Lori Wilson has started a new acupuncture clinic on Orcas Island.

Wilson, LAC, Dip. AC has opened Soaring Crane Healing in the Village Plaza Building #103 (behind Enzos).

Wilson graduated from the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in 2000 with a master’s degree in acupuncture.

Wilson moved to Orcas when she was 24 and fresh out of a veterinary technician program. She started working for Dr. Brad Day soon after he opened his practice and worked with him until he moved from the island.

Meanwhile, she fell in love with sea kayaking and started Shearwater with Tom Carter. She enjoyed all the years of kayak trips but realized she couldn’t be a guide for the rest of her life and began looking for another career.

After having successful acupuncture treatments, she decided to attend the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Japan.

At age 39, when she was halfway through her studies at NIAOM, she was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Against all advice, Wilson decided to only use alternative medicine, except for surgery. She also began having acupuncture at least once a week.

Soon after graduating, Wilson’s mother passed away from breast cancer. Knowing that she needed a break, she sold her property on Orcas and moved to Mexico to rest and heal. She lived there for 11 years and enjoyed being a volunteer acupuncturist at a battered women’s shelter run by nuns, and she also rescued and rehabilitated street dogs. Wilson also had a private acupuncture practice in a wellness center.

After 10 years, the cancer metastasized to Wilson’s bones. This time she decided to integrate both allopathic and complimentary treatments (although still opted out of chemotherapy or radiation) and is now healthy.

After spending six months on Orcas last year, she knew it was time to return home.

“Although it began in China, acupuncture has spread throughout Asia and evolved to meet the needs of the people where it went,” Wilson said. “I have an affinity for the subtle, gentle Japanese techniques. Using the smallest needles available with very shallow insertion, most people don’t even feel the needles.”

Using tuning forks on acupuncture points, she also practices the Acutonics system of sound healing.

Wilson can be reached at 376-5900 or 1healingcrane@gmail.com.