As a Naturopathic Health Coach and Herbalist, I work to restore health through Nature.
Which is a kind of odd statement, since we are also Nature. When we realign to our true nature we invite in more balance and flow. Flow + Balance = Health.
What I’m referring to here is our Inner Nature, that which makes us human, alive and distinctly individual. And when I speak of enlisting the help of Nature, I mean that of our external environment, particularly our green plant allies. And not only ingesting them as tonics, powders and teas, but also the energy of nature, either when immersed in a natural environment, or in direct intimate connection to a particular species of the more than human world.
Because Nature has left its imprint on us, and as a consequence of this, when our senses are enlivened, be it vision, smell, taste, sound, or touch, (including being deeply touched emotionally), our primitive brain is soothed. Nature cues safety, after years of evolving in close connection. And this sense of ease grows the more and more time we spend in Nature, the more intimately acquainted we become, familiarising with our plant, animal, fungal, elemental and expansive natural world.
For me, Nature is a strategy to receive healing and restoration. It brings me back to myself. Back in to balance. Into a sense of being back on the path meant for me.
And this is a highly relational experience. In terms of our outer environment influencing our inner environment through either herbal medicine, or interacting in some other way with nature. It is an interplay of chemicals both outside of us, (exogenous); that of plant chemicals, to our own internal (endogenous) chemicals including, neurotransmitters and hormones. Our endogenous chemicals are highly responsive to both ingesting plant medicines and to the experience of being immersed in the natural environment.
As a Health Coach and Herbalist this interplay is very exciting! Especially in relation to my particular interest in nervous system health and restoration. This has come about via my own experience as a Highly Sensitive Person (Elaine Aron, 2017) having had experienced a phase of nervous system exhaustion, and also because I am highly aware of how many other people are out there trying to navigate their world with shattered nervous systems, very much in need of restoration.
Having come out the other end, my experience tells me that what’s needed for deep restoration is attending to our inner environment, our external environment and our way of life. Amazingly this is what Hippocrates knew over 2000 years ago, which to me seems like a universal truth. How can we not be influenced by the water in which we swim? How can our lives not be the result of how we choose to live it? How can our inner world not dictate how we experience the world?
I also love Galen’s theory of Health, and see it as accurate today as it ever was. Galen said that there are 6 factors over which we have some control in regard to our health; air & environment, food & fasting, sleep & wake, motion & rest, retention & evacuation, and passions of the mind, (Berryman, 2012, The Lancet)
Over the past month I have been holding an online ‘Get Outdoors in December’ Challenge. We’re now on day 22 and as I reflect on the influence to our health of ‘air & environment’, I would say that my own experience of more outdoor time has had a really big impact upon my health and wellbeing. So much so that I do wonder if Galen could have been referring to the balance between indoor and outdoor air & environment.
I love to keep in mind Galen’s obvious insight of “when in need of motion, exercise is healthy and rest morbid, when in need of a break, rest is healthy and exercise morbid”. He referred to this mindful practice as an ‘Art of Health’, and indeed it is an art, as it is ever changing and we are required to enlist our power of self-awareness and conscious choice, to meet our moment by moment needs.
I also love that my mind has expanded Galen’s ‘retention & evacuation’ element to mean more than simply excrement, (not to play down the importance of bowel health, I am a Herbalist after all!). What comes to mind for me as a Health Coach is the holding on of thoughts and beliefs which no longer serve, which become toxic and cause disease if not released.
It sounds like simple stuff because it is! And yet how many of us are living our lives mindfully moment by moment, able to make conscious choices about when and how long to rest or sleep to restore, or fast, or get moving, or get out, or let go, or switch off from mental stimulation? (I apply ‘motion & rest’ not only to physical movement, but also to the ‘active & restful mind’).
What comes up for me here is that when we are aware of our needs in the moment and can act upon them accordingly, our mind, body, and spirit experience a kind of rested state, or state of ease. In particular it signifies nervous system rest, in terms of being of parasympathetic control, that rest, digest and restore state. In this state we have more access to our virtues of patience, joy, creativity and love.
Bringing mindfulness into our daily habits helps us get to know ourselves better. We start to recognise patterns, habits and pastimes that are supportive and life giving, naturally allowing the evacuation of life-depleting daily practices.
In terms of the nervous system, an overdose of what we don’t need holds us too long in sympathetic nervous system functioning, which is highly depleting and exhausts our inner resources. Moving towards the opposite end of the continuum will provide restoration; and that is the ‘Art of Health’ as outlined by Galen, as true today as it ever was!
This is great news for me as a Health Coach interested in how to restore the integrity of the nervous system. I can offer deep listening so that you can become more aware of your own needs and take simple action in meeting them. I can act as the thermostat so you can benefit from the co-regulation provided by my rested nervous system.
Galen includes ‘passions of the mind’ which translates to emotions, knowing that they are as important as any of the other factors in terms of health. I’d say that emotions are an aspect of us that are relational, often dependent upon our environment and who we share it with. I would like to add a 7th factor to Galen’s theory of balanced health, that of ‘solitude and company’, in recognition of the importance of community and of time alone, both being excellent either for co-regulation and introspection.
His ‘passions of the mind’ also reminds me of how our mindset and beliefs play the hugest part in our emotional state. Fixed mindsets are strong barriers to growth and movement, and attention to a mindset block may be all that’s required to create health freedom.
‘The concept of ‘motion & rest’ could also be seen as ‘action & reflection’. Oftentimes an imbalance of one or the other causes disease, such as in constant action leading to exhaustion, or continual analysis leading to paralysis or depressed state. Both involve anxiety.
This brings me to remember that health is a continual movement from one to the other. Action must always follow reflection and reflection must always follow action, in order that we keep evolving.
This is kind of the essence of Coaching. You take action, then in session we reflect on how it went and make a decision on what to do next. Week by week. Conscious choice by conscious choice. Consciously creating your own reality in alignment with what really matters to you.
What I love about Health Coaching is that it is preventative medicine. It helps us face and move away from dysfunctional or imbalanced lifestyles that are the path to disease. It is empowering through the creation of a lifestyle that supports ongoing health in mind, body and spirit. It puts our health first so that we can really be present for the people we love, and the work we love.
I love coaching people into a healthier experience of life. I love so much that herbs can make all the difference by supporting the restoration of the nervous system in a big way. Providing the plant chemicals that feed, nourish and encourage natural healing from within. They build-up and strengthen, increasing our capacity to manage stress. They take the edge off so that we really can make the necessary lifestyle changes that make all the difference to our experience. Herbs can soothe, uplift and restore.
If you want to experience the powerful combination of Health Coaching and Herbal Medicine for nervous system restoration, get in touch, I’d love to share the ‘Art of Health’ with you!
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