Welcome! I’m happy you’re here.
Meet Laura Metzdorff-Rivera
Hi! I’m Laura, Licensed Acupuncturist, Certified Meditation teacher, wife, mother, and cultivator of good things.
I love all kinds of music, gardening — indoors and out, yoga, gathering with good people, and especially the change of seasons.
I’d like to believe my own wellness journey has been lifelong but I’d say it officially began when I was 19 and took a yoga class as an elective in my undergraduate education. Through the art of movement and meditation I began to see that there was more to health than what the Western model provides, and I made it my mission to bring alternative wellness to my community.
I began to study the benefits of essential oils, herbs and whole foods, and in 2004 I enrolled in the Masters program for Chinese Medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in NYC, (now Pacific College of Health and Sciences).
Midway through the program, I transferred to Pacific’s sister school in San Diego where I completed my degree and mentored under highly skilled clinicians and business owners.
In 2010, I moved to the San Franciso Bay Area with my now husband and in 2011 co-founded Earth and Air Wellness Acupuncture and Alternative Medicine. What began as a single room office quickly grew into a 5 room, multi-practitioner clinic that still thrives today.
We loved the Bay Area and the life we grew there, but I also felt a calling to be closer to our families, so, in 2021, at the height of the pandemic, we decided to move with our two young daughters back to New York.
And here I am now, 20 years later, beginning again where it all started, with the same yearning to share wellness with my community, only this time with a whole new set of tools under my belt!
Education has always been my greatest passion. I use acupuncture to assist in restoring your body to a healthy state of balance, but I also wish to leave you with your own set of tools to help maintain that balance throughout your everyday life. In my private sessions, we’ll discuss your goals and I’ll leave you with techniques you can begin incorporating into your everyday life and take charge over your wellness today!
One of the greatest tools I’ve gathered, that is available to all of us at any time, is meditation. Through this practice of quiet awareness, we have an opportunity to let go of the demands of the mind, and experience our own true essence of being. In my guided meditations, we’ll settle into stillness and dive deeper into our inner knowing. There you will find insight to navigate your own life and state of balance.
I originally created Cultivate Your Wellness as a way to share my knowledge about healthy living. It quickly evolved into a travel journal of sorts where I documented my own journey on a path to wellness. It now sits as an invitation and a place of encouragement for you — to continue on your own journey. Perhaps you’re just at the beginning of your path to wellness, and this is your jumping off point. Or maybe you’ve been traveling a long while and this is another stop on your way. Wherever you are, I’m so happy you found your way here. My greatest wish is that you leave here with something of value – another tool for your tool-kit — as you cultivate your wellness.
I hope to connect with you soon.
Bye for now!
❤️