IconAtul
Shah and Naturopathy.
I went into my local Health Food Shop and asked if they kept a register of alternative practitioners because I wanted to go back to the very basics of natural health. I was looking for a Naturopath. I looked in Yellow Pages and Atul’s name was the first listed. I also knew at that time that I wanted someone to be in partnership with me with my health. Not a dogmatist or a bully or a disinterested detached other human being. Along with a strong desire to be well, I also had this huge demand. However a number of years later, transformed in my health and way of life, others have noticed the change in my health and life style and some now benefit from having made the decision to take charge of their own health.
My lack of health had been obvious since my back pain was so severe that I needed to take an Infirmity Pension from a job I thoroughly enjoyed. Eventually I struggled to free my self from the medical doctors, as I was not improving, except in the very short term. Through a slow process of trying all known alternative approaches I woke up to the fact that I was basically getting something wrong. Not only was back pain becoming a regular occurrence that required me to rest some part of each month and take it easy all the time, but my shoulders were aching, movement was restricted, and the base of my thumbs were hot and tender if knocked.
When a Radiologist in
South Africa saw X-rays they had taken of my back, he reported that as well as
my Spondylolysthesis I had Osteoarthritis in my lower back, with severe
degeneration of my facet joints. My joints
were affected from L4 & 5 to about two vertebrae above my waist. The report
had my daughter in tears because it sounded so severe and my condition
progressive! I
certainly believed I was too young (never mind I had two grandchildren) to go
with their recommendation to have an Orthopedic Surgeon look at fusing my lower
vertebrae.
I was devastated. Back surgery
was the last thing I had contemplated. Luckily I
did not live there and came home to think about my health.
I had already made
some other changes, like choosing to give up coffee and most processed foods,
because I had learned from having a grandson with lots of behaviour
difficulties, that he couldn’t tolerate foods with some additives. So I had
worked out that if colours, preservatives and flavours could send his brain
wild, it may surely be affecting me in some small measure too. This
awareness and slight adjustment was a preparation for the journey I was about to
embark upon.
The “Medical” that
was part of Atul’s first look at me was impressive. He already
had my medical history in the form of knowing any significant illnesses or
operations I had experienced, and the history of my parents health. He
then left me, and came back with an eating plan. It took into
account what I was in the habit of eating and drinking and the changes were not
draconian.
My greatest change at that time was to cut down drastically on my liquid
intake.
That was new learning but on listening to Atul and reading a small book,
“Dry up not drink up”, I was convinced. I also ate
one meal of raw food each day and one meal starting with a “salad” followed by
cooked food. The
great thing about all the recommendations is that at each stage there is very
easy to read, convincing evidence to support the rationale behind the new way of
approaching food, what, how and when you eat it. During each
appointment Atul talks quietly and in a caring manner about how your body works,
what it needs and relates all his knowledge to you and how you are. It is the
best treatment I have ever experienced. No waste of
time here.
Being a very active
person who resented my bad back and all the restrictions of Osteoarthritis, I
was not pleased to be encouraged to lay flat each afternoon. Surprisingly
when I did, I used to fall asleep for 35 minutes, wake up and feel great. Couldn’t
believe it.
In fact that is typical of the whole development of treatment, it wakens
up your body and mind to be in tune. On a
positive and more acceptable note was the recommendation to do a brisk 40-minute
walk each day and a big walk once a week.
Gradually, as I got used to this new way of being, the improvement was
visible to all my friends. I lost
weight, not dramatically but in such a way that I moved better and health began
to show in my face and posture. I got used
to the initial modification to my eating plan, when Atul suggested 3 vegetarian
meals a week. I said
“You’re not going to turn ME into a vegetarian”. He simply
quietly said, “You will not enjoy really good health until you do “.
Being a farmer’s
daughter you can imagine my feeling of discomfort when recently I attended a fat
stock dinner with my brother as chairman, where I was the only vegetarian in a
gathering of well over 130 people. My body had
decided the way it wanted me to be. As I cleaned
up my act, I became aware that I did not want animal protein any more. Since
becoming vegetarian I have not missed the diet of the carnivore and gradually
people have accepted my new way. I am the
only vegetarian in my family of five but it is now easy to manage.
My aches and pains
are almost completely gone. Because I
have a Spondylolysthesis, I have an unstable back and if I carry heavy luggage
or overdo any strenuous activity I can get out of line. Atul has me
realigned very soon. He offers gentle but effective manipulation preceded by
deep massage.
I overdid it at the
farm recently and boy did I get pain. It was old
behaviour, competing with my brother, lifting heavy buckets of water over high
sheep pens.
Definitely something I did not need to do. After
treatment I was only incapacitated for a week. In the past
that would have meant a week in hospital, traction, and the horror of a body
pot. I
heal more quickly, and I do not fight my pain any longer. It is my
friend and is there to keep me in touch with what I need to do. I have taken
no more than 4 painkillers in the time I have been going to Atul. The
alternative treatment of cold compresses, hot and cold treatment, fasting,
resting and exercise is so much kinder to my body and has me grateful not to
have been given a hospital appointment.
I know that others
have noticed this massive improvement in my functioning, as many are now going
to Atul for treatment themselves. The whole
journey was possible because Atul gave me the information, the recommendations
and the rest is up to me. This I am
happy to accept. As soon as I
am told I “have” to do something, I figuratively stamp my feet and behave like a
rebel teenager.
I have tried to
convince my brother who is facing two hip replacements to try this way
first.
He is attached to his way of life and he is choosing. I am pain
free; I swim, attend a gym, can walk big walks, travel, look after my
grandchildren, and enjoy it all. My shoulders
move freely, my thumbs are pain free, and if I stay within certain limits of not
carrying heavy luggage or shopping, I can take a rucksack and do almost
anything.
I now call any
discomfort like a snuffly nose, sore throat, hot head, fever and sickness a
healing crisis and relax knowing my body is doing it’s work.
I found the booklets
from the Kingston Clinic a bit old-fashioned but as I benefited from what I
learned from them I soon lost this criticism. They are not
expensive and easy to read. I believe
Atul is in the process of updating this resource.
We are further
supported by attending a series if Seminars given by Atul. These have
been once a month, on topics of interest to improve our understanding around
health with the opportunity to ask questions and meet other people sharing our
interest.
It is a most enjoyable time, as we first eat a lovely vegetarian meal,
and afterwards, take home a hand out to remind us of key points.
Everyone I speak to who attends Atul for guidance would like to thank him. Because it is up to all of us to take the responsibility for our own health and the way we are in our world, and because the basic message is simple, he doesn’t need or want the adulation. However, I am grateful that he has the skill, the knowledge and the conviction to keep being there for all of us. There are great pressures to be living by other ways than Naturopathy, but through choosing to live this new way I have experienced freedom from pain and a restricted way of life, and everything is more enjoyable. Wake up world, and at least consider giving it a try.
June W ( N Yorks)
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Article - Published in Osteopathy Today July 02
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