Ingrid Cheng

Ingrid Cheng grew up in Hong Kong where she benefited from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) at a young age. Mrs. Ng, her family doctor used Chinese herbal remedies and alternative healing therapies to treat her ailments. That left a deep impression on Ingrid. She only went to the hospital twice. Once when Ingrid tripped and feel, fracturing her left elbow. Later, when she fainted in the shower, fell and hit the back of her head. There was a lot of blood and her mom rushed her to the hospital for stitches. Ingrid moved with her family to Hawaii where she learned about Lomi, a local traditional healing massage that has been passed down many generations. They moved again to California where Ingrid attended the last semester of high school and graduated on the honor roll from U.C. Riverside with a degree in Business Administration. In 1998, Ingrid decided to become a teacher and enrolled in Cal State Northridge Post-Bachelor's Teaching Credential program. She was a teacher at L.A.U.S.D where she used her creativity to engage her students (English was a second language for half of them). Ingrid did her best, but it wasn't enough. Half of her students were falling behind, she had to deal with busy or critical parents, a bureaucratic school system, etc. Ingrid felt like she was failing her students. She became a sad statistic of teacher burn out. Ingrid is a dreamer and always wanted to write, but her traditional parents discouraged her from pursuing a writing career. Bullied and called "fat" as a child, it took many coaching sessions to heal the trauma and wounds that she got through no fault of her own. Ingrid credits books, coaching and yoga for her transformation from a victim to the heroine of her story.