Meet Kim Truong, L.Ac. | Licensed Acupuncturist and Herbalist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kim Truong, L.Ac. and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?

My background makes up everything of who I am. Isn’t that always the case, though? Our beliefs and perspectives are molded from our personal experiences- our accumulated experiences take shape as our lives. Our histories narrate our past to present, and then we can decide what part of our written story we wish to carry into the future.

I have such fondness for my upbringing and happily remain a personification of my background. I grew up in Hawai’i and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to life. No matter how long I’ve been away, the islands remain home in my heart to this day. As a child, it was so beneficial to be exposed to fresh tropical air, fruit bearing trees offering real food right in our backyards, and there was no controlled indoor air. Everything is real and natural. Our hair blew free, our clothes were relaxed, even our toes were unbound and open in flip flops. It generally is a much more laidback and enjoyably paced lifestyle that places primary values on quality of life. Hawaiian lifestyle lies in that space where time is irrelevant and living can be savored. It means so much to me in how I view and approach both life and healthcare. We see ourselves as a part of nature and there is such a respect for that relationship.

My family and I are also Vietnamese American, another culture where we make the best of what’s available and local to us. Vietnamese cuisine is light, fresh, nourishing- each ingredient is thoughtfully meant to boost one’s health, with focus on local vegetation and adaptation to climate. So it’s very much like first-step natural medicine. And in Vietnamese culture, many medical home remedies are passed on through practice, threaded across generations. For example, guasha is a popular home remedy shared within the community to care for one another. And there are go-to recipes parents use to remedy common ailments- tried and true traditions passed on from family to family.

That freedom within nature molded me to become someone who is open to adventure, open to learning, recognizing the livelihood of ubiquitous vegetation as a part of healthcare, respecting the big picture of what is, adapting to one’s environment, someone who sees how nature simply makes sense. I was used to eating fruits and vegetables straight off the plants, smelling the fragrance of fresh flowers from a neighbor’s yard, walking-not driving- everywhere under the warm sun. I still love basking in sunlight; it is just not something I find fearful. I was used to life being in harmony with the elements of nature.

In both cultural aspects of my upbringing, there is a cooperative and adaptive union to nature.
I am doubly impacted by the fusion of both tropical lifestyles. I carry on the spirit of both influences with absolute fondness and pride into my everyday life as well as sharing its practices in my healthcare profession.

All these traits embed deeply in my view of health and medicine, as being in tune with the nature of oneself is the epitome of good health.

And that’s essentially what my medicine is. Natural medicine that utilizes our innate biology to cooperate with its environment. In that harmony, we find that healing from pain and disease can be natural without needing to force the results.

Disease has its root causes. So often the root cause is affected by lifestyle in some manner. Beyond just offering a remedy for that root cause, when there is positive support to your lifestyle- from eating well, staying active, feeling good- that then adds up to be true holistic health.

That is the basis of the mission that drives my clinic. When you change your life choices for your best life, your health improves. And when your health changes for the better, your life is also transformed anew.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

My name is Kim Truong, and I am the licensed acupuncturist, herbalist and proud owner of A New Day Acupuncture and Herbal Clinic in Houston, Texas. It is always with great joy to present and introduce my clinic. I work hard to make it the epitome of holistic medicine, and it gives me such fulfillment to be able to offer my best to support the health of my community. I am currently located in the heart of the bustling and growing Spring Branch neighborhood.

My clinic offers Eastern medicine, various complementary therapies that can remedy both physical illnesses as well as natural internal medicine. It recognizes body mind health, and that our internal terrain can influence our external state, as well as our external exposure can affect our internal systems. It is the consummate holistic medicine.

So for example, if I am treating neck pain, not only do I thoroughly evaluate relevant structural aspects, I would also proceed to analyze whether internal factors- such as stress, blood circulation, metabolism, daily habits- play any roles in the outward manifestation of illness. And inversely, when there is systemic illness, there is consideration of whether external conditions may have been influencing factors. We are not separate from our environment, and I feel that healthcare should acknowledge that.

I primarily treat conditions that are often considered difficult, such as neurological disorders, pain rehabilitation, and women’s health. Many of my patients have tried various other therapies to find that when medical results are forced, they either don’t improve overall health or they don’t tend to last long.
My intention in healthcare is to restore your body’s physiology to its optimum state. That way, your body can carry out its innate functions to maintain its own health. My job is to find out the possible causes of disease, then facilitate a way for the body to process pathogen removal, repair and recovery.

Getting treatment feels like an upgrade but that wouldn’t be a correct description. It’s more about returning your body’s systems to be able to function the way nature intended it to.

That way, therapy feels easeful, and without addiction nor side effects.
That way, you are then the best version of you.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

There’s been a trend of fusion BBQ and I am all for it. A lot of innovative and food-loving Vietnamese chefs have found ways to incorporate Vietnamese cuisine with Southern Texas barbecue, and the resulting dishes are worthy of indulging in trip after trip. The most recent one I’ve been to is Brisket and Rice, in neighboring Cypress. It’s a quaint and comfortable diner with so many framed merits and local recognition on the walls proving their loyal fan base. They have the mandatory brisket fried rice, of course. Their macaroni and cheese is rich, spicy and indulgent. But their clear winner is the brisket. Juicy with just enough smoky crackle on the edges. No secret sauce, just downright amazing barbecuing. To top it all off, it’s a family run business and they are all the friendliest, warmest and most open people to talk to. All around good, fun folks where you’d be more than happy to support a local business.

Something unique and adventurous to do in Houston is bat watching! We have a cave near the bayou where you can get to in the evenings. At a certain time and season, swarms will flutter by with their audible leathery wings. It can satisfy your Halloween and DC comics fantasies, as well as is an activity that would receive David Attenborough’s stamp of approval. The best adventures are ones that open you up to new experiences that nature generously and freely offers.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I have been fortunate to have a very dear support group. Friends and family who have been consistently there for me. Incredible people who are generous with their kindness, love, and cheerleading. They care not only about me, but also everything that I care about too. That’s the kind of network one should maintain through life- people who not only feed your career, but also your joy, your soul, and your overall life.

I would like to give a direct shoutout to my sister, who never flinched in being there for me, whether I am flying high or riding through jagged bumps along the road. That’s a marker of someone who deeply cares and earns your trust- when they stay on the ride with you through every major ups and downs. She’s literally been my shoulder to lean on, and the ears I share my days with. She’s always a hero in my eyes. I appreciate the genuine irreplaceable sibling bond beyond what words can convey.

I’d also like to add how books should be vital to one’s life. I don’t want to highlight any singular books specifically, because what resonates with us individually is so personal. What speaks to me might not speak to you and vice versa, but the ones that are able to speak to us directly offer so much power and potential. Books have a way of opening up new worlds of either imagination, understanding, or both. Whether I wanted to expand knowledge on my interests, learn something entirely new, tap into lightheartedness through humor, or simply want to seek words, sentiment, wisdom that would refresh my spirit and emotions- books have been a necessary portal. By welcoming in their voices, they invite you to re-examine your own. Introspection is a necessity in life development. Books are like their own entities, also shaping who I am, and I can also say that they’ve all been like a support group as well.

Altogether, just be open to life and you will be amazed how many ways, people, places, things are there to support you.

Website: www.anewdayacu.com

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