Lauren Breau

Acupuncturist and Herbalist, Founder & Executive Director of L/A Community Acupuncture, Lauren Breau provides affordable acupuncture and herbal medicine. Lauren notes, “I had always wanted to be a doctor until one winter I became increasingly unwell and found myself immersed in the medical system that I had glorified my entire childhood. Because nothing was showing up in terms of objective measurements of sickness, almost every doctor that I saw raised an eyebrow at what I was reporting. A few of them went beyond the arched brow and told me they thought my very real and very disruptive physical symptoms were entirely psychosomatic and wrote prescriptions accordingly.” She found her way to Diane Ford, another Lewiston acupuncturist who, “Had me back in working order in under a month,” and “From that point on, my romance with Traditional Chinese Medicine has been hot, sweaty, and undying.”

Born and raised in Lewiston, Lauren, “Swore that I would never return, but with some geographical space and time, I realized that I wanted to relearn my hometown.” She now enjoys, “The history. The grit. The ‘tude. The people. The changes.” You can catch Lauren with her family and, “Walking around Lewiston with no destination, or “Shagging. Sleeping. I really love to sleep.”

Her special causes are, “The YWCA, The Center for Wisdom’s Women, and Outright L-A.” Lauren is also politically active and recommends Quiet City Books, The Hive, and The Vault for gift-giving.

Future hopes are a nonprofit herbal apothecary and for the community to, ”Get a little more comfortable with discomfort, and have real conversations about issues that affect our city, including racism.”