Today we’d like to introduce you to Chloé Bañales.
Hi Chloé, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
You know those defining moments where, when you reflect on your life and its themes that you’ve lived through, they help you make sense everything that you’re experiencing in your life today?
Well, for me, one of those memories is from when I was a young girl riding horses with my mom and friends. I must have been about eleven or twelve years old, maybe.
I remember hearing laughter around me and suddenly thinking, “Why are they so happy and I’m not, even though we’re in the same place and doing the same thing?” As a very practical, logical kid, I felt like I was grasping for the “fun” that my friends and mother were experiencing, but it was outside of my reach.
It was as if, in that moment, I made a decision that happiness was something to be found outside of me – and I didn’t know how to “get” it.
Fast forward through high school to shortly after graduating from San Diego State University, I experienced a complete mental, emotional, and physical breakdown. The dark side of ambition resulted in me prioritizing work over self-care and waking up in the emergency room with an IV of electrolytes in my arm after a debilitating anxiety attack.
I was so disconnected from my body that I didn’t even realize I had all of the symptoms of depression until my first psychiatry appointment. Desperate for a solution, I was desperate for a diagnosis that I believed would help me feel like myself again.
The stress and worry about appearing like a failure consumed me. I couldn’t fall asleep or stay asleep. I didn’t have an appetite or any desire to leave the house, and even if I did, I would oftentimes find myself in tears. Overwhelming feelings from the anxiety of making a simple choice burdened my autonomic nervous system so much so that a “freeze” reaction was a frequently experienced self-protection mechanism versus “fight or flight.”
This is when I was prescribed an antidepressant, and even though my intuition told me I didn’t need it, I didn’t have the energy to contemplate any alternatives at the time.
At first, I was so glad that I was falling asleep and staying asleep after averaging about 2-4 hours of rest per night. However, after a few days, I began to feel increasingly numb and disconnected from the world happening around me. Confused because I thought that this prescription was supposed to help me feel happier, I finally sought out other options to heal.
While I started to wean myself off of the medication, I found my first acupuncturist. To my surprise, I immediately fell asleep on the table and easily again later that night. I felt a lightness in my mind and body that wasn’t present beforehand. I didn’t know how it was working, but I knew something was actually changing.
After a few months and many conversations with my acupuncturist about how Chinese Medicine treats the mind, body, and spirit as an inseparable unit, I began to realize that part of my path was helping guide others through their own healing journeys.
What we are seeking is within us, not outside.
I made it my commitment to reconnect purpose-driven leaders back to the wisdom of their bodies and the strength of their mind so they can embody the energy required to better serve their own mission and show up even more for the people they love.
This led to completing a four-year master’s degree from Pacific College of Health & Sciences, a doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, additional training in The Mukaino Method, Esoteric Acupuncture, Human Design, Gene Keys, Huna, and additional certification (500+ hours) in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), hypnosis, and Mental Emotional Release® (MER).
Today as a Doctor of Chinese Medicine, Trainer + Master Practitioner of NLP, Mental Emotional Release®, Hypnotherapy, Level 3 Huna Practitioner, and Licensed Acupuncturist – It is my belief that our energy can be our greatest asset or our greatest liability.
From my own experience of healing clinical depression and anxiety attacks, I am devoted to expanding how mental health concerns must involve a conversation about physical and physiological health in additional to emotional health.
At the core of my work, I am dedicated to helping self-aware entrepreneurs heal the mental-emotional roots of anxiety, trust their intuition, and lead from their Heart.
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?
It’s been the perfect journey to refine me and prime me for who I get to be today. As I like to remind my clients – there is no failure; there is only feedback.
Whether it’s been shutting down my acupuncture practice for 2 months in 2020 or (1 year later) moving my Santa Monica acupuncture practice (and life!) back to San Diego after realizing that I no longer desired to live in LA, it’s been a constant journey of “leaning in” and embracing the challenge as an opportunity to become stronger, wiser, and more capable on the other side of each obstacle.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
So, this might surprise you – Ascended Alchemy actually started as an educational cannabis dining series. Inspired by how deep, meaningful conversations at the dinner table can inspire empowerment and the science of psychedelic medicine in the role of mental health, I ended up hosting these experiential dinners while still in graduate school.
Everything was, and still is, centered around elevating the conversation around medicine.
Whether it’s through international wellness retreats, 1:1 integrative NLP coaching programs, mentorship, or esoteric acupuncture sessions, my aim is to help entrepreneurs and business owners heal the mental-emotional roots of anxiety, trust their intuition, and lead from their Heart.
You see, the Heart is the Emperor (Empress) or Supreme Controller in Chinese Medicine. When it’s functioning optimally, the rest of its kingdom benefits. When it’s dysfunctional, deficient, or in excess, the rest of its kingdom suffers.
On the other hand, when all of the other organ systems are functioning optimally, the Supreme Controller is happy.
In this theme, each offering is curated to help clients release unresolved negative emotions and limiting beliefs without needing to re-experience the trauma (through the lens of Neuroscience, Behavioral Psychology, Chinese Medicine, Human Design + Gene Keys) so they have the inner peace, trust, and self-love to experience greater health, wealth, and relationships.
What I love most about Chinese Medicine is that it can be considered a lens through which to view our reality in addition to a powerful, systems-based medicine.
We are a microcosm of the greater macrocosm.
Furthermore, I am excited to announce that I’ll finally be launching Ascended Alchemy’s first Mental Emotional Release® Practitioner Certification this spring!
This will be a certification program for healthcare professional inspired to add a clinically proven therapy to your practice and offer more transformational virtual work to diversify their income and deepen their impact.
Many of my colleagues have asked about this, and I’m so excited to finally offer this! It’s been years in the making.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I have so much gratitude and love for those who have supported me in the success of my business.
My parents, boyfriend, and sister have played huge roles in keeping my focus on the “big picture” when I wanted to drop out of graduate school, start my own practice after leaving a toxic work environment, or move back to San Diego to ‘plant roots’ in the city that I raised me.
One of my greatest role models is my grandfather, Tom Hom. Our conversations always have, and still do, remind me about the importance of cultivating relationships with like-minded people who also have big dreams and a commitment to positive impact.
Keeping this in mind, I’ve been blessed with phenomenal mentors like Michelle Rogers, Dr. Matt James, Cara Rice, in addition to extraordinary friends who have made the journey of entrepreneurship a worthwhile and rewarding experience.
Far from “self-made,” I am who I am today because of the relationships that continue to refine my mindset about what is possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chloehom.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.chloehom/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chloehombanales/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloehom/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.chloehom
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ascended-alchemy-solana-beach-3?uid=FoU-iLe6N9JJmaR3IjIZ2g&utm_campaign=www_business_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)
Image Credits
Zina Dichoso
Carlo Fiorillo
