From Neuroscience to Energy Work: Alana's Transformative Journey. A Conversation with Alana Paul (Epi. # 226)

Exploring Energy Awareness and Healing with Acupuncturist Milena

In this final episode of the Energy Awareness series, join us as we sit down with Milena, an acupuncturist who shares her fascinating journey into the greater energy awareness space. Milena discusses her transition from a neuroscience background to exploring various modalities, including traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, Tai Chi, and energy work. Listen as she reveals personal experiences that inspired her path, the science behind acupuncture, and the profound impact of energy healing. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, this episode offers insights into the unseen forces that shape our well-being and invites you to consider a holistic approach to health.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:19 Milena's Journey into Energy Awareness
01:39 Exploring Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture
04:48 Integrating Energy Work with Acupuncture
07:36 Understanding Energy Healing
08:44 The Science and Skepticism of Energy Work
10:42 Personal Experiences and Client Stories
25:54 The Fundamentals of Acupuncture and Meridians
31:02 Balancing Energy and Regulating the Body
33:59 Milena's Personal Transformation and Beliefs
38:13 Future Plans and Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Bio:

Alana has been a devoted practitioner of holistic healing for over 12 years, focusing mostly in Chinese medicine and acupuncture, but also working in energy work of various modalities. “It’s about using what can help someone shift their perspective and life,” she will state as her primary motivation. She strives to encourage the “healer within” and to help people become empowered and confident in themselves. After finishing a degree in neuroscience, she found work in South Korea, and traveled throughout Asia, including China, Thailand, and Bali. It was here she discovered her love of Chinese medicine and Eastern philosophy, but she completed her studies to be an acupuncturist back home in Canada. Additionally, she has studied Zen Buddhism for 15 years, and one of her most profound experiences has been her week-long silent retreat in a Zen Buddhist temple in South Korea. More recently in 2022, drastic changes in her personal l

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Shilpa: It's been deleted. I think it's working good to me. Welcome, Milena. Thank you so much for being here.

[00:00:10] Shilpa: Thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to 

[00:00:12] Alana: our talk. 

[00:00:13] Shilpa: Yeah, it's been in the works for several months now. Yeah. Well welcome and I am excited 'cause you are the last guest in our series for energy awareness and I think what you have to share is profound, especially for my target audience.

[00:00:34] Shilpa: So without further ado, maybe you could share how you arrived in what I call like the, the greater energy. Awareness space, but maybe even the modalities that you practice and, um, any personal journey stuff that inspired you to arrive in this space? Well, 

[00:00:52] Alana: I mean, I started off, I don't know how this happened, but like when it came to choosing [00:01:00] careers as a high schooler, I just had this belief that the money would come.

[00:01:05] Alana: I just had this realization that there's so many more jobs out there than teacher, lawyer, and firefighter that you kind of hear about in school. So I figured if I followed my interests, I would eventually find a way to make money doing that. And I followed that belief all the way through university. I did a degree in neuroscience and I, I loved it.

[00:01:25] Alana: It was a really good fit for me. I got a lot out of it personally, but. Uh, I don't know if you know much about bioscience. There's not a lot of good like jobs out of, uh, undergrad with, with a neuroscience degree. So I had a secondary interest, which was like Chinese studies. I had taken a global history class in, um.

[00:01:48] Alana: In my second year, and honestly, Canadian like social studies isn't great, so we didn't really learn a lot about Asia at all. And it was just like Canada and Europe. And so this was the [00:02:00] first time I had been exposed to it and I had immediate strong connection to it and I just like, I wanted to go there and I wanted to go there for a long time.

[00:02:07] Alana: None of this two weeks see sightseeing kind of thing. I, I really wanna integrate and just understand. Kind of and touch on all those things I had been learning in my class. And so I did um, English as a second language teaching. I, uh, I ended up picking Korea 'cause they had a lot better, um, pay. So while I lived in Korea, um, I.

[00:02:30] Alana: I did some traveling to different Asian, uh, countries. I did China, I did um, Indonesia, I did Japan. Um, and I did a lot of stuff in Korea. And one of the cultural integrations, I guess you could say I did was I, I, I tried out Asians, uh, medicine, Asian Medicine. I went to Temple Stays and it was way more a proper fit.

[00:02:54] Alana: I. I dunno how many science people, you know, but there's, there's a highly skeptical group of [00:03:00] people and they've, and they're trained to do that. And I was no exception. So I really enjoyed just seeing, um, acupuncture in kind of a more balanced context. 'cause at the time in Canada, acupuncture was this super new age woowoo thing and I was very closed off to it.

[00:03:17] Alana: And so I had some weird health issues that were not really physiological. You could argue now that I've done this work, it was spiritual. Um, and I just kind of needed something that was a little different than just western medicine. So I was, I started gonna acupuncture and started taking Tai Chi while I was there, and it was a, a really, really good fit for my personality.

[00:03:42] Alana: Like, uh, I really, like I said, I was pursuing the things that I wanted and, um, just personal exploration, personal fit, like. I wanted to do something that would use my intelligence and I wanted something hands on and something that I was, you know, probably gonna grow with. And I really [00:04:00] feel like Chinese medicine was a really good fit for that.

[00:04:03] Alana: And, um, I ultimately decided not to study in Korea because the program is just, is geared for Koreans. You'd have to do the course in Korea. I, I, I, I wasn't really ready to commit that amount of, of time to, to Chinese medicine for that. So I did go to, um, uh, Victoria BC. For my studies. And, um, I finished a acupuncture program and then I moved out east to, um, new Brunswick to do my acupuncture practice.

[00:04:34] Alana: And I've kind of been here since, um, alongside, um, learning how to be an acupuncturist. I, um, one of my professors ha, well, he would do one of our classes in his clinic. One of his clinic mates was this energy worker named Emerald and. I had never realized that this was like a legit thing and you just kind of let [00:05:00] people have their stuff, but it's like, oh, okay, whatever.

[00:05:02] Alana: So she was the first person I ever really worked with that helped me explore that more in a practical sense. And I, I started owning like energy work as, as my own, as my own, um, healing techniques. It wasn't something that I directly put into the clinic, but honestly it enhanced my skillset. And the more I got better at energy work, the better my acupuncture became.

[00:05:25] Alana: And so they became blended together fairly quickly. And um, yeah, I very much kept that practice up. Um, in my current practice, I. 

[00:05:35] Shilpa: And so, um, when you returned, um, from Korea, it sounds like you took a, a more formal approach. Oh, yeah, I guess 

[00:05:44] Alana: I did a, a, a proper, like in, in Canada, the Diploma of Acupuncture is a three year program.

[00:05:51] Alana: Um, and then you can go into a few other programs that are both four and five years long. But, um. You have to have some [00:06:00] university and some, uh, in the acupuncture program, and then you can get a diploma of acupuncture and you become a registered acupuncturist. Not all provinces have that designation, but I have taken all of the things to become registered, so.

[00:06:16] Wow. So it's, it's a long commitment, just like I would say going into a medical profession as well. 

[00:06:22] Alana: Well, I mean, that, that's what it is, right? Like, um, as mu as much as it sounds like it's long to you, in, in China it's a five-year program and it's a proper bachelor's of, of, of acupuncture, and you take practicum.

[00:06:36] Alana: So it, it's like, and in Korea, six, and if I had gone to China, which I had considered, it would've been seven years because I would've needed to take a few years of Asian, um, language. 

[00:06:48] Yeah. Yeah. So, 

[00:06:49] Alana: um, three years isn't that long. Really in consideration of that. It's, it's kind of, it's, it's more work than maybe, um, reiki or something like that.

[00:06:59] Alana: But it is, [00:07:00] it's got its own grounded practice, and I would say three years is really quite short in considering all the material that you do. You have to learn. 

[00:07:08] Shilpa: I think that's, um, a commitment that's worthy of respect. I, as I mentioned to you before we hit record, that I've had acupuncture and it was the one solution that, or modality that I had not considered until it was just a gut reaction.

[00:07:26] Shilpa: Like it was intuition, like telling me, try it. And it, it felt good from the first try. Um, and one thing that kind of. Peaked my curiosity around what you just said was when you used the word, um, healing, I think you used the word energy healing or, yeah. And if you could, um, help the audience as well as myself.

[00:07:50] Shilpa: 'cause I am committed to the idea that there's more about energy awareness that people don't quite [00:08:00] understand yet. And I think there'll be a shift. Among our understanding, hopefully over time. But, um, I think often the misconception is what you see physically is the medicine or the healing, but when you talk about energy healing, um, or reiki, I think that's still somewhat esoteric to people.

[00:08:23] Shilpa: If, if you could go into that, that would be great. Yeah. 

[00:08:27] Alana: Uh, it is true. You know, I, I am, I'm just so used to this that it isn't, it's not a natural thing, and I am a convert from camp. Skeptical, it sounded like complete woo woo. Like, why would you ever, like, it's laughable unless you actually try it. It's, it's, maybe let's look at the idea of invisible forces.

[00:08:50] Alana: And is as simple as it can, uh, oversimplify it. What is magnetic fields? They are invisible forces. [00:09:00] Are they false? By some means? Are they just made up? Um, because I can't see them, so they're not real. Right. Um, while it's a bit of a stretch to call what I do, similar to like magnets, it's definitely there's an aspect of.

[00:09:18] Alana: Energy work that is not well measured. And I think that's more the problem with people's beliefs rather than the actual results because I can get results all the time and, um, you don't magically touch somebody with your fingers. There's like more going on, but it's really hard for science to acknowledge something that their tools can't see.

[00:09:41] Alana: So way back in school there was. I don't remember the name of the studies anymore, but they would, like in psychology, they would have like. Um, EEGs and they would measure somebody's reaction to magnetic fields on their brain, and they would have these presences that you [00:10:00] would feel. And there's this really interesting idea of like bio magnetics and bio electrics.

[00:10:06] Alana: They're just not well measured because it's, you're looking at something that is, um, usually in the brain, so they would cause damage. It's really hard to visualize. I don't know, maybe they're gonna get somewhere with some of this. Um. Brain integration with chip technology. I think that that visualization, I think is the core problem with people and energy work because once you've experienced it, you're like, no, no.

[00:10:32] Alana: There's something I've been, um, connecting to and I'll give you, um, a vague example of. Forces that aren't necessarily energy healing. Um, when someone is angry and they walk into a room, doesn't everyone's hair stand on end? Is that not some kind of vibes being put off like nobody's touching anything And a lot of the time you can feel it before you see it.

[00:10:57] Alana: So I'd like to ask the [00:11:00] listener what you might think that actually is. Um, we don't have to call it anything like formal, but I don't, I'm, I'm gonna just like put the skepticism out there to prove that it isn't possible. Like the science, the science is not, um, out, and I'm gonna say their limitation is on their measurement devices and that, that's probably the main problem with conclusions around energy.

[00:11:25] Alana: Because when you touch someone, does there, is there not a connection? Are we only talking about like our like sense sensory fibers going in our nerves to our brain? Or is it more subtle than that? I'd like to think that it is. 

[00:11:41] Shilpa: Absolutely. I like to think there that it is and I do believe it is. Um, and I practice meditation, breath work, and energy healing.

[00:11:52] Shilpa: For those that are around me, I send out, um, energy. And often when I am done with my own [00:12:00] meditation, I have this practice with a golden aura. And it sounds kind of woohoo to me even when I'm doing it, but I'm telling you every time I do it after a meditation and when I'm running my hands from my head down, I feel chills and I feel a little bit 

[00:12:16] Alana: lighter.

[00:12:17] Alana: Well, I mean, like what you're describing just sounds like basic Qigong to me. Qigong is more of like the, like, uh, you know, yoga is for meditation. Um, Tai Chi is also for meditation, but you can consider Qigong is more of like the movement based energy work practices. And what you just described, um, I believe is called bringing down the heavens.

[00:12:41] Yeah, and I've, I've practiced Qigong and fell in love with it immediately. There was this one practice where we, um, I forget what it was called, but like, something about creating a fireball or energy ball, and I could feel, my hands just slide up, but when you mentioned [00:13:00] healing and energy healing, I find that, um, exciting because I will really believe that you can even through.

[00:13:09] Your thoughts send energetic healing? 

[00:13:14] Alana: Well, that could be another part I could talk about. Now that we've kind of got like a basic why the skepticism is having trouble, I can just kind of go into more deeper. And for me, energy isn't just a kind of reactionary thing. It is a force, and at some point it can probably be so complicated.

[00:13:33] Alana: There's intelligence or um. Which is awareness to it. So you can direct energy and you can have intention with the energy that you direct. Like I was tell telling you about with the anger. The opposite is you can feel when someone's thinking about you and you can often verify that. And for the more astute and sensitive people, it's very straightforward.

[00:13:57] Alana: Like, I was thinking about you today. It's like, yeah. [00:14:00] Around this time, and I'm like, yes. Or like, or whenever someone texts you, like, I, I, Hey, what's up? And that kind of stuff is like hearing the vibes of your close knitted friends. The conscious energy to me is a great definition of like the creator or source or universal, um, energy.

[00:14:22] Alana: I, I don't like, I guess the religious definition of God, but the. Extended energetic one, where we are looking at it as like Physics plus makes a lot of sense to me and it fits better with how I feel the universe is formed. But there is a intelligence to that, right? And an intent, and I find that it's so palpable and easy to find the other.

[00:14:48] Alana: Arguable thing. Um, especially when you look into, um, shamanism like the Korean shamanism or even South American shamanism, it's the idea of spirits. These are [00:15:00] energy forces that are like non corporeal without a body, but still able to interact with us. So that kind of stuff is used in their medicine all the time.

[00:15:11] Shilpa: Absolutely. Um. Another element of this, and this might, um, resonate with you, is that these, uh, for lack of a better expression, maybe energetic forces, if you will, can uh, communicate through a variety of means. Like you were saying. Some of it could be that, oh, I was thinking of you and it's sort of thoughts.

[00:15:36] Shilpa: Syncing up, and that's also through synchronicity. I, I find my life full of synchronicities, and if you're not really aware or paying attention, it passes without your lens on it. But if you started to really scrutinize, you're like, whoa, I needed that information right there. And it happens. 

[00:15:57] Alana: I, I love stuff like that.

[00:15:58] Alana: Like you're, are you [00:16:00] just talking about signs and, um, I read Ca Carlos Castaneda a long time ago in his book in Don Juan series and the idea of a sign he Don Juan was like, a sign is anything you decide is a sign. And that sounds like a really, um, cop out definition, but I feel that that's like. Because the way we communicate with these other forces can be so, um, vague that you have to try multiple ways to pay attention.

[00:16:32] Alana: Um, I have gotten used to feeling signs that are of value, so there's like a twist to it. I'm like, wait, wait, wait. Why am I following this weird algorithm on YouTube? And I just listen deeper and I'm like, I think I'm getting a sense of what I need to hear from. This like video plot line. Some people channel, um, hear their messages so you can medium or channeling.

[00:16:58] Alana: I'm not [00:17:00] sure how to define the differences when you're hearing these messages. Um. Depending on what the person's probably more, uh, connected to a better affinity with, they'll use different signs to have their results. I've worked with people who get their signs through like song lyrics. Sometimes I get mine through movie plot lines.

[00:17:20] Alana: Um. Some people, they'll ask for a specific sign to appear in their world around them. Like I had one client who really liked asking for signs. And so, um, I would listen for a truth, give her um, part of that in her healing session, and then she would go find that sign. And I remember this one time, this person was like, alright, fine, if this is true, I need to see a blue polar bear.

[00:17:46] Alana: And you know what she did? Like it was like maybe within a day she went to her son's kindergarten class and she looked up on the wall and do you know what she saw? Right? Randomly, a blue polar bear, [00:18:00] or, I had one person who was like purple unicorn and it was, and she found it very quickly. Um, some people see it in numbers, so you can look up these angel numbers.

[00:18:10] Alana: For me, that's all signs that are all valid. 

[00:18:14] Shilpa: Absolutely. Now, you mentioned something as you were talking about the signs, which I'm a firm believer in because I, I've had just my, my everyday life is full of it in different ways, whether it's numbers and patterns or messages or sometimes like, I just have to go off on a little bit of a tangent.

[00:18:32] Shilpa: I. I had a thought, like, it sounds like weird channeling, but like sometimes when I'm about to do a podcast on a solo podcast, when I need to stay, it starts coming to me. Definitely. And it started to come to me at a time where I was trying to fall asleep still. I'm like, oh no. And I'm like, um, so I'm just, I just thought, and I, I'm too logical, so I'm like, whatever.

[00:18:58] Shilpa: This is just. [00:19:00] My, my brain needs to slow down. Well, the very same evening, sometimes when I can't sleep, I'm on my phone and I saw a quote, the quote that was coming through. 

[00:19:12] Alana: Oh, nice. That's really confirming, 

[00:19:14] he was confirming that I need to talk about this somehow in a future podcast. But one thing you mentioned, um, early, early, I think before we hit record or early in the session is.

[00:19:28] When you work with your clients, it sounds like you take, um, a variety of modalities and maybe guide it through intuition as well as education experience, sort of then package it, so to speak. 

[00:19:43] Alana: Yeah, definitely. In acupuncture, um, sorry, more in Chinese medicine. I'm called an acupuncturist in Canada, but it's, it's like I'm a Chinese medicine practitioner, so there's a lot of things that I learned how to do depending on what the problem is.

[00:19:57] Alana: I use different, um, [00:20:00] tools in order to get the result that would be most appropriate. And some, some of that stuff is like, um, lifestyle advice. So in China, this is more of like their tradition and culture, but in Canada it's like we have. No real basis for addressing those things, and I kind of teach them the culture of Chinese medicine in order to have them change their lives, to improve their health.

[00:20:23] Alana: And a lot of the time I'm trying to get people to go deeper, so I do whatever it takes for them to understand that about themselves. Yes, you're coming in for back pain, but do you know why you have that back pain? And, um, a lot of the answers are really straightforward. Oh, I'm not sitting correctly. I need to adjust my computer.

[00:20:45] Alana: Um, sometimes it gets deeper and the back pain is due to, or trauma or really, um, difficult, uh, patterns of emotional release and these kind of other symptoms I [00:21:00] need to help. Draw people out of that so they can have a sense of what actually they can do to help themselves long term. Do you, and it's a mix of different things.

[00:21:10] Alana: Not everything's going to get people the same results. You have to customize it for what the person's presenting. 

[00:21:16] Shilpa: Yeah. Yeah. Because you mentioned like with some clients as you're helping them, um, it sounds like they may want also other signs as validation. 

[00:21:27] Alana: Well, I have a few different types of clients and I would say for the more esoteric leaning people, that's the kind of stuff that I will provide them because that's their medicine, so the medicine that they need to see in order to like get through their healing, and I like using stuff like that.

[00:21:43] Alana: A personal, very interesting. It's really validating when you can channel something and then they'll all of a sudden they go and verify it. I had somebody who I kept feeling something. In their chest. And I, I like, when I listened and saw the image, it was like [00:22:00] this gray room and I looked further and it was definitely a hospital room and they were definitely a baby and they looked and checked into their history and when they were one and a half, they had pneumonia and they were in the hospital.

[00:22:14] Alana: It was as, as we had, uh, seen in the vision I had. I was very, very confirming. I knew nothing about this incident, but it released and worked through some of the issues that they were coming in for. 

[00:22:25] Wow. So that speaks to your own intuition as well. 'cause I think that plays such a strong role in, um, one's ability to truly heal because you're now in tuned.

[00:22:41] Alana: Yeah, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna have a strong opinion about, I have an interest and that interest has led me to practice and, and participate in this a lot. I don't think it's like something that is, uh, gate kept for only like special people. I'd say maybe you have an affinity for it and it's easier for [00:23:00] you.

[00:23:00] Alana: But if, if anyone wants to do this, I think energy work is possible for anybody. 

[00:23:06] Shilpa: You mentioned earlier, um, that you and I, you even gave us a name of that individual, that that's what was your introduction to someone doing energy work? 

[00:23:16] Alana: Emerald? Yeah. I don't think she practices anymore. It was, uh, like 15 years ago now.

[00:23:23] It What was your first impression when you saw them? 'cause clearly it left some kind of impression. 

[00:23:28] Alana: Oh, um, like I said, my background was in science, but I guess I didn't, uh, say this in my introduction, but when I was in Korea, I did attend a bunch of shaman rituals. It was super interesting and, um, be between that and the acupuncture.

[00:23:43] Alana: Um, I was opening up to the idea of energy work, uh, at the time, but, um, circumstances it was kind of, oh, that's for other people. And so when I met Emerald, she was like, here, I can just show it to you. She was very friendly and she just like went like [00:24:00] this and did some energy stuff and said, put your hand through that, and I could feel.

[00:24:04] Alana: Then she changed it and did all, um, she changed what the energy felt like and it was really powerful and I was very impressed. And so what it felt like to me is that this is something I could potentially have for myself. And that really started that interest quite strongly at that point. And that's when I guys say, started some energy training alongside my acupuncture training.

[00:24:26] What would energy training look like? And is that the same as reiki? 

[00:24:32] Alana: Reiki is a type of energy, like, I mean, I, I appreciate that it's really popular, but reiki isn't the word for energy. It's just a type of like way to get, get into the energy working idea. Think about it as a language and anybody can learn a language and we're all communicating.

[00:24:51] Alana: So we're all communicating with energy and we're using different frameworks, IE reiki, IE, Chinese medicine in order to access that [00:25:00] energy. So it's, it's, it is more like we're tapping into something using, let's say, like just a human understanding of it, because otherwise there's, it's really kind of too vague sometimes, or maybe above our understanding, like energy goes far beyond our consciousness, I would argue.

[00:25:17] Alana: So whatever energy. Way that you can tap into that is a valid one, but they're all essentially the same. 

[00:25:27] Shilpa: That's a beautiful ex um, explanation 'cause I have not heard that. And what I often hear in the western world, and I have yet to fully wrap my mind around is reiki. But when you were talking about even acupuncture being a form of tapping into that energy For sure.

[00:25:46] Shilpa: I, I recall like. In my study and I, I, I have not gone deep like clearly as you have, but I've been fascinated by it. And when I've done, um, Qigong and understood acupuncture, [00:26:00] from my understanding, there's meridians in the body. Yes. And the needles, they, I don't know if the right word is trigger, but they do something to trigger that energy.

[00:26:11] Alana: Well, yeah, like, so the acupuncture points, um, a lot of them are on acupuncture, meridian, like meridian lines. Um, there's way more acupuncture points than I get. Like there's several hundred basic points. And you're, you're trying to, I like to think about them as like access points or like you're, you're activating a certain area.

[00:26:36] Alana: There is some physiology that is starting to come out to validate this anatomically, um, I think they're called bonghan channels. So like the Korean name Bong, B-O-N-G-H-A-N, Bonghan Ducks. They're kind of like. Energy lines that have a very simplified structure and they [00:27:00] work more, uh, by bioluminescence. So the acupuncture points really correlates strongly to both the bhan ducts and these like larger areas called Bhan core sles.

[00:27:13] Alana: And so you're basically stimulating. Those points, and you can stimulate them in several ways. Arguably, as long as you activate it, it doesn't matter how. So I can do acupressure using those same points and I don't have to use the needle, but the needle is really helpful for the points that are a little deeper in the body and they just stimulate it more, um, acutely and sometimes it hurts less.

[00:27:42] Alana: Um, there's some points that when you press with your thumb, it's just so. Large, it's really sensitive, but if you use acupuncture point, it just, it's more gentle, but you're activating the energy points and you're connecting to the body in a more fundamental way than just [00:28:00] with, let's say nerves or even just a, the circulatory system.

[00:28:05] Alana: It's almost like a, uh, rudimentary regulatory system. But it's very, very hard to stain. And like I said, the measuring of it is a little challenging, but they do this more in chick fetal tissue, like chick embryos. So it's way back at the very beginning. I'm gonna go a little bit nerd for one second because it's, it's just kind of gets really fundamental with how, uh, acupuncture and energy movement is part of us.

[00:28:37] Alana: So. With these embryos, they're measuring these acupuncture lines. And, um, I haven't seen recent studies, so I can't answer you, but it's like there's this, uh, gradient theory when it comes to a fetal development. And so like the different parts of this body, as they differentiate into different specialized [00:29:00] cells, they'll move around this embryo and it's.

[00:29:06] Alana: When I was in school, it was like a chemical gradient. But the theory that's kind of developing with these bong hand ducks is, is actually these meridians themselves are the, um, pathways that these different differentiating cells work with as well. So you're kind of, this is the first communication and, um, delivery system that the body, like a extra cellular system that the body creates.

[00:29:34] Alana: And the fun thing is it just maintains itself as you develop into an adult. 

[00:29:39] That is fascinating. Um, and how many meridian lines are there and what is like the most basic definition of a meridian? 

[00:29:49] Alana: I guess you can call them the energy lines. Um, there's a, there's 12 basic ones plus a bunch of, um, controlling ones to it.

[00:29:57] Alana: So I don't know. It would probably be better to say [00:30:00] there's 14 basic ones that an acupuncture student learns. The most fundamental one would be just the midline. The midline is made out of two meridians called the do and the rent, and they both originate from, um, the, the seat of the body. 

[00:30:14] Shilpa: Mm-hmm. 

[00:30:15] Alana: And it, it, it's a, it is easy to guess lo get lost with the anatomy of it.

[00:30:24] Alana: There's, there's a lot of memorizing. 

[00:30:27] Shilpa: Yeah. I, um. What I also recall from my understanding from this is that you, like, and you just mentioned, that when you activate these certain points, there is a method to the math. There is, um, a healing that can occur or I would say your body can respond to that pressure or the needle in a way that can help release the energy in that area.

[00:30:57] Shilpa: Correct. 

[00:30:58] Alana: Oh yeah. Like I [00:31:00] want you to think about it more systemic than that. So a lot of acupuncture isn't really about putting a point in where the pain is. It's about regulating the body. And so I have the pain in my shoulder. I need to. Unblock why that pain is happening. And in acupuncture theory, a lot of that is stuck energy or stuck chi that is no longer flowing properly and that's causing the backlog of energy blockage, and that blockage is causing pain.

[00:31:32] Alana: I can open up that pain in several ways, and I can even use different parts of the body to open up that pain and on a more basic regulation. Um, you're trying to get the body's energy systems to go back to the correct amount and the correct direction. So a lot of what I end up doing, especially in the beginning, is I balance people.

[00:31:56] Alana: I'm not really pushing one direction or the [00:32:00] other. Um, acupuncture is much more of a regulatory medicine and that's why it's really good for pain. So it's opening up these blockages and it's balancing up energy throughout the body and. For me, most people's issue is that they are unregulated. Um, some people just are so wired that they have no concept of how to bring the body back down to balance.

[00:32:25] Alana: And so acupuncture is almost like a forced meditation. 

[00:32:31] Absolutely. I, I mentioned to you before we hit record that when I was in the process of trying to get pregnant, I was. In the extreme state of stress in my body. And I think emotionally I was stressed. And when I first got acupuncture, um, intuitively I understood what you were saying, that I needed to regulate this energy.

[00:32:56] And, um, on my first session alone, [00:33:00] although I was terrified with this idea that somebody was gonna put needles in me, I, I had to give some, um. I had to like just have faith. So I remember going through the session and I was told, oh, you'll feel super relaxed. And I was like, unless I have wine, I'm not gonna feel that relaxed.

[00:33:20] And I remember when I was done like 45 minutes later, I could not have felt more relaxed. Yeah, it was as, as though somebody had given me some medicine, but it was deeper and almost euphoric. To some level, and my body felt so calm. Yeah. But I couldn't even articulate the words. It just felt really calming.

[00:33:49] Definitely. Yeah. I, I highly appreciate that modality. Now going back to your journey and your story, um. [00:34:00] You, you described it so well in terms of coming from more of a science background and then leaning into this and now being a practitioner. Um, how has this modality now personally shifted or changed anything for you?

[00:34:15] And you mentioned that you've had your own journey and your own challenge. Can you tie that back into how this plays in your current life path? 

[00:34:26] Alana: I mean, I appreciate and love what science has given me because it has helped me keep a level head as I've explored this. But there's something about all of this that fits.

[00:34:37] Alana: And while I was in university, I. I decided to become a fairly hardcore atheist, and there was things that I connected to that I'm like, that's just, that's just wrong. There's like bio determinacy, like it's none of this is real. So I can let all of that go. And I tried and when I was in, um, [00:35:00] Korea, I just, I got really unhappy with my choice around it.

[00:35:04] Alana: So I, I gave it up and I decided that. It doesn't matter if it's real or not, it's what works for me. And, um, but I just, I take that attitude of. Scrupulous and just making it work for me and finding my evidence. I don't have to find objective evidence anymore. It doesn't have to have like statistically significant results as long as I am satisfied with it.

[00:35:31] Alana: That is my evidence provided. Now it, it does help because unfortunately, the energy community is rife with scams just because. People think they have learned all these great things. I do appreciate having grounded my practices based in older, traditional medicine techniques. It doesn't mean you can't have new ones, but you can just have a discernment around it.

[00:35:57] Alana: I,[00:36:00] 

[00:36:00] Alana: so, so

[00:36:04] Alana: I guess. I embraced Chinese medicine theory fully because it worked for me. It, it, um, pass passed the litmus test. It gave me what I needed. It answers questions that, um, Western medicine is kind of like lukewarm about. Um, there's so many conditions, like the pattern of, um, diagnosis in Chinese medicine may be vague in some sense, but it's very accurate and thorough in others.

[00:36:32] Alana: A lot of the. Host of issues that you can label in Western medicine. There's a bunch of them that just don't have treatments for, and it is almost like the opposite in Chinese medicine. So it's like, well, we don't know what to call it, but all of these symptoms point to this treatment. Then you test it and you say, oh, well that treatment provides a change and results that work for me.

[00:36:58] Alana: And um, [00:37:00] in the beginning I was my own, uh, patient because you can't acupuncture or treat in your first couple years. So I was just going to all these different things and treating myself and so I got to have my evidence with that kind of stuff and I got to work through my own health and that. Arguably, any healer should be doing that kind of stuff all the time.

[00:37:21] Alana: Anyways, I need to be ahead so I can keep going for when my clients are getting better and I just. I am very satisfied with how this way of thinking provides change and improvement to my life. It gives me direction. When I am struggling with something, I have a sense of how to approach it. It, it gives me this curious mindset in order to keep going.

[00:37:47] Alana: And I, I can, I know how to reach out to other areas outside of my modality and it's hard to treat yourself, so you need to. Participate with other people for that. And [00:38:00] yeah, so it, it, it became just who I am at this point. And I, I would, I'm, I'm, I'm that nerd at parties where you're like, oh man, you can really tell you like what you do.

[00:38:12] Yeah. Well, and can you, like, now bring us to the next steps, next evolution of your life. And earlier we had talked about our connection to, um, business. And perhaps maybe share what you're developing in the last couple of minutes and how, uh, the show notes will share people with people how they can find you.

[00:38:37] But what's the next part of your journey now? 

[00:38:40] Alana: I mean, I've been practicing for so long, so one of the things that I have noticed is that I repeat myself over and over again with like the same basic ideas. And I'd like to just take those gems of wisdom and turn it into something for a larger audience. So I am, I'm working on public speaking.

[00:38:58] Alana: I'd like to make my own [00:39:00] podcast. It's, it's in the works. It's just something that like, um, my life is very. Busy. So the pace of it will be upcoming. Um, so that kind of larger audience, wider presence, I can do what I do. Without needing to be in the same room with someone. 'cause energy work doesn't require to be in the same room.

[00:39:21] Alana: Acupuncture does. But the other aspects of what I do to do not. So I'm, I'm, I'm finding what I do fairly niche, so I'd like to offer it to like more of an online community. So I've been moving more online, doing more of a, uh, coaching as well, uh, using my Chinese medicine and Buddhist practices as my back, uh, my foundation for that.

[00:39:45] I, I am fascinated and I actually look forward to all the things that are coming from you and evolving because it's definitely something I would love to use as well, especially if we can do it remotely. 

[00:39:57] Alana: Oh yeah. Definitely Easy to do this kind of thing [00:40:00] remotely. 

[00:40:01] Now, um, one last question because a lot of my audiences are women or, or women that are developing their own idea around a business or a niche and.

[00:40:13] Perhaps you could just speak to that audience just for the last minute about what it is like. I mean, are you a mom? Are you, um, where are you at in your life and what does it feel like to take this wisdom and pivot? 

[00:40:29] Alana: Um, so as an entrepreneur and being a health practitioner, it's a, it's a really, like a necessary evil.

[00:40:36] Alana: I ha I was, I fought it for a really long time. Um. You just don't get really hired as an acupuncturist here. You have to open your own business. And honestly, I love it. I work from home. Um, I'm able to really customize my schedule because I do have kids, so, um, I don't have to limit my life with them because of, I just appreciate the [00:41:00] flexibility that comes with being an entrepreneur.

[00:41:02] Alana: There are, you have to be a person of many hats. Like, I do my own bookkeeping. I do my own like, um, marketing and all of those things. And it, it's a matter of, you know, for the love of the greater, um, accomplishment. I don't, I don't, um, want to be an ACCC accountant, but I, I do like aspects of it. It's fine.

[00:41:24] Alana: Like, uh, bookkeeping is interesting, but it. You have to be balanced with your approach to this. It's not all fun and glamor. There's a lot of mundane work. There's a lot of just like day-to-day consistency. Um, there's those hurdles that every business tends to have, um, you will still have as an emerging, uh, practitioner and, and energy as well.

[00:41:49] Alana: And you. Ground yourself in why you're doing it, and I think that the rest of it comes with it. For myself, I still strongly believe, pick what you [00:42:00] love, the money will come. Within reason, you, you have to do the work. You can't just have Spirit do. You can't wish for something to happen and ask for spirit to be there unless you follow through.

[00:42:13] Alana: So, you know, we are the third dimensional version of Spirit. We live on a physical plane, and you have to manifest everything you want into physical, like, um, reality. And if you don't do that work yourself. You're not going to, that. It'll stay a dream. But if you do the work and you're consistent about it and you're very practical, balanced with your approach, you, you'll see exactly what you want.

[00:42:39] Alana: It's there. There is enough people in the world available to love your product that you'll be able to make a business out of it. 

[00:42:48] That's wonderful Lana. And um, I love how you brought in the science and the logical with the, uh, ability to understand, like some of it is about, um, having [00:43:00] faith in this thing that we cannot always see, but understanding that manifestation does require actual work on the 3D level.

[00:43:09] Alana: Yeah. What was the joke? The, the person, the, the woman wanted to win the lottery and she prayed to source every day. Oh, just please let me win the lottery. And she always prayed for this. And then the voice finally said, look, I need you to buy a ticket. 

[00:43:23] I. That's true. Well, Alana, thank you so much and you know, if you're interested, I always enjoy having guests return and can go deeper.

[00:43:34] That sounds really fun. 

[00:43:35] Alana: It's been wonderful. I've had a great time. 

[00:43:37] I had a wonderful time and I absolutely look forward to learning more from you.