Do you always need a doctor to heal you?

I was on my death bed in 2013. 6 traditional doctors told me that there was nothing wrong with me. Despite the fact that I had lost 20 pounds (I only weighed 115 to start with), all of my hair was falling out, my thoughts and words had become garbled, I was stuck in a constant state of extreme anxiety, and I had an inability to sleep for more than just 1 or 2 hours per night.

I was completely incapacitated and needed a full-time caretaker. My poor husband…

Each traditional doctor said the issue “was in my head.” And each gave me prescription medication to fix said mental problem. By the end of the 6 months, I was taking an antidepressant med, an anti-anxiety med, and two types of sleeping meds.

It goes without saying that I continued to get worse. Not better.

Within just of a few days of it becoming “too late” for me, the universe dropped a functional medicine doctor at my doorstep.  She, within a few hours, was able to diagnose my illness. Then, she created a protocol to help me heal. Heal myself. Without using prescription meds.

This was my first experience with alternative medicine. The medical philosophy and practice that saved my life (and my head).

I’ve learned since that traditional drugs just suppress the symptoms of disease. In my case, even that didn’t happen. In fact, they made me worse. But what we do know is that they seldom – if ever – heal the body by bringing it back to its natural state.

Here’s a fact…  I’m not here today (versus 6 feet under) because of some magic pill. I completely reversed my debilitating illness by learning how to help my body heal itself. With some “natural” assistance.

My alternative healing therapies included:

• A new diet focused on nutrition (I was vegetarian for over 20 years, but I became paleo)
• Nutraceuticals (instead of pharmaceuticals)
• Vitamin and mineral deficiency supplementation
• Ayurvedic herbal remedies for detox, anxiety, and healing
• Detoxification using far-infrared sauna
• EFT therapy to help calm my nervous system
• EMDR therapy to help process my trauma
• Journaling to move my fears and negative feelings out of my body and onto paper (which I later threw into a ceremonial fire)
• Brainwave biofeedback to help rewire my damaged brain
• Mindfulness and meditation to help calm my mind and settle my nervous system
• Restorative yoga to help unwind the stress trapped in my body

That was my cocktail. Those natural and ancient practices are what saved my life. Or better said… enabled my body to heal. Which saved my life.

I discovered that in order to regain my health, I had to be open to new perspectives. My pre-2013 self would have called bullshit on all of these therapies and chalked them up as wacky “woo woo.”

What was wacky woo woo to me just a few years ago is what I now believe to be the secret to healing and good health. I see traditional western medicine to now be the real wacky woo woo. I mean really… why would we think for one second that a man-made bio-unidentical chemical could help the body better than mother nature herself? Crazy, right?

In my quest to continue to dig deeper into the world of alternative medicine and healing, I chatted with a brilliant pioneer in alternative medicine: Dr. Mitch Fleisher. In my interview, you’ll hear me searching for answers. And you’ll listen to him give them – expertly.

His insights on how the body works are both fascinating and eye-opening.

Here are 3 takeaways that I learned from Mitch when it comes to health and healing:

Focus On One Thing At a Time

If you’re looking to heal, you must first start by recognizing that all illnesses occur at the broader energy level of your body before they manifest at the physical level. Let me elaborate…

Everything in your body is connected, so when you get sick, it’s usually the result of an imbalance with your entire body. Thus, the the entire body needs to be considered, not just one area. But with that being said, it can prove ineffective to utilize several therapies at once.

Dr. Fleisher explains why by comparing the body to a pond. One method of therapy is like a pebble being thrown in, and if you use the right approach, its effects will ripple outward to the rest of the body. This way of thinking considers the energy level of our body and allows for holistic healing. Trying several therapies at once is the equivalent of throwing a bunch of different-sized rocks into the pond. It only confuses the body and gets in the way of healing.

Remove Toxins and Embrace Nature

People don’t get sick for no reason. Something is always at root of disease, but it’s not always easy to find. So it follows that we must consider our environment if we want to make change.

Everybody’s bodies are different, and everybody’s environments are different. But our environment has everything to do with our health. Each person’s unique environmental influences affect the way that his or her symptoms come out. And these symptoms are prone to change over time as environments change.

This means paying attention to what’s around you. Know what toxins might be lurking in your house or workplace. Understand what chemicals are mixed in with your hygiene products and cleaning solutions. Most importantly, be intentional about the foods you consume. One of Dr. Fleisher’s greatest influences is the quote: “May your medicine be your food, and may your food be your medicine.” In my experience, this couldn’t be more true.

Our foods our loaded with toxins, and the truth is that they’re one of the biggest reasons we get sick. By simply cutting these killers out and replacing them with natural alternatives, we bring our body back to where it is designed to be. If you’re curious about where to start, I’d be happy to send you my my signature food guide

Free Yourself of Limitations

The true definition of health is freedom from limitation. Specifically, health is the freedom of limitation in three ways: physically, mentally, and emotionally.

On a physical level, you of course want to be free from pain. Nobody should be prevented from using their body in the way that they want. On a mental level, you want to be free to use your mind to create, to imagine, to perceive, and to communicate ideas clearly. And on an emotional level, you want to be free from being stuck in any one given emotion. It’s crucial to be able to experience the full spectrum of emotion – from the deepest sadness to the greatest joy.

If you ever get sick, it’s critically important to develop the right mindset. Become aware of your limitations in these three areas: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Once you are aware of the things holding you back, you can utilize the natural tools available to you start peeling back the layers of your disease – one symptom at a time.

At the end of the day, healing takes time and attention. Let’s all break out of this mentality of doctors giving us the magic drug that will suppress our symptoms. Instead, let’s embrace the mentality of taking responsibility for our bodies to truly heal ourselves.