Meet the Doc

I used to blog ALL the time. I remember in high school and college I had a blog specific to my travel adventures called My Humble Abroad (I think it’s still floating around the internet somewhere) and I loved to write. I’ll make a blog post about following the joy of the inner child at some other time; but for now, I’ll just say I’m grateful to have this platform to follow my joy of writing, teaching and training.

So, hi. It’s me, Doctor Zeynep. You can call me doc, Zeynep, Doctor, Dr. Zeynep, whatever feels most aligned in your heart. I am the owner and sole practitioner at Evren Chiropractic in the Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis. I was born in and adopted from Turkey and grew up in the western suburb of Minnetrista. We moved to downtown Minneapolis when I got to high school, which, let’s be honest, is where most of our emotional growth happens. My dad worked downtown for most of my life so we were constantly here for events over the years and I got very comfortable in the city, making the transition downtown super smooth. ANYWAY.

I graduated high school in 2010 and started college at a small liberal arts college called Gustavus Adolphus College for a few years, during which time I was super involved in music. I led an open mic club and was in The Gustavus Choir upon entering sophomore year, in addition to forming small, informal bands here and there. I was coming home most weekends and studying abroad whenever I got the opportunity (Australia and New Zealand, Costa Rica and Turkey) and learned that was maybe a sign that it wasn't the best fit for me. I directly enrolled at Universidad Nacional in Heredia, Costa Rica and lived there for 6 months, during which time my transfer application to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities was accepted. I finished off undergrad at the U and it was the best decision I could’ve made. I just missed the city too much!

During my time in undergrad I did a few internships at both corporate and store level at Target and received a job offer as an assistant store manager upon graduating with my Psychology degree. I learned a lot at that job but knew it wasn’t the right fit for me. Big props to all of my retail people! Be nice to them, y’all. They deal with a LOT. Everyone in the service industry, actually. I left my work here with no plan. 10/10 recommend thinking this over before doing it :) Although it did lead me here, so it all ended up working out. Thanks, universe.

I have been teaching yoga since 2014 and took a break from teaching while I was at Target. I started teaching yoga at a chiropractic clinic in 2015 while I was career searching and when my mom and I were on vacation together she said to me, “do you ever feel like there was a reason for you working at a chiropractic clinic?” !! I started asking questions and before I knew it, I was enrolled in school. I always knew I wanted to help people. I just didn’t know how. Chiropractic is a non-pharmaceutical approach to healthcare and is a great form of preventative care which I absolutely loved (and still love). It was (and is) a perfect fit!

I currently live downtown Minneapolis in the North Loop neighborhood with my two kitties, T’Challa (yes, named after the Black Panther, RIP Chadwick Boseman) and Luna (half named after the moon, half after Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter because she’s a bit odd). I have 17 house plants and as an Earth sign (Taurus), I love digging my hands in the dirt and repotting and propagating. I am also plant-based, meaning I don’t eat meat and most animal products. I’ll probably make a blog post on both of these even though it is moderately unrelated to healthcare 😂 I still sing when I can, and I play guitar and piano. I also love doodling, walking, cooking, and spending time in nature. Lastly, I have grown back into my activism over the past few years and am passionate about racial justice and Black Lives Matter, climate justice and sustainability, and healthcare accessibility. These issues drive a lot of my work and how I interact in this world. I’m always happy to discuss them with you.

OKAY. Deep breath. You made it through my first blog post!

I’ll leave you with some favorites:

Favorite local hiking spot: Pike Island near Fort Snelling

Favorite musical artist (this rotates every month): Jose Gonzalez

Favorite Turkish meal: BREAKFAST. Feta cheese, tomato, cucumber, börek, fresh bread and jam

Favorite coffee shop and order: Corner Coffee, iced vanilla latte with oat milk

Favorite place to which I’ve had the privilege of traveling: Queenstown, NZ

Favorite yoga pose: Supported bridge pose (join me for Yin Yoga every Tuesday at 7pm at Evren!)

Comment your favorite hiking spot so I can add them to my list! :) Thank you for reading and stay tuned for a post of Evren’s origin story and more!

-Dr. Zeynep