Who

Dr. Andrea Renee Rivera (“Dr. Renee”), Acupuncturist and founder of the Chillax Om Foundation non-profit, has been a front-line healthcare worker throughout the Covid19 pandemic. This was her second time facing a global crisis since she lived and worked in the downtown Manhattan, NY area throughout the 9/11 terrorist attack and its aftermath. She experienced numerous bomb threats, toxic smoke from the Twin Towers, and military check points whenever she left her home and went to work in NYC. During Covid-19 she lived and worked as an acupuncturist in private practice in Los Angeles surrounded by riots, homeless camps and protests.

Since 2016, Dr. Renee has been providing the auricular acupuncture NADA protocol along with teaching self-care stress management, herbal medicine with diet therapy, and pain relief practices while delivering over 9000 treatments at various Los Angeles, CA facilities including LA County USC Wellness Center, Venice Family Clinic, Pacific Coast Community Acupuncture Clinic and her own private practices in Hollywood and Pacific Palisades, CA. “Through these experiences, I have witnessed participants feel stress relief, less pain, more energy, experience healthy weight loss, overall increased quality of life, including better relationships at work and at home after using the NADA protocol and mind-body practices.”

“It took me 20 years to completely recover my health, financial stability and establish a new career as an acupuncturist by 2020 just in time to face a second global crisis from Covid-19. Post Sept. 11th after my downtown NY jewelry store business closed, I had moved from NY to CA in 2003 to start a new life with limited resources. The next 4 years of post-911 life reinvention demands took a toll on my health and family relationships, causing my own personal experience of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with depression, anxiety, insomnia and chronic pain that lasted for three years. After trying allopathic methods and medications to alleviate my PTSD symptoms, I sought acupuncture and the mind-body practices of daily yoga, Chigong, Transcendental Meditation and herbal medicine for relief. Because of my prior 911 personal experience, I can recognize many people in my local LA community facing the same struggles over the last 2.5 years as we all continue the same battle of recovery post Covid-19.

Acupuncture, herbal medicine, diet therapy and mind-body self-care practices enabled me to not only recover from 911 but also kept me working on the front lines during Covid-19 as a licensed acupuncturist delivering nearly 3000 acupuncture treatments over the last 2 years helping others take their health back, go back to work and school and rebuild their lives despite the challenges. In Jan. 2021 after 5 years of seeing how acupuncture and using mind-body practices changed the lives of my patients while delivering over 7000 treatments and self-care trainings, I began the process of founding the 501c3 non-profit, Chillax Om Foundation. 2021 being the Twenty-year anniversary of Sept.11 happening during the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic was a powerful motivation to ask myself, “what more can I do to honor who and what we all have lost and help life go on for the survivors of these forever life changing tragedies?” This prayer was answered with “do the Wellness Hour Program now.” Now, with God’s grace and the very kind and generous support of my board of directors, volunteer staff and local community in fundraising efforts, I can help more people in becoming their own medicine, ending their suffering and returning to peace, health and wholeness….hopefully much sooner than I could post 911.

When

Dr. Andrea Renee is passionately dedicated to delivering this Wellness Hour Program to those most in need post Covid19. Our LA, Ventura and Orange County neighbors and frontline emergency services providers like our fire fighters who are going into fire season with post pandemic challenges and less staff. The Chillax Om Foundation is now established and ready to help our neighbors who are rebuilding their lives after losing loved ones, business, homes and financial stability and our front-line essential workers who are continuously experiencing the public service career stressors in the aftermath of another global crisis. Acupuncture and self-care can help our community recover from the non-stop stressors and become healthier and more resilient despite the challenges.

Where

Dr. Renee is launching her Wellness Hour 6 Week program Fall 2022 on the Westside of Los Angeles at her Pacific Palisades Chillax Om Mind-Body Medicine Clinic with plans to expand to Ventura and Orange Counties later in 2022 and early 2023.

If you are an employer, community or public service organization in Los Angeles, Ventura or Orange Counties who thinks the Wellness Hour can help your local community, colleagues and employees, contact Dr. Renee at AndreaReneeLAc@gmail.com or 310-461-7494 to schedule a six-week program and for additional information.