Living in Nepal

How did I get here? Where have I gone?

Here is my best attempt to explain a bit about the experiences I’ve had here in Nepal. It is difficult to encapsulate in words and my words do not do this beautiful place justice.

I made my way to Nepal in the first week of October, 2023. I came through an non-profit organization to do volunteer acupuncture in a village North East of Kathmandu.

Arriving in Kathmandu was a whirlwind. I came from Seoul, South Korea, and I could feel my throat getting sore and fever coming on as I was on the last leg of my journey. I did what I could to prepare for my arrival, but nothing could really prepare me for what I was about to experience.

Let’s back up, I graduated with a Master’s degree in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine from the Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine in August, 2023. I swiftly piled information in my head, took my board exams and got my acupuncture license; All with the goal of going to Nepal in my mind and heart.

I truly wasn’t sure what it would be like in Nepal and I wasn’t even sure of why I had such a strong desire to go. For long I had been fascinated with Asia, specifically Korea, Japan and Thailand. I grew up watching anime and having deep respect for the precision and depth of Japanese culture. I traveled to Korea and Thailand in 2019 out of sheer curiosity, and love of the food :) But Nepal was a whole new ballpark for me. However, I was told I would love it due to the cultural and spiritual richness that the country had to offer.

After I arrived in Kathmandu, I went straight to my hotel room, cried and slept through the night. I woke up and contacted one of my teachers back in Seattle for her advice on how to treat myself due to having a fever and sore throat. I really enjoy self-treatment, however, I find it extremely difficult to do it well when I am sick with fever; my needle technique and point prescribing is a bit clouded. With my teacher Jen’s help, I was able to break my fever and started slowly feeling better. 

To say I was overwhelmed when I first arrived would be an understatement. Everything about Kathmandu is basically the opposite of Seattle, WA, where I grew up. This has been incredibly refreshing and difficult all at the same time. I finally ventured out of my hotel room to get water and was up against crossing the infamous streets in Kathmandu. Many people write about how terrifying it is, so I was a little nervous. But sincerely, the traffic and roads here move more rhythmically, like a school of fish, than they do in Seattle; which makes it feel much safer to me. People aren’t as shy or angry about sharing space; so yes, the motorbike may get close to you but rarely are there accidents or road rage. Anyway, I started to get the hang of walking around Boudha, the area where I was staying. 

My next journey was to get a SIM card for my cell phone. I went to a mobile store and was pleased to meet a super friendly and helpful person there. Dawa was the first friend I made in Nepal. His smile, warm welcome and genuine curiosity felt like a wave of relief to my system. We spoke for almost an hour at the store and ended up making plans to do a future hike together. 

A day or so later, after dipping my toes into Kathmandu, I left for Talamarang, the village where I did my volunteer acupuncture. I rode the bus with Hasta, the point person connected to the organization I came to Nepal through. The bus ride took about 4 hours and it was bumpy and windy. Much of the roads weren’t paved but then when it is paved, the buses run super fast, whipping around the corners. It is truly unlike any experience I’ve had in the US. 

When I arrived at my host family’s home, I met Mina, my host mom. The first thing she said to me was “I’m here to help you” and boy, did she mean it. Mina has been like my real mom ever since that moment. Many people in Nepal, especially the villagers, might misunderstand foreigners, at least in my experience and my skewed perception. It feels odd to be stared at simply for existing. But, of course, much compassion can be cultivated toward that; they may have never seen a foreigner before. But Mina never treated me any differently; as weird as I can be at times, she’s always seemed to accept me as I am. I truly enjoyed living with her, her daughter and mother-in-law. 

Treating patients in the village was also a life-changing experience. I am truly thankful for this experience that I was able to have. In the US, as acupuncturists, we only have access to certain people and cases. For example, we likely wouldn’t be able to treat an acute stroke patient. However, in Nepal, we are able to treat people in severe situations. So, I was thrown right into it. I treated 15-30 people per day and Mina was my helper in clinic. She would perform pole moxa on patients and help me take the needles out.   

The next stop on my journey was Kathmandu; I moved here in mid-December of 2023. It was quite a transition from village life to city life. Although, my partner says we still live in a “village area.” He says this because we live on the outskirts of Kathmandu without a foreigner in sight. I was glad to be in the city and also nostalgic for village life at times. The air in the village is much cleaner. The pollution in Kathmandu hit me hard and continues to. However, as I’m writing this it is monsoon season, so the rain is clearing up the air. 

Since moving to Kathmandu I have focused on meeting other health care practitioners, doing volunteer acupuncture and exploring/hiking around beautiful Kathmandu. I first volunteered at New Life Nepal, an orphanage that houses kiddos from very young ages and actually has no cut off age. Their oldest member, Akash, is 18. Akash became my helper keeping the kids calm as I performed gentle acupuncture and massage on them.

Before this experience, I had never done acupuncture on children. But as I had heard my teachers say, kids seem to be super responsive to the needles and can heal very quickly. I noticed this in some of the kids who were hyperactive, reclusive and had a hard time sleeping. One case to note was a young boy who repeatedly, every meal, would chew his food, swallow and then vomit it up and re-eat it. The caregivers at NLN said that he enjoyed this act. After about a month of acupuncture, I was shocked when they said that he was no longer doing this. He was able to eat his food without spitting it back up. 

The next place I ventured for volunteer acupuncture was the BIA (Bodhisattva’s in Action) Institute. I first was introduced to this amazing place through a group of Polish Osteopaths who were friends of a friend. I then started volunteering at their institute 1-2 days per week. I treat 1-3 patients at a time and see about 8-12 patients in 4 hours. This institute offers education and jobs doing different trades for those who are differently-abled; particularly of the arts that are involved with Tibetan Buddhism. For example, I see many patients who do Thangka painting, which is an intricate watercolor painting of different Buddhist deities. 

Most of the patients I see at the BIA are in a wheelchair and have endured some sort of spinal cord injury. This institute offers them a place not only to go to every day, but a place to cultivate themselves and their abilities to create meaningful art. They learn in an apprenticeship style and eventually get hired as a teacher once they have mastered their craft.

I have also been volunteering at a local Theravada Buddhist monastery with another Acupuncturist, Dr. Shyam. He treats mostly Newari people on Saturday mornings. Newari is a certain ethnic group in Nepal who have their own dress, traditions and foods.

I really enjoy volunteering at the monastery, the atmosphere is so calm and serene on an early Saturday morning. This monastery is located in Swayambhu, which is at the northwest corner of the Kathmandu Valley. In this area there is the oldest Buddhist Stupa in Kathmandu. A stupa is a dome shaped temple-like building that is said to house important Buddhist relics. Many worshippers come to this stupa to do kora, which means walking clockwise around the stupa, oftentimes chanting, praying or simply enjoying the scenery. Needless to say, I really enjoy the excuse to come to this area once per week. 

Nepal has so much spiritual richness, in a way that I am totally not used to. Kathmandu, along with its value of spirituality,  is also one of the most ‘human’ places I have ever been. It’s hard to describe what I mean by this, but people are able to share space with each other, there is so much affection and guidance between family members and you don’t ask “how are you,” but rather you ask “have you eaten?” This cultural switch is great and challenging for my Pacific Northwest nervous system where it is incredibly rude to touch the person next to you on the train; whereas here, you often have no choice but to share real close space. 

I have also been able to do some small teaching gigs around the city. I connected with a Chinese medicine and Aryuvedic doctor here who was offering a 2 week introduction course around Chinese medicine, cupping and moxa. I was able to come and help him teach and demonstrate cupping, moxa and massage techniques. I really enjoyed my time with the students!

A photo with some of the students from the intro to Chinese medicine course.

I am learning so much about myself, my medicinal and spiritual practice here. Living in Nepal is toughening me up for lack of a better phrase ha. The amount of privilege I grew up with is quite apparent here; and it makes it apparent to me what having this amount of privilege shielded me from. For me particularly, this shielding was from feeling capable and having good problem solving skills. However, living here in Nepal I have no choice but to go through the difficult things; I can’t avoid it, and truly I don’t want to. But honestly, the lifestyle change, although difficult, is just the challenge I need. I am realizing I can handle cold showers, spotty electricity, being without running water for a day or so, unpaved streets that easily flood when it rains, and so many insects, etc. Living in this way is pushing me up against the truth of reality more than I have ever experienced before. And the benefits are indescribable. Amidst all the challenge, I also feel closer to the earth and humanity and in turn, spirituality, than I have ever been.

My partner and I live in, what he calls, a “village area.” As I mentioned before, we live outside of Kathmandu where no other foreigners live or even seem to come. I feel lucky to be having this immersive experience. And it is hard to know how to really immerse at times. I am learning the language and I know that continuing to learn and refine it and then move past the social anxiety of actually speaking it, will do wonders. Practicing acupuncture without a translator is definitely helping. And it makes me extremely thankful to have gone to the medicine school that I went to where we focused so much on palpation, feeling the body and determining treatment with that in mind. Overall, my acupuncture practice here is such an adventure.

However, I do miss my Chinese medicine community back home. There are some acupuncturists in Nepal, but it seems that the medicine hasn’t really permeated here yet. Ayurveda is the main “alternative” medicine here that people are used to, trust and use. That is probably the biggest obstacle in practicing here is building the patients trust, because I can’t speak so much to them and explain what I am doing and why. We definitely are able to navigate consent, but providing much education around the medicine isn’t so easy. But my strategy with this is consistency, trying to build that familiarity with them over time and let the medicine speak for itself. 

I am having trouble getting my acupuncture license recognized here. Thankfully, I was able to get licensed before leaving the US in late September of 2023. The process of getting a license to practice Acupuncture here isn’t so straightforward. I have visited the medical council office four times now and each time I am denied for a different reason. Talk about discouraging! As of now, we are at a standstill because my undergraduate degree isn’t in a science or medical study. Here in Nepal, one must decide from 11th grade what they are going to study/do and it seems hard to pivot paths once you choose one. This is very different from my experience in the states where it is quite common to change career paths. As long as you have done the required education and gotten licensed, then of course you have every right to practice. But because my situation is different from how they do it here, they are really pushing back on me. 

Regardless, I am maintaining hope and I know that my intentions are good; I know Chinese medicine can help people and I would love to grow a career in Nepal being able to really show people that. However, this license would simply give me the ability to get paid for my work. I am able to do volunteer acupuncture, so that is a sigh of relief. As long as I can treat patients, then I am fine. It just leaves me with the question of income. Which is one reason why I started this website, to share about Chinese medicine and healing modalities with people and to generate some income while still staying true to what I love and want to share; rather than getting an attention-sucking tech job that makes my chest tighten and shoulders stiffen.

My ultimate goal here and in my practice in general, is sharing and teaching how our bodies (and beings) have the innate ability to heal. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine simply call upon the body in this way, reminding it how best to heal in that moment. Let’s share in community together, even as I am half a world away in Nepal. If you would like to contribute to my life and work here, please consider clicking the button below or schedule an herbal or health consultation.

I look forward to seeing you around and connecting soon.

With love and gratitude, 

Alexis