Where?
One of the hardest questions for me to answer is "where are you from?"
My default answer is this:
I was born and raised in Thailand.
At age 12, I was sent to a boarding school in America with my older brother in pursuit of better education and a more life of possibility.
From that point on, I have called New England, California, New Zealand and the midwest "home."
There's a lot of stories that lie in between these "homes," of course.
I consider straddling several cultures and beliefs both challenging and gratifying.
I consider being from nowhere and everywhere a gift and an asset.
It makes me who I am today!
Because of this background, I can make any place in the world feel like home.
More importantly, I have had to learn to create a home inside of myself, so that I can feel at home anywhere.
Feeling at home in my own body and in myself is ultimately from where I come.
Who?
Like most people, I used to live my life according to the labels given to me by how I grew up, by my family, my culture(s), my peers, and my education.
You, too?
I did it because I thought I had to conform to these expectations to be worthy, to feel connected, to deserve a sense of belonging.
I also did it because I thought I had no other choice!
These are some of the labels I've attempted to follow:
- an A student (cultural)
- a respectful girl (family)
- a good eater (grandma)
- an anxious perfectionist (mom)
- an impatient mom (self)
- a successful entrepreneur (community)
- a lazy bone (self)
- an undisciplined person (self)
- a caring healer (community and self)
- a non-finisher (husband, self)
- a healthy person (self & community)
Over the last decade, I learned through self healing modalities and coaching concepts that I don't have to be any of these things.
As in, I don't have to conform to any particular identity that I may not feel aligned with, even the self-imposed ones.
That I can create the version of me that I actually want to be!
That my worth, sense of belonging, or the ability to love and be loved have nothing to do with who I TRY to be.
So, I slowly shifted out of some of these versions. It's a journey and a process that will probably take me a lifetime.
But I am in no hurry because I am actually enjoying giving myself permission to really decide who I want to be and literally work on becoming that person.
Sometimes it's hard work, on a daily basis.
But it's been worth the effort!
The result, so far, is a more patient, caring, motivated, food-loving, healthy, disciplined, content, confident, mom, wife, friend, daughter, healer, coach, & a totally imperfect human!
Why?
Another question that I get a lot is:
Why do you do what you do?
The short answer is that I always knew that I wanted to do these things, together:
- help people feel better.
- use my hands
- teach
- be creative
In elementary school, I would say I wanted to be a teacher.
In high school, I would say I wanted to be a doctor.
In college, I had no idea what I wanted to do, be or have.
After college, my own mental and physical health challenges led me to believe in and pursue the healing arts of Chinese Medicine.
After helping people for a decade as an acupuncturist, my intuition guided me to learn and practice other integrative mind body medicine skills.
I cultivated several modalities to better myself and people around me.
I created a unique healing practice that I have enjoyed immensely.
With all the knowledge and experience I have, I still come back to the same answers to this question:
Why do I do what I do?
Today, I answer with:
I love to help people feel better.
I believe I can.
Why do I do it?
Because helping people feel better makes me feel better.
Because I believe that in this lifetime, if we get to help walk each other "home," we get to not just survive, but truly live & thrive!
Fun Facts about Kit
FUN FACT NUMBER ONE:
My real given name is actually not Kit.
Kit's a short version of my real nickname (loohk kid, the thai word for abacus).
My real proper given name is Shimboon.
When my parents were in Japan before I was born, they found out that the word "Shimbun" meant newspaper in Japanese.
When you say it in Thai, Shim-Bun means the taste of merit.
My dad is a journalist, and we are buddhists, so it made perfect sense to them to name me... Shimboon!
Why did they spell it that way, you ask?
Because it looks prettier with our last name YOON.
Pinky swear that's the reason.
Even though Yoon is actually not our real last name.聽 Ha!
If you see me in person, you can ask for further explanation on that! 馃檪
****
FUN FACT NUMBER TWO:聽
My husband and I have twins.
I always knew I would have two kids: a boy and a girl.
And that's exactly what we have. I just didn't know they would come on the same day, 8 minutes apart.
****
FUN FACT NUMBER THREE:聽
My life changed immensely with just two simple things:
1. When we adopted our Corgi and I created a new routine with her that included walking 3x a day.
Those walks led to lots of learning through audiobooks and podcasts. My world opened up from then on beyond I could imagine.
2. When my patient Terri told me to move the alarm clock to the other side of the bedroom so I have to get out of bed to turn off the alarm.
From that day forward, I stopped snoozing and became an early morning person that I am today.
Education and Certifications
Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Biological Sciences from Wellesley College
Masters degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from Five Branches University
Diplomat in Acupuncture National Commission of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine
Certified Health Coach from National Society of Health Coaches
Certified Clinical Hypnotist from聽The Wellness Institute
Certified Life Coach聽through The Life Coach School
Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor with Evelyn Tribole and Elise Resch
Certified Inner Voice Facilitator with Jess Lively
Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate聽with聽T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and eCornell
Mind Body Medicine Trainings with The Center for Mind Body Medicine