Healing & Health“…you can take apart a clock, you can study all the parts, understand how it works- yet in the end, this will tell you nothing about time” ~ considerations on the mechanistic views of western medicineA lot of western medical paradigm is focused on the science of disease & pathology, which is an extensive and extraordinary system of knowledge- yet what does it mean to be healthy? to heal? where are our systems of healing? which hold us, and let us feel joy and connection, even when we are not feeling so whole? or never have? what allows us avenues/tools/connections for remembering/finding peace within the masses of information about body and disease?The answer to that question, may be an eternal one. Yet, there is a clue that it lies deep in the chambers of each heart. And as we enter the heart, with its beat, we hear a song, a memory. Likely the first song we ever heard, that of our own, and our mother’s, in the womb. And so the journey began.We are not meant to walk these lives as perfect clean beings- we dance, we trip, we love, we get bruised, we get sick, we hurt, we grieve. The question to ask however- is how do we engage, or fall apart with each challenging situation? do you find a balance that works for you? or do you linger there? sometimes stuck and forgetting your tune? staying in patterns of thought, imbalance and disease beyond remembering their role in serving you, to live as freely as possible, to continue to sing or dance, even if its a tune only you can hear…?“Every disease is a musical problem” ~ NovalisNaturopathic medicine combines the western scientific medicine with perspectives of healing that include our entire nature – remind us that we are nature – how to reconnect, remember that we are made up of the very elements of all the natural world. Medicine in this space becomes an art form that includes a weaving of all forces within and without, creating forms of beauty, reconnection and harmony, with new perspectives on health and disease, food, plants, remedies – and reformed ways of connecting to self and the world.“The electromagnetic, oscillating field that every living thing generates as it lives and contains within it the complete story of its current state of being, including every wound, illness, and need… That is much what healing is. The restructure of the field.” ~ Stephen BuhnerThis means treating the individual- their expression, not the disease- and including the history of their upbringing, their wider social/cultural context, as well as their ancestral DNA. This therefore can also mean working in the places where we cannot see, where trauma has left us disconnected, where we struggle with confusion/choices, and trusting that it is within that, that we can find our own wisdom’s peace, and change our fields to choose freedom.Beyond this – we can remember that we did not end up in imbalance on our own, our illness is a collective issue, with roots that go deeper than the individual. The art of learning to carry our own healing, and that of our family or the planet, are intertwined. Each of us hold the ailments of the world (for example, all from injustice to pesticides) in different parts of us -in our bodies, our minds, our hearts – where do you hold (y)ours? where do things build up? where do you need to spend some time, bring your attention, your own balance… where can you step more deeply into your full potential?“The universe is a cohesive entity held in majestic motion by space and her magic grasp. To be obsessed with our quest for personal uniqueness and excellence, while ignoring this life giving space and all she contains, is to behave like immature adolescence. Conversely, to be obsessed with the woes of our planet and lose sight of the true self, which is consciousness and awareness is equally immature” ~ Maya TiwariThe place I sit as naturopathic doctor, is that of sitting as mirror, seeing our health, like our joy, as our birthright. It is a journey, of connecting, of exploring, of finding our song, of finding peace. The tools at our disposal range from western science/ lab tests, to the chambers of our hearts, to the food, plants, sound, thoughts, pulse/tongue diagnosis and connection we ingest daily. What is the fabric, weaving, dance of your health?.