is possible for kids to learn coping
strategies that work for them, rather than simply look to medication as
the solution.
Tai Sophia has taught me first to heal myself, so that
I can offer to my patients a deeper healing than technical skills alone
can provide.
Cricket Keast
Master of Acupuncture
September 2001
Open
heart surgery brought Cricket to the Institute. After graduating from
Naropa Institute in Contemplative Early Childhood Education, she lived
in Colorado, doing work she loved - teaching young children and NIA
(Neuromuscular Integrative Action) dance classes. She also enjoyed
running, and it was while running in a triathlon that she began having
breathing problems. She consulted a doctor, then another, until she had
seen four doctors, none of whom could figure out what was wrong. She
then decided to see a naturopathic doctor, who also happened to be
studying acupuncture. He took her pulses (an acupuncture diagnostic
technique) and told Cricket that her pulses indicated something was
wrong with her heart. She pursued that key clue, eventually undergoing
heart surgery. After surgery, she began acupuncture treatment with Tai
Sophia graduates in Colorado. Through these treatments she began
falling in love with acupuncture. As her practitioner told her the
names of the points, she began to see herself in new ways; and when her
points included "Abundant Splendor," she thought, "Yes, that's me too!"
As Cricket saw herself in new ways, she was learning new ways to care
for herself. "I had always thought that if I pushed harder, I would be
better. Now I was learning how to listen to my body - to understand
that some days I needed to walk instead of run. My whole life changed.
The way I understood myself and cared for myself changed entirely. "About a year into treatment, my practitioner invited
me to meet his teacher, Dr. Worsley. The way he talked about the
seasons and nature, I could see myself in it. It was then I knew I
wanted to practice acupuncture. I lived ten minutes down the road from
another five-element acupuncture school, but Tai Sophia was the place
for me. I didn't want to 'just learn acupuncture' - I wanted what I'd
experienced in my own treatment, from practitioners who trained at Tai
Sophia. "At the Institute I've been challenged to grow and learn about
myself so I can be present to other people's needs. One of the
program's greatest gifts to my personal life is learning to see people
newly. Instead of seeing someone I've known a long time and thinking,
'Oh, that's just how so-and-so is,' I've learned to have a new
acceptance and curiosity about people - I can see them in new ways.
"There's a saying in the Tao Te Ching that I think sums
up Tai Sophia: When you know yourself, you'll know others. When you
master yourself, you do not need to master others. "And something else
- I always notice that Tai Sophia alumni want to serve in the community
to further the values they've come to feel so deeply - and that says a
lot about the school."
Suzanne Tershak
Master of Acupuncture
September 1999
Choosing a college major was a challenge for Suzanne
Tershak. “I was interested in learning about everything — science,
psychology, liberal arts, politics...so I pursued a degree in geography
emphasizing environmental concerns.” Then she completed a nursing
degree at Johns Hopkins
University, intending to become a midwife. “I figured that this would
perfectly blend my strong interest in women’s health issues, my
appreciation for what is natural, and my desire for one-on-one
interaction with people,” she says.
Around that same time, Suzanne started receiving treatment from a Tai
Sophia-trained acupuncturist, and she discovered a healing tool that
promoted her professional dream as well as balance in her own life.
“Almost immediately I saw that studying and practicing acupuncture
fulfilled my profound curiosities in the human body, the mind and
spirit of a person, as well as how we as individuals interact with or
are influenced by our surroundings,” she says.
“What drew me to Tai Sophia was the school’s emphasis on personal
growth, on embracing ancient traditions of Chinese Medicine and making
them applicable to the world today…to consider the elders who have come
before and the children who will come after us. I recognized this
expanded perspective as essential for the evolution of our species, and
for dealing with the ecological crisis as well as personal healthcare
concerns.”
Suzanne is grateful that Tai Sophia provided skills to enjoy a
fulfilling professional path. She now serves as Acupuncture and
Oriental Medicine Team Leader for an integrative health and wellness
center in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. “Blending Eastern traditions with Western science is the
direction I believe medicine and healthcare must go. I plan to continue
pursuing this integration in my own work and studies,” she says. “I
love learning, and I love what I do. I will never retire and never be
bored. In large part, I have the Tai Sophia Institute to thank for
this.”
Haunted by
family losses she experienced in her early years, Anne Meyers had not
gained what she considered a happy, healthy, forward momentum in life -
regardless of constant introspection. Then she ran into a friend at a
farmer's market who gave her an acupuncturist's business card. Unlike
her usual planning self, Anne just called.
"Acupuncture was like nothing else," she says. "Things
that were so heavy became less heavy. My life became less about
managing my internal existence; I had energy to put out into the world.
"I remember thinking about my acupuncturist and saying
to myself, 'Facilitating this kind of change is an amazing role to have
with another human being.' It seemed a little silly to come back the
second week and ask if I could become an acupuncturist. But Diane, my
practitioner, encouraged me.
"So I started looking for a place to study. When I
discussed this with Diane, she said, 'My friend's school in
Maryland...' and I interrupted. 'I'm not going to Maryland,' I told her
(I lived in California). But when I looked into Tai Sophia, I found a
school much closer to what I wanted than any of the other schools I'd
visited. I found that the conversations were different - at Tai Sophia
people were talking about what well-being means, about our culture.
"When I finished at the Institute, I returned to
California where I've since taken two more years of herb classes. In
those classes I truly came to appreciate the conversations at Tai
Sophia about what well-being really means, about a deeper whole, about
treating a person and not just an ailment.
"There's a culture within so many acupuncture schools
of 'you use this point to fix this problem' - regardless of the person
being treated. But I wanted a larger picture about life, about purpose,
about the parts of the picture occupied by illness and death. That's
why Tai Sophia was the best choice for me."