What if when you came to your doctor for an annual exam, you were asked not only if you were taking any new medications or when your last mammogram was. Imagine if you were also asked every year if you were happy in your relationship and your current work situation. Then you were guided towards the proper program tailored to helping you. Imagine if you were asked if you would like someone to work closely with you on your nutrition, guiding you on how to follow the most beneficial diet for YOUR body. Imagine that instead of your doctor simply telling you that you need to lower stress (This approach rarely works btw), your doctor prescribed a meditation course, fully covered by insurance. Imagine that before suggesting surgery for lower back pain, your doctor gave you a prescription for yoga and an anti-inflammatory diet.
I see this as the future of medicine. By making these crucial elements part of standardized healthcare (along with continuing to discover helpful pharmaceuticals and gathering more research on botanical medicine, etc.), we will lower the cost of healthcare and greatly increase the quality of life for patients. Your annual exam will not just be for catching disease after it has started. It will be for preventing disease before it starts AND for helping you to live a fulfilling, vibrant life. We are not just here to survive, are we? We are living, growing, evolving beings and our healthcare should reflect that.
Over and over again I see that to help someone with chronic illness, I need to help them with their lives. If we only use medication we are putting a loose band-aid on the injury. If we use herbs, homeopathy, and diet, the healing is much more sustainable. If we help people so that their relationships, career, home life, mindset and spiritual life are all in alignment with healing, anything is possible for them.
