When I returned home from three weeks in Bali this summer, I carried more than a notebook full of new techniques. I returned with a deeper understanding of what healing asks of us: to slow down, to listen, and to remember where we belong.
I spent the first week studying the body’s fascial planes and refining my palpation skills with acupuncturist James Spear and my acupuncture cohort. What struck me most wasn’t simply learning something new, it was being reminded that the body is constantly communicating with us. My work is helping people, especially women in midlife, learn how to hear those messages and respond with movement, nourishment, and acupuncture.
Healing Begins by Listening
My training in Bali taught me to listen more deeply to the body through fascia and palpation.
My time in Bali reminded me that healing isn’t something we force, it unfolds when we learn to listen.
We listen to the body through skilled touch and acupuncture. We listen through movement and breath in Qigong. We listen to our relationship with food in the Restart Program. My role isn’t to “fix” anyone. It’s to create a space where you can reconnect with your own innate capacity to heal. Together, we learn to listen to the body’s signals, to the heart’s longings, and to the inner wisdom that gently guides us toward greater balance, resilience, and well-being.
When I returned home from Bali, I brought back more than new clinical skills. I returned with a renewed appreciation for the quiet wisdom that is always available when we slow down enough to listen.
Midlife isn’t a decline, it’s an invitation to practice health differently.
In many ways, healing is a journey of coming home – to our bodies, to our breath, to our values, and to the deeper part of ourselves that remembers we are whole and that we belong.
My hope is that every acupuncture treatment, every Qigong class, and every Restart Program offers that opportunity. Not simply to reduce pain or improve health, although
those things matter, but to cultivate a deeper sense of presence, resilience, and belonging.
Home is where we belong. Healing is the process of remembering that belonging.
Perhaps healing isn’t about becoming someone new. Perhaps it’s about coming home – to our bodies, to our breath, to our communities, and to ourselves. That is the journey I hope to share with my patients this fall.
My next 5-week Restart Program which combines weekly education, intentional Qi Gong practices and acupuncture is starting on Tuesday, September 15th at 5:30pm. For more information and to register, please visit www.laurensugarmanlac.com/events
Feeling ready for a reset? Please visit my website at www.innerhealingwisdom.com for more information and to schedule a complementary Discovery Call to see how I can be of service.
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