2021 Graduation Ceremony

A few years later I started practicing Tai Chi and many of my training partners had already studied TCM. Inspired by their stories and wanting to improve my Tai Chi, I googled for a TCM school in Amsterdam and happened to come across Shenzhou. Little did I know then how lucky I was having this school so close by!  

I Was quite happy with my full time job and not at all looking for a career switch, nor had I ever experienced acupuncture, but I thought: Lets just sign up for the open day, and see what happens.

I remember that during the open day a teacher asked if there were any people with complaints willing to volunteer. A woman with pain in her wrist came to the front and the teacher started asking very specific questions about things that to me were completely unrelated to her wrist. The volunteer however, recognized and confirmed them all. I was immediately intrigued because it was very clear to me that the teacher could see things that I could not see. Eager to learn what to me looked like a superpower I figured, you know what? Let’s sign up for the foundations of Chinese medicine year and again see what happens.

I signed up for the English class and it was during the introduction when people started saying where they were from, that I started to realize that Shenzhou is not Just any school. We had classmates coming from Germany, Poland, Iceland and even from South Africa, all traveling to Study here!

I really enjoyed the topics we studied during this foundations year and I liked our group too so without too many expectations I applied for acupuncture class as well. Then when we started learning about the meridians and practicing with each other, I soon realized that actually applying the theory and working with real people was even more interesting.

The second year of acupuncture followed right after and flew by before I realized it. And now I find myself here today thinking again, let me just start treating family and friends and see what happens from there. So more and more I’m starting to realize that this initial “lets sign up for the open day and see what happens” was not as random as it felt at the time, and might have set me on a lifelong path exploring the richness and intricacies of traditional Chinese medicine. And I am very happy to have landed at this school, because what I think makes Shenzhou quite unique is the fact that many of the teachers were thoroughly trained in China and could enrich their teaching with many years of practical and clinical experience.

Our years of study together were not without challenges however. Difficult decisions had to be made. Should we have Soup, Thai, or Chinese for lunch? And should I buy a new car, go skiing or spend my savings on Maciocias book, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine? And then, once I’ve finally figured out that I should get the book, which edition should I get?

In the beginning many of us struggled to wrap our minds around the differences between the western understanding of the body and the traditional Chinese one. Fierce discussions on where the blood is actually made kept reappearing, up causing Liver Qi stagnation in all those involved. But as the initial year passed and with each other’s help the Liver Qi stagnation resolved and gave way to mild cases of Spleen Qi deficiency when our deadlines approached.

In the end I think we’re here tonight with a very rich and diverse group of graduates. All of us together represent a wide array of nationalities, professions, ages and cultural backgrounds. Over the past years, I have become friends with people whom if it weren’t for TCM and Shenzhou, I think I would have never met. Especially towards the end of the second year, When we were allowed to come to school again after the lockdown, I had the feeling we became a close group and we were all in this together. I also noticed that openly discussing stool consistencies, poking your tongue out every other day and sticking needles in each other also does wonders for creating a bond.

But next to all of our differences, I think we have some important things in common as well. It still feels a bit uncomfortable, but after three years of serious study I feel like it’s time for me to start quoting from the Yellow emperor’s classic of Medicine too. In chapter 14, called “The Art of Medicine”, Qi Bo states that a good healer must have: the correct attitude, sincerity, compassion, and a sense of responsibility. And I believe it is these qualities that brought all of us together here at Shenzhou and that it will be these qualities that ensure our success in the future. Congratulations all!