After 28 years of operating from his clinic on Keen Street, Markus Goeldi, acupuncturist and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner, is closing the Lismore Acupuncture and Natural Therapy Centre.

The centre will close its doors on June 24.

“It’s time to slow down,” Markus said. “I’m 69 years old and it’s time I took the advice I give to other people - and know when it’s time to take a break.

“I’m ready for less pressure. When you deal with a number of people, you need to focus and often you keep thinking ‘is there something I could have done better’.

“Plus the overheads of running a clinic is so expensive – there are times I would have been better off being on the dole.”

Since 1992, when Markus bought the upstairs clinic from a naturopathy school, he has brought his unique healing style to many locals – many of whom come to him when they don’t know what’s really wrong with them.

He’s treated people with renal failure successfully with Chinese herbs - and western doctors who only offered dialysis as a treatment have been amazed.

“I say to them, God cures you, but I collect the fee,” he laughed.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

When someone arrives to see him, he assesses a person’s mental and emotional wellbeing first, before the physical symptoms.

Part of his treatment is checking your pulses and looking at your tongue. It’s one of the core diagnostic tools used in TCM.

He’s spent that last few decades constantly learning, beginning his training as a nurse in Switzerland, then learning about homeopathy, acupuncture and TCM - which became more acceptable in western society over the years.

“I’ve always used homeopathic medicine - too many people are sensitive to other medicines,” he said.

Markus said he put the ongoing, constant study into Chinese Medicine over the years “because it works”.

“When I was a nurse, I saw people could do anesthesia with acupuncture - without using chemicals - and I thought if there is a possibility, I would like to study acupuncture one day,” he said.

“In Switzerland unless you were a medical professional, you couldn’t.

“So, when I came to Australia I could finally do it. Now, anybody can do tertiary education and study acupuncture.

“These days TCM is more technical – almost like western medicine – more about how to replace drugs with herbs.”

Markus also studied the works of Rudolph Steiner and was an Anthroposophical doctor, using homeopathic medicine from a spiritual viewpoint.

“In the end TCM was more effective – the medicine always works - but the practitioner is not always aware of what to do,” he said.

“The formula changes according to your blood results – it’s a synergy – and different combinations of herbs have different effects.

“TCM is not just giving you herbs, it's working out what you are doing with your life."

Growing up

Growing up, Markus said he was not healthy and was sensitive. He even died once and thought he wouldn’t live long.

“Then something changed in my heart,” he said. “I realised what makes us function is that if someone is nice to you, you feel better and hope comes back.

“We all need to realise we are a spirit living in a soul, having a body - and the body is a vehicle and we have to look after it.

“It all starts in the spirit as to how we perceive life and later on this helps us to change our emotions.

“We have to build our character and we all need to learn this - to think and be considerate to everybody else and our surroundings.

See the person - love is the key

“You have to see the person, not the disease. I always treat people in the way I like to be treated.

“Love is more powerful than the disease, because when you have love, you have hope, and hope helps your body to function better.

“But as soon as you lose hope and get depressed, cranky and frustrated, it blocks your energy and as a result your body can’t do what it wants to do - because the body depends on how you feel and how you talk.

“So if you say bad things about yourself, it’s going to affect your body.”

Future

In the future, he plans to slow down at home in Jiggi and grow herbs.

His faith in humanity is one of the things that keeps him going.

“I love the people I treat - I know they are willing to change and can - and just need encouragement that’s all,” he said.

“We are made from love, for love and we can all become who we are meant to become."

Markus will be missed by many in the local community.