The Art of Making Lemonade out of Lemons | One Acupuncturist's Story

The COVID-19 Pandemic caused so many of us to change our lives overnight. Some jobs were able to smoothly go remote, but many services can only be provided in person. As an acupuncturist—a very hands-on practice—I was unsure how or if I could pivot and somehow create a healing practice to still serve my patients remotely.

If necessity is the mother of invention, the pandemic was a powerful catalyst to facilitate new creations. In March 2020, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to see my patients in person. I had been interested in becoming a reiki practitioner, so I immediately enrolled in a comprehensive reiki course that taught me the skills to use my energy to help my patients with their needs, even if we couldn’t be in the same room.

I was very skeptical that this could work, and very clear that I wouldn’t promote something that didn’t work. To test my ability to transmit healing energy remotely, I did some complementary remote reiki treatments.

My first patient had shoulder pain that resolved from our session. My second patient had hypertension that wasn’t resolving with her medication—her blood pressure went down and stayed stable for days. Another patient had inflammatory symptoms—aches and pain from Lyme disease—that ameliorated from our session. I was thrilled and surprised all at the same time. Becoming a reiki master was the key to continuing my healing practice remotely.

Traditional Chinese Medicine treats the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. As an acupuncturist, I do my best to ensure that my patients are leaning into healthy habits that equally address the mind as well as the body. In my former career as a psychotherapist, and while I don’t practice traditional therapy anymore, I used coaching, education, and counsel to help guide my patients in the direction of their best selves. Reiki healing and coaching quickly became my way to practice during the “rest at home” time of the pandemic.

By June, I was seeing patients again in person, but many of my patients had either moved out of Los Angeles or weren’t comfortable coming in yet. For three years I have continued to build my remote practice. Patients move away or go on vacation and want to continue our work; I go on vacation and my patient needs me for something.

The moral of the story is this: you never know what wonderful things will be born out of difficult circumstances. I am grateful to have been given the challenge and opportunity to grow myself and my practice.