We recently connected with Emma Malone and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emma, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I have practiced acupuncture for 7 years now, in 5 different offices, the last of which is the healing center my husband and I opened in Westminster, MD. We recently celebrated the one year anniversary of opening our space, and I am so grateful for the chance to have SPACE to call my own, to fill with my own ideas and energy, to stand for what I value most. In this short time practicing, I have noticed a shift in the way I view my role in my patient’s lives. Though many teachers cautioned me that it is not my job to “fix” someone, I still found myself working diligently to alleviate my patients’ pains and measuring the value of a treatment by how much better the patient felt getting off of the treatment table. Acupuncture is amazing at helping so many different ailments, as well as improving general rhythms like mood, sleep, energy levels, and overall improving someone’s quality of life. As a result, it can be difficult as a practitioner not to weigh your success on whether or not you can successfully “fix” someone’s complaint, especially as a newer practitioner, still having a lot to learn.

I am beginning to shift my focus, away from my patient’s ailments and current complaints and measuring what I can accomplish in a single treatment, towards a focus on the relationship I can build with that patient over time. If I spend my time and attention removing someone’s aches and pains each visit, I may be missing a much greater opportunity. I aim to get to know a person on a more significant level, to have the deeper conversations that spark real, lasting change. I can be a participant in something much grander. I want to know someone through their ups and downs, to witness WHO they are, to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and to reflect back to them an encouragement that builds their confidence in themselves. I am tempted to reference “The Catcher in the Rye” – I want to be someone who knows a patient well enough to recognize when they are at the precipice of something significant. To “catch” them before they miss the opportunity for change, as Holden Caulfield imagines himself catching the children running in the field before they fall off the cliff.

Emma, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Emma Malone, and I am a licensed acupuncturist. I hold my Master degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, which prepared me to prescribe Chinese herbal medicine, counsel on Chinese dietary medicine, and teach Qi Gong. I followed my heart to this study of medicine, which embodies the ancient wisdom that we are all connected, and by quieting the mind and accessing the natural healing powers of the body, we can bring healing to any ailment.

After I graduated from Towson University with a Bachelor degree in psychology and sociology, I was searching for something more. I was seeking to learn a craft where I could assist the human body to heal. What attracted me to Chinese medicine was the idea of learning how to utilize specific points along the human body to elicit desired healing responses. I was searching for a way to benefit the body and the mind, and to my surprise I found acupuncture and realized there could be an even broader affect of reaching the human spirit as well. This system of medicine works by harmonizing the flow of energy within the body. It is a system based in nature, grounded in philosophy of yin and yang and the 5 elements. All of this just sung to me, and to top it all off, this system of medicine also incorporates herbal medicine, which was a calling for me at a very young age.

This year I am most proud to have made it successfully through our first year in business as Healing House Acupuncture and Spiritual Wellness Center. And I am also so proud of many of my patients and their accomplishments. I receive in return for caring for my patients. I get to experience their gratitude, their progress, relief from ailments they thought may never shift, and they teach me the kind of person I would like to be in different phases of life – the way I want to stand in the world as a mother, as a business professional, in mid-life, and beyond.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My business partner is my husband, and we met 6.5 years ago barefoot at the creek. Shortly after we met, our conversations dove into territories of recovery, the nature of the universe, beings from alternate dimensions, the new age for humanity, numerology, etc. I knew we were going to continue these conversations and glimpsed the life we might build together. After 2 children, many trials conquered, and many rebirths for each of us, we are traversing our dream of helping others, and I look forward to see how that continues to evolve and grow in breadth.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Two months after I graduated with my acupuncture degree, as I was launching my business, I found out I was pregnant with my firstborn child. So learning how to run my business came hand in hand with learning how to be a mom. So much changed in my life during the following years, and the things that were so important to me prior to having children easily fell by the wayside. For me this included meditation, hiking in nature, exercise, and solitary practices like reading and studying. I tried to fight for time to do these things separate from my family, knowing I could not continue to take care of others without dedicating time to my own well-being and to the practices that had once defined my sense of peace and satisfaction with life. I’m sure a lot of mothers struggle to reclaim their sense of identity after birth, and I was no different. Sometimes I wanted to run away from my life.

No matter what else changed, the time I could steal here and there for my own needs wasn’t amounting to enough. One day I discovered a new way forward. What actually worked better for me was learning how to redefine these treasured activities in a way that included my family. If I wanted my practices to be sustainable for a life with children, I needed to incorporate my children into them. Of course one day I would want to teach them these valuable practices, so I had to learn how to become a teacher. That might sound silly to some, but for me as a first time mom, it was an “aha” moment. Now, how do you teach 4 and 2 year olds how to meditate? I figured you have to start somewhere.

It helped me greatly to have a dedicated space for my meditations and spiritual practices. And my time in that space began as a shared experience with my 4 year old, for only quiet activities, never any electronic devices. Then one day my daughter and I worked together to create an altar, and that’s when the light bulb really went off. She was having the greatest time doing something new and creative, it didn’t matter what we were doing, just that I was invested in the process with her. So I had to find ways to do the things I loved most WITH her.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lustforlifeacupuncture.weebly.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healinghousecarroll/#
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lustforlifeacupuncture
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmmaatHealingHouse
• Other: https://healinghousecarroll.com/

Image Credits

Kristen Johnson