People often ask Kathy, “How did you get involved in Acupuncture”?  It’s definitely been a journey. 

Kathy was born in NE Pennsylvania and soon afterward the family moved to Miami, Florida. Weekends were often filled with outdoor time by the water or searching for the Milky Way in the night sky. The Koch family, Mom and Dad (Bert and Rex), brothers Bob and Kevin, and a constant assortment of four legged critters, had great adventures exploring nature. Love of creation took root.

By observing the cycle of the seasons, the ebb and flow of the tides, growth of seed to seedling to tree, Kathy experienced a vital lesson in the healing power of Acupuncture:

“Nature is our teacher”

Originating over 5000 years ago, Traditional Acupuncture uses the lessons nature has to teach us to understand the healing process:

• Like the ebb and flow of the tides, what time of day am I full of energy or losing steam?
• In wind-cold-hot-damp weather, how does my body react?
• Does breath deepen next to quiet, still waters or do I feel alive when the waves are white capped and wild?

Knowing yourself is part of the healing process.

In time the Koch’s moved to Maryland. The family joined Grace Lutheran Church and Kathy was inspired to follow a vocation in ministry. She received her B.A. in 1983 at Concordia College in St. Paul, Minnesota. She then served as Director of Christian Education for over fifteen years in congregations throughout the United States and Canada.

From 2000-2006, Kathy worked at United Methodist Church in Crofton, MD.  As part of their mission team during multiple trips to Zimbabwe, Kathy was profoundly changed.  Working side by side with the people of Zimbabwe, building schools, health clinics, churches and friendships, Kathy experienced the strength of the human spirit. Kathy received her next lesson in the healing power of Acupuncture.

Wellness comes with connection of body, mind and spirit.

Traditional Acupuncture teaches that when the Heart/Spirit is rooted, even in times of struggle and pain, there can be peace. Show someone they are valued, listened to, understood and cared for and space opens for hope, possibility and movement.  These are experiences Kathy shared while working with people in Baltimore’s inner city, the Appalachian foothills, and in Zimbabwe.

It was a chronic Illness that brought Kathy to Acupuncture. The healing process became an open door that sparked a passion to study and offer to others this integrated approach to health.

Kathy has received multiple degrees from Maryland University of Integrative Health in Laurel, Maryland (formally Tai Sophia Institute); a Masters of Acupuncture, a Masters of Oriental Medicine and a Certification in Integrative Nutrition. In 2019 she was awarded a Diplomate of Oriental Medicine, which encompasses Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine and Bio-Medicine, from the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, NCCAOM.

For ten years, Kathy enjoyed a thriving Acupuncture practice in Bowie, Maryland. In the fall of 2019, Kathy moved to Punta Gorda, back to the warmth of Florida sun and family.

Kathy’s scope of practice is multi-faceted.  Every person is unique.  Each treatment is different. The wisdom of Acupuncture, as a healing art and science, teaches to care for ourselves.

Wellness is an active practice

How is our sleep, our breath, how we move through the day?  Do we nourish ourselves with the food we eat, the water we drink? Do we have caring connections?  What brings tension and pain? With intention we begin to create changes so life moves with more ease.

Kathleen J. Koch at wellBeing Acupuncture opened her practice this November in Punta Gorda, Florida. She is excited to participate and serve in this outstanding community.

“In partnership, we cultivate wellness of body-mind-spirit to more fully experience life.”

This article was published in Isles Magazine.