The Art & Practice Blog
Listening to My Body (and why my pants are too tight)
I am in my grade 12 photography class. I am 17 years old. I have my head on the desk in abject despair, as I succumb to the intense stress that was my last year of high school, where every academic move I made would dictate my future. I remember catching sight of my...
What is a Naturopathic Doctor Worth?
I am afraid of money, especially when combined with health and medicine. Coming from a nation like Canada, it has been ingrained in the fibre of my being that healthcare should be completely accessible, read: free. As I embark on opening up a private practice as a...
How to Avoid Diarrhea While Traveling in India
"So, I hovered, I shat and I cried." Recalled my friend S as she told me about her Christmas Eve on a Chinese train. You hover because there are only holes in the floor for toilets on Chinese trains. Ditto for Indian trains - although in second class they...
Naturopathy Infographic
Do you love and believe in naturopathic medicine but feel at a loss to describe it to your family and friends? Despair no more. Those at the YinOva Center in New York have created a cool infographic about naturopathic medicine, which "Alex" was kind enough to share...
Having a Healthy Birth Control Pill Experience
There are many reasons to start using the birth control pill. Some of them are not-so-great: dealing with painful menstruation, acne, irregular periods or ovarian cysts - there are other, natural ways to manage these health concerns with fewer side effects and health...
Simplify Your Life in 7 Easy Ways
Deadlines, electronic medical records, parking tickets, paper grading and the cost of rent in Toronto. What do these seemingly varied delights all have in common? They all contribute to complicating our lives and do nothing more than turn the drip-rate up on our...
Some Reflections on Not Being Able To Eat Things
I have been gluten-free since the Spring of 2012 when I moved out of my Italian grandmother (Nonna)'s house and stopped being confronted by a daily arsenal of pasta and bread. Being gluten-free is not hard; it's only when you combine it with a dairy-free existence...
“Poof! All Better!”: The Allure of the Panacea
"Once Henry discovered that the autoimmune disease was a manifestation of his own self-criticism, his symptoms slowly began to subside." "I told the couple to stop spending so much time together. They were then able to rekindle their desire and found that their sex...
A Meditation on Appearances
From the Art & Practice draft archives. Things aren't always what they seem. So goes the old adage. The smiling mother chasing her kids in the park may be battling an ugly divorce or struggling with the guilt of a turbid affair. The white picket fence may not...
Yes, I Drink Coffee
I've had two coffees today and I'm not ashamed. Sometimes I even have three. Today was a good day. The caffeine flowing through my veins powers my legs down Yonge Street as my calves tighten - good thing I'm on magnesium - and my spine bends in response to the weight...
10 Tips for A Vibrant NPLEXperience!
1) Stimulate your Liver Qi. Embarrass yourself at grad formal. Have them reprint your award with the same word misspelled. Create an online dating profile. Get a day job and surround yourself by a species of human that is still trying to figure out what gluten is....
7 Reasons For MDs to Collaborate with NDs
Dear Medical Doctor, I am a naturopathic physician. On a Facebook page hosted by some peers in my profession, a young naturopathic doctor expressed distress at having her attempt to forge ties with one of her patients' medical doctor thwarted. Needing her patient to...
We Are
We are recycled star dust That reshapes our entire body every 7 years. Which means I'm just about finished with my 4th body. And when I stare at the night sky, I might be looking at body number 5 Or reminiscing with the previous 3. I am the wind, the rain, the earth,...
Ode to NPLEX 2 (an acrostic poem)
Nalexone or naproxen: one's an NSAID. After a month, they're not straight in my head. Porphyria is different from diphtheria. Now who can remember which diagnostic criteria includes Left shifts? Or is it left shunts? And what's that condition where the intestinal...
Gratitude Journal
im grateful for long flowing skirts that blow in the summer breeze and weather that's appropriate for wearing them. im grateful for the spanish language and the smiling people who speak it and the songs sung in it with deep, crooning voices. im grateful for playlists...
On trust, control, yerba mate and other interesting things
"There are a lot of things up in the air in my life right now." My friend, S, told me as we sat on the grass enjoying the first of two yerba mate-and-chit-chat experiences I'd partake in in the following two days. "I just have to trust that things will eventually...
A Letter to an ND Graduate
If any of you have been my patients you know that I love assigning letter-writing homework. There is something powerful in expressing yourself to some person or entity with the written word and then being able to look back and reflect on your thoughts and feelings at...
On Climbing Mountains
There is nothing wrong with living on flat ground. In fact, it can be quite gratifying and liberating. You can walk in whichever direction you choose: right, left, east, west, diagonally. Flat ground is safe. It's familiar. However, after a while, it becomes...
How to Train Your Dragon
I woke up in the middle of the night to find the dragon lying in my bed. Snoring politely, he looked very small, about the size of a beagle. He was staying on his side of the bed, so I tried to get back to sleep. I'd met this beast before and knew he often brought...
What is a Naturopathic Doctor? (+ video)
The class of 2014 has graduated! I've received an email showing that I've officially completed my clinic numbers for the term. What has followed in the past few weeks has been a whirlwind of emotions: euphoria, exhaustion, excitement, sadness, grief, accomplishment,...