Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Gries.
Hi Adam, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I got started with Awakenings when my (now) wife, Laura put out an ad for an Acupuncturist to come on board for her start-up non-profit in San Diego – which was a rehabilitation center aimed to provide integrative care for those dealing with Neurological disorders: mainly Spinal Cord Injuries, Stroke, and TBI. People were obviously concerned with regaining as much function as they could, but we always made sure that regaining a sense of inner peace was a core aspect of rehabilitation.
I have always loved the interplay between Body, Mind, and Soul.
Now, having finally landed and building solid roots in Raleigh, Awakenings has become a generalized practice, offering help to the entire population. I love the practice of Chinese Medicine and its ability to help healing occur on all levels. The fun part is figuring out how to effect change in the body when there is dysfunction in the Mind or disconnects to the soul. It’s a big puzzle. I love the challenge to be able to meet people and their health concerns at any level. At this point, I’m working on creating a platform to bring my teachings to the masses.
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?
Ha. The list of obstacles/challenges is long; Laura and I gave our heart and soul and all of our resources to the non-profit Awakenings in SD. We had a great program but no idea how to navigate the financial side of sustaining a non-profit. Miraculously, we stayed open for almost ten years, which included navigating through the recession of 2008.
Once we realized there was a romantic connection between us (six years after working side by side), we got married and started a family. That’s when we made the decision to let go of the non-profit and move back to the northeast to be close to family.
It was really hard starting all over from scratch, and without the help of Laura, who had just given birth and was pregnant again six months later. The pressure and stress were immense. After about 1.5 years of commuting from southern Connecticut into Manhattan and Westchester, NY and being immersed in the hectic pace of life up there, we remembered why we left the northeast in the first place. (I moved out to Cali in 1998 and Laura moved out in 2001).
So, as hard as it was to once again start over, we decided to move down to Raleigh.
My family was worried we were just running away. My father-in-law wanted to make sure I was ready to let go of my dreams in favor of acquiring a stable job. With two baby girls under two and dwindling money in the bank, it was definitely a risk. But something inside me just doesn’t allow myself to compromise what feels right and aligned to my Soul.
Things have taken root rather well in Raleigh. Of course, there are issues and people we need to weed out of our lives as they pop up, but overall Raleigh has been a great fit for Awakenings and our family.
When the pandemic hit last year, it was a scary period and a stressful year all around. I’m hopeful we are getting back to normal though. It’ll be nice to finally exhale. 🙂
The last challenge is one that I hope is coming to an end: I absolutely love working side by side with Laura. But since we started a family, I’ve doing it all on my own. I can’t wait until the girls are all in school and I can get my work partner back. It’s been tough holding down the fort on my own, and I’m excited to get Laura back into the groove.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
It’s such a joy to help people resolve long-standing aches, pains, and bodily dysfunction. But my passion is helping people reconnect with their Souls – and teaching them how to heal that relationship while creating a new platform from which to live moving forward. Helping people learn how to establish a healthy relationship with themselves and seeing it manifest in their relationships to people, partners, careers, and society is what fulfills my Soul’s purpose. I’ve created a pretty unique way of coaching and counseling people. I base my spiritual counseling on using Natural Order to help people see where their disconnects and misalignments are: Using the laws governing nature to understand what is needed in our own life in order to reestablish balance and be able to feel true, deep peace inside.
The next phase of my career is going to be more geared towards sharing the system I’ve developed with the masses. My hope is that as a culture, we can learn to stay more true to ourselves – and learn how to release our pent up emotional charges before displacing them on others/planting seeds born from negative emotional states.
I think this is more what I am known for now in the one-on-one work I do.
How do you think about happiness?
On my 7th birthday, I figured out the ultimate wish: “I wish to be happy”. I knew if I could land that one, the fillers didn’t really matter. But it took me decades before I figured out how to actually find happiness. Being true to myself and “choosing me” in every moment of life is what it all boils down to. And that can look wildly different at any point in any day.
That said, my wife and three daughters make my Soul sing. And learning new things and playing any sport seem to be consistent winners 🙂
Pricing:
- Acupuncture and/or counseling/coaching.
- $110 for 55 min.
- $165 for 85 min.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@awakeningshealth.com
- Website: AwakeningsHealth.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/awakeningshealth/
- Facebook: facebook.com/AwakeningsHealth
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCyB7fovb3P-3cbs3YupbDCQ
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/awakenings-health-raleigh
