Welcome!
I’m here because — like many of you — I knew I could feel better. As a young woman I was told that there was nothing wrong with me, or that there was nothing that could be done about it, or that I would have to take hormones or pharmaceuticals for the rest of my life. I wasn’t satisfied with any of those options.
The practical tools I offer are a reflection of a life-long journey that started with my own desire to feel better — not just physically, but on every level of my being. By training I am a massage therapist (though I don’t practice that modality directly anymore), licensed acupuncturist, Chinese herbalist, Chinese Medicine practitioner, breathwork facilitator, hypnotherapist, and certified Depth Hypnosis Practitioner. I am also an ordained minister with the Foundation of the Sacred Stream. But the truth is that who I am and what I do is always evolving.
My work employs the tools that have helped me the most in creating lasting and sustainable change in my own health and life. They are the tools that support me in an on-going way as my health and personal development needs evolve over time, and as I continue to navigate — hopefully ever more gracefully — all of the beauty and joy and suffering and devastation that come with being human and alive.
I like to think I’ve learned a few things over the years. Among them:
Symptoms are messengers from an intelligent body trying to get your attention. You don’t have to listen, but if you choose to ignore them they will likely get louder and more difficult to resolve.
Your body is not your enemy. It’s your home, and it’s always trying to support you. It’s doing the very best it can with the blueprint it’s been given, the things it’s been through, and the resources on hand.
Your body is miraculous. (So is a lilac in bloom and the wind on your cheek and the crescent moon above the winter trees. Seriously — where are we and how is any of this possible?)
Illness is not inevitable, but if we aspire to feel good we have to get curious, pay attention, and make changes. We typically must do this over and over again.
Healing and curing aren’t the same thing. Healing is always available; a cure may or may not be. In the end, after all, the body will pass away. But the spirit can be made whole.
This work — like life — is a mix of the sacred and profane. (Though of course there is no real distinction here - nothing can be sacred unless everything is.) I will ask about the consistency of your snot so I can match the right herbs to your sinus infection. And also, tell me about how it’s so desperately hard to breathe under the weight of your crushing grief. Either way, I got you.
PROFESSIONAL BIO
Alexa Gilmore, MAcOM, LAc is a licensed acupuncturist and Depth Hypnosis practitioner based in Portland, Maine. She is also a practitioner of Chinese medicine, a nationally board-certified herbalist, hypnotherapist, breathwork facilitator, and an ordained minister with the Foundation of the Sacred Stream.
These are her tools. But what Alexa really does is guide you back home to yourself.
Alexa’s healing arts practice is a wellspring of resources for people who are ready to feel better in their bodies and their lives. Whether your ills are physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual, Alexa has tools to support you in identifying and resolving the root cause(s) of your distress.
Working with Alexa on physical ailments will strengthen your connection to your body’s innate intelligence and healing capacity. Work with her in a counseling capacity, and you’ll strengthen your connection to that place deep within you where all of your questions are already answered, and all of your needs are already met.
In a world distracted by false efficiencies and the empty promises of a quick fix, working with Alexa is a refuge where you’ll feel deeply supported as you heal in a profound, sustainable, and lasting way.
Alexa works in-person in a private setting in Portland, Maine, and virtually with people all around the world through online private sessions and group offerings.
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• Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist — State of Maine, State of New York
• Diplomate of Oriental Medicine — National / NCCAOM
• Master of Science — AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine
• Bachelor of Arts — Hampshire College
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• Graduate Mentorship Program — 2 year mentorship training with Sharon Weizenbaum, master Chinese herbalist and leader in the field of Chinese medicine women’s health, obstetrics, and gynecology. Completed in 2016 and again in 2018
• TCM Dermatology — 1 year course of specialized study with Mazin Al-Khafaji, master Chinese herbalist and leader in the field of Chinese medicine dermatology and inflammatory disease. Successful completion of Al-Khafaji’s rigorous examination earned her place as a recommended provider in the International TCM Dermatology Association.
• 5efm Functional Medicine — Functional Medicine training through a Chinese medicine 5-element lens with master acupuncturist and women’s health and fertility specialist Chris Axelrad.
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• Ordained minister with the Foundation of the Sacred Stream
• Depth Hypnosis Practitioner Certification — The Foundation of the Sacred Stream
• Hypnotherapy Certification — The Foundation of the Sacred Stream
• Breathwork Facilitation — David Elliott
• Ongoing study of energy medicine, Buddhist philosophy, transpersonal psychology, ceremony, and ministry at the Foundation of the Sacred Stream