Practicing acupuncture is one of my greatest joys
Recent BSc (hons) in Acupuncture graduate Irena Lenc shares how studying acupuncture at NCA completely changed how she lives her life…. and how it all started on one innocent day.
“Do you remember Tuesday, 9 April 2019?” Probably not. Nobody does. It was a beautiful sunny day without any significance in history.
My husband and I travelled to York for an Introductory Event at the Northern College of Acupuncture. The event was fun and informative, we were treated to a tasty lunch, and after a tour around the charming college building, I was smitten by that place!
At this stage, I had a steady but stressful 9 to 5 in corporate business, which I was enjoying less and less with every year. But, I had read a global poll by Gallup, saying that there are about one billion full-time workers on this planet and 85% of them were unhappy at their jobs. So, I genuinely thought that’s just how life works. Luckily for me, although it didn’t feel like luck at the time, I received redundancy at work. I was spat out of the system in 6 weeks. I was forty years old, had no children, and in Western medicine terms, I was too old to think about having them. I also had no idea about self-employment and could not quite imagine myself as a holistic healer.
But something in my heart told me that becoming an acupuncturist was the right choice. After all, I have been an acupuncture patient for a few years. I had seen the difference it could make and the immediate, lasting effects traditional Chinese medicine had on my life.
I vividly remember watching my parents collect bigger and bigger piles of tablets as they grew older. It did not sit right with me. When I was young and in excellent health, I could think naively that I would not have the same problems. But, precisely like my parents before me, from around the age of 35, I started to see some red flags. Our speedy and determined Western lifestyle started to catch up with me. I was “eating healthy”, exercising, and relaxing in front of the screen, as most of us do. Problems with my well-being piled up. Western medicine had no answers to my concerns. My blood results were “within a norm”, and I was repetitively sent off with no answers. Lots of emphasis was already put on my middle age. It doesn’t suit me to sit in the passenger seat, and the victim mindset does not agree with me. So, I started exploring holistic methods when my health got really bad. TCM and acupuncture had all the answers and methods I was looking for. The 3000 years of TCM history have built incredible knowledge, which helped me become much healthier. I have transformed how I think about relaxation, what I eat, how I cook and how I go about my every business. I also became an acupuncturist in the process.
To keep it brief, let’s look at some milestones:
- January 2017. I am 37 years old, work as a manager in a corporate business. I am stressed to bits and can’t sleep at night. My lifestyle revolves around waiting for Friday, Netflix and wine. Oh, and a fair bit of comfort eating.
- 13 March 2017. I have a miscarriage, and my heart breaks in half.
- May 2017. I start coming for Acupuncture at Heaton Acupuncture clinic in Newcastle.
- My acupuncturist, a graduate of NCA, has exciting things to say about how I can benefit my health and become a mother in the future. TCM seem to have a broader view of woman’s health. It’s a voice of what’s possible
- March 2019 – I receive a redundancy at work, and after over a decade of work for the business, I am out in 6 weeks.
- 9 April 2019, introductory event at the Northern College. Love at first sight!
- October 2019, the Start of Year 1 on the NCA’S BSc in Acupuncture. I joined the weekday group and started travelling to York every week. Some kind of internal shift begins. The first lectures on Chinese Medicine theory are blowing my mind! Salads are out, and soups are in.
- Oh, and I sleep at night!
- December 2019, Christmas break. Absolute bliss and time to reflect on the things we have learned. So many new experiences and new friends that already feel like kinder spirits that will stay with me for life.
- January 2020, guess who is pregnant?!!!
- March 2020- Start of the first lockdown. We are moving to online teaching. I can keep my nausea at home, haha! … every cloud and all that …..
- August 2020 – I am nearly nine months pregnant and have completed practical classes and exams. I am so large the whole group need to help me to get on the treatment couch
- 23 September 2020 – my beautiful Baby boy Leon is born. I am 41 and the happiest I have ever been.
- … 5 days later, year two starts. As we are about to go into another lockdown, I decide to continue with the course. NCA is so supportive. If studying becomes too much, I can take a maternity break at any time. It doesn’t become too much, and I continue. Although, let’s be honest, I don’t remember much from the first three months 😉
I guess you get the picture by now, so let’s fast forward. I had great support from the college and its exceptional tutors and successfully completed years two and three.
And in August 2022, I started practising at the Heaton Acupuncture Clinic, the very same clinic I have been a patient for five years by now. Receiving my own set of keys was an incredible thrill.
A few months into running my own practice, I can say with joy that there is nothing left of that stressed, sad, anxious woman who was dragging her feet to get to work and could not wait until Friday. I can’t wait to go to work! I wish there were more hours in a day, and I can only say that studying Acupuncture at NCA was one of the best decisions of my life.
Inspired by Irena’s journey? Find out more about how this could become your reality! https://nca.ac.uk/acupuncture-courses