Thuy Nguyen has been practicing Chinese Medicine for 15 years. Through her experience, she has developed a simple but profound understanding of medicine and healing: that we are sick from the notion of separation -- from our bodies, from one another, from nature, from the present moment, from life. Healing, then, becomes the recognition of our connection and reemergence into wholeness. And a healer’s work is to know that truth and to communicate it experientially with the patient.

At Berkeley Community Acupuncture, Thuy has also evolved a community based model that makes her work accessible to all people -- this includes several days of the week where patients offer whatever they're moved to offer.  Thuy thinks of this as a practice of giving 'Freely, not Free'.  

"I do what I do and there is no amount of money that anyone could give me to make me feel that it is an adequate match to what I have to offer. Not $5, not $5000. Because what I have to offer is not quantifiable. What I have to offer is myself and it not only reflects in my practice of Chinese Medicine but how I run my business. It is what has evolved over my 16 years of thinking about medicine and health and how I would like to affect and be affected by the world I live in. It is a reflection of my understanding of health and our connections with one another. My practice reflects my faith in abundance, trust, and connection that is possible in the world that we live in and my faith in the profound healing capabilities of Chinese Medicine. I am taken by its simplicity, its gentleness, its humbleness, its accessibility, its profound depth, its quiet healing. I am heartened (especially in this day and age) to be able provide an environment where 5 complete strangers can lie down side by side to nap, relax and heal together, no strings attached. And I am amazed that day after day, people do come to do just that. That is trust. That is healing."

Join us in a conversation with Thuy to understand medicine and healing and what it means to give freely the gifts that we all have to offer.