People come in to consult with me because they want something to be different. They want to be able to sleep, they want to have a baby, they want enough energy to enjoy their downtime, they are tired of struggling with depression, they are tired of picking up every bug during cold & flu season. While the details of treatment are unique for each person, every healing journey involves the integration of new lifestyle habits and/or ways of thinking. This means more than simply trying something new and finding that it makes you feel good, but truly integrating a change so that things ARE different from now on. This means going beyond the latest wonder-supplement for immunity or depression. Instead, we go within, to discover what it is that has thrown off your body’s natural balance in the first place.
What formula can we follow to get you there?
I can’t count how many times I have seen variations of the following scenario: I am working with someone and we come up with a plan, eg. work out 4 days a week. At their follow-up, they have been to the gym once, and then … it fizzled. They resolve to meet the same goal again. And again, despite telling me it is what they want to do, and telling me how they know they will feel better, they don’t do it.
Why not do it?
Why would someone tell me they want to exercise, ask for and agree to the plan, and then not do it?? I don’t view this as a patient being “noncompliant”. This is your care, your process. Your responsibility is to yourself, not to me. My job is to help you get where you want to go, to help you find balance in your life and within yourself. The question, then, is what is the obstacle to you taking this step that you tell me you want to take? What is the gap between what you say will be good for you, and what is right for you now, in this moment?
I have some theories.
I think that it often comes down to whether or not we are listening – truly listening – to our bodies. Is the voice that says I “should” exercise coming from outside of you, when instead your body just wants some stillness? Are you exhausted? Are you resolving to do weights because your read somewhere that doing weights is the best for your bones, but what really resonates for you is ballroom dancing? Or, it might be a matter of being stuck in all-or-nothing thinking: “I have to be a saint, and never allow a morsel of sugar or white flour to pass my lips. Otherwise there is no point and I should just eat a whole package of cookies since I’ve messed it up anyway”. The accompanying guilt, shame and blame when we set ourselves to “fail” in these ways paralyzes us into inaction. And, well, we all know how good – or not good – this kind of cycle feels when we are stuck in it.
What can we do instead?
1) Observe where you are, and practice compassion. Judging oneself harshly only leads to shame and blame, and lasting change cannot be built on these emotional states. Are you are feeling exhausted because you are watching tv or surfing the internet each night until the wee hours? Observe this pattern. Perhaps you will notice that this habit allows you to fall into sleep without feeling something (loneliness, sadness, fear, grief) that you wish to avoid. Be kind & gentle with yourself.
2) Look underneath the behaviour you want to change, and try to track it back to the root. So, if you are eating cookie dough ice cream each evening because you are sad, rather than resolving to stop eating the ice cream, resolve to address the sadness.
3) Identify goals that come from within you. Find yoga yucky but love being outside? Make walking your restorative exercise time.
Sustainable change comes from a place that is rooted deeply inside you. By looking at what you are doing and why, you can come to understand the root of the behaviour. From this root, guided by the principles of observation and compassion. you can rebuild a strong foundation that will take you where you want to go.
Mahalia Freed is a naturopathic doctor happily living and practicing in downtown Toronto. In her family practice, Mahalia has a special focus in endocrinology (including PMS, PCOS, thyroid concerns), mental health, oncology, fertility, and perinatal care.
“Health is not just a matter of thinking happy thoughts. Sometimes the biggest impetus to healing can come from jump-starting the immune system with a burst of long-suppressed anger”
~Candace Pert, PhD, Psychoneuroimmunologist, as quoted in
I know what you are thinking. I mean, really, putting wet socks on when you are already feeling sick? But hear me out – this really works! AND, you don’t have to buy anything or ingest anything. Free, easy, at-home symptom relief from the congestion and coughing that often disrupts our sleep when we are clearing a cold. How great is that? Try it out, and tell me how it works for you.
Use:
At the first signs of a cold, especially with cough or congestion. Also useful for sore throat or any inflammation or infection of the throat, ear infections, headaches, migraines, and sinus infections.
Actions:
Reflexively increases circulation and decreases congestion in the upper respiratory passages, head, and throat. Sedating action: better sleep with the sock treatment! (And sleep allows us to heal, right?)
Directions:
Take a pair of cotton socks and soak them completely with cold water. If you tend to be cold or have low vitality, try using cool water during the first treatment rather than cold water.
Warm your feet if they are cold. The treatment may not be as effective if your feet are not warmed first. Warming can be accomplished by soaking your feet in warm water for at least 5-10 minutes or taking a warm bath for 5-10 minutes.
Dry off your feet and body with a dry towel.
Wring the cotton socks out thoroughly so they do not drip and place the socks on your feet.
Put thick (dry) wool socks over the cotton socks.
Get in bed. Cover well and sleep all night with socks on, it should be relaxing and not uncomfortably cold. If you are unable to sleep because of the cold socks consider removing the socks and soaking your feet again, this time using cool rather than cold water to wet the cotton socks. Your feet and the cotton socks should be warm and dry in the morning. If your feet are cool or the cotton sock is still damp, consider increasing the length of the hot foot soak.
Note: for coughing or congestion, elevating your head by adding an extra pillow (on top of your usual) is also helpful and sleep-promoting.
As we sit in the depths of winter, as the days oh-so-slowly get longer, I am thinking about change and growth. I am cultivating the patience needed to await the return of the warm sun, and seeking tools to inspire and enrich continued personal evolution. Winter is often framed as something to endure while we wait for the slush to go away and the warmth of the sun’s rays to return so that we can dispense with bulky, dark winter coats, hats, scarves, mitts, and boots. However, the season offers its own gifts. Along with lovely snowscapes, it presents abundant opportunities for stillness, introspection, and inner growth.
I often tell clients and audiences at talks that the most powerful healing tool we have is between our ears. Our minds. So, let us launch into 2011 with intentions to better harness this tool.
What are you searching for this winter? Have you resolved to get outside more in 2011? To eat more veggies? To carve out time for some kind of spiritual practice? To be more present in the small moments that make up your day? What has stopped you from getting to these goals before now? Most often, it is our minds, particularly our outdated stories – the unexamined mental maps of who we are and who we can be– that get in our way. Use the tips and info below to inspire you to examine and rewrite those stories, starting now.
Last New Year’s, a good friend and I spent a very long, snowy drive sharing and concretizing our intentions for 2009. It was an organic yet intentional conversation. We went back and forth, helping each other get more specific, as well as inspiring one another with our separate dreams. I wrote everything down while she drove. Sharing intentions in this way is something I truly value. Even if you do not have the same goals, this practice creates a context of support as you move through the year, giving you someone to check in with – someone who might notice if you, say, resolved to ski 3 weekends a month and haven’t been out once by March. This kind of social support can, for example, provide us with someone to talk to if we are frustrated by continuing to struggle with a relationship pattern we intend to overcome.
For example, one of the intentions we came up with – and enjoyed following through with during the year – was to cook dinner together on Sundays. The beauty of this plan is that it addressed a number of different intentions/resolutions in one: connection with friends, cooking nourishing food, and eating at home more often.
Without any plan to do so, the two of us ended up curled up together one night over the holidays, reflecting on 2009, and looking back at the intentions we articulated that day in the car, in order to see how we did with our goals. Both of us exceeded our own expectations for the changes we could accomplish, and what joy this could bring.
Holly (Ilex aquifolium) is one of those plants classically associated with Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere. Gorgeous and festive with its shiny green and red, Holly is more than just decoration. While it isn’t common in herbal medicine materia medica, it is one of the original flower remedies used and researched by Dr. Edward Bach.
What is a flower remedy? Similar to homeopathy, flower essences are created using a specific technique that extracts not the physical constituents but the energetic essence of the plant. Flower essences are most often prescribed for emotional or spiritual states, rather than physical concerns. For example, Rescue Remedy is a popular retail formula for anxiety and shock. Essences may be prescribed to help with confidence, self esteem, stress, depression, or even for smoking cessation.
In the spirit of holiday healing, here is some information about Holly as a flower essence (from the Flower Essence Repertory, 2004 Edition). Isn’t it interesting, how the medicine we need is so often right near us?
Holly essence nourishes the heart, and is used to cultivate loving and inclusive gestures to others, ability to express gratitude to others, and compassion. Holly helps to broaden our sense of self to one that knows that we are connected, that “love is an infinite resource that is available to all.[…]When we feel separate from others we can take no joy or compassionate interest in their affairs; instead our isolation is compounded into negative states of jealousy, envy, suspicion or anger”. Holly is about community, and joy, and the joy of shared love. Holly “restores the soul’s ability to feel unity and wholeness”.
Sound like a good addition to your holiday gatherings? I think so. Thank you Holly, for your festive spirit (pun intended)!
For women concerned about breast health & cancer prevention, for people with a tendency to swelling in their lower legs, for anyone who could use some sensual self care. For healing scars, for decreasing swollen glands, for cyclically tender or cystic breasts.
What does it do?
Supports healthy hormone metabolism, decreasing breast risk of breast health concerns. Use it to help reverse elevated breast thermography readings, and as part of a cancer prevention program.
Moisturizes: all the herbs are extracted in a base of 100 % organic olive oil
Soothes and uplifts through its blend of essential oils.
What do I do with it?
Rub a small amount onto the targeted area (legs, breasts, chests, scar) daily after a bath or shower. Also great as a herbal bath oil, or as moisturizer for the whole body.
Can I eat it? Yes, as with any quality natural skin product, it is safe to eat, but it is meant to be absorbed through your skin.
Where can I get it?
Available only at Dandelion Naturopathic Clinic. Each 100 ml bottle is $17.70 plus HST.
What is in it?
Organic Extra Virgin Olive oil infused with Calendula & Red Clover Blossoms, Dandelion Root, Cleavers leaf, and Rose Petals; Essential oils of Rosemary, Lavender, Palmarosa, Lemon, Juniper & Frankincense.
Handmade with love & healing intention by Dr Mahalia Freed, ND.
Contains no parabens or other chemicals. No animal products or derivatives.
Calendula is still blossoming here in Toronto right now, donating sunshine to the cold grey rain of late November. Every time I walk by some, it induces a grateful smile. What a beautiful reminder of the abundant medicine accessible to us, even as winter rolls in!
Calendula
Uses
This is another herb that is popular for good reason: used externally in creams, salves or herbal oils, Calendula is anti-inflammatory, wound-healing, supportive to the lymphatic system’s circulation, antibiotic, and anti-fungal. It is unsurpassed for treating local skin problems due to infection and for treating wounds, burns, bruises, and muscle strains (physical damage). Internally (as a tincture or in tea), it has a similarly soothing & healing effect on the mucus membranes of the gastrointestinal and genitourinary tract. Continue reading →
Tahini, or sesame seed paste, is a great source of calcium, and an excellent non-dairy base for creamy dips, dressings and sauces. Two simple options are below.
Tahini-Garlic Sauce:
1/4 cup Tahini
1 clove Garlic, pressed or chopped
Sea salt to taste
Juice of 1/2 – 1 Lemon
Water
Combine all ingredients in a glass jar, adding enough water to reach your desired sauce consistency. Adjust seasonings to taste. Mix well. Pour over steamed veggies, grains, beans, salads… For a maximum calcium boost, try tahini sauce over kale & broccoli!
Variation: use tamari (~ 2 tbsp) instead of salt and lemon juice
Tahini-Miso Sauce:
1/4 cup Tahini
1/4 cup Miso (light or dark, depending on the taste you want – light is sweeter, dark is stronger)
Water
Combine tahini and miso in a jar, adding enough water to get your desired consistency. Adjust ratio of ingredients to taste. Use less water to make a great dip for raw veggies, or thin to make a sauce for cooked greens, grains, broiled fish, etc.
Soak 1/2 cup of lentils over night or for 8 hours.
Drain, secure mesh over top of jar, and invert on counter.
Rinse sprouts twice a day.
Harvest in 3-4 days, when sprouts are at desired length.
Day-of ingredients:
1 (organic) red pepper, chopped or diced
2 stalks of (organic) celery, diced
1 large or 2 small carrots, grated
1/4 cup dulse (seaweed) torn or cut into small pieces
juice of 1 lemon
Bragg’s liquid aminos*
Place all solid ingredients along with lentil sprouts in a serving bowl. Add lemon juice, and Bragg’s liquid aminos to taste. Add good olive oil if you like. Toss, enjoy. This salad gets better as it marinates, so don’t worry about dressing before taking to a party to impress your friends. Dress it, take it. They will be impressed!
* If sensitive to soy , subsitute sea salt for the Bragg’s
~ Vary the veggies as the contents of your crisper drawer dictate. Share your favorite combination with us!
While the details of treatment are unique for each person, every healing journey involves the integration of new lifestyle habits and/or ways of thinking. This means more than simply trying something new and finding that it makes you feel good, but truly integrating a change so that things ARE different from now on. This means going beyond the latest wonder-supplement for immunity or depression. Instead, we go within, to discover what it is that has thrown off your body’s natural balance in the first place.
