Meet Lorita Travaglia of Qi Harmony Acupuncture

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lorita Travaglia.

Hi Lorita, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in New Zealand in a family of medical professionals but I pursued a career as a professional ballet dancer. I performed for 22 years in many parts of the world and when I retired from the stage I moved back to New Zealand. I had been invited to perform in the USA and a few days prior to traveling for the performances my calf muscle went into spasm and I was unable to walk. My colleagues told me that I should go to see Dr Chu, an acupuncturist. As I had always been terrified of needles, my first reaction was “No way”. However in desperation I made an appointment. After the treatment Dr Chu told me that I would not feel any improvement the next morning but by the evening I should be back to normal. Exactly that happened! I was so amazed and impressed that I began to read about acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. The philosophy of maintaining balance to keep the body healthy resonated with me. It is such a simple philosophy but made so much sense to me at a time when I felt anything but in balance. I was at a point where I didn’t know who I was because my identity as a professional dancer was coming to an end and I felt bereft and uninspired about my future. I was able to travel and perform in Atlanta with no problem with my calf and on that trip I met three people who talked about Chinese medicine and acupuncture. I did not think that, having not gone to college, I would be eligible to study, but these people told me about schools that might accept me. In New Zealand at that time, there was no school for Chinese medicine. For a year I researched the philosophy, attended an eight week course at the University of Auckland on “Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine”, began Tai Chi and Qi Gong classes and decided that I had to follow my gut and pursue a new career. I sold my townhouse, car and all my belongings and bought an “around the world” plane ticket which allowed me to travel for a year so long as I went in one direction, and set off on New Year’s Day, 1996 with the plan to visit friends in the USA, Europe and Australia and check out all of the schools that taught Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. By June of that year I had been accepted, based on life experience, at the Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Denver Colorado. I graduated in December 2000, interned with a Chinese doctor for one year and started practising in November 2021 in Arvada under the umbrella of Lixin Acupuncture Clinics. Three years later I started my current private practice Qi Harmony Acupuncture in Denver.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing worthwhile comes without challenges. For me I had to work to pay the tuition while in school, and I had been offered a job in Fort Collins directing Canyon Concert Ballet. This took up most of my time and I attended school two nights a week and Saturday mornings which meant late nights and early mornings, and a lot of driving on I-25.
On graduating I had been hired as a Rehearsal Director at Colorado Ballet in Denver. I had planned to get out of the ballet world and move full time into Acupuncture, but at my core I will always be a dancer and so I have been doing two careers now for 25 years. Juggling my time to do justice to both is an ongoing challenge

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am a sole proprietor and as such treat the patients, manage appointments, billing and all paperwork. Having been a dancer all my life I had thought that I would specialise in sports injuries and muscular skeletal problems, but I treat all kinds of conditions. I had interned with a Chinese Medicine doctor who specialised in stroke and brain injuries, so I am trained in scalp acupuncture for stroke survivors and have witnessed significant improvement in many of these patients. I do believe that part of healing comes from the patient being heard and their concerns being taken seriously. This medicine is holistic so the patient’s mental and emotional state is taken into consideration along with their physical state. Their lifestyle is also a big part of their health and I give recommendations so that they can take charge of their healing. My clinic is a peaceful quiet place where patients can come and totally relax and let the needles do their magic. I am compassionate and my patients feel very safe and nurtured.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew up in New Zealand with three brothers. As the youngest and the only girl I had to prove that I was as tough as my brothers and they made sure that I was kept in my place. I was always striving to be the best and felt that if I worked twice as hard as everyone else that I might be as good as them. As a young child I wanted to be an angel when I grew up. With that not being an option I decided I would be a nurse like my mother, but seeing someone at the hospital with a tracheotomy made me think that being a bacteriologist in a lab might be better. At age 4 I had told my parents that I had to learn to dance. I am not sure why because I was not exposed to much dance. I started ballet lessons and found them difficult but I persisted and worked hard and at age 11 after seeing a performance of the Australian Ballet I knew that I wanted to become a professional dancer. I was always shy and I found that I could express myself through dance without talking. I was not sure I could make it as a professional dancer but I kept striving and the opportunities kept showing up, even the chance to study in London at the Royal Ballet School which led to the beginning of my 22 year performing career which took me to Europe and the USA.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.qiharmonyacupuncture.com
• Instagram: qiharmonyacupuncture1
• Facebook: Qi Harmony Acupuncture