Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Kohn.
Hi Lindsay, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi. I’m Lindsay. I moved to Austin in 2008 to get my Masters Degree in Chinese Medicine and spend my free time exploring the city’s hiking options, watering holes and restaurants. I’m also passionate about international travel, the last year and half of the pandemic are the longest I’ve gone in years without getting my passport stamped.
My story and livelihood- Five Element Austin- are inextricably intertwined.
As I’ll explain in a moment, I have no idea where I’d be or what my life would be like without Classical Five Element Acupuncture – a specialized kind of acupuncture that’s particularly effective for treating anxiety, depression, stress, insomnia, trauma and chronic pain disorders. I started as a Classical Five Element patient in California in 2002 and after five years of graduate school, opened Austin’s first Classical Five Element practice in 2013. What I do is probably a lot different than the acupuncture you might have received for back pain or weight loss. For starters, in a treatment, I am with and working on the patient for the entire hour. The needles don’t stay in longer than a couple of seconds and I never leave the room. The treatments are much more interactive and I believe for many situations, more effective. While I don’t negate the physical, I believe we need to place more importance on people’s emotions and stress levels. Classical Five Element puts an emphasis on the mind/body connection; how we feel is intrinsically connected with our physical bodies and we live in a world that challenges our mental health daily.
I grew up in Arizona and went to undergraduate school at University of California, Santa Barbara. My plan after college was always to go to law school. But at the end of my sophomore year at UCSB, I suffered a debilitating spinal injury from competitive water-skiing. I was in excruciating pain and unable to stand or walk for longer than a minute. I tried everything from spinal injections, pain medications, physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, yoga, pilates, etc. all to no avail. All the spinal specialists I saw told me I would be in this kind of pain for the rest of my life. Eventually, I had to take time off school as I could no longer walk to class. As debilitating as the pain was, the depression that developed was almost worse. A close friend of mine insisted that I see her father, Neil Gumenick, who was very well known in the acupuncture world and practiced a very specialized kind of acupuncture called Classical Five Element Acupuncture. I was hesitant as traditional acupuncture hadn’t helped but was also desperate. On my very first visit, I broke down expressing my agonizing pain and the paralyzing fear of having to live like that forever. At the end of the first treatment, I was convinced someone had slipped me a drug in my glass of water. No, my pain wasn’t “gone,” but I’d found some relief and for the first time in two years, I was laughing and felt a sense of hope and optimism. Fast forward four months of getting regular Five Element Acupuncture treatments and practicing Qigong (a type of moving meditation), and I was able to go back to school, graduate, and spent the next two years backpacking around the world. Not only was I out of pain, but I was happier and felt more “myself” than ever before. I decided that law school was no longer in the cards for me and wanted to learn and give back what I had been given.
I got my Masters in Chinese Medicine at AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine in Austin and then went immediately back to California where I completed a post-graduate program at the Institute of Classical Five Element Acupuncture under my acupuncturist Neil Gumenick. Initially, I planned on moving back to California to work with my teacher, but while in my Master’s program, I fell in love with Austin. And, there wasn’t a single Five Element Acupuncturist in town. I decided it was more important that I bring this medicine to Austin and opened my practice here in 2013. In addition to treating, I have also started teaching continuing education classes with the Institute of Classical Five Element Acupuncture and have taught qigong classes throughout my life. It’s been a joy bringing this medicine to Austin. Getting to watch patients heal, do things they didn’t believe were possible and become the best version of themselves is the greatest gift.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Since Austin is home to one of the largest acupuncture schools in the country (AOMA) and graduates naturally want to stay here, I went in assuming the marketplace would be crowded and the road might be a little bumpy. But I also knew having a specialty- and better yet a specialty that means so much to me- would make me different. But I’ve come to find that Classical Five Element Acupuncture is both time-consuming (as I mentioned, I spend the whole hour with the patient) and can be emotionally taxing. To be totally transparent, this specialty of acupuncture is not the most financially viable. Most acupuncturists see around three patients an hour- where they talk to the patients briefly, put needles in them and then leave the room so the patient can lie with the needles for 30 minutes. But I would have it no other way, as every part of my soul knows this is the only kind of acupuncture I want to practice.
As a sole practitioner, finding a proper balance has been a challenge. I have had to work hard to determine the number of patients I can see a day where I feel I have the energy (emotionally and physically) to give them the best treatment possible.
Part of being a good practitioner is recognizing that you can’t take care of your patients if you’re not taking care of yourself. While it remains to be a challenge at times, sticking to my boundaries and knowing what I can handle are imperative to my success and health. I know that making time for me- to be with friends, to hike in nature at least once a week, to write, and sometimes just to stay home and binge on bad television shows are necessary for me to be the best practitioner I can be.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
To put it mildly, this has been a rough year. It has challenged everyone in so many ways and I think it’s inevitable that people are re-evaluating where they are, their goals and their priorities. I believe many have recognized just how central health, in particular mental health is in being able to live full and happy lives. The self-care industry as a whole has exponentially grown this year, in part with dealing from the trauma this year has created and in part from a renewed interest in finding a healthier and more balanced approach that’ll allow them to enjoy all the years to come. I hope the lines between Western and Eastern Medicine continue to blur and these modalities learn from each other. While Western medicine has its place, there are also many chronic conditions it has a difficult time treating and believe the two can really complement one another.
Contact Info:
- Email: lindsay@fiveelementaustin.com
- Website: https://fiveelementaustin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiveelementaustin
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FiveElementAustin
Image Credits
Dustin Finkelstein Photography
