So convalescence isn’t just a time of essential healing and restoration of our immune resources, it gives us permission to pause our lives and if you will allow it, time to experience the ways in which your body heals and where it may struggle to heal. In this way it can be a vacation, an education and a realization. Or it can be an exasperating, frustrating period of time that keeps us from doing what we need to do. This is what often drives people to ignore convalescence. But one thing to consider is that the lack of complete healing can create a chaotic tendency in the immune system that may actually be the most common reason for the rise in autoimmune disorders.

We all agree that cells communicate with each other.  This happens through receptor cell membranes the surface of which must be free of obstacles in order for communication to take place.  When there are obstacles the cell communication is altered, inhibited and even garbled.  This is known as epigenetics, the environment within which a cell functions and which affects the health of the cell without changing the genetic code.  You may be surprised to learn that the latest research has shown that as much as 75% of genetic expression is due to epigenetics while only 25% is related to the genetic hard-wired code itself. 

When a patient sits down with me, they tell me all their physical symptoms, recent illnesses and detail the ways in which they just don't feel "right". But what they seem not to mention are the stressors, the emotions, the sleepless nights, the fear, anxiety, worry and anger that can dominate the mind and overwhelm the body. The truth is that belief really does change our biology.

Histamines are essential because they stimulate inflammation, protective immunity and healing. But they also can flood the tissues so frequently that you develop an intolerance to their presence. In fact, any time you reach for an antihistamine and you feel better afterwards, you are proving that I am right about this.

Why are we seeking comfort more and more? The easy answer is because so many of us do not have comfort. Body pain, chronic uncomfortable symptoms, excess body weight, combative relationships, unfulfilling or stressful work situations, fear in our world, lack of control in our lives ... how can we have comfort?

Everywhere you turn you will see products, diets and therapies that are all designed to cleanse your body from the inside out which sounds amazing. The negative side to this is that it encourages us to force-cleanse our bodies all the time, every day. We are brainwashed into believing our body doesn't do this on its own when actually it is happening just about every night for a period of time ... gently, easily and effectively. It's what my grandmother used to say about cleaning the house ... do a little every day and it will never build up.

We need to remember that throughout human history much of our health, particularly our work/sleep balance, has been tied to daylight. Since the invention of lighting, first flame, then electricity, our instinct has been to maintain daylight through artificial means further and further into the darkness of the night. Now there are so many businesses, government buildings, commercial areas, even our streets that have created a 24 hour light cycle between daylight and artificial light that 80% of North Americans cannot see the stars in the sky at night. Even small towns are now turning to overly bright LED fixtures that require much less electricity and last much longer. But the cost is one that many of us may not be able to afford. The cost of our health, our vision and our environment.

How much of an illness is our own perception?  Conventional medicine says that if something does not appear in testing, then it is probably not an issue or it’s all in your head.  Far from it!

Holistic means essentially in contemplation of the whole.  So when I'm putting together a plan for someone to address their symptoms, conditions or diseases, I have to consider their emotional health, their physical health, their nutritional health, their lifestyle, their stress level, what has happened to them in their life, and myriad other little things many of which have become rather intuitive over the 30 years I've done this.  In other words, natural healing takes a village...

When patients sit down to tell me about their history, they never mention their parents, as though their personal experience is all that influences their health.  But in fact, our health history begins further back in time then we may even know.  Jung had the right idea when he espoused the collective unconscious.  We truly are the sum total of our ancestry, not just our life experience.

Not only do you feel better drinking tea, you actually FEEL better! Let’s drink to that!

Not only do you feel better drinking tea, you actually FEEL better! Let’s drink to that!

One of the things that we may not realize is that our bodies create sounds that are undetectable to our ears. These sounds are the result of vibration and movement which is inherent in every cell and essential to every tissue. It has often been described as the “singing of cells”.

In the human body there is also an inherent pattern, history, experiences and lifestyle that creates our health or lack thereof. Simply applying a prescription drug may make us feel better, may reduce the symptoms of chaos, pain and debility, but it does not create change, nor does it promote resolution. As soon as we stop, the original condition will often return, making us dependent on the drug for peace within our body.

Each day our health care system demonstrates that it views us as a machine. Emotions, thought processes, memory, even our very soul may make us a miracle, but we are still defined in mechanistic terms which simply reinforces and justifies more automation.

Many of you will recognize this image as the rug in my Westborough office. This represents an important consideration … that if you allow something to create a problem and don’t work to resolve it, then everything that comes after is affected. Read on…

There are many times when I am muscle testing patients and the issues and symptoms they are experiencing trace back to a closed head injury earlier in their life. The truth is that this type of injury, whether diagnosed as a concussion or not, can happen from sports, from a fall, from a blow to the head or from any injury such as in a car accident. But this may be only the start of the problem.

Vomiting may not be the most desirable of topics but it is an interesting one. Why is it that when you’re on a cruise ship having just enjoyed lobster and a glass of wine followed by a Charlotte Russe for dessert, you will inevitably come across a fellow passenger vomiting in the hallway which makes you want to discharge everything you’ve just eaten? The answer is simple - it’s an immune response.

We often think that memory is simply recalling facts, numbers, where we put the car keys. But memory is actually one of the ways in which our body restores itself and creates a healing response to injury and illness.

Our bodies are experiencing water shortages, and methods are being put in place to accommodate these shortages.  The shortages exist because we are failing to fully hydrate our bodies.  We are drinking iced tea, diet coke, carbonated beverages, coffee blends that would astonish Juan Valdez and expecting that they will do what water does because they each contain water.  You would be wrong.