S2 Episode 2: Live The Life That You Want - Kristin Althea O'Connor, LAc
https://redlotuswellnesscenter.com/ Kristin Althea O'Connor, M.Ac., L.Ac. is a woman with a kind heart who has always wanted to see people thrive. She loves nothing more than having the opportunity to provide a safe healing space for all ages and to assist on the journey towards helping each patient find her/his/their truest self. She adores being part of a team, creating a success story in place of what once felt like a bleak struggle. She's kind of a health cheerleader, this one. Kristin’s practice has always focused on mental health, postpartum health, trauma, chronic conditions, and addiction. Is there anything more beautiful than to work with someone to pull them from the dark into their light and to see them shine in the way only they can? Kristin would say no. Because of this, people who want better for their lives and believe they will find it are the ones that are drawn to her treatment space. Kristin’s favorite modalities to produce change are five element acupuncture, medical qigong (especially for distance healing treatments), and essential oils. In 2023 she completed her International Pediatric Specialist training because she yearned to share this medicine with children to create profound change from such a young age. Kristin utilizes the following tools in her treatments: Five Element Acupuncture Medical Qigong Essential Oils Cupping Moxibustion Gua sha Shonishin Tui na Chinese Stone Medicine Additional Details on Kristin’s Studies: FIVE ELEMENT ACUPUNCTURE In her lifelong quest to help others shine, Kristin found a winning vehicle for this in Five Element Acupuncture and enrolled in the Master’s program at the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture in Gainesville, FL. She chose this school for two big reasons: 1. Five Element Acupuncture gets to the root of dis-ease, and she wanted her patients to find deep, lasting healing. 2. This school flies in instructors from all over the world to share insight on their own private practices, so Kristin could learn from the best. She thrived there and served as class representative, graduating in 2010. During her time in school she learned cupping, moxibustion, and gua sha. This beautiful, powerful medicine is specialized and as such, Kristin is one of only two Five Element Acupuncturists in Western MA. PEDIATRIC ACUPUNCTURE Seeing the profound effects of her practice and having children of her own spurred an interest in Pediatric Acupuncture. In 2023 Kristin completed the International Pediatrics Specialist training held by world-renowned practitioner Rebecca Avern. Kristin is thrilled to help children of ages address chronic conditions, trauma, and mental health struggles to live a better life. She learned shonishin and tui na during this time, and is thrilled to offer non-needle options to those nervous to start with needles. She has a special love for treating children with ASD. She is the only acupuncturist in her area focusing on children’s mental health and trauma. MEDICAL QIGONG & DISTANCE HEALING TREATMENTS When Kristin started acupuncture school, she became deeply inspired by Medical Qigong, which is, in short, healing patients without needles. Kristin studied with Paul Fraser, L.Ac., who had learned the practice 20 years earlier to put his aggressive cancer diagnosis to a halt. She continued on, learning from Paul's teacher Tom Tam of Boston, and then from internationally-beloved Master Ou. The form she learned from Master Ou, Pan Gu Shen Gong, is a form focused on increasing the benevolence of the practitioner. It's Kristin's favorite form and the one she practices almost exclusively, and the form she...