PRACTITIONER PROFILE
Celebrating 30 + years of ATMS membership
Alan Oxley
What has kept you practising for 30 + years ? The people , my clients . The mutual learning experiences . To quote T . S . Eliott
Recently , Dr R . Naviaux showed that the cell ’ s healing cycle has three checkpoints . When one or more of these checkpoints become blocked , the healing cycle stops and this can lead to many chronic conditions . To reverse chronic conditions , the healing cycle needs to be restored and that means these checkpoints need to be unblocked .
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time .
What have been the most important changes to natural medicine you have seen during your career ? Not only general acceptance , but GPs are now referring people . Going from “ new age hippies ” to respected practitioners who really do have something to offer . Persistent and credible information over time is slowly paying off .
How do you envisage natural medicine developing over the next 30 years ? With targeted education . When I was a newbie masseur I learnt that if you can help and educate the mothers , then not only do you have loyal clients you have a fantastic advertising source . Mothers know that if they are to take care of their family they have to be fit and well .
What advice do you have for today ’ s emerging practitioners ? You can ’ t “ fix ” everyone , especially if you are not putting your health first . Be your own advertisement for health . Pace yourself and either find a support group or build one with other like-minded practitioners .
Anke Koelman
What has kept you practising for 30 + years ? I have always been fascinated by chronic diseases . Our bodies have an in-built natural healing capacity , so why doesn ’ t it heal itself ? Doesn ’ t it know that it is sick ?
The occurrence of autism spectrum disorders in children and chronic diseases in adults have risen dramatically over the last 60 years . At the same time , the amount of toxins in our environment and diet have risen dramatically as well . This may be an indication that our healing mechanisms can become blocked . If this is the case , it raises the question : What is blocking it and can you unblock it and thereby reverse the chronic condition ? My passion is to find out why the body ’ s own healing mechanisms are switched off and what we need to do to switch them on again .
Natural medicine offers many tools for identifying and removing the emotional and biochemical stressors that can block these checkpoints . Once the checkpoints are clear , the body will be able to complete the healing cycle and restore homeostasis , thereby reversing the chronic condition .
What have been the most important changes to natural medicine you have seen during your career ? During my career , the most important changes to natural medicine have been the discovery of the importance of our microbiome and the bi-directional gut-brain connection . This provides a mechanism for explaining how emotional stress affects the gut flora and how a poor gut flora can lead to anxiety , depression , brain fog , autism spectrum disorders and other neurological conditions ..
How do you envisage natural medicine developing over the next 30 years ? My vision for the future is that natural medicine will become a way of life for most people , where people are educated about optimising and maintaining their health through diet and lifestyle , thus preventing the onset and progression of chronic degenerative conditions . Natural medicine practitioners can further assist people in improving their health by :
• dealing with emotional stresses and trauma
• providing them with nutritional supplements that will be helpful in assisting the body in removing toxins , dealing with infections and reducing inflammation as well as for cell repair and maintaining optimum health and function
• balancing and optimising the microbiome and virome in every organ and system of the body
What advice do you have for today ’ s emerging practitioners ? Natural medicine has the ability to assist the body in healing itself . Chronic diseases and neuro-developmental conditions that affect both adults and children have risen dramatically in the 21st century . They are the result of many changes in our environment and diet , an increased use of pharmaceutical drugs , exposure to toxins , infections , trauma as well as ongoing emotional stress . Natural medicine can help in identifying and addressing the root causes of these conditions by offering a multi-faceted approach for removing stressors and adding whatever the body needs to enable it to heal itself . The good news is that Dr Naviaux ’ s research has shown that , unless too much damage is already done by the disease process , almost all neuro-developmental conditions and chronic diseases are reversible .
38 | vol29 | no1 | JATMS