We are in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic. It would seem that this virus is no respecter of persons as the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the notorious and the famous alike have contracted it. All forms of media are saturated with news about the pandemic, the potential origin, the resultant fear and panic but not enough about holistic coping mechanisms. In the midst of it all, I am answering the call to be a voice of calm and healing. This first article will serve two purposes: I will introduce myself to you and I will introduce the first of many discourses in a series entitled, Health and Wellness from God’s Perspective.
Someone may ask the question, “With so many weblogs and perhaps hundreds of healthcare-related websites out there, why have you decided to start your own blog?” I believe that I am uniquely positioned to share in a way that addresses health and wellness holistically. I am an allopathically-trained physician, board certified in Pediatrics. In my mid-thirties I experienced a mid-life crisis. I was overweight, hypertensive requiring medication for 5 years, and severely atopic requiring painful allergy shots every month for year-round environmental allergies. For several hours after those shots I was on the edge of anaphylaxis but because it brought me relief for the rest of the month, I tolerated them. I also had terrible brain fog and achy joints. I would often wonder to myself, if this is what being in my thirties feels like who wants to be in their fifties! Clearly, I was in a crisis. In hindsight I know that my ailments were due to a number of things: an unhealthy diet, a career path that I absolutely hated, unfruitful relationships, and unhealthy ways of coping with stress.
In the summer of 2016, I did a CME course on Plant-Based Nutrition. In that course I was introduced to a number of life-changing concepts. I tried the vegan diet and after 2 months I had lost about 20 pounds, was weaned off blood pressure medication and no longer needed my monthly allergy shots. Needless to say, this was a major inflection point for me. My life has definitely not been the same since. My sincere desire for you, the reader, is that you would be awakened just as I have been. Once I came to recognize the impact that diet had on my overall health, I knew I needed to get more training. I enrolled in a fellowship in Integrative Medicine in the fall of 2016 so that I would be better equipped to promote health for myself, my family, and my patients. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, Integrative Medicine is a form of medical practice that combines conventional and complementary approaches to offer the least invasive, least toxic and least costly methods of maintaining and/restoring health. While conventional medicine is great for acute problems, complementary medicine is better suited to address chronic problems. The two approaches can work synergistically to provide the best solution for your health.
Personally, I had to make a paradigm shift as hinted above. I will talk more about this as this series unfolds. Professionally, I also had to shift away from treating root symptoms in a reductionist manner to addressing root causes in a holistic manner. I now think of myself as a wounded healer, who has the mutually beneficial privilege of guiding patients on their health and wellness journeys even as I am on my own sojourning. I have also come to recognize that I have a real passion for education. The word doctor is derived from the Latin word docere, which means to instruct, teach, or point out [1] .I have since embraced my role as a healer/teacher and with this acceptance, much of the previous anxiety and stress related to my medical career has evaporated. I have also completed training as a health and life coach. Once I recognized that most of the change that needs to occur for chronic medical conditions takes place outside of the doctor’s office, I knew this training was necessary.
My spiritual evolution has had a somewhat similar path with its full complement of life-changing inflection points, paradigm shifts, discovery of ignorance, and consequent pursuit of knowledge, understanding and empiricism. I have come to recognize in the inspired scriptures the love that God has for humanity. As a testimony of His love He has made provision for our health and wellness right here on earth. I trust that His heart towards humanity would be unveiled to you in the next series of articles on the topic, Health and Wellness from God’s Perspective. Psalms 105: 37 is quite telling when it declares of the Israelites at the time of their deliverance from several oppressive years of Egyptian bondage: “He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.” We will take up the discourse from this point in the next article.
References
1. ^ “Docere.” Definition. Latin Dictionary, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2013.
Disclaimer
The contents of article are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This article does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.