by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | May 24, 2013 | Beauty, Nature, Nature Cure, Outdoors, Parks, Photography, Summer
Every year in High Park, in Toronto, thousands of tourists gather to see the cherry blossoms. These puffy white-pink clouds create a feeling of lightness and cast surreal shadows over the grass. Families park themselves for the day to enjoy the fluffy pink caves of flowers, individuals do yoga flows on the grass, tourists snap pictures, couples snuggle under the puffy canopies. It’s a beautiful sight, and a great free, natural event to attend as we celebrate the ever-changing phenomenon that is nature. Here are some shots I took while enjoying the sites with family, friends and my beloved dog, Coco.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | May 16, 2013 | Balance, Community, Culture, DIY, Family, Finding yourself, Happiness, Health, Letting Go, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Nature, Nature Cure, Philosophy, Relationships, Spirituality, Stress
Taganga, Colombia
What does space mean to you? Is it a necessity? A status symbol? A burden?
A friend and I recently went to see a documentary at the Toronto Hot Docs festival called Tiny: A Story About Living Small. The doc follows a young couple who embark on the project of building their own tiny house, measuring roughly 100 square metres, in order to secure their footing in an increasingly growing movement of downsizing living spaces in favour of simplicity.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Dec 12, 2012 | Animals, Balance, Health, Mindfulness, Nature, Nature Cure, Naturopathic Philosophy, Nutrition, Outdoors, Parks, Pets, Philosophy, Writing
I realized it one day, while spending a particularly delicious Saturday in one of the armchairs of the living room, feeling the sun warm my back as it streamed through the shutters: for the first time in a while, I didn’t feel stressed. Coco was draped across my back, lying on the back of the chair. As if on cue, he let out a long puff of a sigh, his eyes closed. Coco is never stressed, I thought to myself. And then I realized it: Coco is more naturopathic than any doctor could hope to be. As Dr. Stargrove said, at The Gathering in Chicago, “nature knows more than doctors ever will.” And Coco, with is furry body and leathery paws is much closer to nature than any of us will ever be.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Dec 3, 2012 | Colombia, Nature, Outdoors, Philosophy, Photography, Travel, Travel Stories
The trail in Tairona National Park, from the entrance of the park to the campsite we stayed at, took 4 hours to hike. Burdened with heavy backpacks and cotton shirts sticking to our backs with humid sweat, we traipsed through the jungle. Straw hats scratching hairlines, shoulder straps pressing into flesh and legs shuddering with the extra weight we climbed, feeling the rain tickling our skin, diluting our sweat in the hot, sticky air. There was nowhere to go but onward.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Nov 12, 2012 | Acupuncture, Addiction, Balance, Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Community, Culture, Health, Mental Health, Nature, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Professional Development, Student, Treating the Cause
As we often hear in our classes, one of the biggest risk factors for a variety of chronic, debilitating diseases, from diabetes to ADHD, is low socioeconomic status. Sadly, even in a country like Canada, in the year 2012, we see that socioeconomic status continues to be a vicious cycle that entraps its victims in a web of dis-empowerment when it comes to issues concerning health.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Oct 25, 2012 | Balance, Health, Nature, Nature Cure, Naturopathic Philosophy, Naturopathic Principles, Philosophy, Supplements
It’s astounding when I reflect on the fact that three years of immersion in naturopathic medical philosophy haven’t remedied the need for a quick-fix pill. The pill itself has changed, to become more “natural” (with the assumption that natural is far superior to a synthetic derivative of the same drug with similar pharmaceutical effects), but our desire remains the same.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Oct 22, 2012 | Animals, Balance, Botanical Medicine, Colour, Exams, Exercise, Health, Mental Health, Nature, Nature Cure, Outdoors, Parks, Pets, Photography
October 19, 2012 ends another successful midterm week at CCNM. Not including our NPLEX 1 board exam, which was written in August, our first midterm week of 3rd year ticks a grand total of 61 CCNM exams off our growing lists.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Oct 11, 2012 | Health, Nature, Nutrition, Photography
While health magazines and other marketing campaigns often make it sound so complicated, the secrets to good health are simple: consume good food, drink water, exercise and reduce stress. We all intuitively know that obtaining great health is not found in a bottle, fad diet or the latest exercise craze. Most of these tips you’ve probably heard already, but allow me to lay them out for you all at once.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Sep 24, 2012 | Asian Medicine, Balance, Beauty, Health, Mental Health, Nature, Nature Cure, Outdoors, Parks, Pets, Photography, Stress, Student
Now that we’re into fall it seems like I have a to-do list a mile long. Fortunately, even in a city like Toronto, there is still the opportunity to find the space between all the things that have to be done and slow down by doing some Shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing”.
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by Dr. Talia Marcheggiani, ND | Sep 10, 2012 | Art, Colombia, Nature, Nature Cure, Photography, South America, Travel
Treat yourself to some visual nature cure with green scenes from Colombian towns around Bogotá and Medellín. 2012.
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