Are you doing everything right and still not feeling well?

I often get clients coming to see me having done a load of blood work with their GP , which have all come back fine but they are still feeling awful. They have been taking a load of trendy supplements that just aren’t doing anything. It frustrates me that so many people are living a sub-optimal standard of life. Mainly coping on a day-to-day and then completely crashing when things get a bit tough.

I want my clients to be optimising their health, to be thriving and with plenty of energy in the bank, so when times get tough there is enough to get you through until you can recharge again. Life throws us curveballs and we never know when they are going to hit, so ensuring you have those resources, as well as supporting your health resilience and future health is my goal for my clients.

It always starts with the foundations though. Get your health foundations right and you might not need a super-supplement. Your body just needs to rebalance and have what it needs to heal.

AND THAT IS WHERE NATUROPATHY COMES IN

I spend a good 1 hour and a half - maybe 2 hours doing a full initial consultation, taking my client back to their birth and going through a full health history. We discuss illnesses but also difficult times in their life, anything they want to share is completely relevant and important for me to get an understanding of what their body has gone through.

I always say your symptoms are your messengers and I encourage my clients to share anything. I want to hear the conversation the body is having. I want to hear every symptom. I often say, “Feel free to moan, this is your time and space”. We do tend to put up with things and I often hear about clients just “getting on with it” but I believe all of these signs are messengers from the body that it needs help and support and I am determined to listen and offer it.

I really love what I do. It is my purpose and I am invested in my client’s health as much as my client has invested in me.

This is why the initial consultation is so important to me and why I don’t do online consultation forms. I want to hear the story and often what a client shares in that moment, may not be what they would have typed up in a form. I also find I become much more attached to the client’s story, remember the details better when I hear it, rather than read it. And having been a holistic therapist now for 20 years, I am well practiced at hearing the sighs, the uncomfortable coughs, the body language, the pauses and what they might mean or a signal that might lead me to probe a little deeper. These are an important part of understanding what the body needs to heal. And an essential part of how I work with my clients and understanding them and their needs.

For me it is important to get an understanding of the foundations of the body. Get the foundations right, then we are in a much better position to trigger healing mechanisms. The body is designed to rebalance and heal and its primary goal is to keep you well and healthy. So I want to understand what is getting in the way of that?

Is there a nutritional deficiency? Lacking in minerals or vitamins or amino acids or neurotransmitters?

Is the diet lacking in nutrients?

How is the digestion? Are they digesting and absorbing their food well - could there be a malabsorption issue?

Are there issues with constipation or diarrhoea - is food passing through too quickly for the body to absorb or is it stagnating in the gut and causing a toxic load?

Could there be a bacterial or fungal overgrowth?

Could there be a parasite?

Could there be a chance of a leaky gut - allowing toxins to pass through the gut wall and back into the blood stream and cause a toxic load on the body?

Are there signs of inflammation?

Could there be a viral load?

How is the immune system working?

How is the hormone balanced?

Is the thyroid working optimally?

What are their stress levels, how are their adrenals coping?

How are they sleeping? Are they making time for rest and repair and recuperation?

Are they exercising?

How are they breathing? Are they breathing in a shallow way?

How are they detoxing? Are they clearing toxins well? Are there signs of liver stagnation or a kidney imbalance?

Is there mucus?

Is their lymphatic system working well?

What is the skin like? Any rashes? Any moles?

I like to do a tongue analysis to see if there are any signs of a weak digestion, nutrient deficiencies, stagnation, heat, sores on the tongue or mouth etc

We need to get the foundations right in the body - what does this person need at this time of their life and with this lifestyle? In my mind, I map out the body’s systems and try and see what might be missing for that client. Trying to work out the root cause can take some detective work but it is something I focus on to get the best results.

I use a holistic approach with nutritional recommendations alongside maybe supplements, adaptogens, herbal medicine, homeobotanical remedies, Ayurvedic principles and Naturopathic techniques to create a very personalised plan and an individual toolkit to support my clients health.

For most clients my plans will start at gut health; improve digestion, optimise absorption of nutrients, balance gut microbiome and improve detoxification pathways.

There is usually a focus on rebalancing hormones which might be sex hormones or stress hormones etc

And bring in some relevant self care practices to support the nervous system.

Optimising organ functions and clearing any toxic build up would often be a part of the treatment plan.

Then we are resetting the terrain - the environment of the body. We balance and nurture the body into a space to heal and then we optimise health so you can really thrive.