Serenity
Serenity, in New Age culture, usually depicts the complacent grin of someone who has risen "above it all". Clad in white robes, with a wooden chain of prayer beads strung around the neck, this serene being does 10-day meditation retreats, feels at home in lotus pose...
Toronto: Filled with PRIDE!
On Canada Day, Sunday, July 1, both temperatures and spirits were high as millions of Torontonians joined together to celebrate the biggest celebration of LGBT rights in North America: the Toronto Pride Parade! On the corner of Yonge and Gerrard of downtown Toronto, I...
6 Uses for Castor Oil
At a teacher training I recently attended, we were given the task of deciding what we would take with us if we were to go to a deserted island. While other people chose things like hatchets, food, water (and a boat), I automatically thought: castor oil! Sometimes I...
Another Failed Attempt at Studying for NPLEX 1
Yonge and Bloor, downtown Toronto, Canada at approximately 2:00 pm. Thursday, June 21. I finish teaching ESL for the day and enter the Toronto Reference Library, a $5 Starbucks strawberry banana whey protein smoothie in hand, sunglasses resting on the top of my head...
Spring Simplicity
A few days ago I was faced with the challenge of moving out of the third floor of Nonna's house. This meant that I was going to have to complete the impossible task of squeezing the entire contents of an apartment-sized room into my modest-sized childhood bedroom....
RENT: Viva la vie boheme!
I am a huge fan of the theatre. With one outlier in mind, there has never been a live performance that I didn't completely enjoy (the exception happened to be a 3-hour monologue about Simon Bolívar). Every other experience, no matter what the production budget is,...
I Got the NPLEX Blues…
I am decidedly an empiricist. No, this doesn't mean that as a child I used to hover over ant hills with a magnifying glass, observing uncanny details about ant anatomy or looking at leaves under a microscope. Well, maybe like all children I did this, but that kind...
Woofstock 2012
For those of you loyal readers who have been hoping things on this blog would lighten up a bit, be careful what you wish for. Introducing the lightest topic on the planet: Woofstock 2012, the largest festival for dogs in North America. The event, held at St. Lawrence...
Dear Dalton
Dear Dalton McGuinty, premier of Ontario Can you spare me $50,000? I swear to you that my reasons for asking for it are pure; I just want to heal people. You see, I am studying to be a naturopathic doctor. I want to cure disease and make the world a better place,...
Just For Today…
After publishing my last post I felt a giant weight release itself from somewhere behind my sternum like a great knot loosening. In truth, I actually felt the weight release twice with respect to that particular issue; the first time was when I wrote the article, the...
My Zen Master
I used to play in the laneway behind Clinton and Bloor, in Toronto's west end. The laneway marked the arteries of my childhood world, directing me to the shops on Bloor, Honest Ed's and Christie Pits park. Walking south through the lane I'd hold my nose, close my...
Why Do Italian Men Grow Mustaches…?
An old Italian joke goes: Why do Italian men grow mustaches? A: So that they can look like their mothers. Hehehe... Things are usually humorous only when they hold a certain truth and, boy, do I understand such a truth. Having Italian heritage on my father's side...
Naturopathic Summer Read: Cutting For Stone
While suffering through the damp, dark remaining months of 2nd year of naturopathic medical school, camped out in middle-of-nowhere North York, I began to have intense emotional cravings for summer. In Canada, summer is a cherished season. When it hits, we live it...
At What Level Do You Experience Life?
India's homeopathic hero, R. Sankaran, developed a theory for dosing homeopathic remedies. Homeopathic remedies are substances that are highly diluted. It is thought that the more diluted the remedy the more potent the dose, because of the remedy's ability to...
Cuba Libre
Canada is an interesting country. The people are careful in our friendliness and things are often left to understanding and not words. Kind gestures extend as part of conscious guilt and an aversion to making waves: please, thank you, sorry, sorry, sorry. A kind...
The “Grain-Free and Carefree” Cookie
The recipe for these Celiac-friendly cookies were given to me by a neighbour, a fellow artist, who fell in love with naturopathic medicine after visiting a naturopath for treatment for her Crohn's Disease. She shared with my family this recipe for dairy and gluten...
The Seven A’s of Healing
As soon as exams screamed to a halt, I embarked on my summer reading list starting with When the Body Says No, by Canadian author and medical doctor, Gabor Maté. This book explores the mind-body connection, the relationship between stress, especially due to familial...
Channel Your Inner Diva
It's time to talk about everybody's favourite health topic: menstruation! My own personal story begins when I made the big switch from pads to tampons after joining the high school swim team and starting a part time job as a lifeguard. I started wearing tampons...
Put Down Those Glasses of Milk!
In North American society, we are conditioned to believe that we should consume 1200-1500mg of calcium a day in order to prevent osteoporosis in our later years. Parents feel they are unfit if they do not forcefeed their children 3 servings of dairy products (almost...
Algunos Recuerdos
Some photographic memories from Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. 2009.