Those of us who adhere to the principles of the Weston A. Price Foundation are seekers. When a friend says, “Try eating this” we say, “What’s in it?”. When our doctor encourages us to take a statin we respond, “Wait a moment, do I have a shortage of statins? What was that study I read about older people with high cholesterol living longer?” When we acknowledge that there is tremendous stress in our lives we research ways to fortify our bodies with nutrient-dense food and dissipate negative feelings. However, almost twenty years ago when my therapist suggested I take an anti-depressant, I agreed. For some time, my husband and I had been struggling with huge family issues involving our adopted, but desperately loved children. Those of you who have struggled with sick children understand the primal gut-wrenching, want to die agony that is involved. Thus began a decade or more of dealing with doctors, therapists, psychiatric institutions and insurance companies. Now with the benefit of time and distance, I can see my evolution from someone who fiercely hung on the words of my children’s’ doctors to a person who believes that we need to heal ourselves with help from others.
How did this happen? In my ten-year journey, I heard sage pronouncements of bipolar, unipolar, treatment-resistant depression, schizophrenia, Aspergers and even bad parenting. I finally came to the conclusion that they were clueless as I was, but the professionals needed a diagnosis, so they could prescribe a drug. We had Haldol, Risperidol, Adderall, Ativan, BuSpar, Effexor, Klonopin, Wellbutrin, Xanax, and the Prozac was for me. I learned about the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) which “offers a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders.” After a time, what struck me was that even with the standard criteria, there was very little objectivity. When a doctor sees an elevated C-reactive Protein test result he knows that inflammation is involved. In my case, different doctors could not agree on a diagnosis and as a result, we had a cocktail of drugs, all of which caused different problems and none of which offered a cure. There was never, ever a discussion of the root cause.
When I finally decided to take matters into my own hands I was stunned by the wealth of information on the internet. It seems that none of our doctors had thought to research studies contrary to what they had been taught. Fifteen years later we have psychiatrist Dr. Kelly Brogan, who has a B.S. degree in neuroscience from MIT, and an MD from Cornell Medical School, who refers to the psychiatric field as a dumping ground for illnesses that doctors can’t diagnose. She dares to suggest that there might be common underlying issues for many psychiatric (and autoimmune) illnesses. These would be nutritional deficits and poisoning by pesticides, herbicides, chemicals in cosmetics, food, mattresses, and other consumer goods. Our caring doctors, by virtue of their training, have tool bags full of pharmaceutical drugs and devoid of advice on how to balance minerals and improve our fat-soluble vitamin status. Our bodies run on vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other substances which we find in food and food should be the first line of defense for illness.
It is with this background that I decided to talk about the topic of mental health in our next Weston A. Price Foundation chapter meeting, which was held on Wednesday, October 17th. There were two main topics in the meeting as well as a discussion of books and authors that attendees can research to find ways to help themselves and their families.
We watched a video interview with Dr. Kelly Brogan by Suzanne Somers. Some of you may remember the ditzy blonde on the TV show Three’s Company. That was Suzanne Somers! People find it hard to believe that she evolved from actress to a breast cancer survivor, to a proponent of natural healing, to the author of the book “Knockout.” In this interview, she speaks with Dr. Kelly Brogan, the anti-mainstream psychiatrist who over time came to believe that her profession is not evidence-based and that psychiatric drugs are addictive and wreak more havoc than they cure. She wrote the recent bestseller “A Mind of Your Own.”
The second video was an interview by Louise Hay of Nick Ortner, who wrote “The Tapping Solution.” Louise Hay survived a difficult childhood to become the head of Hay House and the author of “You Can Heal Your Life,” an inspiring book about how to find joy in one’s life. Nick Ortner and other therapists practice the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also called Tapping, which is a healing tool like acupressure and involves repeated tapping of meridian points on one’s head, hands, and body while making positive affirmations. It is used to resolve lingering traumas and issues.
We also discussed a TED MED video by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, MD, who works to heal children. She discovered that children who scored high on the Adverse Childhood Event (ACE) test had significantly higher chances of having physical ailments. The ACE Test has ten questions and four or more positive answers show significantly increased risk of illness. Here is the link to the test: https://www.ncjfcj.org/sites/default/files/Finding%20Your%20ACE%20Score.pdf
One of my jobs as a Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader is to compile a list of places where people can find real food and natural healthcare. Here is a list of the natural healers on the Shore that I know of:
Alternative Health Sources
Bayside Chiropractic and Laser (Bemer Device)
Dr. Ed Bull
117 Mason Ave
Cape Charles, Virginia 23310
757-331-1190
https://www.facebook.com/BaysideChiropracticRehabLaser/
Breezes Day Spa and Boutique
321 Mason Avenue
Cape Charles, VA 23310
757-331-3108
https://www.facebook.com/BreezesDaySpa/?fref=ts
Eastern Shore Chiropractic Clinic
Dr. Susan Martin
15399 Merry Cat Lane
Belle Haven, VA 23306
757-442-3444
https://www.facebook.com/Eastern-Shore-Chiropractic-Clinic-139228589458743/
Freestyle Yoga
Debra Bosna
22 Strawberry St
Cape Charles, VA 23310
757-710-7172
http://www.thefreestyleyoga.com/
Island Acupuncture
Gail Miller
Suite 13E
Colonial Square
Lankford Highway and Merry Cat Lane
Belle Haven, VA 23306
215-290-6888
http://www.island-acupuncture.com/home.html
Living with Energy (Reflexology)
Marcia D. Fields (BS, RN, MA, HTP)
Carmen D. Fields (ARCB Certified Reflexologist)
757-387-0602
Paloma Healing
Sheila Sheppard
2 Fig Street Suite 204
Cape Charles, VA 23310
804-652-9901
sheila@palomahealing.com
Pinder Massage Therapy
Betsy Pinder
20441 Market Street
Onancock, VA 23417
757-789-7611
https://www.PinderMassage.MassageTherapy.com
Therapeutic Massage for Women
Claire Poole
Watchapreague, VA
Call for Appointment: 757-651-1342
Therapeutic Yoga
Linda Lang
https://www.therapeuticyogadc.com/default.html
https://www.yogaaslifestylemedicine.com/
lindalang@yogaaslifestylemedicine.com
Our chapter meetings are open to everybody and are held every two months at Peacewerks at 3100 Main Street in Exmore. You can contact me at karengreergay@gmail.com and 240-393-5625.
About the Author
I am a disabled Viet Nam combat veteran who is over 70 and I take no meds.
I had a doctor tell me many years ago that taking meds was the beginning of a long road that headed down.
I have been doing t’ai chi and chi gong for many years now, and manage my pain and stress levels that way.
You should add those to your list.
And frankly, I thin k it is positively obscene the way these doctors are stuffing all these drugs down these children.
An interesting and informative article on the relationship between BIG PHARM and doctors is the Marketwatch article “As opioid crisis raged, Insys pushed higher doses of addictive drug and pushed salespeople to ‘own’ doctors” by Emma Court published: Oct 17, 2018.
Paul, I’m so glad that you found a different approach to dealing with PTSD! I’ve always wanted to try t’ai chi and chi gong. Are there any teachers on the Shore? If so, I’ll add them to my list.
You’re right about the pharmaceutical industry and its complicity in the opioid crisis.
Good morning, Karen!
I was wondering that myself about t’ai chi or chi gong on the shore.
I am not sure.
There is a very well-known teacher in Winchester, Va. and there are several t’ai chi centers in that area, but I am not sure about the shore area.
However, thanks to the internet, some high-quality teaching can be accessed through YouTube, and as to chi gong, it is a broad field, with general exercises for fitness, and specific chi gongs for various issues, including women’s health.
Great article, Karen! Thank you for the wealth of information you have shared!
Very informative article. Really appreciated the list of alternative sources.
Thank you for this enlightening information, the resources and for sharing your personal journey to help others.
And let me join my voice to those above, Karen, thanking you for posting this information.
While your resources are for the shore area, the fact is that what is said in the body of your post is of importance to people all over America, especially the title, “A Mind of Our Own!”
Karen, thank you for sharing your experience and information -especially for bringing attention to possible alternative solutions and root cause point of view! You have brought a widened perspective to my thinking for the last few years and an awareness of the importance of eating for health, not just for pleasure. The fight against drug side effects (taking prescribed medications, then more medications to combat side effects of the first, and on and on.) has had a profound effect on several of my family members. As a result, we have started to question every prescribed medication and after performing our own research, reject most. Thank you for bringing awareness, sharing different options and knowledge!!
My mother always told me when young to not put something in my mouth if I didn’t know what it was, and that starts with all these meds and their side effects.
The Sheep will do as they are told. They see Doctors as positions of authority. I see them as a person being paid to provide a service, no different than an electrician or carpenter.
Fools.
Thank you God, for the pharmaceutical companies, doctors and other medical experts that produced the medicines that saved my wife’s life during her SECOND bout with breast cancer, and that are keeping my father alive with his leukemia.
When I hyperextended my knee in British Columbia, the ‘healer’ at the local medical clinic burnt sage around my knee.
It didn’t work.
What a comfort it was to me to know that, Mike, and to hear somebody in America today actually being thankful for something as precious as human life.
And I have absolutely no issues whatsoever with you attributing those miracles to God!
As a disabled veteran alive long after the doctors said I would be, and here, Mike, let me say that the burning of the sage when you hyperextended your knee in British Columbia by the ‘healer’ at the local medical clinic who burnt sage around your knee was only to help you get into the proper meditational frame of mind so you could heal yourself, which is what you have to do, anyway, I give the same kind of thanks each day, Mike, for life.
It didn’t work.
Like you, I treat it as a gift not to be wasted, and your wife and father are blessed to have your prayers, Mike.
Sincere prayers like yours are an essential part of the healing process, from my particular perspective, anyway.
Imagine a world where people wait in line for years
to come here legally, only to watch as thousands
march toward the border in open defiance of our laws.
A world where your nation sends your children to die
for other nations, but you are not allowed to have a
nation for yourself or your children.
A world where you have to remove your shoes at the
airport, but our borders are so porous we have no
idea who is coming in, or what they bring with them.
A world where a political group is intent on
diluting your vote until your vote is meaningless,
so that they will no longer be bothered at all by
the inconvenience of you voting.
Welcome to the agenda of the New Liberal Democratic Party.
Its pawn-foot-soldiers are coming Northward in their
Trojan Horse — towards you, and towards your children.
Mike, I’m so glad that you and your wife found what works for you. I would never suggest that all pharmaceuticals are bad and all natural healing approaches are good. People have different comfort levels with drugs, and yours is very different than mine.
However, in this country, we have three approved approaches to dealing with cancer: cutting (surgery), burning (radiation), and poisoning (chemotherapy). These might be good approaches for some people, but seekers like me prefer the approach of the French scientist Antoine Bechamp, who believed in building one’s immune system to remove the toxic elements that cause disease. Should we develop cancer, we review all options, including conventional medicine, Chinese medicine, homeopathy, and the hundreds of “cures” over the ages, many of which are not even available in this country because of restrictions. Many alternative approaches to healing have been shut down because of the power of the pharmaceutical companies who tell us that there is a one size fits all solution in their drugs. As a result, most people are not aware of, and actually fear, other healing modalities which might have fewer side effects.
Your approach is not mine, but I respect your right to choose your own approach to health,
Sorry about that – I meant the sage apparently did not work for Mike to put him in a meditational state so he could then heal his knee.
It sounds as if perhaps Mike misunderstood what burning of the sage was for, which was to purify.
When faced with someone who has hyperextended his knee, I can see a healer doing that in an effort to calm down Mike’s mind, which certainly would likely be in an agitated state due to the circumstances in which Mike’s knee did become hyperextended, a form of PTSD that burning of the sage was intended to dispel.
I have my own sage bundle, so if I was to somehow hyperextend my knee, I certainly would burn sage and run it around my knee, for the same reason, and why not.
It would be silly not to when the sage bundle is right there at hand, so why not use it.
That’s what I am saying anyway.
Karen, thank you, and right back at ya’. What works, works.
Paul, on the subject of sage and it’s ability to calm and assist, right now Canada is allowing the sale of actual burnables that WORK vis-à-vis relaxation and meditation. Wink wink nudge nudge say no more, eh?
Sage is good on pork.
Also wonderful with a brown butter and sage sauce on butternut squash ravioli.
Feed me that if you really want a relaxed Mike……….;)
The sage you put on pork, however, Mike, is not the same sage you burn to purify.
They are different plants.
As to butternut squash, Mike, mine did quite well, and my sweet potatoes were positively prolific.
My Yukon Golds did well, as well, and are so good roasted in some olive oil.
Healthy eating of food as close to the source as possible is essential for good health, afterall.
I’m hearing what you are saying, Mike, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, a nod’s as good as a blink to a blind man, afterall.
And here’s a thing I think you of all people in here can grasp without going into emotional overload, reliving over and over the trauma and terror of hyperextending your knee in British Columbia, where a local healer burned white sage around your injured knee with the belief that the incense clears away negative thoughts, spirits and dreams as well as illness, something I happen to be truly on board with, the power of a clear mind – once you hyperextended your knee, at that point, you were on your own, and all a healer could do for you would be to help you clear away the bad ju-ju that would get in the way of healing your hyperextended knee, which is entirely possible – I’ve done it myself.
You could have been on the best latest fad diet, eating perhaps only hummis, or you could have been subsisting animal-fat-drenched potatoe chips, and you would still have a hyperextended knee.
Does that mean that there are in fact some things in life that it is outside of the power of diet to control, do you think, having that real life experience of the actual hyperextended knee to recount as you do?
As for me, Mike, if I was there, after the healer dude got done driving away your bad ju-ju with the burning sage, I’d show you some chi gong exercises that would help you to reclaim the use of that knee in a short amount of time, and then it would be up to you, but then, it always has been, anyway, so that would just be more of the same.
Paul, what you say may be true, and I am not arguing it. BUT a quick MRI, plus a knee brace would have actually helped.
And just so ya know, having been a competitive skier, instructor, Ski Patrol and general all around mountain idjit, I have broken my legs 7 times over the years. I am well versed in yoga, meditation and other Eastern practices but still stand by my diagnostic machines and specific use braces.
And if you knew me better, you’d know that my ire decreases in direct proximity to snow covered mountains. Budreaux, I am the most mellow man around with sticks strapped to my feet.
Trauma and terror, you so funny. My right knee has a Kevlar patella cap from when I broke it into a bunch of small pieces when I was 11. To this day it dislocates about 3-4 times a year.
I put it back into place by smacking it into a door frame.
I broke my elbow in 3 places on a Thursday, mountain biking. Friday, wife and I went to Jim Thorpe, Pa for a 35 mile mountain bike tour.
Monday I went to the hospital.
I’m kind of a kook that way, always have been.
Glad to hear the garden turned out well.
Mike, I’m going to burn some sage for you.
After all you have put yourself through, and not only survived, but actually thrived, which is a testament to that old saying about what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, it certainly won’t hurt.
And yoga never clicked for me, Mike.
That’s why I do t’ai chi and chi gong.
The sage a gourmand like yourself, Mike, puts on your pork to make it taste real yummy, as it should, and why not, is what is known as common sage, also known as Salvia officianalis, garden sage and kitchen sage, and as you point out so eloquently and indeed poignantly above, it is used commonly to add flavor in cooking, but also for medicinal purposes, although it is not burned.
According to Nerys Purchon, in her book “The Essential Natural Health Bible,” common sage is the type of sage most often used for medicinal purposes such as throat and mouth ailments, such as sores and laryngitis, and also it is used for skin ailments, such as sores, wounds and abscesses.
However, and I think as rational adults we both can see this as clear as the nose on our faces, there was nothing direct that common sage was going to do for your hyperextended knee, and that is something we both just have to accept, Mike.
Did they try to get you take some kind of opioid, I wonder?
“Take some of this ****, Mike, and you won’t even know you have a knee, let alone the fact that you messed it up pretty good by hyperextending, dude, whatever were you thinking?”
The sage I am talking about, while a member of the same family as common sage, both of which are a part of the Salvia L. genus of the mint family, classified as Lamiaceae, a genus which incidentally contains many types of sage in additional to these two, including Clary sage, Lyreleaf sage, Mediterranean sage, Silver sage, Azure Blue sage and Purple sage, such are the wonders of nature, Mike, is white sage, or Salvia apiana, the seeds of which were used by Native Americans as food and to heal their eyes, while the roots were used after birth for healing, and the leaves were used for numerous medicinal purposes, such as a cold remedy or shampoo, to treat sinus problems and to control lactation.
The leaves were burned in ceremonies to purify and cleanse, and the sage is burned with the belief that the incense clears away negative thoughts, spirits and dreams as well as illness.