My name is Alexandra Smith, though my friends call me Sasha. I am a child of God, a child of the covenant, a disciple of Christ, and proud to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When I was little, I was diagnosed with congenital scoliosis. I had my first spine surgery when I was eleven and continued on to have seven total spine surgeries. During this and other health challenges, my parents kept wondering how one little girl could have so many health problems that were seemingly unrelated. Western medical doctors didn’t have an answer. My mom discovered Chinese Medicine, which had the answers to how everything was connected.
I had my first acupuncture appointment just before my final spine surgery and continued acupuncture afterward, recovering faster than expected. Studying Chinese Medicine became a hobby for me as a teenager. I would use what I learned to help my friends and family. If someone had pain in a certain area, I would find out which meridian it was on and then push the associated strengthening and sedating points till I found a sore one and the pain would go away.
This desire to help people continued as I served as a mission nurse in the Ecuador Guayaquil West Mission. This was a calling like that of a Sister Training Leader. I was able to help missionaries with basic triage, make medical appointments, call the insurance, and consult with the mission president, his wife, and area medical doctor, all in Spanish. My mission president and his wife were very encouraging of me teaching missionaries acupressure points I had learned for simple conditions.
I went to Brigham Young University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Recreational Therapy and a double minor in Family Life and Nonprofit Management. I completed my childhood dream and became both a Recreational Therapist and Child Life Specialist and then felt like God didn’t want me to pursue a job in either of those fields. Through a series of personal revelations, I felt strongly directed to pursue a Doctorate of Chinese Medicine at the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM) in Portland, OR.
My first choice school was NUNM because of its emphasis in Classical Chinese Medicine. The majority of other Chinese Medicine schools teach Traditional Chinese Medicine, emphasizing acupuncture points, point and herbal prescriptions for certain conditions, and traditional forms of diagnosis. On top of teaching those things, my school is heavily grounded in the Chinese Medical classics (which I am learning to read in their ancient Chinese), in the lineage of knowledge from the ancient practitioners, and life enriching practices like QiGong. (Tai Chi, which is more commonly known, is a form of QiGong.)
As I’ve been studying and learning not just the medicine but the symbolism behind the medicine, I learn more about Jesus Christ. The ancient Chinese people don’t acknowledge a belief in Jesus Christ, but as one saturated in Christianity, to me everything testifies of Christ. As a covenant keeping member of the church studying the deepness of Chinese Medical thought, I have come to realize I am one of the few individuals who can make connections like those the Spirit is teaching me. And I want to share them! With the goal of writing a book someday, I am using this blog to start to record my thoughts and teach other members of the church about Chinese Medicine. I will use original Chinese Medical sources, scientific studies, and scripture to explain concepts that may feel different to a western audience. Thank you for being here for this adventure!
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