Keeping Myself Inspired

In the dead of winter I have found a way to keep myself inspired.  I just finished reading a book called The Alchemist. by the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho.  It is a simple but profound fable about listening to your heart and following your dream, or your “personal legend” as he calls it, and breaking free of the confines of conformity.  As the main character follows his dream he has successes, hard times, and meets people who teach him things.  He perserveres in the face of adversity and eventually reaches his goal, realizing that the joy is in the journey.  The part I like the best in the book is when he says that the universe supports you when you are working on realizing your personal legend.

It feels to me like opening this clinic has been my personal legend.  There really is a community forming around my clinic.  I have two regular volunteers that are wonderful, one is studying Holistic Psychology at a local college and volunteers because she feels that when she sets up her practice she will refer some of her patients to acupuncture and wanted to understand it better.  I am also starting to have students from the local acupuncture school come and assist and they have been asking lots of good questions! Soon I will contact the local zoo to see if I can get some monkeys to volunteer. 

We will be celebrating our one year anniversary next month and in addition to some free relaxation treatments, a Tai Chi instructor will be doing lectures and demos to drum up students for a Monday evening class he will be teaching at my clinic.  We will just move the recliners aside and he will teach in the treatment room which is about 25 x 25 feet.  A patient recomended him and it will be great to have him teaching a class on Mondays when I don’t see patients.

Buiding this practice in the middle of a recession has got to be one of the hardest things I have ever done but I am holding firm to my vision for the clinic.  The whole universe is supporting me!

Author: Thomas Riordan, Lic.Ac.

<p> Tom Riordan has been involved with Eastern philosophy and healing arts since 1990. After earning a B.A. in History at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, he spent four years working at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. In addition to daily hatha yoga and meditation practice there, Tom completed the Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training the Kripalu Bodywork Training. </p> <p> Tom is a graduate of The New England School of Acupuncture, in Newton, MA, the oldest accredited acupuncture school in the United States. He maintained a private practice for several years in Columbia, Missouri. He was the first person to be licensed to practice acupuncture in that city. He became very active in the State acupuncture association by serving as secretary for two years and treasurer for one year. Tom is certified by the National Council for the Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) and he is licensed to practice in Massachusetts. </p> <p> He currently practices in Medford, MA where he has maintained a community acupuncture clinic since 2007. </p>