I am 26 years old and a first-generation Hmong-American. My parents are from Laos; my dad immigrated to the US when he was in his late teens and my mother's family came over when she was just a toddler. They met in St. Paul and settled there to raise my six siblings and me.

I am dancer and a choreographer and I am often knocked out of whack from doing some extreme movement or another. I have a lot of muscle pain and experience “Quasimoto-like” patterns in my body even though I am only 30. Depending on the injury, it's hard or even impossible to dance. I remember one important production where I was worried I couldn’t perform at all because my hamstring was so seized up.

I had a hysterectomy when I was in my early 40s. My physician advised me to take six weeks off after this major surgery. I followed his instruction and made arrangements at work, as well as planned to have some at-home care from friends and neighbors. I am happy to report that due to meditation and homeopathy, all of these preparations were unnecessary.

A few years ago, in my early 40s, I was experiencing extreme insomnia. I could fall asleep and sleep for about two hours, but then I'd be awake for up to four hours. I was getting about 4-6 hours of sleep each night (with six hours being a "good" night!). I was exhausted during the day, often needing to lie down. I am a bodywork specialist, and I could really only see one or two clients each day. I had always been physically active and healthy, but had to cut back on my exercise.