We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Cami Malinski-Gillett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Cami below.
Dr. Cami, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
There are so many risks in life. The fear to jump without knowing the outcome is present with each task but there’s an excitement with chasing your desires that spartan kicks you off the edge.
When I was a preteen until my late 20’s (if not early 30’s) I was heavily consumed with anxiety, questioning my worth and lots of self-criticism.
Here’s a trick I’ve learned in my years- if you want something, look for role models that have it. I really wanted to be like some women I met who felt magical. Easy smiles, they radiated confidence, they seemed at ease.
They chased desires, they did what felt good for them in life.
In those earlier days, it was just unconscious whims of faith (dropping out of conventional college to go to massage school for example). Sometimes there’s just an internal nagging, or itch, that you follow.
The biggest conscious risks I’ve taken have been to put myself out into the world. Business now days require an online presence. I have had to learn how to not only put myself in a spot light for the world (or what feels like the world) but to also be able to sell myself, my story, and my solutions.
Every bit of content brings me anxiety and self doubt.
And it’s an opportunity for me to grow through my anxieties and self-worth. Because, here’s the kicker, that stuff doesn’t go away completely even when you work on it. Being human means feeling all the feels. It’s about becoming familiar with the uncomfortable.
The intensity of it dies down and you are able to navigate your way with a clearer head. To respond instead of reacting or running.
I left a marriage to be a single mama, started a business using all my own money, and am in the process of getting another online business off the ground after spending the last 2 years in and out of maternity leave.
I found the dreamiest love of my life and get to wake up to our babies every day. I get to create and write, read and apply, and share all my learnings with patients. I wouldn’t be in Flow with my purpose if I didn’t take the risks to trust my Spirit to guide my life.
I indulge myself in dreaming big dreams for this life.
I’ve found that when I allow myself to experience the future I want, unbashful and unapologetically, I can almost taste the reality of it.
You have thought yourself sick before. You have worried and stressed, imagined things and felt it in your body. Why not think yourself into a happy, healthy, blissful place? It’s 100% possible.
Manifesting risking letting go of stuff that doesn’t serve you (thoughts, behaviors, actions, people). Trading that for living inside your head like the version of yourself that you daydream about, and then taking action for it every day. What you seek, you find.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Do you ever feel like you’ve been ping ponged along a path to find yourself exactly where you’ve always wanted to be?
I don’t know how, but when I was a junior in high school, I got a marketing postcard for a weekend seminar on how to give a full-body basic massage. I don’t know why, but I decided to go. This seemingly random event set me on my course, I guess.
I debated between massage school after graduation or becoming an art therapist, since art was the only area of expression I felt confident and proud in.
I went with the grain and started college, only to drop out for massage and shiatsu school. Years later, I finished a pre-chiropractic program and switch to enroll in acupuncture school. The mystical has always called to me. Something about acupuncture was exotic and tantalizing. And now, after 10+ years of practice, I still feel the awe of the medicine.
Sometimes, we have an idea of what we want in life and those doors just will not budge no matter how hard we push. In exhaustion, we glance 90 degrees to the left and see a path that is made specifically for us.
I fell deeply in love with acupuncture school. It allowed my poetic-artist heart to be expressed while healing my connection to myself. I couldn’t have imagined this would be the beginning of my journey into a spiritual healing business. I mean, they are just little needles, right?
Well, those little needles taught my body how to relax. I learned how to meditate and used my own healing experience to create a unique way of treating patients.
The people who work with me are often looking for a deeper level of healthcare than is traditionally provided. Often, people come to me because they don’t feel good and they’ve tried everything else. As we work together, they start to see their health potential in all areas; mind, body, and spirit.
They learn that life’s struggle provides the best views of beauty. Gaining gratitude and wisdom that shapes the next chapter of life.
No mud, no lotus. That’s what alchemy is- turning lead into gold. And that’s what I do, Alchemical Acupuncture.
I work a layered approach. Acupuncture is the cornerstone of my physical practice. I include guided meditation, flower essences, and Reiki with each session. Patients can add in yoga and more.
With desire to reach more people I wrote a book. I created an online course based off the practices I learned over many years that I use personally and with patients.
I can only see a finite amount of people in a day or week. An online platform is an opportunity to bring more value to the world and create a ripple effect of healing (I hope).
If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?
Absolutely!! I feel very blessed to have my purpose and career aligned.
Like everyone, my life is full of choices that have put me through the wringer. I have spent a significant amount of time feeling shame and being upset about parts of my past. And I can now look at it all with grace. Every moment, person, choice gave me something- wisdom.
I walk my path blindly, as we all do. I can’t see ahead but a few paces, but when I look back I see so much. I’ve grown a lot.
I started by looking at ideals I wanted to embody. Fitness being the 1st goal. I couldn’t afford a gym membership so I got a job working the desk at a club so I could have the perks of working out for free. A healthy body then became my focus, not just a toned one. Then a healthy emotional body, then a healthy mindset. Eventually, I got to a place of actively creating purpose and following what lit my spirit up.
I circled back to art and poetry, and began an active daily practice of falling in love with life everyday.
Acupuncture allows me an avenue to share that with others. It’s blissful.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
I like to listen. So much healing happens when someone has the chance to just speak their truth without worry of judgement or being cut off. I think sometimes we find ourselves just waiting for our chance to talk rather than really listening to each other.
I know the body-physically and energetically. I’ve been practicing bodywork, movement, meditation, and energy therapies for 20 years now. Everything I learn, I apply to myself. I live what I teach. I can only take you to the depths which I have gone. And this is a rabbit hole I will never tire of exploring.
There isn’t a 1 size fits all modality. Not everyone will respond to 1 avenue. Some people have a hard time with visualizations, others can’t move easily. As a practitioner, I want to be able to meet you where you are and be the sign on the road pointing you in a direction that fits.
The kicker is, I can’t do it for you. You have to want it for yourself. I always say “no one changes until they’re sick of their own BS”. I’m here to help, guide, teach, even demonstrate. I have to have a large toolkit to pull from otherwise I’ll only be good at helping someone who learns and thinks and experiences life exactly like me.
To be successful, I think, it’s important to put my patient’s goals and desires first. I know that I cannot help everyone. I love networking and making sure the right people connect so the right healing can happen.
The people who work with me, get the results they do because how I practice medicine is the right fit for them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wildrootsacupuncture.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wildrootsawakeningacupunct6039
Image Credits
Lauren Gregor Photography
Kovly Studio