In this unprecedented time of self isolation and suffering it is the opportunity to seize the moment. The monastery has come to us.
What to do:
Relish this period of slowing down to be here now. Explore the present moment. Every time you are aware you have leaned forward into the future or leaned back into the past; come back NOW to this exquisite moment before it slips away. What is present in the moment for you to See, Hear, Feel? How can this present moment support you?
Thank you for keeping in touch as we try to stay on top of changes required to keep the more vulnerable members of our community healthy.
Our reception desk remains open to ensure you can refill your prescriptions and schedule or manage your telemedicine appointments with our team. However, our office hours have been reduced slightly:
10:00am to 4:00pm
Monday to Friday
**Please call or email ahead to have your prescription/supplement order prepared and paid for in advance.**
This accommodates social distancing guidelines. If you’re concerned about entering our clinic, give us a call from the parking lot so that we can deliver your package to your car.
When the going gets tough, the tough get cooking. And maybe from pantry ingredients that you are not used to having to rely on for meals.
Here’s a FREE resource for you. A Bite out of Life recipe book, featuring 20 meal ideas that you can cook up using just pantry staples – canned, dry goods, frozen options. So you are not resorting to eating ‘storm chips’ and take-out every single day!
There are a few things I’ve always wanted to try, but there were always so many people around me, it would’ve been inconsiderate! Maybe you can relate? And if I only had a bit more time, there are activities I would enjoy learning and experimenting with from home. I’ve compiled a short list of healthy experiments here on the chance that they support your health in deeper ways during this challenging time.
What is Lyme Disease? This question seems simple enough, and perhaps for the people who successfully recover on their own or with an antibiotic, the answer is simple. But for the 5% to 20% of individuals who develop persistent, debilitating symptoms for months to years after the initial infection, the definition is anything but simple. Depending on the circle you run in, the illness is called Chronic Immune Dysfunction (CID), Multi-Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome (MSIDS), Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Chronic Lyme Disease, Persistent Lyme Disease, or it plain just doesn’t exist.
A few years ago, on completing an intense months-long pharmacology course, I was shocked to learn that keeping a baby’s fever down with ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) will NOT prevent febrile seizures. While parents are now more widely aware of this myth, patients and practitioners still seem generally unaware of the possibility that blocking a low-grade fever could be harmful.
To our clients, your family members, and our community,
It’s here. And we’re here to help.
Our health facility will remain open over the coming weeks, but we ask that you take Public Health guidelines seriously and do not visit our clinic if you have any reason to suspect that you may be carrying the COVID-19 (“corona”) virus. This includes:
Public Health advises that all individuals who fit these guidelines stay at home (self-isolate) and call Telehealth Ontario (1-866-797-0000) or their local public health facility (613-549-1232).
We’re suspending late cancellation fees for the upcoming 3 weeks and want to be sure you know that all of our Naturopathic Doctors, Holistic Nutritionists, and Clinical Pharmacist offer online and telephone consultations. (Please call or email us directly to schedule this kind of appointment.)
This isn’t about “feeding the fear”. It’s about necessary sacrifice to protect our public healthcare system so that vulnerable people have the medical attention they need. Pandemics spread exponentially, meaning that even though only a few cases are currently reported, these few cases can become hundreds or more within hours, which could overwhelm our hospitals. We need to blunt the curve and ensure a slower spread so that the few people who do need care, can access it.
Our immune systems are built to address viruses such as these and certainly the far majority of people experience only mild symptoms, if any at all. Many of our patients are already familiar with ways of supporting optimal immune function – please read our past blog for more ideas (more to come!) or give us a call for more support.
Dr. Sonya Nobbe, ND, Clinic Director
You cannot turn on the radio or open social media these days without seeing something about the global spread of infections and viruses. Whether it is the COVID-19, seasonal influenza or the rapid spread of Lyme disease year on year, one thing is for certain: our immune systems have never been more critical to our good health. And more under siege.
Helping our patients recover from complex chronic infections has taught us a great deal about the power and fragility of the human immune system. We’ve learned to respect a virus’s incredible capacity to circumvent our body’s well-constructed defences (acquired over billions of years of evolution). We’ve also learned to source natural ingredients that support our immune system in ways that pharmaceutical science has yet to replicate and make accessible.
As an ND who focuses on women’s health in my practice, it is not uncommon for me to see patients in their late 30s or early 40s complaining of heavy, frequent periods. Often these are accompanied by other frustrating symptoms such as painful cramping, breast tenderness, headaches, insomnia, and irritability. As annoying as these symptoms are, however, heavy bleeding is the one most likely to cause serious problems with anemia or blood loss, and potentially lead to recommendations for uterine ablation or hysterectomy. In the meantime, women may be prescribed hormone replacement therapies such as hormone based IUDs, the ‘pill’ or HRT, which can themselves cause other adverse effects.
Adapted from Trish’s blog: Bite out of Life
So, we’re going through the ABC’s of Healthy Hormones and well, it seems I got a tad carried away with “F”…We have a whopping four of them as well as an ‘F’ recipe, so I’m counting it as five!
Today, we’re talkin’ Fibre, Fluids, Ferments, Fitness and for fun (see how I did that? LOL), the recipe of the week is Figs, Flax ’n Ferment. Phew.
To many, my ‘F’s’ are just a random list of ‘healthy things we should all be doing’ (and you’re not wrong!) but perhaps more importantly, they also relate to the removal of toxins – which is vital when you are looking at a healthy hormone system.
