S2 Episode 2: Live The Life That You Want - Kristin Althea O'Connor, LAc

Break The Chains, Find Your Flame

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 uses to provide distance healing treatments worldwide.

In 2008, Kristin was certified to teach the Moving Form from Master Ou and, after years of dedication, she was granted access to teach the Nonmoving Form in 2016. She is one of only 32 practitioners world-wide to teach both forms. Kristin loves teaching Pan Gu Shengong to patients for improving their own health. She utilizes her skills to offer distance treatments worldwide and is the only practitioner in Western MA to teach these forms.

ESSENTIAL OILS

When Kristin started her acupuncture practice in 2011, she was fortunate to connect to Elizabeth Gibbs who introduced her to doTerra Essential Oils. She immediately felt their power and began using them personally and in the treatment room. Knowing that medicine is only effective when patients actually use it, Kristin loved seeing the results from her patients who loved them, too. Ask Kristin to help you create a customized oils toolbox for your needs, and until then, look here to see where the magic is at: doTerra

ADDITIONAL NOTABLE TRAININGS

Kristin completed trainings in both Feng Shui and Chinese Stone Medicine to uncover the impact of minerals and crystals in spaces and in treatments. She often use these stones to enhance her treatments. She sells some beauties as well as they further enhance the healing journey.

Kristin is a certified yoga instructor who has personally and professionally studied meditation. She loves teaching this to patients, maybe especially those who think they can’t do it.

The Personal Side

If you’ve made it this far, there you have it: Such is the practice of Kristin Althea O'Connor! Other fun facts? Kristin's undergrad degree was in Journalism and Comparative Literature and she still does some healthcare freelance writing for fun. She lived in Florida, North Carolina, California, Oregon, and Australia before bringing the needle love back to where she grew up in Western Massachusetts. She plans to have a tiny and amazing treatment space surrounded by nature on land in Pelham, MA someday. She volunteers at the Fisher Home in Amherst as a way to give back the love her mother received when she went through Hospice at the end of her life. Kristin has a huge place in her heart for her inspiring little boys Bowie and Sullivan “Sully” and amazing bearded husband Dano. She spends her free time weaving, tending to her plants, meditating, manifesting, getting outside as much as possible, and smiling. There’s always room for more smiling.

Last thing? She can't wait to meet you and work with you.