Changing the Need to Change

Helder Coelho (‘07), LAc

One day in a class of Jeffrey Yuen’s, students were surprised to hear him say that people who were constantly out to try to “change the world” could be considered in Chinese medicine to have an energetic imbalance known as “Rebellious Stomach Qi” or Yang Qiao.  Helder Coelho, LAc (’07) frankly admits to having been such a person. He set out from law school bent on changing the world, but after 13 years as a public interest lawyer in activist organizations such as Housing Works and the HIV Law Project, he reached a crisis point.

A transformation occurred when Helder and his wife Kristin Carnahan, who was also a lawyer for an activist organization, were sharing an 11:00 pm pizza for dinner at the end of a week when  they had hardly seen each other. They looked into each other’s gaunt, blood-drained faces and asked, “Is this how we really want to live?” Their common response was, “no”.

The next step for them both was to come to an Open House for the Massage Therapy Program at the Swedish Institute. Kristin immediately enrolled in the next Massage Therapy class as a part-time student. Helder planned to follow some time later, however, a death in the family was a catalyst to seize the day, and he decided to begin the Acupuncture Program. His wife, now a licensed massage therapist, will also complete the Acupuncture Program in December 2008.

After working in such a notoriously materialistic profession as law, one might wonder if it was difficult for him to accept the energetic concept of acupuncture. “No, not at all,” he replied. “I knew in my heart it all made sense. All of the pieces of the puzzle fit together in a very human way. At any rate, being a health care professional has a lot in common with law. You’re a counselor. Ninety percent of the work you do involves actively listening to the story of the person you’re seeing. The remaining ten percent involves the skills set you bring to the situation in order to help that person.”

Helder and fellow alumna Ann Cecil-Sterman recently opened the Classical Wellness Center on West 29^th Street in Manhattan. Intended to create a peaceful retreat based on the concepts of classical Chinese medicine, the center was conscientiously designed using all natural materials, non-toxic finishes and non-florescent lighting. It is a beautiful, elegant space for what they consider to be a beautiful, elegant medicine. By establishing this center they have created the change they want to see in the world. They have opened a place where they can serve the physical and spiritual health of modern individuals in a way that feels sustainable and sane.

“Though I was once a ‘change the world person,’ I am in recovery now,” Helder joked. “While there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to help make the world a better place, I realized that when someone continually seeking a better way keeps bumping up against the powers that be, sooner or later one of two things happens. Either you change your way of being in the world, and adapt, through an intense process of self-reflective discovery (which about one percent of people do), or you burn out (which seems to happen to the rest). Hopefully, I am on my way to the former and leaving the latter behind.”

For more information

Helder Coelho practices acupuncture at the Classical Wellness Center, 214 West 29th Street, New York, NY, and can be reached at helder@helderpuncture.com.

Photo at the top of Helder and Ann at the opening celebration of their Classical Wellness Center.
Photo midway shows them holding the calligraphy scroll created by Jeffrey C. Yuen, Dean of the Acupuncture Program, which he presented to them as a gift at the event.
Photos by Dexter Lane.

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