What does your career involve and how would you describe it?
I am a licensed acupuncturist, and I also work a lot with functional medicine. Essentially, I look at how people can focus on wellness and prevention. We do a lot of wellness labs to look for things that might come up as a potential area of concern before it becomes a disease. I’ve had good evidence that it works really well, because when we had COVID run through here, not one of my clients ended up with long term suffering from COVID. Every single one of them got over it just fine. In addition to acupuncture, I'm also an educator and an author.
I created a system of acupuncture that uses the person's body to tell me what it needs and how to direct it. I use palpation methods where I press on specific acupuncture points on the body. If their body has a positive response to it, then I know that's where they need to focus their healing on. In my work I’ve combined three different types of acupuncture. One is classical acupuncture. This comes from the oldest written texts that acupuncturists have available to them. I then integrated that theory with Japanese palpation techniques, where we palpate the body looking for different things. For instance, if somebody comes in with shoulder pain, it could be many different areas of the shoulder that hurts. If it's the Deltoid area that's a referral for the lung. If it's the back area, that's usually a blood sugar referral. If it's the frontier, that can be longer gallbladder. Different organs refer to different parts of the body, and the Japanese have done a really good job of mapping that out. Finally, I like to combine this with what I call point prescriptions. They're actually mathematically based, and were formulated by Buddhist monks in 800 AD.
How does the practice of acupuncture work to heal our system?
Everything in this world vibrates to a particular frequency. We see color based on what frequency it is, and we hear sound based on what frequency it is. Acupuncture meridians run on energy, and energy is measured in frequency. Every meridian, when it's healthy, resonates to a particular frequency. If it's not healthy, it's either too high or too low. There's a communication hub for the acupuncture meridian system in the upper abdomen. All the meridians come together there to talk to each other and communicate.What makes the acupunctural point special is that it's an area of low electrical resistance - a place where the body can take energy in. Acupuncturists have taken mechanical point finders that are basically measuring resistance on the skin. I realized that I could place the supplements and foods and different things on that upper abdomen, where all the meridians come together and are really concentrated. If it's a beneficial supplement or food for the lungs, then a certain part of the shoulder will release. If it's beneficial for digesting fat and helping the gallbladder, then the front part of the shoulder will release. I've written books on it, and a textbook, which I’m just about to pitch to a bunch of the acupuncture colleges in Canada.
What are some skills that have helped you be successful in your position?
I'm going to tell you a story from when I was a kid. I didn't know what it meant until I became an adult. I was riding in the backseat of a car and I was asking a lot of questions about street signs. Now I was probably 7-8 and I was in the car with whoever was driving me. I was asking questions about the cycles of the lights around our neighborhood and I was stating the neighbor who was driving me said “Tracy, you're really observant.” I didn't know what that meant at the time, but my parents always allowed me to stay curious. What that means for me today is that I have a natural desire to ask a lot of questions. I find myself seeking out new relationships and new interactions. I raise my hand when I don’t know anything, and I will tell you that is the scariest thing ever. I'm around people that allow me to say yes and that give me opportunities to do things. That diversity and the constant change allows me to see things like a mosaic and understand all the pieces that come together to form beautiful things.
What does being a leader mean to you?
A leader should demonstrate that they care about the people that they’re in charge of. Even if they’re not perfect, people should know that they actually pay attention and give advice because they care. For me, this means I do my best to respond to people’s weekly messages even if it’s just an acknowledgement of them. I try to meet with everyone so they know that I’m still involved.
Who is a role model in your life who has helped you become who you are today?
In acupuncture courses, I looked up to my teachers. They taught me how to be caring and kind and to look out for the people who work with you. I think almost any teacher is a really good example of someone who tries to just be a good person and work well with others. I always try to emulate that. I don’t have a single mentor who’s taught me everything, because so many people have shown me different things along the way. There’s people who have taught me about teaching, people who’ve shown me how to work in my community, and people who’ve demonstrated good ways to organize themselves in a workspace.
What is one piece of advice you would give to people who are looking to go into professional fields?
Find ways to shadow and observe the environment you’re interested in. When you tour universities, you can often gauge a lot just by how you feel being in the space. Look at all the different kinds of careers and find people who are willing to have you in their space and show you what their life looks like. There's a lot right now in the industry about academia and degrees. I'm a firm believer that the academic side of learning and an environment/workspace are what really create a person. It’s not one or the other.
It’s also important to have a circle of people who you trust that can help you get through bad days. Life is really hard and it can get really messy at times. Having people is the most important thing. Everything comes down to the people around us.